2012 Battle of the Books Information

6th grade: Monday, February 27, 2012 - 7PM
in Sewickley Academy's Senior School Commons (next to Hansen Library)

• Booklist


• Team Sign Up Sheet

7th & 8th Grade: Tuesday, February 28, 2012 - 7PM
in Sewickley Academy's Hansen Library

• Booklist


• Team Sign Up Sheet
  
  

High School: Monday, March 5, 2012 - 6:30PM
in Sewickley Academy's Hansen Library

• Please arrive by 6:20pm to enjoy pizza and a Skype visit with Ruta Sepetys, author of Between Shades of Gray. The Skype session will run from 6:30-7ish and will be immediately followed by the Battle.


• Booklist


• Team Sign Up Sheet

The Booklists for the Battle are available:

on this Blog
in area school libraries
in Moon Public Library
in Sewickley Public Library

There will be no physical informational meetings this year. Instead, we'll interact virtually within this blog. You are encouraged to ask questions via the comments on each post. This will allow everyone to see your question and my answers. Hopefully this will allow busy teens and Team Managers to get all of the information that they need to participate successfully.

If you have a question for me that you would not like everyone to see, you can email Kelly at Sewickley at rottmundk@einetwork.netor Heather at Moon at panellah@einetwork.net.

High School Battle Books

Battle of the Books 2012

Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys - In 1941, fifteen-year-old Lina, her mother, and brother are pulled from their Lithuanian home by Soviet guards and sent to Siberia, where her father is sentenced to death in a prison camp while she fights for her life, vowing to honor her family and the thousands like hers by burying her story in a jar on Lithuanian soil. Based on the author's family, includes a historical note.

Dash & Lily's Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn & David Levithan - Told in the alternating voices of Dash and Lily, two sixteen-year-olds carry on a wintry scavenger hunt at Christmas-time in New York, neither knowing quite what--or who--they will find.

Fire by Kristin Cashore - In a kingdom called the Dells, Fire is the last human-shaped monster, with unimaginable beauty and the ability to control the minds of those around her, but even with these gifts she cannot escape the strife that overcomes her world.

Hold Still by Nina LeCour - As she reads the journal left by her best friend, who committed suicide, Caitlin struggles with powerful feelings of loss, sadness, and guilt, but friends and a first love help her to cope with her negative emotions.

The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness - Pursued by power-hungry Prentiss and mad minister Aaron, young Todd and Viola set out across New World searching for answers about his colony's true past and seeking a way to warn the ship bringing hopeful settlers from Old World.

The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri - A portrait of the immigrant experience follows the Ganguli family from their traditional life in India through their arrival in Massachusetts in the late 1960s and their difficult melding into an American way of life.

The Poisoner's Handbook: Murder and the Birth of Forensic Medicine in Jazz Age New York by Deborah Blum - The untold story of how poison rocked Jazz Age New York City. A pair of forensic scientists began their trailblazing chemical detective work, fighting to end an era when untraceable poisons offered an easy path to the perfect crime.

Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green & David Levithan - When two teens, one gay and one straight, meet accidentally and discover that they share the same name, their lives become intertwined as one begins dating the other's best friend, who produces a play revealing his relationship with them both.

A Note to Parents and Team Managers

Choosing titles for B.O.B. can be a challenging task! The selected books for 2012 were chosen based on their student appeal, diverse subject matter and characters, representation of a wide variety of genres, and their literary merit. The books were each read, reviewed, and discussed by a team of school and public librarians. Should you have a concern about one of the titles, please feel free to contact Moon or Sewickley libraries.

Thank you,
Heather Panella, Moon Township Public Library
Kelly Rottmund, Sewickley Public Library

*Plot summaries are from the NoveList database.

7th & 8th Grade Battle Books!

Battle of the Books 2012

Around the World in 100 Days by Gary Blackwood - When Harry Fogg undertakes a race against time to win a wager with a member of his famous father's club, he puts to good use the recklessness and fascination with all things mechanical that have caused him trouble in Victorian England.

The Grimm Legacy by Polly Shulman - New York high school student Elizabeth gets an after-

school job as a page at the "New-York Circulating Material Repository," and when she gains coveted

access to its Grimm Collection of magical objects, she and the other pages are drawn into a series of frightening adventures involving mythical creatures and stolen goods.

Heart of a Samurai by Margi Preus - In 1841, rescued by an American whaler after a terrible shipwreck leaves him and his four companions castaways on a remote island Manjiro, who dreams of

becoming a samurai, learns new laws and customs as he becomes the first Japanese person to set foot in the United States.

Incarceron by Catherine Fischer - To free herself from an upcoming arranged marriage, Claudia, the daughter of the Warden of Incarceron, a futuristic prison with a mind of its own, decides to help a young prisoner escape.

