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A month-long, team-based reading challenge involving ONLY middle-grade books.
(Sign up link below)

This is my third time hosting this challenge and wow I'm so happy everyone has such fun with it. I'm really looking forward to taking part in it again!
It's pretty much the same as how it was last year but there are a few new ways to gain points which is going to make it even more fun and less stressful for people who don't have the time to read tons of books or aren't super fast readers...

The Rules:
- Each team has 1 month to try and complete as many tasks as possible.
- 1 book read can fulfil 1 task ONLY.
- 1 task is worth 1 point.
- There are 100 tasks with each 5 tasks grouped into 20 different thematic categories.
- Both tasks and categories can be completed in ANY order you as a team decide on.
- There are 5 bonus points for each category completed.
- There are also 10 bonus points for each category completed by 1 team member only.
- There are also 5 bonus points for each category completed by 2 team members only.
- Page points are also awarded depending on how many pages the book read is. Every 100 pages is equal to 1 page point. (Half points are not awarded so all the page numbers are rounded down to the nearest 100)
- The team with the most points at the end of the month wins!

An example of tasks from the category “Holiday��
1. Read a book with the word “Summer�� in the title.
2. Read a book where the protagonist gets lost.

The Bonus Tasks:
- There are 12 bonus tasks to be released on 15 August.
- The first 5 bonus tasks are worth 3 points each and completing all 5 bonus tasks is worth an extra 10 points.
- The second 7 bonus tasks are worth 5 points each and completing all 7 bonus tasks is worth an extra 15 points.

WHAT COUNTS AS A MIDDLE GRADE BOOK:
- Must be more than 100 pages long.
*For audio books*: The print edition must be more than 100 pages long.
*For graphic novels*: must be more than 150 pages long.
- Must be categorised as MG+ or MG on this website:
If it says LG or UG on the website it DOESN’T COUNT.
OR
Must be categorised as MY+ or MY on this website:
If it says LY or UY on the website it DOESN’T COUNT.
- Only books started on/after 1st August count!

The Teams:
- Each team has 4 team members (subject to change depending on number of sign ups)
- Each team will have 1 Captain responsible for the tracking of the team.
- Each member must create a GR shelf called “mg challenge 2022�� or “middle-grade challenge 2022�� or some other variation and place all books they read for the challenge in that shelf. This is to help you and your Captain keep track of what you've read for the challenge.
- Teams are allocated not chosen and depend on the amount of time people have to read.
- Please make sure you all communicate and have fun!
- If you have any questions please ask your Captain who can then put the question to me on the Captain’s Chat.

Captain's responsibilities:
- Captains are in charge of editing and maintaining their team's spreadsheet.
- Captains are in charge of organising which book is applied to which task within their team.
- Captains should make sure that the info their members give them is correct, i.e. checking their members' GR challenge shelves to see when they started and finished the book, and checking the book counts as MG.
- Captains will be in charge of relaying info regarding questions between the moderator (me) and their team members.
- It's not a dictatorship! Remember to have fun with it and discuss with your team members as their ideas on what book should be applied to what task can be helpful.

*A word of advice:*
There are tons of tasks to complete. At first it will be easy to read whatever MG book you like and then apply it to a task that it fulfils.
After a while, when there are less tasks it will be harder, so it may be smarter to pick a book that can specifically fulfil one task.
This is just an idea... it's up to every team and their Captain to decide their strategy.

If you have any questions please ask below!! You should all receive a message by 23rd July to announce the team allocations. Please make sure you check in with your team Captain before 27th July otherwise you may be replaced or removed.

Sign ups are officially open!🎉
Sign up form:
Sign ups close on 20th August 2022
Teams will be announced on 23rd July 2022!

If you have any thoughts or questions, feel free to share them below!

YES!!! I've been waiting for this to go live, so excited! Last year was a blast!

Yes!!! I’m so excited for this! I’m gonna start planning for this challenge and leave some middle books on reserve!!

Breanne wrote: "YES!!! I've been waiting for this to go live, so excited! Last year was a blast!"

I’m going to go cry I’m so happy you enjoyed it and you’ve been looking forward to it! You guys make this challenge so much fun, I can’t wait to take part with you all again!!

Kadi wrote: "Breanne wrote: "YES!!! I've been waiting for this to go live, so excited! Last year was a blast!"

I’m going to go cry I’m so happy you enjoyed it and you’ve been looking forward to it! You guys ma..."

Fired up and ready, Kadi.

Ilsen wrote: "Yes!!! I’m so excited for this! I’m gonna start planning for this challenge and leave some middle books on reserve!!"

Omg yeah I’ve been doing the same putting books aside to read in August. I spent a good 30 mins this morning going through my 1500 book strong TBR and wheedling out all the MG books I could potentially read. There are so many books on there I’ve forgotten about!

Lynn wrote: "Fired up and ready, Kadi."

Exactlyyyy! I love this energy you guys bring to it! Really does excite me even more👏🏻

Kadi wrote: "Ilsen wrote: "Yes!!! I’m so excited for this! I’m gonna start planning for this challenge and leave some middle books on reserve!!"

