Battle of the Books

Mrs. Lopez, Media Specialist Highland Park Middle/High School

Sarah Westlake, Library Student Rutgers, SCILS

The Contest• The Newbery Medal

• The Pura Belpre award

• The Coretta Scott King award

• The Michael Printz award

The Rules• The Newbery Medal

• The Pura Belpre award

• The Coretta Scott King award

• The Michael Printz award

6th Grade Titles• A Single Shard  Linda Sue Park• Artemis Fowl  Eoin Colfer• Because of Winn  Dixie Kate DiCamillo• Bridge to Terabithia  Katherine Paterson• Everything on a Waffle  Polly Horvath• Flipped  Wendelin Van Draanen• From the Mixed Up Files

of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler  E.L. Konigsburg• Niagara Falls, or Does It?  Henry Winkler and Lin Oliver• Regarding the Fountain  Kate Klise• Small Steps: The Year I Got Polio  Peg Kehret• Snow Treasure  Marie McSwigan• Thank You, Jackie Robinson  Barbara Cohen• The White Mountains  John Christopher• Warriors: Into the Wild  Erin Hunter• Windcatcher  Avi

7th/8th Grade Titles• Airborn  Kenneth Oppel• And Then There Were None  Agatha Christie• Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl  Anne Frank• Fever, 1793   Laurie Halse Anderson• Hidden Talents  David Lubar• Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment   James Patterson• Midnight Magic  Avi• The Outsiders  Celia Rees• Shabanu: Daughter of the Wind  Suzanne Fisher Staples• Stargirl  Jerry Spinelli• Surviving the Applewhites  Stephanie S. Tolan• The Boy Who Saved Baseball  John H. Ritter• The City of Ember  Jeanne DuPrau• Whittington   Alan Armstrong

Out of the Dustby Karen Hesse

•Billie Jo's world: 1930’s Oklahoma Dustbowl

“How would you feel if it never rained?  I don't mean for a month or so, but months and months.  You sweep the dust out of your house, but in moments, everything is covered with dust again.”

As if the dust is not enough to cope with, Billie Jo has a serious accident that changes her life forever, and shatters her dream of ever getting out of that place. Be ready with a box of tissues when you read this book.

Olive’s Oceanby Kevin Henkes

“She is the nicest person in my whole entire class.”  That's what Olive wrote about me in her journal. Her mother gave me that page, then thanked me and walked away. I knew who Olive was, but I didn't really know her. 

Now I’ll never get to know her because she’s dead. While I spend my summer at my grandmother’s house on the ocean, I wonder about her. Why would she write about me?  What would she think about if she were here? Would she worry about the same things I do? I wonder.

Find out what happens to Olive…and How Martha copes with the loss.

The Watsons go to Birmingham – 1963

by Christopher Paul Curtis•The Watsons are not an ordinary family in Flint, MI.  (The oldest son, Byron, is so in love with himself that he kisses his reflection in the car mirror and gets his lips stuck! )•When gang influences threaten to change Byron, the Watsons drive 1,000 miles to Birmingham to take him to Grandma Sands, so she can straighten him out.  •The Watson family’s antics will make you laugh like crazy, but what happens when they get to Birmingham is no laughing matter.

Esperanza Risingby Pam Munoz Ryan

"Do not ever be afraid to start over.”This is the advice given to 12-year-old Esperanza by her Abuelita.  Esperanza does not know it, but she will have to follow that advice more than once in the months to come. She is the daughter of a wealthy vineyard owner in Mexico, but everything changes when a tragic accident forces her family to flee to California, where there is discrimination against Mexican immigrants.  Esperanza has to learn to do basic jobs, such as sweeping, that she has never had to do before. The work is hard; the food is simple, and Esperanza must struggle like everyone else. However, like her name implies, perhaps the power of hope for the future can give Esperanza the strength to survive.

The Ear, the Eye and the Arm

by Nancy Farmer–Tendai, Rita, and Kuda have lived their young lives inside a walled fortress called home.  Their powerful father, General Matsika, is afraid that his enemies will kidnap his children.  His fears come true when the children connive to leave the compound so Tendai can earn his Eagle Scout badge, and are abducted.

–The general is desperate to find his children. He’s so desperate that he hires The Ear, the Eye and the Arm - the weirdest detectives in Zimbabwe. One detective can hear a bat burp in a basement 10 miles away. One can see a gnat’s navel on a foggy night. One gets hunches that are always right. They’ll need to use all their powers to find the children.

The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle

by Avi•Before I begin relating what happened, you must know that although my name is Charlotte Doyle, I am not the same Charlotte Doyle I once was. •Although I was warned not to board the brig Seahawk on June 16, 1832, no young girl of good upbringing would dare dream of disobeying her father's orders, and so I boarded the ship. I soon found myself caught between the madness of the ship’s master and the rage of a mutinous crew. •Keeping this journal is what enables me to relate now in perfect detail everything that transpired during that fateful voyage across the Atlantic Ocean in the summer of 1832 and how I came to be accused of murder, brought to trial, and found guilty.

