Monthly Archives: March 2019

Vote for Next Year’s Books!

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UPDATE: The voting timeline has now been extended through 3/28 at 4:00 PM. 

The time has come to vote for next year’s Battle Books! Thank you to everyone who recommended books, and to the sponsors who reviewed the books and pared down the list to the best offerings. If you are wondering why a recommended book did not make the cut, you can read the analysis here.

Ballot:

  • You must be signed in to your LCPS account to vote! If the form is not working, please comment on this post.
  • The form collects your email address so that you may only vote once. We are counting on you to be honest and responsible!
  • This ballot is open from 3/11 until 3/28 at 4:00 PM. YOU MUST vote within that time period for your vote to be counted.
  • Winning Books will be announced after the Final Battle on April 5, 2019.

Thank you so much, and good luck in the Semifinals!

Link to the Voting Form

Revision of the 19/20 Book Ballot

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On March 6, Battle Sponsors and Dr. Picard got together to review the books that have been recommended by students and teachers for 2019-2020.

All of the books that were recommended this year have merit. They’re popular, and they have the potential to excite readers – but that doesn’t mean they’d be a good Battle book. Here are the books we were not able to include on this year’s ballot, with an explanation as to why.

We encourage you to use this as a “to read” list!

  • The Hate U Give – Angie Thomas
    • THUG is a widely popular book. It’s already spawned a movie (you should see it), and teachers across the county (and across the country) are using it in English classes! That kind of popularity is fantastic, but can be problematic in a competition! We want to include this excellent author, so we have replaced THUG with Angie Thomas’s new book: On The Come Up
  • Refugee – Alan Gratz
    • Refugee was widely used in LCPS middle schools last year. Since this book has already had a lot of exposure, we want to use Battle to promote other books.
  • The Selection – Keira Cass
    • This book has already achieved a high level of popularity, and might be better at the middle grades.
  • Storm Runner – J.C. Cervantes
    • Great book for those who loved the Percy Jackson series. We highly recommend it for middle grades.
  • Band of Brothers – Stephen Ambrose
    • With an HBO series and published over 25 years ago, there’s not much more we could do with this book in Battle.
  • Eragon – Chrisopher Paolini
    • Classic fantasy book! Unfortunately, like others on this list, it came out quite a while ago, and has spawned films.
  • The Young Elites – Marie Lu
    • We recommend this book for those who like darker tales of villains. As much as we love Marie Lu, we want to avoid showcasing the same author two years in a row.
  • Mistborn – Bryan Sanderson
    • This is another classic fantasy book, but it may be just a little too much for a Battle Book.
  • Eleanor and Park – Rainbow Rowell
    • We loved this book so much we made it a Battle Book in 2014-2015!
  • The Hunger Games – Suzanne Collins
    • We loved this book so much we made it a Battle book in 2009-2010!

Once again, thank you for recommending books! We could not do this without you!

Voting will open on 3/11/19, and will close at 4:00 PM on 3/22/19. You can vote here on the blog, or get a link from your battle sponsor.

Related Posts: Recommended Books 2019-2020