I’m glad you’re taking part this year! You were missed last year..."

Just went through my physical shelf and sorted the possible MGs. Then I went to the link for ACR Bookfinder and figured out which ones I could choose from. Already moved them up to the top of my bookshelves. Now just waiting for August.

Following so I don't forget.

Count me in

Crazy to think a yr ago almost since the last 1 when i joined the group

I would love to take part!!!

Lynn wrote: "Just went through my physical shelf and sorted the possible MGs. Then I went to the link for ACR Bookfinder and figured out which ones I could choose from. Already moved them up to the top of my bookshelves. Now just waiting for August."

Now that is what I call efficiency! I tried this and then got distracted after 5 or so books😂 I reckon I've got more than enough mg books to choose from on my mg tbr shelf but I know there must be way more buried in my tbr, I haven't made it past page 9 yet which is like only 270 books in.

EdenB15 wrote: "Crazy to think a yr ago almost since the last 1 when i joined the group"

Oh wow so it was this challenge that brought you to the group? I know I went on a little recruiting hunt to bring in new people for the challenge but it feels like an age ago so it's like you were always here to me!

Kelly wrote: "I would love to take part!!!"

I'm glad you'd like to, it's going to be fun!

Hey everyone, sign ups are open here:
I've added a message above about the relevant dates.

I'll be sending out a group-wide message soon too. Feel free to invite friends outside of the group to come and sign up too, the challenge is open to anyone!😊 (But they will need to join the group to take part in the challenge)

Kadi wrote: "Ilsen wrote: "Yes!!! I’m so excited for this! I’m gonna start planning for this challenge and leave some middle books on reserve!!"

Omg yeah I’ve been doing the same putting books aside to read in..."

I was so confused because I could have sworn I took part last year and I did. I think I just expressed concern because I was afraid it would make my reading slump worse but I ended up joining anyways.

I’m actually not in a bad reading place but I’m still not reading as much as I want to and last time I read a lot more middle grades that I enjoyed! I’m excited to prioritize them more! Can’t wait to sign up. Also I’ll definitely ask my friends if they want to join! Also when will the prompts be revealed?

Ilsen wrote: "I was so confused because I could have sworn I took part last year and I did. I think I just expressed concern because I was afraid it would make my reading slump worse but I ended up joining anyways.

I’m actually not in a bad reading place but I’m still not reading as much as I want to..."

I was also confused sorry😩 I swear we had a conversation where you said you couldn't take part but then when I checked last year's spreadsheet your name was on it so I was like whoops and removed that part of my comment😂 I was probably just remembering that conversation about a possible reading slump yeah. To be fair I don't remember much of anything that happened during last year's challenge. This year has been a eventful one for me with university and general life so it makes everything from last year feel like so long ago. That's made it both fun and a little tricky creating the tasks because I didn't want to outright repeat any of last year's tasks but it also meant I wasn't constantly comparing tasks and could be creative with it.

Prompts are revealed on 1st August! I know that's probably a pain for people who have to pre-order books or place holds on library books but part of the fun of the challenge is not knowing the tasks until we start and it puts everyone on an even footing too.
I recommend just putting on hold or pre-ordering whatever books you want to read in general because the tasks are so varied and there are so many of them that you will definitely find a task to assign your first reads to and then after they're revealed on the first day you can start planning to put a hold on specific books for specific tasks. That's advice for anyone who needs to plan to find books in advance through a library or ordering, etc too!

Kadi wrote: "Ilsen wrote: "I was so confused because I could have sworn I took part last year and I did. I think I just expressed concern because I was afraid it would make my reading slump worse but I ended up..."

I understand because I also had a brain fart thinking that you didn’t do a round last year but you did. Everything feels like such a long time ago. Also that’s ok! I think I’ll just prioritize all the middle grades I own or sequels I want to get to (looking at you, sequel to Mystery of Black Hollow Lane) and go from there. I also still have a master list of middle grades on my computer so I can sort it from there! I’m seriously so excited!!

Kadi wrote: "Ilsen wrote: "I was so confused because I could have sworn I took part last year and I did. I think I just expressed concern because I was afraid it would make my reading slump worse but I ended up..."

I put on my form that I don't want to be a group leader, but if you need an additional person, I will do it.

Idm either way either

@Lynn @Eden thank you guys! I remember last year I didn't have enough team captains and I was running around like a headless chicken before the team allocation deadline trying to figure out what to do😂

Having so many teams is fantastic because that makes the competition more fun but the team captain shortage can be a hurdle so I will definitely keep you in mind if we don't have enough, Lynn, and if we do have a shortage then I'll reach out to you with a message closer to the time just to confirm you're good to go for it.

And Eden if you're good either way then I'll put you down as a definite yes if that's ok with you. Being a captain is fun! Especially if you like organising spreadsheets which I totally love😂

Awesome ;)

just signed up! can’t wait! :)

Signing up. I cant be captin my tablet had issues with the spreadsheet, it kept not showing stuff thst was there etc. Its an old model and occasionally hates goodreads too. I'm planning on getting a laptop eventually.

