The new school year is upon us and we are very excited for what this year has ahead! Be sure to follow us on social media for updates, It List highlights, and more! 
Facebook: facebook.com/tomesociety
Twitter: @tomesociety
Instagram: @tomesociety

See below for important updates and information:

DATES AND DEADLINES
Reading Bowl Dates & Deadlines
Sept 20, Friday - Chapter Registration & Dues Postmark Deadline for Reading Bowl eligibility; Reading Bowl Team Registration form deadline
Oct 9-16 - Reading Bowl Exam #1
Dec 4-11 - Reading Bowl Exam #2
Feb 5-12 - Reading Bowl Exam #3  

General Chapter Dates & Deadlines
Nov 15, Friday - Chapter Registration & Dues Postmark Deadline for TomeCon Early Registration eligibility
Dec 6, Friday - Fall Competition Deadline
Feb 3-7 - Tome Literacy Week
Feb 7 - Spring Competition Deadline, New It List nominee release, Honor Society registration deadline

TomeCon Dates & Deadlines
TomeCon Early Registration - Jan 9, Thursday (10am) - Jan 27, Monday (active chapters only)
TomeCon Regular Registration - Jan 28, Tuesday - Feb 27, Thursday (open to all, lunch & t-shirt pre-order deadline)
TomeCon Late Registration  - Feb 28, Friday- March 13, Friday (open to all, no pre-order option)
TomeCon Late Online-only Registration - March 14, Saturday - March 20, Friday (online payment only)
TomeCon 2020 - March 24, Tuesday, 9am-5pm, be sure to plan to attend all day!

REGISTERING YOUR CHAPTER
Use the links and information found here to register:  http://www.tomesociety.org/chapters.html

For schools/groups registering multiple chapter levels (Elementary, Middle, High), be sure to complete the online form and pay dues for each level separately in order to be eligible for competitions at those levels. 

BOOKS OF THE MONTH
Looking for the full list of Books of the Month to discuss with your chapter? See them on the Blog: http://www.tomesociety.org/blog/july-22nd-2019

Discussion guides can be found on the password protected Advisers page of the website. The 19-20 password will be emailed to each adviser with their chapter dues receipt after chapter dues are received and processed. 

READING BOWL INFO
Please review ALL of the information found at http://www.tomesociety.org/reading-bowl.html if your chapter plans to compete in the Reading Bowl competition. 

Exam book lists and dates can be found on this page, as well. 
Also, please note the new Proctor Requirement for Reading Bowl exams this school year. 
Direct questions to readingbowl@tomesociety.org. 

COMPETITIONS 
Find the complete list of competition offerings and directions at http://www.tomesociety.org/competitions.html. 
We've added 3 new competitions (lesson plans and competitions rubrics coming soon)!

• Student Book Choice Historical Fiction Infographic
• Student Book Choice Character to Author Letter 
• Student Book Choice Digital Graphic Cover Redesign   

Also, we've added a Competition Exemplars page to the website and are working to populate those examples for you. See the page here: http://www.tomesociety.org/competition-exemplars.html 

TomeCon 2020 - Find Your Spark! 
We are already in the process of booking authors and other guest speakers for TomeCon. We think you will be very excited by who has already said they're coming! This is going to be another can't-miss-event. Please make plans to attend all day from 9am to 5pm to get the full experience.
Reminder - any school bringing students to TomeCon is required to provide a half or full-day volunteer for the event. Most of these volunteers will be acting as room & hall monitors and all of the volunteers are VERY necessary to make TomeCon a fun and safe day. Please begin planning now for who you will bring. Ideas- co-workers, retired teachers, parents, your family members, college students, etc. 

Help us find sponsors! 
The Tome Team is actively working to reduce the student ticket cost for TomeCon 2020, BUT we can't make it happen without partnering with sponsors for the event. Please help us by reaching out to your community members and parents who work with businesses that would be interested in supporting student literacy and getting their name out to 3,000 people from across the state of Georgia and beyond! 
 
IT LIST 2020-2021 READERS
Interested in helping review books for the next It Lists? Find the link to the consideration list sign up on the Advisers page.  

 Happy Tome Literacy Week! We are excited to announce to you the 2019-2020 Tome Student Literacy Society It List Book Award Nominees today! Learn more about the It List here. 
 
