Battle Books Roster 2012-2013
Title
Cover
Lexile
Genre
Copies/
Playaway
10/0
Author
Summary
Lynda
Mullaly Hunt
Carley uses humor and street smarts to keep her emotional walls high and thick. But the day she becomes
a foster child, and moves in with the Murphys, she's blindsided. This loving, bustling family shows Carley
the stable family life she never thought existed. Despite her resistance, the Murphys eventually show her
what it feels like to belong -- until her mother wants her back.
One for the Murphys
224 p.
©2012
Gr. 5-8
520
Realistic
Fiction
City of Ember
270 p.
©2003
Gr. 4-7
680
Dystopian
Fiction
8/1
Jeanne
DePrau
Anxiety is high and rising in the City of Ember as food and supplies run low, and power failures are
becoming longer and more frequent. Lina, a 12-year-old messenger, discovers a damaged document that
hints at a way out. She and a classmate, Doon, piece together evidence and find a cave filled with boats
near the river that runs beneath Ember. Sadly, their discovery may end in disaster when the corrupt
Mayor and his evil cronies find out.
Things Not Seen
251 p.
©2004
Gr. 5-8
690
Science
Fiction
10/0
Andrew
Clements
A 15-year-old boy discovers that he has turned invisible overnight and becomes determined to take
control of the situation and of his own destiny by investigating scientific principles of physics. A new blind
friend provides invaluable insights.
Out of My Mind
295 p.
©2010
Gr. 5-8
700
Realistic
Fiction
13/0
Sharon
Draper
Melody is not like most people. She cannot walk or talk, but she is smart – in fact, she has a photographic
memory! She can remember even the tiniest detail of everything she has ever experienced. Melody has
cerebral palsy, but she refuses to be defined by it. She's determined to let everyone know who she really
is...somehow.
The Silver Bowl
307 p.
©2011
Gr. 5-8
700
Paranormal
and
Historical
Fiction
10/0
Diane
Stanley
From the age of seven - when she became scullery maid in a castle - Molly has seen visions of the future
which, years later, lead her and friend Tobias on an adventure to keep Alaric, the heir to the throne, safe
from a deadly curse.
Swindle
252 p.
©2009
Gr. 3-7
710
Realistic
Fiction
9/1
Gordon
Korman
After an unscrupulous collector cons Griffin Bing out of a valuable baseball card, he puts together a band
of misfits to break into the thief’s heavily guarded pawn shop. He plans to steal the card back and use
the money to finance his father's failing invention, the Smart Pick fruit picker.
Coraline
162 p.
©2002
Gr. 5-8
740
Fantasy
19/0
Neil Gaiman
When Coraline’s family moves into a new house, she notices a mysterious door. It originally went to
another part of the house, which her family does not own. Bored one day, she investigates the door,
which takes her into an alternate reality. There she meets her "other" mother and father. They are kind
to her - which pleases Coraline - but also makes her suspicious. When Coraline gets nervous and returns
home, her parents are gone. With the help of a talking cat, she figures out that they are being held
prisoner by her “other” parents, along with the souls of some long-lost children. Coraline's plan to rescue
them involves, among other things, making a risky bargain.
(Paranormal
& Suspense)
Title
Cover
Lexile
Genre
Copies/
Playaway
Author
Summary
Elephant Run
318 p.
©2009
Gr. 5-8
750
Historical
Fiction
7/0
Roland Smith
Nick's father and others are taken prisoner when his plantation in Burma is invaded by the Japanese in
1941, leaving Nick and his friend Mya to risk their lives in order to free them from the POW camp.
James & the Giant Peach
126 p.
©2006, 1961 (original)
Gr, 3-6
870
Fantasy
(Animals)
14/0
Roald Dahl
A young orphaned boy escapes from two wicked aunts and embarks on a series of adventures with six
giant insects he meets inside a giant peach.
The White Giraffe
180 p.
©2006, 2008
Gr. 3-6
940
Fantasy
(Animals)
8/0
St. John
After a fire kills her parents, eleven-year-old Martine must leave England to live with her grandmother on
a wildlife game reserve in South Africa, where she befriends a mythical white giraffe.
Heat
220 p.
©2006, 2007
Gr. 5-8
940
Realistic
Fiction
(Sports)
9/0
Mike Lupica
Pitching prodigy Michael Arroyo is on the run from social services after being banned from playing Little
League baseball because rival coaches doubt he is only twelve years old and he has no parents to offer
them proof.
Bud, NOT Buddy
245 p,
©1999
Gr. 5-8
950
Historical
Fiction
8/0
Christopher
Paul Curtis
Ten-year-old Bud, a motherless boy living in Flint, Michigan, during the Great Depression, escapes a bad
foster home and sets out in search of the man he believes to be his father -- a famous musician, H.E.
Calloway of Grand Rapids.