Panels for the "School Library Journal" Battle of the Kids' Books selected sixteen books and narrowed the choices to two. Finally, Lois Lowry, an icon in children's publishing, selected the winner. The finalists were:

• (winner) The Hunger Game, by Suzanne Collins (Scholastic): a dystopian adventure novel set in North America. Here, from the publisher's web site, is a PDF of the first chapter.

• The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Vol. II The Kingdom on the Waves, by M. T. Anderson (Candlewick): Gothic historical fiction set in U.S. revolutionary war period. Here, from the publisher's web site, is an excerpt from the first chapter.

Lois Lowry's comments about her process of choosing the finalist were amusing, involving petulance, reverse nepotism, vengeance and payola.

BONUS! Here are some astounding NASA/Hubble images (requires Adobe Flash).