What is Battle of the Books?
• Competition in which students read 12 books in
teams of 4
• Starts @ Beginning of 2 nd quarter and goes on all
school year
• During the competition teams answer questions
about the books they read
• Teams move through a bracket
• Prizes!
• EVEN BETTER this year! 
• The questions are based on information taken from
the books.
• Sample question for The Hunger Games
• In what story does the protagonist fight her way against other
tributes in a man made arena?
Basic Rules
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Teams are made up of 4 students.
Each team must have a team leader.
You’re responsible for maintaining teams.
A team card must be submitted to participate.
It is your responsibility to renew your book every
2 weeks.
6. Can only check out 1 BOB book at a time.
7. You must have a pass to come to meetings and
the competition. If not all members from your
team can attend a meeting, you MUST send at
least one representative!
8. Accept the Canvas invitation to receive upcoming
dates and other information!
How do I Participate?
 Fill out & submit a signup form today!
 Get a group together!
 4 TMS students
 If you don’t have a group (or you only have part of
a group), then Ms. Inverarity will help you find one!
 Accept the Canvas invitation so that you can
receive updates, announcements, etc. from
Ms. Inverarity!
Battle of the Books
2014-2015
Title Selection…
The Raft
by S.A. Bodeen
 256 pages
 Survival/Adventure
Robie is an experienced traveler. She’s taken the flight from Honolulu to the
Midway Atoll, a group of Pacific islands where her parents live, many times. When
she has to get to Midway in a hurry after a visit with her aunt in Hawaii, she gets
on the next cargo flight at the last minute. She knows the pilot, but on this flight,
there’s a new co-pilot named Max. All systems are go until a storm hits during the
flight. The only passenger, Robie doesn’t panic until the engine suddenly cuts out
and Max shouts at her to put on a life jacket. They are over miles of Pacific Ocean.
She sees Max struggle with a raft.
And then . . . she’s in the water. Fighting for her life. Max pulls her onto the raft,
and that’s when the real terror begins.
The City of Ember
by Jeanne DuPrau
 270 pages
 Fantasy
 Dystopian
 Adventure!
The city of Ember was built as a last refuge for the human
race. Two hundred years later, the great lamps that light
the city are beginning to flicker. When Lina finds part of an
ancient message, she’s sure it holds a secret that will save
the city. She and her friend Doon must decipher the
message before the lights go out on Ember forever!
Among the Hidden
by Margaret Peterson Haddix
 153 pages
 Science Fiction
 Dystopian
Luke has never been to school. He's never had a birthday party, or
gone to a friend's house for an overnight. In fact, Luke has never had
a friend.
Luke is one of the shadow children, a third child forbidden by the
Population Police. He's lived his entire life in hiding. Now, with a new
housing development replacing the woods next to his family's farm,
he is no longer even allowed to go outside.
Then, one day Luke sees a girl's face in the window of a house where
he knows two other children already live.
Closed for the
Season
by Mary Downing Hahn
 192 pages
 Mystery
 Suspense/Thriller
Two 13-year-old boys, Arthur and Logan, set out to solve the
mystery of a murder that took place some years ago in the old house
Logan's family has just moved into. The boys' quest takes them to
the highest and lowest levels of society in their small Maryland
town, and eventually to a derelict amusement park that is
supposedly closed for the season.
Travel Team
by Mike Lupica
 288 pages
 Realistic Fiction
 Sports
Twelve-year-old Danny Walker may be the smallest kid on the
basketball court -- but don't tell him that. Because no one plays
with more heart or court sense. But none of that matters when
he is cut from his local travel team, the very same team his
father led to national prominence as a boy. Danny's father, still
smarting from his own troubles, knows Danny isn't the only kid
who was cut for the wrong reason, and together, this washedup former player and a bunch of never-say-die kids prove that
the heart simply cannot be measured.
All the Right Stuff
by Walter Dean Myers
 240 pages
 Realistic Fiction
 Urban
After his father is shot and killed, Paul Dupree finds a
summer job at a Harlem soup kitchen. Elijah, the soup
man, questions Paul about tough life choices, even though
Paul would rather be playing basketball. Over the summer,
Paul begins to understand the importance of taking
control of your life.
