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Matilda wins 2016 UW Book Madness

April 7, 2016
matilda-madness
Matilda is the 2016 UW Book Madness champion

“I’m wondering what to read next.” Matilda said. “I’ve finished all the children’s books.”

The 2016 UW Book Madness champion is Matilda by Roald Dahl.

Matilda took the win by overpowering Jane Austen’s Emma  with 57 percent of the vote in the final found. Matilda had strong showings throughout the most of the rounds of competition, winning its matchups with Straight Man (84%), The Bell Jar (68%), Norwegian Wood (83%), Eleanor and Park (82%), Animal Farm (51%), and Emma (57%) respectively.

Matilda beat Animal Farm by just 7 votes, which was the same score differential for the other semi-final round, in which Emma beat The Count of Monte Cristo by 7 votes.

This is the second year in a row that Orwell got to the final four but not win the championship. Last year, 1984 was in the finals, only to be beaten soundly by The Hobbit.

Bracket Winners

In the bracket competition, only 14 brackets had Matilda in the finals, and only 5 picked it to win it all.

All final bracket scores can be viewed at http://go.wisc.edu/uwbookmadness.

#UWBook Madness Number Crunching

  • Closest vote: Wonder Boys and The Art of Fielding in Round 1 with Wonder Boys winning by 3 votes.
  • Biggest thumping: The Crucible destroyed The Shock Doctrine in Round 1, winning 88% of the votes.
  • Total votes cast: 1,045
  • Total brackets submitted: 211
  • Number of brackets that had both Emma and Matilda in the final: 4
  • The biggest bracket buster: Fight Club. 16 brackets had it win the tournament, but it lost in the first round to Emma, 56-44%
  • Number of brackets that had all Final Four correct: 1 (but then had both finalists wrong!)
  • Number of brackets that had the Elite 8 correct: 1

Previous competitions

  • 2015 results: The Hobbit over 1984 61-39%
  • 2014 results: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban over Game of Thrones 67-33%.
  • 2013 results: The Lord of the Rings over Pride and Prejudice 52-48%.

Can’t get enough?

Get a copy of Matilda, or any of this year’s competitors, at one of the UW-Madison Libraries.

And keep an eye on those reading lists this summer – there are only 10 months to prepare for UW Book Madness 2017.