Holesby Louis Sachar

•Stanley is at the end of his luck. •Accused of stealing sneakers, he is sent away to Camp Green Lake rather than jail.•Camp Green Lake is not what it appears.  There is no lake.  There is no camp, unless you consider incarceration a fun way to spend the summer. •Jail would have been a whole lot better. Rising early each day, the boys are made to dig holes, five feet deep and five feet wide in the hot Texas sun.•Out of necessity, Stanley learns to live in the group of outcast boys and befriends Zero.  Why are they digging these holes?  •The plot thickens in tall tale fashion and you can't read fast enough or cheer loud enough for Stanley and Zero.

Skelligby David Almond

•Michael wants his life back the way he dreamed it would be, not clouded now that his new sister is so ill and his parents are so preoccupied. •Mia is the only bright spot is Mina. A girl with strong opinions and many things to teach Michael,.•One day while investigating the garage, he realizes that something or someone is hiding in the far dark corner. He begins a relationship that defies description. •What is Skellig, this creature that Michael and Mina care for? Man? Bird? Angel? What will he mean for their future? •This story guarantees to engage and mystify through to the very last page.

Missing Mayby Cynthia Rylant

•Six-year-old Summer loses her mother.•This orphaned is passed around among her relatives. •No one wants her.•Then Summer meets her Aunt May and Uncle Ob.  May and Ob fall in love with Summer the minute they meet her and give her a real home for the next 6 years.  •When her beloved Aunt May dies, Ob doesn’t seem to want to go on living without her. •Summer must act like the parent and push through her own grief to save her family.

Number the Starsby Lois Lowry

Annemarie and Ellen are friends growing up in Copenhagen during World War II. On the eve of Jewish New Year, most of the Jewish people, including Ellen's parents, flee the city. Ellen hides with Annemarie's family in the city and later goes with them to Uncle Henrik's farm near the sea. Here they become part of an elaborate plan to smuggle the Jews to Sweden, where they will be safe. Annemarie's mother and uncle bravely escort several people to Henrik's boat, where they are hidden below, but Annemarie has an important part to play in the rescue, as well. It is only after the war is over and many lives have been saved that the secrets can be told.

A Step from Heavenby An Na

•4-year-old Young Ju‘s family is going to Mi Gook…just a step from heaven.•People have enough work, beautiful homes and lots of money.  •When the family arrives in America, is is far from Heaven.•She cannot speak the language. The family has very little money and lives in a small, dingy apartment.  •A new baby brother arrives but alienates Young Ju's father even more.  •How can this place be a better place than their home in Korea?  How can they ever fit into this strange new life?

Shabanu: Daughter of the Wind

by Suzanne Fisher StaplesI am Shabanu, daughter of the wind. Mama says I have the name of a princess, but my family is nomadic. We roam the Pakistan desert with out camels and other animals. My older sister, Phulan, is 13 and engaged to be married. Next year I will be married to Murad. Mama says both marriages are a good match because both of the men own land. Sometimes Phulan and I are afraid of the future. We have always known our fate, but sometimes we long for the right to choose our destiny.What will become of us?

Nothing but the Truthby Avi

Have you ever felt like one of your teachers just didn't like you?  In Nothing But the Truth, ninth-grade Philip Malloy was convinced that his English teacher, Miss Narwin, was out to get him.    Phillip attempts to be removed from her classroom and homeroom in hopes of finding a more lenient teacher.  When this fails, he hums the National Anthem and gets sent to the office for not standing at “respectful, silent attention”.  Soon, Mrs. Narwin’s stellar teaching record is under attack and Phillip is questioning his own actions amid a storm of controversy.  Did Phillip do the right thing?  Did Mrs. Narwin do the right thing?  Does anyone even know what the right thing is?

After the Rainby Norma Fox Mazer

Rachel's grandfather acts like a grouch most of the time, and she resents having to spend time pretending to enjoy Sunday visits. When she decides to take on the task of walking with him regularly after school, she starts learning about his life. The extra time with her grandfather starts conflicts with her best friend Helena and her new boyfriend Lewis. In "After the Rain", Rachel struggles to spend time with everyone who is important to her.

Baseball in April and Other Stories

by Gary SotoHave you ever been embarrassed by your grandparents?

Have you ever tried out for a sports team and not made it?

Have you ever been disappointed by a present that wasn’t quite what you wanted?

Well, so have the kids in Gary Soto’s short stories. These stories are all about Latino kids going to the same school in central California, and their problems, worries and thrills are universal.

If you don’t see one of these?

• Look for a “good” title.• Look for interesting covers and spine stickers.• Look for another title by the same author.• Read the first sentence, paragraph or page.• Check the blurb.• Review the OPAC (Here or at HPPL)• Or…ask your Media Specialist.