Stones in Water
by Donna Jo Napoli
 209 pages
 Historical Fiction
When Roberto sneaks off to see a movie in his Italian village, he
has no idea that life as he knows it is over. German soldiers raid
the theater, round up the boys in the audience, and pack them
onto a train. After a terrifying journey, Roberto and his best
friend Samuele find themselves in a brutal work camp, where
food is scarce and horror is everywhere. The boys vow to stay
together no matter what. But Samuele has a dangerous secret,
which, if discovered, could get them both killed. Lovers of
historical fiction will be captivated by this tragic, triumphant,
and deeply moving novel.
Wonder
by R.J. Palacio
 315 pages
 Realistic Fiction
 Bullying
 Overcoming Adversity
Ten-year-old Auggie Pullman, who was born with extreme facial abnormalities
and was not expected to survive, goes from being home-schooled to entering
fifth grade at a private middle school in Manhattan, which entails enduring the
taunting and fear of his classmates as he struggles to be seen as just another
student.
All his life Auggie has seen the shocked expressions and heard the whispers his
appearance generates, and he has his coping strategies. He knows that except for
how he looks, he's a normal kid. What he experiences is typical middle school—
the good and the bad. Meanwhile, his beautiful sister is starting high school and
having her own problems. She's finding that friendships change and, though it
makes her feel guilty, she likes not being labeled as Auggie's sister. Multiple
people tell this story, including Auggie, two of his new school friends, his sister,
and his sister's former best friend.
Life as We Knew It
by Susan Beth Pfeffer
 360 pages
 Apocalyptic/Post-Apocalyptic
 Survival
 Journal Format
I guess I always felt even if the world came to an end, McDonald’s still would be open.
High school sophomore Miranda’s disbelief turns to fear in a split second when an asteroid
knocks the moon closer to Earth, like "one marble hits another." The result is catastrophic.
How can her family prepare for the future when worldwide tsunamis are wiping out the
coasts, earthquakes are rocking the continents, and volcanic ash is blocking out the sun?
As August turns dark and wintery in northeastern Pennsylvania, Miranda, her two
brothers, and their mother retreat to the unexpected safe haven of their sunroom, where
they subsist on stockpiled food and limited water in the warmth of a wood-burning stove.
Told in a year’s worth of journal entries, this heart-pounding story chronicles Miranda’s
struggle to hold on to the most important resource of all—hope—in an increasingly
desperate and unfamiliar world.
The Alchemyst
by Michael Scott




400 pages
Fantasy
Action/Adventure
Humor
…perfect for fans of The Maze Runner and Percy Jackson and
the Olympians.
The truth: Nicholas Flamel was born in Paris on September
28, 1330. Nearly 700 years later, he is acknowledged as the
greatest Alchemyst of his day. It is said that he discovered
the secret of eternal life.
The records show that he died in 1418.
But his tomb is empty.
The legend: Nicholas Flamel lives. But only because he has
been making the elixir of life for centuries. The secret of
eternal life is hidden within the book he protects—the Book
of Abraham the Mage. It's the most powerful book that has
ever existed. In the wrong hands, it will destroy the world.
That's exactly what Dr. John Dee plans to do when he steals
it. Humankind won't know what's happening until it's too
late. And if the prophecy is right, Sophie and Josh Newman
are the only ones with the power to save the world as we
know it.
Sometimes legends are true.
And Sophie and Josh Newman are about to find themselves
in the middle of the greatest legend of all time.
The Boy from the
Basement
by Susan Shaw
 208 pages
 Child Abuse
 Psychological
For Charlie, the cold, dark basement is home. Father has kept him
locked in there as punishment. Charlie doesn’t intend to leave, but
when he is accidentally thrust outside, he awakens to the alien
surroundings of a world to which he’s never before been exposed.
Though haunted by hallucinations, fear of the basement, and his
father’s rage, Charlie must find a way to survive in his new world. He
has escaped his past, but his journey has just begun.
The Way a Door
Closes
by Hope Anita Smith
 65 pages
 Poetry
With a click, a bang, a whisper—or no noise at all. There are so many ways
that a door can close, but it’s not just the closing; it’s the knowing. And
thirteen-year-old CJ knows too much—about losing his father, about his
family’s pain, and especially about what it means to hold things together
when times are the toughest.
In this beautifully written and powerfully moving novel in poems, Hope
Anita Smith tells the story of a young man’s struggle to accept a father
who has walked out on his family. Here, in CJ’s words, is a portrait of hurt
and healing, and finding the strength to open the door again.