1. Battle of the Books

2. What’s it all about?  It’s a reading program for students who love to read and discuss books.  Teams read books from a pre-selected list of 20 titles. Many of the books are William Allen White nominees.  Teams meet often to practice, compare notes and master the details.  Teams compete starting at the end of January. Questions will be given orally to teams in battle. The team who can answer the most questions correctly will be the “champions”.

3. Who can participate?  4 th and 5 th grade students  Form teams of 4-6 students from the same grade level. (You can request team members – or leave it to me to place you.)  Everyone who wants to participate can do so.

4. How do I sign up?  Take home a registration packet and talk it over with your parents (permission required)  Talk to your friends - round up a team  Recruit an adult facilitator to help you stay organized.  Turn in your team forms to Mrs. Fiedler by September 21 st.

5.  Students joining this program are required to read novels independently at home to help their team be successful for the battles in the spring. We are asking students that sign up to make a commitment to finish the entire program if the chose to join.

6. What books are on the list?

7. Hachiko Waits by Leslea Newman  Professor Ueno's loyal dog, Hachiko, waits for him at the train station every afternoon, and even after the professor has a fatal heart attack while at work, Hachiko faithfully continues to await his return until the day the dog dies. Based on a true story.

8. Through My Eyes by Ruby Bridges  Ruby Bridges recounts the story of her involvement, as a six-year-old, in the integration of her school in New Orleans in 1960.

9. Love That Dog by Sharon Creech  A young student, who comes to love poetry through a personal understanding of what different famous poems mean to him, surprises himself by writing his own inspired poem.

10. The Secret School by Avi  In 1925, fourteen- year-old Ida Bidson secretly takes over as the teacher when the one-room schoolhouse in her remote Colorado area closes unexpectedly.

11. Frindle by Andrew Clements  When he decides to turn his fifth-grade teacher's love of the dictionary around on her, clever Nick Allen invents a new word and begins a chain of events that quickly moves beyond his control.

12. Loser by Jerry Spinelli  Even though his classmates from first grade on have considered him strange and a loser, Daniel Zinkoff's optimism and exuberance and the support of his loving family do not allow him to feel that way about himself.

13. Dovey Coe by Frances O’Roark Dowell  Accused of murder in her North Carolina mountain town in 1928, Dovey Coe, a stronged- willed twelve-year-old girl, comes to a new understanding of others, including her deaf brother, as she attempts to clear her name.

14. The Man Who Loved Clowns by June Rae Wood  Thirteen-year-old Delrita, whose unhappy life has caused her to hide from the world, loves her uncle Punky but sometimes feels ashamed of his behavior because he has Down syndrome.

15. The Black Stallion by Walter Farley  The story of the understanding and love between a boy and a magnificent wild horse and the adventures and dangers they shared.

16. Ida B. and Her Plans to Maximize Fun… by Katherine Hannigan  In Wisconsin, fourth- grader Ida B. spends happy hours being home-schooled and playing in her family's apple orchard, until her mother begins treatment for cancer and her parents must sell part of the orchard and send her to public school.

17. Incredible Journey by Sheila Burnford  A Siamese cat, an old bull terrier, and a young Labrador retriever travel together 250 miles through the Canadian wilderness to find their family.

18. Help! I’m a Prisoner in the Library by Eth Clifford  Two girls spend an adventurous night trapped inside the public library during a terrible blizzard.

19. Jim Thorpe’s Bright Path by Joseph Bruchac  A biography of Native American athlete Jim Thorpe, focusing on how his boyhood education set the stage for his athletic achievements which gained him international fame and Olympic gold medals.

20. No Dogs Allowed by  Twelve-year-old Kristina, still struggling to come to terms with the death of her beloved horse, finds it difficult to accept the new dog she receives for her birthday.

21. Time for Andrew: A Ghost Story by Mary Downing Hahn  When he goes to spend the summer with his great-aunt in the family's old house, eleven-year- old Drew is drawn eighty years into the past to trade places with his great-great- uncle who is dying of diphtheria.

22. Chancey of the Maury River * by Gigi Amateau Chancey of the Maury River * by Gigi Amateau  After being abandoned, Chancey, an albino Appaloosa horse, finds a new home with Claire who needs him as much as he needs her, but as his eyesight deteriorates, he and Claire start anew as a therapeutic team.

23. Masterpiece * by Elise Broach ; Kelly Murphy  After Marvin, a beetle, makes a miniature drawing as an eleventh birthday gift for James, a human with whom he shares a house, the two new friends work together to help recover a Durer drawing stolen from the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

24. Eleven * by Patricia Reilly Giff  When Sam, who can barely read, discovers an old newspaper clipping just before his eleventh birthday, it brings forth memories from his past, and, with the help of a new friend at school and the castle they are building for a school project, his questions are eventually answered.

25. Swindle * by Gordon Korman  After unscrupulous collector S. Wendell Palamino cons him out of a valuable baseball card, sixth-grader Griffin Bing puts together a band of misfits to break into Palomino's heavily guarded store and steal the card back, planning to use the money to finance his father's failing invention, the SmartPick fruit picker.

26. The Adventures of Sir Lancelot the Great* by Gerald Morris ; Aaron Renier  Relates tales of Sir Lancelot, the bravest knight in King Arthur's court

27. Chancey of the Maury River * by Gigi Amateau  After being abandoned, Chancey, an albino Appaloosa horse, finds a new home with Claire who needs him as much as he needs her, but as his eyesight deteriorates, he and Claire start anew as a therapeutic team.

28. Masterpiece * by Elise Broach ; Kelly Murphy  After Marvin, a beetle, makes a miniature drawing as an eleventh birthday gift for James, a human with whom he shares a house, the two new friends work together to help recover a Durer drawing stolen from the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

29. Eleven * by Patricia Reilly Giff  When Sam, who can barely read, discovers an old newspaper clipping just before his eleventh birthday, it brings forth memories from his past, and, with the help of a new friend at school and the castle they are building for a school project, his questions are eventually answered.

30. Swindle * by Gordon Korman  After unscrupulous collector S. Wendell Palamino cons him out of a valuable baseball card, sixth-grader Griffin Bing puts together a band of misfits to break into Palomino's heavily guarded store and steal the card back, planning to use the money to finance his father's failing invention, the SmartPick fruit picker.