Just signed up!! Last year was my first time participating and it was so much fun! Looking forward to participating again this year!

@Aurora no worries I totally get it! The tech situation won’t be an issue for your team and your team captain can handle things for you on the spreadsheet.

@Grace @Amy thanks for signing up guy!

Hey everyone, thank you so much for the enthusiastic response so quickly!! We already have enough people for 3 teams!

So I’m going to start sending out confirmation messages soon to everyone who has signed up just so you know that I’ve received your sign up form and you’re not left in limbo wondering until the teams are assigned. Please make sure you respond to my private message on goodreads whenever you can just so I know that you are able to receive and read my messages in case I need to send out notices later during the challenge.

I put No for team captain, but if I'll do it if you really need it.

Signing up!
this is my first time joining. tho i know i am just a light reader, but yeahhhh, who knows when we dont even start, right.

Just signed up!! I took part last year and it was so much fun!!

I'm signed up! I plan to take part, but I don't care to be a group leader. I have energy to read but no mental space for more than that!

Audrey wrote: "I put No for team captain, but if I'll do it if you really need it."

Thanks, Audrey! I'll put you down as a possible yes then and if I end up needing more team captains I'll send you a message to ask if you're still available for that😊

Aeriell wrote: "Just signed up!! I took part last year and it was so much fun!!"

Yesss thank you for signing up again Aeriell! It's going to be a blast!

Fillisita wrote: "Signing up!
this is my first time joining. tho i know i am just a light reader, but yeahhhh, who knows when we dont even start, right."

Hey Fillisita thanks for signing up! Not to worry about being a light reader! Some people read a ton for the challenge and I'm always like "woah, how do you do it?" but at the end of the day participating even by reading a small amount is perfectly fine as long as you're having fun. I usually only end up reading like 5 or 6 books but for me that's a good month. And reading less definitely won't disadvantage you because I allocate the teams to make sure each team has heavy and light readers so it's fair for all. Just read and have fun!😊

Georgann wrote: "I'm signed up! I plan to take part, but I don't care to be a group leader. I have energy to read but no mental space for more than that!"

Ha! No worries about that Georgann, having regular participators is also important for the challenge so I appreciate everyone who is signing up, team captain or not. Just taking part as a team member is fun too!

Sign up me too,
But not as a team captain.

A question,
Can I read book of any year?

yes as long as it meets one of the prompts.

Anshika wrote: "Sign up me too,
But not as a team captain.

A question,
Can I read book of any year?"

Hey Anshika, if you’d like to sign up please fill in this form:

Also yes you can read any book from any year unless the task specifies to read a book from a specific year. So far there aren’t any tasks like that but I haven’t finished coming up with them all yet so we’ll see!

Kadi wrote: "Anshika wrote: "Sign up me too,
But not as a team captain.

A question,
Can I read book of any year?"

Hey Anshika, if you’d like to sign up please fill in this form: ..."

Fillisita wrote: "Signing up!
this is my first time joining. tho i know i am just a light reader, but yeahhhh, who knows when we dont even start, right."

I'm a newbie too and don't know if I can reade enough books, but I'm in anyway! Sounds fun!

@Debby awesome! Please fill in the form linked above and then I’ll send you a confirmation message to let you know you’re all signed up.

Also don’t worry about being new, you’ll get the hang of the way the challenge works within a week, and don’t worry about having to read a ton, just read as much as you can and you’ll have your whole team to support you too with a mixture of heavy and light readers so there won’t be any reliance on a particular team member. It’ll be fun!😊

Kadi wrote: "@Debby awesome! Please fill in the form linked above and then I’ll send you a confirmation message to let you know you’re all signed up.

Also don’t worry about being new, you’ll get the hang of th..."

Hi Kadi P, I'm not sure how to reach you so I'm posting here. Could you please take me out of the middle school August reading challenge? I don't believe I'll be able to complete it. I just want to let you know in advance so no one ends up with me as a partner and has to read more. Okay, thank you!

OMG, are you kidding me???

I loved it the first time back in 2019 sooo COUNT ME IN!!! Best challenge EVER!

Sorry for screaming! :D I am the happiest!

Dana wrote: "OMG, are you kidding me???

I loved it the first time back in 2019 sooo COUNT ME IN!!! Best challenge EVER!

Sorry for screaming! :D I am the happiest!"

You guys are all making me excited for this!!! :-)

Blackberrystew wrote: "Hi Kadi P, I'm not sure how to reach you so I'm posting here. Could you please take me out of the middle school August reading challenge?"

Hi, that's no issue. It's a shame, but thanks for letting me know all the same! I'll take your name off the list.

Dana wrote: "OMG, are you kidding me???

I loved it the first time back in 2019 sooo COUNT ME IN!!! Best challenge EVER!

Sorry for screaming! :D I am the happiest!"

This level of enthusiasm is everything. Everyone should be screaming😂 Super happy to have you back for another round of this Dana!

Kelly wrote: "You guys are all making me excited for this!!! :-)"

I know right! These guys are the best! The enthusiasm and excitement makes me even more hyped for this👏🏻