Category Archives: Books
Recommend Battle Books for 2020-2021
It’s that time already! Book Recommendations are open from 4/8/19 to 11/15/19.
What do we look for in a Battle Book?
- Student, teacher, and librarian recommendations.
- Compelling stories that grip the imagination.
- Strong protagonists who are diverse, complex, and relatable.
- Themes (or messages) that are worth thinking about and discussing.
- A variety of genres – it’s boring if we all read the kind of book all the time. We try to mainly promote interest in Young Adult books, but we’ve had all sorts in the past. You may want to review the list of all battle books here.
- Different reading levels and interests.
- Recent books. Most of our books have been published in the last 2-5 years, but occasionally we choose books that are more than that.
What disqualifies a book (not all GOOD books are BATTLE books).
- Every year, amazing books are recommended that we have to take out of the running because they don’t “lend themselves” to trivia questions. For example, poetry is so emotional and so full of figurative speech that it’s hard to nail down concrete facts from them to include in a competition setting.
- Books that are taught in LCPS in a whole-class setting cannot be battle books.
- A book can be too old. There is nothing wrong with the classics, or books that are over ten years old, but we prefer to promote books that haven’t been out long so that we keep our titles “fresh.”
- Length. We have long books all the time in Battle, but we try not to have more than one or two tomes in the bunch.
- Overly adult themes. Since our readers are teenagers, we know that they are mature enough to handle controversial material, but as teachers, we have a responsibility to endorse books that don’t provoke. It’s a difficult balance to strike.
- Other factors not outlined above. Some things can’t be easily categorized, but we promise to be as transparent as possible when we eliminate a book.
Revision of the 19/20 Book Ballot
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
Recommended Books 2019-2020
These are the books that have been recommended for the 2019-2020 Battle.
Recommendations are now closed. The BOTB sponsors will now review the books to determine their suitability for Battle, and then voting will be open for a two week period starting on March 8.
- The Hate U Give – Angie Thomas
- Refugee – Alan Gratz
- Loving Vs. Virginia – Patricia Powell
- The Knife of Never Letting Go – Patrick Ness
- Far Far Away – Tom McNeal
- The Astonishing Color of After – Emily X.R. Pan
- The Selection – Keira Cass
- Storm Runner – J.C. Cervantes
- The Catcher Was a Spy – Nicholas Dawidoff
- Band of Brothers – Stephen Ambrose
- Nil – Lynne Matson
- Eragon – Chrisopher Paolini
- The War Outside – Monica Hesse
- The Young Elites – Marie Lu
- Children of Blood and Bone – Tomi Adeyemi
- Eliza and Her Monsters – Francesca Zappia
- Red Rising – Pierce Brown
- Mistborn – Bryan Sanderson
Ineligible Books Recommended:
- Eleanor and Park* – Rainbow Rowell (previous Battle Book 2014-2015)
- The Hunger Games – Suzanne Collins (previous Battle book)