Book List

2024-2025 Book List

Battle of the Books participants read off the book list (which has a variety of genres). They do NOT have to read all of the books to participate, but the more books read, the greater chance they can help their team answer competition questions correctly! 

Click Here for printable 2025 Book List

Fiction

Ahmed Aziz’s Epic Year by Nina Hamza

Camp Famous by Jennifer Blecher

The Eyes and the Impossible by Dave Eggers

Falling Out of Time by Margaret Peterson Haddix

Fish in a Tree by Lynda Mullaly Hunt

From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg

The Labors of Hercules Beal by Gary D. Schmidt

Not All Heroes by Josephine Cameron

See You in the Cosmos by Jack Cheng

The Skull: A Tyrolean Folktale by Jon Klassen

The Superteacher Project by Gordon Korman

Treasure Island: Runaway Gold by Jewell Parker Rhodes

The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street by Karina Yan Glaser

You Are Here: Connecting Flights by Ellen Oh

Nonfiction

The Boys in the Boat: The True Story of an American Team’s Epic Journey to Win Gold at the 1936 Olympics by Daniel James Brown (Adapted for young readers)

Cute as an Axolotl: Discovering the World’s most Adorable Animals by Jess Keating

The Enigma Girls: How Ten Teenagers Broke Ciphers, Kept Secrets, and Helped Win World War II by Candace Fleming

Jumper: A Day in the Life of a Backyard Jumping Spider by Jessica Lanan

The Mona Lisa Vanishes: A Legendary Painter, a Shocking Heist, and the Birth of a Global Celebrity by Nicholas Day

Yummy: A History of Desserts by Victoria Grace Elliott

Poetry

How to Write a Poem by Kwame Alexander

I’m Just No Good at Rhyming: And Other Nonsense for Mischievous Kids and Immature Grown-Ups by Chris Harris

Picture Books

Ancient Night by David Bowles, illustrated by David Álvarez

Big by Vashti Harrison, illustrated by Vashti Harrison

Cora Cooks Pancit by Dorina Lazo Gilmore, illustrated by Kristi Valiant (from Evansville)

Powwow Day by Traci Sorell, illustrated by Madelyn Goodnight

Rick the Rock of Room 214 by Julie Falatko, illustrated by Ruth Chan

There was a Party for Langston by Jason Reynolds, illustrated by Jerome Pumphrey and Jarrett Pumphrey

The World Belonged to Us by Jacqueline Woodson, illustrated by Leo Espinosa

Graphic Novels

Bea Wolf by Zach Weinersmith, illustrated by Boulet

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 & graphic novels sections 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.