2011-12 BATTLE OF THE BOOKS
* RED DENOTES NEW BOOKS

A BRAND NEW ME (Hank Zipzer Series) by Henry Winkler – It is graduation time for Hank and all his friends and time and time to move on from PS87 to middle school. The trouble is there are tests Hank had to pass to get into the same middle schools as his friends. His learning differences might get in the way. Luckily, a life altering audition at a performing arts middle school helps him find his true path.

THE ALCHEMYST (The Secret of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel Series) by Michael Scott – 15 year old twins, Josh and Sophie it turns out are potentially powerful magicians. They are spoken of in a prophecy appearing in the ancient Book of Abraham of Mage. All but two pages of which have been stolen be evil john Dee, alchemist and magician.

THE BEEF PRINCESS OF PRACTICAL COUNTY by Michelle Houts – “Calves don’t need names,” Libby’s dad warns as she chooses her first two steers to show at the Practical County Fair. Yet in her enthusiasm and determination to bring a ribbon home to Ryansmeade, the family farm and cattle ranch, Libby immediately names the animals Piggy and Mule and falls in love. How will she ever sell them at auction now?

BELLY UP by Stuart Gibbs – Teddy Fitzroy, 12, yearns for a little excitement at FunJungle, an animal theme park in Texas where his parents work. When star attraction Henry the Hippo dies under mysterious circumstances, Teddy is convinced that it was murder. Colorful suspects abound, from Large Marge, the security guard, all the way up to J.J. McCraken himself, billionaire owner of FunJungle. Teddy teams up with J.J.’s daughter to ferret out culprit even as animal-related accidents begin to threaten his safety.

BIRDIE’S BOOK (The Fairy Godmother Academy Series) by Jan Bozarth – Shortly after her family moves from California to New York, 12 year old Birdie decides that it is time to meet her maternal grandmother, from whom her mother has been estranged. Granny Mo turns out to be a warm and wonderful person who shares the child’s love of plants. As it turns out, they also share a deep family connection with the fairy world, called Aventurine. After Birdie inadvertently travels there, she meets Kerka, and together the girls attempt to rid an ancient and powerful tree of a life destroying blight.

BLACK RADISHES by Susan Meyer – Gustave Becker, 11, lives in Paris, enjoying his time with his friend Marcel and his cousin Jean Paul. Then his parents suddenly announce that the family will be moving to Saint Georges, which they believe to be safer, until they can get visas to go to America.

THE BRIMSTONE KEY (Grey Griffins: The Clockwork Chronicles Series) by Derek Benz & J.S. Lewis – A year ago, the Griffins were just regular kids from Avalon, Minnesota. That was before they learned about the existence of evil fairies, werewolves, and other things that go bump in the night. Now they are monster hunters, celebrated heroes, and allies to the legendary Templar Knights, but even heroes have to go to school.

THE CASE OF THE CASE OF MISTAKEN IDENTITY (Brixton Brothers) by Mac Barnett & Adam Rex – Aspiring detective Steve Brixton, 12, gets more than he bargained for when he becomes mixed up with crime-fighting and undercover operatives who are also librarians! Steve, an avid reader, had been diligently studying The Bailey Brothers’ Detective Handbook and has turned into quite a super sleuth. He is working on a social studies project on early American needle work (definitely not his choice) at the library, and checks out An Illustrated History of American Quilting when a man holds a gun to his head. It seems that all books have coded information in their Library of Congress numbers for the Librarians, who are highly trained intelligence agents.

THE CASE OF THE MISSING MARQUESS (Enola Holmes Series) by Nancy Springer – Enola was a late-life baby, causing something of a scandal in society. Her rather vague mother is a 64 year old widow who disappears on Enola’s 14^th Birthday. It takes the girl a short time to realize that her mother left her some ciphers that indicate why she went away and how she is faring. The teen reluctantly enlists the services of her adult brothers, who quickly determine that Lady Holmes had been padding the household accounts for years. When they decide that their sister belongs at a boarding school, Enola escapes and heads for London dressed as a widow.

CHASING LINCOLN’S KILLER: THE SEARCH FOR JOHN WILKES BOOTH by James L. Swanson – Devoted to the South, John Wilkes Booth had planned to kidnap Lincoln and hold him hostage, but when that plan did not materialize, he hatched his assassination plot. Coconspirators in Washington, Maryland, and Virginia helped him escape and evade capture for 12 days before being surrounded in a barn and killed.