And the nominees are...
​
Tome Society
High School (Grades 9-12)

1. A Touch of Gold, Annie Sullivan
2. Before She Ignites, Jodi Meadows
3. Brightly Burning, Alexa Donne
4. Grenade, Alan Gratz
5. How It Feels to Fly, Kathryn Holmes
6. It’s Not Me, It’s You, Stephanie Kate Strohm
7. Letters to the Lost, Brigid Kemmerer
8. Meet the Sky, McCall Hoyle
9. My Plain Jane, Cynthia Hand, Jodi Meadows, and Brodi Ashton
10. Pretty in Punxsutawney, Laurie Boyle Crompton
11. Resistance, Jennifer A. Nielsen
12. Rosemarked, Livia Blackburne
13. The Color of Lies, CJ Lyons
14. The Goose Girl, Shannon Hale
15. The Last Namsara, Kristen Ciccarelli
16. The Life Fantastic, Liza Ketchum
17. The Perfect Candidate, Peter Stone
18. The Queen’s Rising, Rebecca Ross
19. The Summer of Broken Things, Margaret Peterson Haddix
20. Within These Lines, Stephanie Morrill

 
Jr Tome Society
Middle School (Grades 6-8)

1. 24 Hours in Nowhere, Dusti Bowling
2. Arlo Finch and the Valley of Fire, John August
3. City of Ghosts, Victoria Schwab
4. Lifeboat 12, Susan Hood
5. Lights, Camera, Disaster, Erin Dionne
6. The Exact Location of Home, Kate Messner
7. The Goose Girl, Shannon Hale
8. The Legend of Greg, Chris Rylander
9. The Memory of Forgotten Things, Kat Zhang
10. The Only Road, Alexandra Diaz

 
Club Tome
Elementary School (Grades 3-5)

1. A Whale in Paris, Daniel Presley and Claire Polders
2. Granted, John David Anderson
3. Journey of the Pale Bear, Susan Fletcher
4. The Story Collector, Kristin O’Donnell Tubb
5. The Train to Impossible Places: A Cursed Delivery, P.G. Bell
6. The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street, Karina Yan Glaser
7. When the Sea Turned Silver, Grace Lin

*Please note, a 7th book for Club Tome has been added this year. This will make the Reading Bowl Exams testing over 2 books, 3 books, and 2 books for the 2019-2020 school year.

Congratulations to all of our 2019-2020 It List nominee authors! Thank you for writing great books!
@tomesociety #TomeItList 
​
Authors and publishers - do you want Tome Society to consider your new books for our upcoming It Lists? We accept ARC's and review copies at PO Box 129, Lula, Ga 30554 or email us for more information about submitting your work. 

Thanks,
The Tome Team​

It’s that time of year again! We’ve read hundreds of books over the past year to find these outstanding It List nominees for the 2018-2019 It Lists. These books will serve as the content for our Reading Bowl and many of our other student competitions during the 18-19 school year. Students can vote for their favorite nominees until March 1, 2019 and the winners will be announced at TomeCon 2019.

Without further ado, the 2018-2019 Tome Student Literacy Society It List nominees are:

Tome Society nominees - High School (grades 9-12)

1. BlackHearts, by Nicole Castroman
2. Caraval, by Stephanie Garber
3. Disappeared, by Francisco X. Stork
4. In 27 Days, by Alison Gervais
5. It Started with Goodbye, by Christina June
6. Last Star Burning, by Caitlin Sangster
7. Long May She Reign, by Rhiannon Thomas
8. Losing Brave, by Bailee Madison & Stefne Miller
9. Midnight at the Electric, by Jodi Lynn Anderson
10. Nemesis, by Anna Banks
11. Solo, by Kwame Alexander
12. Spindle Fire, by Lexa Hillyer
13. The Apprentice Witch, by James Nicol
14. The Beast is an Animal, by Peternelle van Arsdale
15. The Glass Spare, by Lauren DeStefano
16. The Lost Girl of Astor Street, by Stephanie Morrill
17. The Thing with Feathers, by McCall Hoyle
18. The Traitor’s Game, by Jennifer A. Nielsen
19. The Wish Granter, by C.J. Redwine
20. Toward a Secret Sky, by Heather Maclean
    
    

Jr Tome Society nominees - Middle School (grades 6-8)

