Cleveland Public Library has created its own sort of March Madness: March Book Madness 2011:

The ultimate in literary sports, CPL’s “March Book Madness” pits great novels against each other in classic NCAA tournament style. 64 great novels were carefully selected to make up our four “Conferences”: Favorites & Prize Winners, African American Novels, Young Adult Novels, and Classics.

Visit this page to cast your votes in the first round, which runs until Wednesday. The second round is Thursday and Friday; the third, Saturday through Monday. Regionals to determine the finalists in Favorites & Prize Winners, African American Novels, Young Adult Novels and Classics will be March 23 through 27. The Final Four (the top novels in each of those categories) will face off March 29 through April 1; the championship will follow, April 2 through 4. The winning book will be posted April 5.

Click here to print your own bracket. Submissions were due Sunday, so you won't be able to participate in the library's contest, but you can still follow along to see if you can predict the literary tastes of the Cleveland area. And remember to visit the March Book Madness 2011 page to pick your winners in each round of the tournament.


-- Cheryl Sadler | CSadler@News-Herald.com | @nhcheryl