CONFETTI GIRL by Diana Lopez – Lina attends middle school in Corpus Christi, TX, had a crush on classmate Luis, loves science and sports and has a sock obsession as a result of her pants never being long enough for her tall body. Her best friend, Vanessa Cantu, lives across the street with her mother, who is still bitter about a divorce that happened a few years earlier. Lina’s mother died last year and her father is still grieving but struggling to live up to his responsibilities.

THE COWGIRL WAY: HATS OFF TO AMERICA’S WOMEN OF THE WEST by Holly George Warren – Famous figures such as Belle Starr, Calamity Jane and Annie Oakley are discussed. The real delights are the anecdotes on lesser known figures such as Lucille Mulhall, the first woman to be dubbed a cowgirl in print. By age 11, she could rope animals including steers, jackrabbits and wolves. The introduction of women as rodeo and trick riders and their contributions to the sports in the 1920’s and 30’s are covered along with the film and singing sensations of the 1940’s and 50’s such a Barbara Stanwyck and Dale Evans.

DARING TO DREAM (Wildwood Stables Series) by Suzanne Weyn – Taylor Henry loves horses, but here single mom can’t afford riding lessons, much less a horse. So when she discovers an abandoned gelding and pony, Taylor is happy just to be around them. The rescued animals have nowhere to go and Taylor is running out of time to find them a good home. Could the empty old barn on Wildwood Lane be the answer? Could Taylor’s wildest dream of a horse to call her own finally be coming true?

DESPERATE JOURNEY by Tim Murphy – Maggie Haggerty lives and works on a boat on the Erie Canal with her mother, father, uncle and younger brother. Set in 1848, this novel follows what happens when her father and uncle are arrested for assault. Her mother has been ill, so it falls to the 12 year old to get their shipment to Buffalo in time to make their much needed bonus so they won’t lose their boat and to get back to New Boston in time for the trial.

DORK DIARIES: TALES OF A NOT-SO-FABULOUS LIFE by Rachel R. Russell – Fourteen year old Nikki J. Maxwell has been awarded a scholarship to a prestigious private school as a part of her father’s bug extermination contract. She deals with the resident mean girl, her embarrassing parents, her crush on the hot boy and making new friends are all recorded alongside numerous sketches of her life.

THE DRAGON OF CRIPPLE CREEK by Troy Howell – Katlin Graham’s passion for gold and adventure has steered her family into the rowdy, historical town of Cripple Creek, Colorado. True to her curiosity streak, she strays from the Mollie Kathleen Gold Mine tour to explore a closed-off tunnel, and after an accidental fall, discovers a breathtaking secret: Deep below the mine lives a dragon the last dragon on earth. Ye is his name and he inhabits a glittering wonderland, surrounded by heaps of gold.

THE EMERALD ATLAS (Book of Beginnings) by John Stephens - A snowy winter’s night three small children was chased from their home by the forces of a merciless darkness. Ten years later, Kate, Michael, and Emma are no closer to the truth about what separated their family. The answer lies with an enchanted atlas.

ESCAPE BY NIGHT: A CIVIL WAR ADVENTURE by Laurie Myers – Ten year old Tommy and his sister Annie are intrigued by the new soldiers arriving in their Georgia town. Since the Civil War started, wounded men waiting to be treated at the local church turned hospital have been coming in by droves. When Tommy sees the soldier drop his notebook, he sends his dog, Samson to fetch it. Tommy soon meets the soldier and is faced with the hardest decision he’s ever had to make, whether or not he should help a Yankee escape to freedom.

EYE OF THE CROW (Boy Sherlock Holmes Series) by Shane Peacock – Sherlock Holmes, just thirteen, is a misfit. His highborn mother is the daughter of aristocratic family, his father a poor Jew. Their marriage flouts tradition and makes them social pariahs in the London of the 1860’s; and their son, Sherlock, bears the burden of their rebellion. Friendless, bullied at school, he belongs nowhere and has only his wits to help him make his way.

FAITH, HOPE AND IVY JUNE by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor – Ivy June is from rural coal country in Kentucky staying with an upper middle class family for two weeks over spring break and the return visit of the daughter of that household, Catherine. The living situations of the seventh graders are at two extremes and yet both girls have the humanity and distinctness that allow them to escape the confines of representing their classes. Make no mistake, this is Ivy June’s story, and her family woes are not. The exchange program set up by the schools is a perfect showcase for looking at the role of wealth and poverty in our assumptions about one another.