1. League of Archers, by Eva Howard
2. The Emperor’s Riddle, by Kat Zhang
3. Siren Sisters, by Dana Langer
4. The Adventurers Guild, by Zach Loran Clark and Nick Eliopulos
5. The Shadow Cipher, by Laura Ruby
6. The Trials of Morrigan Crow, by Jessica Townsend
7. The Voyage to Magical North, by Claire Fayers
8. The Whiz Mob and the Grenadine Kid, by Colin Meloy
9. Tumble and Blue, by Cassie Beasley
10. Zap, by Martha Freeman
    
    

Club Tome nominees - Elementary School (grades 3-5)

1. Outside In, by Jennifer Bradbury
2. Tentacle and Wing, by Sarah Porter
3. The Emperor’s Riddle, by Kat Zhang
4. The Royal Rabbits Of London, by Santa Montefiore & Simon Sebag Montefiore
5. The Wizards of Once, by Cressida Cowell
6. WishTree, by Katherine Applegate

​Congratulations to all of our 2018-2019 It List authors! 
Happy reading!

The Tome Society It List 2017-2018 High School Nominees are:
​​​

1. Almost Autumn, Marianne Kaurin
2. Ever the Hunted, Erin Summerill
3. Everland, Wendy Spinale
4. Forget Tomorrow, Pintip Dunn
5. Frostblood, Kelly Blake
6. Genius: The Game, Leopoldo Gout
7. Gilt Hollow, Lori Langdon
8. Heartless, Marissa Meyer
9. Heir to the Sky, Amanda Sun
10. Hold Me Like a Breath, Tiffany Schmidt
11. Ivory and Bone, Julie Eshbaugh
12. Love and Gelato, Jenna Evans Welch
13. My Lady Jane, Hand, Ashton, Meadows
14. Projekt 1065, Alan Gratz
15. The Awakener, Amanda Strong
16. The Book Jumper, Mechthild Glaser
17. The Memory of Light, Francisco Stork
18. The Possibility of Now, Kim Culbertson
19. The Scourge, Jennifer Nielsen
20. What Light, Jay Asher

The Jr. Tome 2017-2018 Middle School Nominees are:
​

1. Left Out, Tim Green
2. Listen to the Moon, Michael Morpurgo
3. Nine, Ten, Nora Baskin
4. Omega City, Diana Peterfreund
5. River Runs Deep, Jennifer Bradbury
6. The Girl Who Drank the Moon, Kelly Barnhill
7. The Nightsiders: The Orphan Army, Jonathan Maberry
8. The Scourge, Jennifer Nielsen
9. This is Not a Werewolf Story, Sandra Evans
10. Wishing Day, Lauren Myracle

The Club Tome 2017-2018 It List Nominees are:
​

1. Hour of the Bees, Lindsay Eagar
2. In the Footsteps of Crazy Horse, Joseph M Marshall III
3. Soar, Tracy Edward Wymer
4. The Girl Who Could Not Dream, Sarah Beth Durst
5. The Island of Dr. Libris, Chris Grabenstein
6. The Silver Gate, Kristin Bailey

Congratulations to all of the 17-18 It List authors! These books will provide the content for our 2017-2018 discussion guides, Reading Bowl, and other It List competitions. 

To learn more about how It List books are selected and how to submit books for Tome to consider for future lists, visit this page: http://www.tomesociety.org/it-list-guidelines.html. 

On Pinterest? Pin these images to your reading or library boards to help spread the word about Tome Society!

See below for the month each book will be highlighted and the Reading Bowl exam order:

Dear Reading Bowl Coaches,
Thank you so much for an amazing year of Reading Bowl competitions. In an effort to offer our Tome Society chapters the best possible Reading Bowl experience we have implemented some changes to the 2016-2017 Reading Bowl Competition. Below you can find a list of the new rules and procedures.