A Northern Light by Jennifer Donnelly - In 1906, sixteen-year-old Mattie, determined to attend college and be a writer against the wishes of her father and fiance, takes a job at a summer inn where

she discovers the truth about the death of a guest. Based on a true story.

Pop by Gordon Korman - Lonely after a midsummer move to a new town, high-school quarterback Marcus Jordan becomes friends with a retired professional linebacker who is great at training him, but whose childish behavior keeps Marcus in hot water.

Rot and Ruin by Jonathan Maberry - In a post-apocalyptic world where fences and border patrols guard the few people left from the zombies that have overtaken civilization, Benny Imura is finally convinced that he must follow in his older brother's footsteps and become a bounty hunter.

Smile by Rania Telgemeier - From sixth through tenth grade, Rania copes with a variety of dental problems that affect her appearance and how she feels about herself.

8th Grade Superzero by Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perovich - After half-heartedly joining his church youth group's project at a homeless shelter near his Brooklyn middle school, eighth-grade "loser" Reggie McKnight is inspired to run for school office on a platform of making a real difference in the community.

The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han - Belly spends the summer at the beach just like every other summer of her life, but this time things are very different.

A Note to Parents and Team Managers

Choosing titles for B.O.B. can be a challenging task! The selected books for 2012 were chosen based on their student appeal, diverse subject matter and characters, representation of a wide variety of genres, and their literary merit. The books were each read, reviewed, and discussed by a team of school and public librarians. Should you have a concern about one of the titles, please feel free to contact Moon or Sewickley libraries.

Thank you,
Heather Panella, Moon Township Public Library
Kelly Rottmund, Sewickley Public Library

*Plot summaries are from the NoveList database.

6th Grade Battle Books!

Battle of the Books 2012

Belly Up by Stuart Gibbs - Teddy investigates when a popular Texas zoo's star attraction--Henry the hippopotamus--is murdered.

The Candymakers by Wendy Mass - When four twelve-year-olds, including Logan, who has

grown up never leaving his parents' Life Is Sweet candy factory, compete in the Confectionary Association's annual contest, they unexpectedly become friends and uncover secrets about themselves

during the process.

Countdown by Deborah Wiles - The fearful events of the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis are witnessed by Franny, who finds her life and perspectives changing throughout the course of a week that is also marked by difficult family issues.

Cruisers Book 1 by Walter Dean Myers - Friends Zander, Kambui, LaShonda, and Bobbi,

caught in the middle of a mock Civil War at DaVinci Academy, learn the true cost of freedom of speech

when they use their alternative newspaper, The Cruiser, to try to make peace.

Dark Life by Kat Falls - When Ty, who has always lived on the ocean floor, joins Topside girl Gemma in the frontier's underworld to seek and stop outlaws who threaten his home, they learn that the

government may pose an even greater threat.

Mockingbird by Kathryn Erskine - Caitlin, who has Asperger's Syndrome, struggles to understand emotions, show empathy, and make friends at school, while at home she seeks closure by working on a project with her father.

The Shadows by Jacqueline West - When Olive and her distracted parents move into an old Victorian mansion, she finds herself ensnared in a dark plan involving some mysterious paintings, a

trapped and angry nine-year-old boy, and three talking cats.

The Storm in the Barn by Matt Phelan - Facing his share of ordinary challenges, from local bullies to his father's failed expectations, eleven-year-old Jack Clark must also deal with the effects of the Dust Bowl in 1937 Kansas, including the rising tensions in his small town and the spread of a shadowy illness.

The Strange Case of Origami Yoda by Tom Angleberger - Sixth-grader Tommy and his friends describe their interactions with a paper finger puppet of Yoda, worn by their weird classmate Dwight, as they try to figure out whether or not the puppet can really predict the future. Includes instructions for making Origami Yoda.

A Tale Dark and Grimm by Adam Gidwitz - This book follows Hansel and Gretel as they walk out of their own story and into eight more tales, encountering such wicked creatures as witches, along with kindly strangers and other helpful folk. Based in part on the Grimms' fairy tales Faithful Johannes, Hansel and Gretel, The Seven Ravens, Brother and Sister, The Robber Bridegroom, and The Devil and His Three Golden Hairs.

A Note to Parents and Team Managers

Choosing titles for B.O.B. can be a challenging task! The selected books for 2012 were chosen based on their student appeal, diverse subject matter and characters, representation of a wide variety of genres, and their literary merit. The books were each read, reviewed, and discussed by a team of school and public librarians. Should you have a concern about one of the titles, please feel free to contact Moon or Sewickley libraries.

Thank you,
Heather Panella, Moon Township Public Library
Kelly Rottmund, Sewickley Public Library

*Plot summaries are from the NoveList database.