FLIPPED by Wendelin Van Draanen – Julie Baker devoutly believes in three things: the sanctity of trees (especially her beloved sycamore), the wholesomeness of the eggs she collects from her backyard flock of chickens, and that someday she will kiss Bryce Loski. Ever since she saw Bryce’s baby blues back in second grade, Julie has been smitten. Unfortunately, Bryce has never felt the same. Frankly, he thinks Juli Baker is a little weird after all, what kind of freak raises chickens and sits in trees for fun?

FLUSH by Carl Hiaasen – Noah Underwood’s dad has sunk the gambling ship, the Coal Queen, in protest. Now the elder Underwood is launching a media campaign form his jail cell to raise public awareness since the sewage spewing ship will soon be back in operation. Though Noah and his younger sister Abbey believe in their father’s cause, they also fear their mother will file for divorce if he continues to react so outrageously to environment issues.

FOOTBALL HERO by Tim Green – In this novel by a former NFL star, middle schooler Ty Lewis is going through a tough time following the death of his parents. He has been taken in by his aunt and uncle, but they treat him badly, dressing him in hand me downs, making him sleep on a mattress on the floor of the laundry room and forcing him to us a portable toilet in the backyard even though there is a bathroom in the house.

THE GATEWAY (Leven Thump Series) by Obert Skye – Two teens, a small, furry “sycophant,” and a talking toothpick try to prevent evil forces from destroying two worlds in this lighthearted fantasy. “Foo is the world form which all dreams come and the villainous Sabine wants to find the gateway from there into our world. This would destroy both worlds, so the reluctant title hero and his magical companions try to prevent it.

THE GRIMM LEGACY by Polly Shulman – Feeling left out from her stepfamily at home and from her classmates at her new school; Elizabeth is delighted when she gets a job at the New York Circulating Material Repository, a library that loans objects of historical value. She’s particularly intrigued when she’s given access to the Grimm Collection, a secret room that holds magical objects from the Brothers’ tales. When the items start to disappear, she and her fellow pages embark on a dangerous quest to catch a thief, only to find themselves among the suspects.

HOT HEAD by Cal Ripken Jr. – Connor Sullivan is a talented player for his Babe Ruth League baseball team. His athletic prowess, though, is offset by his explosive temper, which earns him suspensions and the enmity of his teammates. He also finds himself the subject of critical articles by a student reporter, Melissa Morrow. At home, Connor’s father is out of work, the bills are mounting and his parents do not have a lot of patience for Connor’s behavior.

INCIDENT AT HAWK’S HILL by Allan W. Eckert – Six year old Ben is very small for his age and gets along better with animals than people. One June day in 1870, Ben wanders away from his home on Hawk’s Hill and disappears into the waving prairie grass. This is the story of how a shy, lonely boy survives for months in the wilds and forges a bond with a female badger.

KID vs. SQUID by Greg van Eekhout – Thatcher is reluctantly sent to spend the summer between sixth and seventh grades helping his great-uncle Griswald run his Museum of the Strange and Curious on the boardwalk of the fictional coastal tourist town of Las Huesas, CA. When a girl, Shoal, breaks into the museum and steals a witch’s head, Thatcher pursues her. He soon finds himself in a world of maritime monsters that might just be plotting to destroy civilization. He allies himself with Trudy, a girl with the tools and the talents of a detective and eventually with Shoal, to save the world.

LEEPIKE RIDGE by N.D. Wilson – Eleven year old Tom Hammond lives with his widowed mother in a windblown old house chained to the top of a gigantic rock. One night, unable to sleep, he heads down to the stream that borders their property, where he has left a heavy piece of refrigerator packing foam. What starts out as aimless drifting down quiet water turns deadly when Tom’s foam slab feeds into the rougher mountain water and he is pulled under a rock, ending up in an underwater cavern. The secrets he discovers while attempting to find his way out of the mountain caves are surprising.


LIAR LIAR by Gary Paulsen – Kevin doesn’t mean to make trouble when he lies. He’s just really good at it, and it makes life so much easier. But as his lies pile up, he finds himself in big and funny trouble with his friends, family and teachers. He’s got to find a way to end his lying streak forever.

MAGIC BELOW STAIRS by Caroline Stevermer – When Frederick Lincoln, an orphan, is chosen to be trained as a footman in the house of Thomas Scholfield, he brings nothing with him or so it seems. The boy is actually accompanies by Billy Bly, a hardworking but mischievous brownie. Is Frederick’s uncanny boot polishing and cravat tying skills due to his own eagerness to be useful or to a budding magical talent helped along by Billy Bly?

