battle of the books: book list

Book List

A Printer-Friendly version of the 2017-2018 Book List will be uploaded soon.

2017-2018 Book List

(Please make sure you have the most updated version: Version 1.2)

Fiction

• • The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery

  • Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech

  • Baseball in April and Other Stories by Gary Soto

  • The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson

  • The Sign of the Beaver by Elizabeth George Speare

  • The Trumpet of the Swan by E.B. White

  • Wayside School is Falling Down by Louis Sachar

  • The Bicycle Spy by Yona Zeldis McDonough

  • You'll Like it Here (Everybody Does) by Ruth White

  • Standing for Socks by Alyssa Brent Wiseman

  • One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia

  • Absolutely Almost by Lisa Graff

  • Africa is my Home: A Child of the Amistad by Monica Edinger

Graphic Novels

• • Cardboard by Doug TenNapel

  • El Deafo by Cece Bell

Non-Fiction

• • Who was Roald Dahl? by True Kelley

  • If you Lived Here: Houses of the World by Giles Laroche

  • Hoop Genius: How a Desperate Teacher and a Rowdy Gym Class Invented Basketball by John Coy

  • Here Comes the Garbage Barge! by Jonah Winter

  • How to Clean a Hippopotamus: A Look at Unusual Animal Partnerships by Steve Jenkins and Robin Page

  • Fatty Legs by Christy Jordan-Fenton and Margaret Pokiak-Fenton

Poetry

• • Dark Emperor and other Poems of the Night by Joyce Sidman

  • Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices by Paul Fleischman

  • Falling Up by Shel Silverstein

Picture Books

• • The Goodbye Cancer Garden by Janna Matthies, illus. by Kristi Valiant

  • Papa's Mechanical Fish by Candace Fleming, illus. by Boris Kulikov

  • Tucky Jo and Little Heart by Patricia Polacco, illus. by Patricia Polacco

  • What Do You Do with an Idea? by Kobi Yamada, illus. by Mae Besom

  • When Jessie Came Across the Sea by Amy Hest, illus. by P.J. Lynch

  • Last Stop on Market Street by Matt de la Peña, illus. by Christian Robinson

A note:

We understand the incredible value that illustrators play in communicating a story. We chose to include the illustrators’ names for only the books listed in the picture book section, but hope that you will pay attention to the illustrators’ names for every book you read. Questions about the illustrations are allowed for every book on the list, as this is an integral part of the story.

How are Battle of the Books books selected?

The books were selected by a committee made up of Books for a Better World members and representatives from our partnerships: EVSC and Evansville Public Libraries. Looking at a large list of submitted suggestions, we narrowed down the books based off of availability in libraries and selected books using a set of criteria. The criteria were: reading level, interest, gender focus, cultural/ethnic emphasis, and format of the book. 

Submit suggestions for next year’s book list by November 1st, 2017 by sending an email to IndianaBattleoftheBooks@gmail.com.

Where are the books located?

There are many ways to obtain the books on the list. Here are some of the places to check, based off of what is easiest for you to access:

• School library

• Public Library near you-

• Evansville Public Libraries - Paper copies - all of the books on the list are in their system

  • E-books

  • Audio books

  • Online books - Find an online version of the book using Hoopla from the library website. This allows many users to check out a title at the same time.

• Google Books

• myON on DOE website

• Bookstore near you (to buy)

• Kindle (to buy)

*Please be respectful to your teammates and other participants by keeping in mind that if a book is checked out for an extended length of time, that it restricts access to it by everyone. 

Past Booklists

2016-2017 Book List here.