2016-2017 Rules and Procedures

1. ​​Teams must be registered by Oct 1, 2016.
2. Teams can consist of 1-15 members. Members cannot be substituted or added after the Oct 1 deadline.
3. Teams will receive Canvas usernames and passwords from tomereadingbowl@gmail.com before the initial testing window. Coaches should ask team members to test this login prior to the first test.
4. Teams will play ONLY 1-5 team members in each online round of testing. Teams should decide ahead of time which students will participate in each online round. 
5. Teams should choose one date and time during the testing window to take each digital test.
6. Students cannot use any resources during the test, including books or other team members.
7. Team Coaches should supervise the testing session.
8. Students will have 60 minutes to complete each digital test.
9. Each team member will be generated a unique test through the Canvas testing platform. Students will not be able to go back to a question once it has been submitted.
10. Each test will consist of 10 questions per book. 
11. Team score is determined as an average of all team member scores in each round of online testing using this formula: Total number of points accrued by team/total number of students participating in round from team.
12. Current rank is determined from total points in online testing rounds at time of ranking. 
13. At the end of online testing, a Digital Testing winner for each chapter level will be awarded.
14. At the end of online testing, the top 4 ranked teams from each chapter level based on total points accumulated will advance to a face-to-face competition at TomeCon.
15. Face-to-face competition at TomeCon will begin with a "clean slate" with each team beginning with zero points. Team scores will be determined by number of correct questions answered during face-to-face buzzer board style competition. Each round will consist of 10 quiz-bowl style questions. Teams will compete in up to 3 rounds depending on the number of teams competing. Teams may play up to 5 students in each face-to-face round. A coach must be present with the team at all times. Parents are welcome to attend the competition. 
16. The top 3 teams from each chapter level will be recognized on stage at TomeCon, and the Reading Bowl Champion for each chapter level will be awarded.
17. ed will advance to a face-to-face competition at TomeCon.
18. The top 3 teams from each chapter level will be recognized on stage at TomeCon, and the Reading Bowl Champion will be awarded.

Next year the Reading Bowl Chair will generate all usernames and passwords for the Reading Bowl teams in an effort to combat the lost or forgotten password/username issue. Teams can still be made up of 1-15 members; however, 1-5 students can compete in each round. Below, you will see the testing windows as well as the testing lists.

2016-2017 Testing Windows

• Exam Window #1 - October 12-19, 2016
• Exam Window #2 - December 7-14, 2016
• Exam Window #3 - February 22 - March 1, 2017

Book Testing Lists
High School
Exam #1

• Mark of the Thief
• Beneath
• Code of Honor
• The Eighth Day
• Soundless
• Ink and Ashes

Exam #2

• 5 to 1
• The Six
• Reawakened
• Salt to the Sea
• Icebreaker
• Spinning Starlight

Exam #3

• Walk on Earth a Stranger
• The Distance Between Lost and Found
• Lois Lane: Fallout
• The Orphan Queen
• The Revelation of Louisa May
• MiNRS
• Velvet Undercover
• The Blackthorn Key

Middle School
Exam #1

• A Night Divided
• The Eighth Day
• Fish in a Tree

Exam #2

• Fuzzy Mud
• Circus Mirandus
• Icebreaker

Exam #3

• The Doublecross
• Book Scavenger
• MiNRS
• Serafina and the Black Cloak

Elementary School
Exam #1

• Charlie Bumpers vs the Perfect Little Turkey
• Fish in a Tree

Exam #2

• Fuzzy Mud
• Nightbird

Exam #3

• Pip Bartlett's Guide to Magical Creatures
• Book Scavenger

Reading Bowl Tips:

• Encourage your students to be reading during the summer so that they have a jump start on the year.
• Have “experts”. Divide the books amongst your 15 members so that the five testing during each window have become the most knowledgeable on their assigned books.
• Submit practice questions so that you can have access to a large group wiki that supplies practice Reading Bowl questions to students. The Google Form can be found here: http://www.tomesociety.org/reading-bowl.html

Thank you again for all your hard work Coaches, it is with your help and support that the Tome Society has been able to offer such high quality activities that promote student literacy.

The 2016-2017 Tome Society It List Nominees have been announced and here they are! Thank you to the hundreds of volunteer readers who make this list happen each year!