MICHAEL VEY: THE PRISONER OF CELL 25 by Richard Paul Evans – To everyone at Meridian High School, Michael Vey is an ordinary fourteen year old. In fact, the only thing that seems to set him apart is the fact that he has Tourette’s syndrome. Michael is anything but ordinary. Michael has special powers. Michael thinks he’s unique until her discovers that a cheerleader named Taylor also has special powers. With the help of Michael’s friend Ostin, the three of them set out to discover how Michael and Taylor ended up this way. Their investigation brings them to the attention of a powerful group who wants to control the electric children and through them the world.

MIDDLE SCHOOL, THE WORST YEARS OF MY LIFE by James Patterson – Rafe Khatchadorian has enough problems at home without throwing his first year of middle school into the mix. Luckily, he’s got an ace plan for the best year ever, if only he can pull it off. With his best friend Leonardo the Silent awarding him points, Rafe tries to break every rule in the school’s oppressive Code of Conduct. But when Rafe’s game starts to catch up with him, he’ll have to decide if winning is all that matters or if he’s finally ready to face the rules, bullies and truths he’s been avoiding.

THE MONEY PIT MYSTERY by Eric Walters – Sam and Beth accompany their mother on a visit to their grandfather’s home on Oak Island. This is their first visit in three years, since their mother and grand-dad had a terrible fight over something nobody wants to talk about. What occurs when they arrive is more than Sam could have hoped for, more surprising than the magic tricks he spends hours perfecting. Something strange seems to be happening to grand-dad, a fact confirmed by his odd behavior and the disgusting state of his once immaculate home. Apart from losing his memory, he’s also spending a lot of time engaged in a bizarre hunt for a 200 year old treasure. When Sam is bitten by the treasure bug too, not even the discovery of a human skull of a dangerous run in with a monstrous digging machine can keep him and the whole family form plunging into a breakneck-speed mystery in which the winner will take all.

MY THIRTEENTH SEASON by Kristi Roberts – After moving to a new town, star baseball player Fran Cullers discovers that she is not welcome on the boys’ team. Her father’s grief over her mother’s death prevents him from being much support or help. Although the coach is removed from the team for his abuse toward her, Fran is badly shaken and falls into a slump. She decides to give up the game but finds that living without baseball is like living without her mom.

NAVAJO CODE TALKERS by Nathan Aaseng – A fascinating account that sheds light on a little known contribution of the Navajos during World War II. A civil engineer who spent his childhood among them suggested that their language be used as a perfect unbreakable code. The result was one of the most secret important aspects of U.S. Intelligence work against the Japanese Navajo code talking.

PRIDE AND PREJUDICE (Great Illustrated Classics) by Jane Austen – Jane and Elizabeth Bennet are not only sisters, but best friends. They share all their hopes and dreams. When Jane falls in love, Elizabeth is thrilled for her. But Jane’s dream falls apart and Elizabeth knows just who to blame- proud and handsome Darcy, the very man Elizabeth finds herself both loving and hating at the same time!

R MY NAME IS RACHEL by Patricia Reilly Giff – It’s 1936 and twelve year old Rachel’s family doesn’t have two nickels to rub together. Rachel lives in the city with Pop and her younger brother and sister, Joey and Cassie. Rachel’s mother died long ago, but the family has a special friend in Miss Mitzi at the flower shop and they know everyone on their block. Pop needs a job. His search for work lands the family on a farm upstate, in North Lake.

RED PYRAMID (Kane Chronicles Series) by Rick Riordan – Carter, 14 and Sadie, 12 have grown up apart. He has traveled all over the world with his Egyptologist father, Dr. Julius Kane, while Sadie has lived in London with her grandparents. Their mother passed away under mysterious circumstances, so when their father arrives in London and wants to take them both on a private tour of the British Museum, all is not necessarily what it seems.

ROY MORRELLI STEPS UP TO THE PLATE by Thatcher Heldring – Poor grades trip up a talented but arrogant eighth grader destined (or so he thinks) to play for the local All Star and high school baseball team. Bored to tears in history class and on the verge of failing, Roy in nonetheless outraged when his divorced parents pull him out of all baseball except the wretched weekend rec league and saddle him with a tutor, who also happens to be his dad’s new girlfriend.

