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And then there were eight! Just over a week ago, we announced 64 books that would compete in our annual #BookMadness tournament. Now, with 56 of those books already eliminated, the competition is really starting to heat up. At the end of this post, we'll announce the remaining books and give you a chance to vote for your favorites. But, first, let's give a quick recap of the most exciting moments from the Sweet 16.
* When the Sweet 16 was announced a few days ago, we asked fans to pick the book they thought was most likely to win the title. The most popular selection, with nearly 45% of the vote, was Angie Thomas' The Hate U Give. Despite being predicted to win it all, THUG actually fell short in its most recent competition, a highly-anticipated rematch against reigning champ Harry Potter. Now, Harry Potter will have a chance to repeat its championship run. In order to do so, it may need to battle Angie Thomas again, as her newest book On The Come Up will also be advancing to the Elite 8.
* With just a few hours left in the Sweet 16, Jenny Han's adorable To All The Boys I've Loved Before and Rick Riordan's epic Percy Jackson And The Olympians were separated by less than a percentage point. After a last-minute push on social media to #SaveYourFav, TALBILB pulled ahead by nearly seven points and will be advancing to the Elite 8, where it will face off against Marie Lu's Legend. Now, that The Hate U Give has been eliminated, TALBILB is the most popular prediction to take it all, gaining just over 20% of the votes from the survey mentioned earlier.
* As one of only two authors with multiple books in the Sweet 16, Becky Albertalli faced a unique struggle this week when her two remaining books faced off against each other. Leah On The Offbeat edged out her Adam Silvera collab What If It's Us? and will be moving on to the Elite 8, where it will compete against Elizabeth Acevedo's The Poet X. Now that both Becky and Angie Thomas have had one of their books eliminated, there are no authors left who still have multiple books competing in the tournament.
* Girl power! All eight of the remaining books were written by female authors. More than half of these are women of color.
Because these remaining rounds feature fewer match-ups, we will only be giving two days of voting for each. That means we'll be announcing the Final Four this Thursday, March 28th. Voting is now open and will remain so until midnight on Wednesday. And to keep with the basketball theme, we're teaming up with Kobe Bryant and Wesley King to give away three copies of their new novel Training Camp. You'll gain an extra entry every round that you vote.
Click the picture below to vote on the #BookMadness Elite 8, and be sure to share the excitement with your friends on social media. Let's do this!