The 2016-2017 Tome Society It List
Grades 9-12

1. 5 to 1, by Holly Bodger (2015, Knopf Books for Young Readers)
2. Beneath, by Roland Smith (2015, Scholastic Press)
3. Code of Honor, by Alan Gratz (2015, Scholastic Press)
4. Fallout, by Gwenda Bond (2015, Switch Press) – Lois Lane #1
5. Icebreaker, by Lian Tanner (2015, Feiwel & Friends) – The Hidden #1
6. Ink and Ashes, by Valynne E. Maetani (2015, Tu Books)
7. Mark of the Thief, by Jennifer Nielsen (2015, Scholastic Press) – Mark of the Thief #1
8. MiNRS, by Kevin Sylvester (2015, Margaret K. McElderry Books)
9. Reawakened, by Colleen Houck (2015, Delacorte Press) – Reawakened #1
10. Salt to the Sea, by Ruta Sepetys (2016, Philomel Books)
11. Soundless, by Richelle Mead (2015, Razorbill)
12. Spinning Starlight, by R.C. Lewis (2015, Disney Hyperion)
13. The Blackthorn Key, by Kevin Sands (2015, Aladdin) – Christopher Rowe #1
14. The Distance Between Lost and Found, by Kathryn Holmes (2015, HarperTeen)
15. The Eighth Day, by Dianne K. Salerni (2014, HarperCollins) – Eighth Day #1
16. The Orphan Queen, by Jodi Meadows (2015, Katherine Tegen Books) – The Orphan Queen #1
17. The Revelation of Louisa May, by Michaela MacColl (2015, Chronicle Books)
18. The Six, by Mark Alpert (2015, Sourcebooks Fire) – The Six #1
19. Velvet Undercover, by Teri Brown (2015, Balzer + Bray)
20. Walk on Earth a Stranger, by Rae Carson (2015, Greenwillow Books) – The Gold Seer Trilogy #1

The 2016-2017 Jr Tome Society It List
Grades 6-8

1. A Night Divided, by Jennifer Nielsen (2015, Scholastic)
2. Book Scavenger, by Jennifer Chambliss Bertman (2015, Henry Holt and Co.) – Book Scavenger #1
3. Circus Mirandus, by Cassie Beasley (2015, Dial Books)
4. Fish in a Tree, by Lynda Mullaly Hunt (2015, Nancy Paulsen Books)
5. Fuzzy Mud, by Louis Sachar (2015, Delacorte Books for Young Readers)
6. Icebreaker, by Lian Tanner (2015, Feiwel & Friends) – The Hidden #1
7. MiNRS, by Kevin Sylvester (2015, Margaret K. McElderry Books)
8. Serafina and the Black Cloak, by Robert Beatty (2015, Disney Hyperion) – Serafina #1
9. The Doublecross, by Jackson Pearce (2015, Bloomsbury USA Childrens) – Superspy #1
10. The Eighth Day, by Dianne K. Salerni (2014, HarperCollins) – Eighth Day #1

The 2016-2017 Club Tome It List
Grades 4-5

1. Book Scavenger, by Jennifer Chambliss Bertman (2015, Henry Holt and Co.) – Book Scavenger #1
2. Charlie Bumpers vs The Perfect Little Turkey, by Bill Harley (2015, Peachtree Publishers)
3. Fish in a Tree, by Lynda Mullaly Hunt (2015, Nancy Paulsen Books)
4. Fuzzy Mud, by Louis Sachar (2015, Delacorte Books for Young Readers)
5. Nightbird, by Alice Hoffman (2015, Simon & Schuster UK)
6. Pip Bartlett’s Guide to Magical Creatures, by Jackson Pearce, Maggie Stiefvater (2015, Scholastic Press) – Pip Bartlett #1
   
   See more about the It List, including our current lists here. 

Each year the Tome Society selects 20 high school, 10 middle school, and 6 elementary school books to be featured on the It List. Each book must meet the Tome Society's requirements of being new, clean, encouraging, and engaging. The selection of the It List is an exciting, and somewhat stress-filled, time of year of the Tome Society. With over 107 reader responses sent in throughout the year the It List Selection Committee had a difficult time choosing which books to put on the list. Each book on the It List has been vetted by a committee member, which means between the four committee members thousands of hours were spent reading the nominees.

This year when the Selection Committee gathered to make the final decisions for the It List the room was filled with books, plots were shared, and interests were peaked. In years past, the Selection Committee has had heated battles about which books to put on the list because each member has high hopes for their favorites to be chosen. This year, after hours of discussion about genres, trends, and plot lines the It List was chosen.

 However, dear readers, you will have to wait just a little longer to see the new It List nominees. But take my word for it, you will be fascinated!