SCEPTOR OF THE ANCIENTS (Skulduggery Pleasant Series) by Derek Landy – When 12 year old Stephanie’s eccentric Uncle Gordon dies, a mysterious man bundled in an overcoat, scarf, sunglasses and a hat shows up at both the funeral and the reading of the will. This man as it turns out is Skulduggery Pleasant, a walking, talking skeleton who rescues Stephanie when she is attacked while alone in the house that she has just inherited. It seems that a particularly evil person name Serpine is trying to obtain a scepter that will allow him to rule the world. Stephanie is swept into a world of magic, secrets, power and intrigue as she and Skulduggery try to keep one step ahead of Serpine and various nefarious folk.

THE SECRET KINGDOM (The Chronicles of the Red King) by Jenny Nimmo – Timoken is a prince born in a secret kingdom. At his birth, a forest jinni bestows magical gifts upon him. A cloak made by the last moon spider and a portion called Alixir. When the peaceful land is attacked, Timoken and his sister, Zobayda, must find a new kingdom to call home. Together, with only the magical gifts and a talking camel, the siblings set off.

THE SECRET ZOO by Bryan Chick – Noah, his sister Megan and their best friends, Richie and Ella, live next door to the zoo. Megan is the first to notice the puzzling behavior of some of the animals. One day Megan disappears and her brother and their friends realize it’s up to them to find her. Their only choice is to follow a series of clues and sneak into the zoo. Once inside, will they discover there’s much more to the Clarksville City Zoo than they could ever have guessed?

SEVEN SORCERERS by Caro King –Nin Redfern wakes up one Wednesday to discover that her little brother, Toby, vanished and no one not her mother, not her grandparents can remember him. Only Nin can and she’s going to get him back. When Bogeyman Skerridge (who always gets his child) comes for Nin too, she realizes that finding Toby is going to be a lot harder than she thought.

THE SHADOWS (The Books of Elsewhere Series) by Jacqueline West – When 11 year old Olive moves into the crumbling old mansion on Linden Street, she’s right to think there’s something weird about the place, especially the walls covered in creepy antique paintings. When she finds a pair of old fashioned glasses in a dusty drawer, she discovers the most peculiar thing yet.

THEODORE BOONE: KID LAWYER by John Grisham – There are many lawyers and though he’s only thirteen years old, Theo Boone thinks he’s one of them. Theo knows every judge, policeman, court clerk and a lot about the law. He dreams of being a great trial lawyer, of a life in the courtroom. Theo finds himself in court much sooner than expected.

UMBRELLA SUMMER by Lisa Graff - Annie Richards know there are a million things to look out for, bicycle accidents, chicken pox, runaway zoo animals. That’s why being careful is so important, even if it does mean giving up some of her favorite things like bike races with her best friend and hot dogs on the Fourth of July. Everyone keeps telling Annie not to worry so much, that she’s just fine. Bu they thought her brother, Jared, was just fine too, and Jared died. It takes a new neighbor to make Annie realize that her plans for being careful aren’t working out as well as she’d hoped. With a lot of help from those around her, Annie just may find a way to close her umbrella of sadness and step back into the sunshine.

UNSINKABLE (Titanic Series) by Gordon Korman – The Titanic is meant to be unsinkable, but as it begins its maiden voyage, there’s plenty of danger waiting for four of its young passengers. Paddy is a stowaway, escaping a deadly past. Sophie’s mother is delivered to the ship by police after she and Sophie have been arrested. Juliana’s father is an eccentric whose riches can barely hide his madness and Alfie is hiding a secret that could get linked with the fate of Titanic. The farther they get from shore the more the danger looms.

WE THE CHILDREN (Benjamin Pratt and the Keepers of the School Series) by Andrew Clements – Sixth grader Benjamin Pratt is weathering a few different storms. His parents have just split up, his school a landmark in his old New England sailing town is about to be torn down and the janitor sneaks him a mysterious gold coin hours before he dies unexpectedly.

WINDCATCHER by Avi – Tony Souza, 11, use his paper route earnings to buy a 12 foot sailboat that he takes with him when he spends part of the summer with his grandmother on the Connecticut shore. During his stay, learn to sail and becomes intrigued by tales of buried treasure in the area. He and his grandmother learn more about the treasure and he begins to piece together clues to its whereabouts. As he hunts, Tony encounters a couple who are illegally diving for the treasure and they warn him away from their boat with an attack on his sailboat.