Battle of the Books 

The Battle of the Books is a Cooperstown tradition. Battle of the Books teams consist of four team members who read selected books on the list to prepare for the annual competition. Teams should be able to identify the correct title and author of the books based on the statement, quote, or question given by the judge. The winning local team then "battles" the winners from other districts at the annual competition in the spring.

BOB Study Guide

HIGH SCHOOL 2024

Cake Eater by Allyson Dahlin

Cupcake by Cookie O’Gorman
Gallant by V. E. Schwab
The Lion of Sabray by Patrick Robinson
Meet Cute Diary by Emery Lee
Radium Girls by Kate Moore
The Reading List by Sara Nisha Adams
Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo
The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
Scout’s Honor by Lily Anderson
The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien
The Time Machine by H.G. Wells
You: The Story by Ruta Sepetys

Middle SCHOOL 2023

Bad Sister by Charise Mericle Harper

BenBee and the Teacher Griefer by K. A. Holt

Button Pusher by Tyler Page

Distress Signal by Mary E. Lambert

The Last Mapmaker by Christina Soontornvat

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

Macy McMillan and the Rainbow Goddess by Shari Green

The Mirrorwood by Deva Fagan

Names in a Jar by Jennifer Gold

The One and Only Bob by Katherine Applegate

The Prettiest by Brigit Young

A Rover’s Story by Jasmine Warga

The Time Museum by Matthew Loux

Twelfth by Janet Key

Wildoak by C. C. Harrington

A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking by T. Kingfisher

HIGH SCHOOL 2023

1. The Brilliant Death by AR Capetta

2. Marilla of Green Gables by Sarah McCoy

3. I Must Betray You by Ruta Sepetys

4. Ordinary Grace by William Kent Krueger

5. Infinity Courts by Akemi Dawn Bowman

6. A Thousand Sisters by Elizabeth Wein (NF)

7. Finding Chika: A Little Girl, an Earthquake, and the Making of a Family by Mitch Album

8. Amber and Clay by Laura Amy Schlitz 

9. Firekeeper's Daughter - Angeline Boulley 

10. They'll Never Catch Us by Jessica Goodman 

11. We are Not Free - by Traci Chee 

12. Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

Middle SCHOOL 2023

1. Starfish by Lisa Fipps

2. The Stonekeeper by Kazu Kibuishi

3. Across the Desert by Dusti Bowling

4. Wings by Aprilynne Pike

5. Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery

6. Lost Hero by Rick Riordan

7. The Genius Under the Table by Eugene Yelchin

8. Flooded: Requiem for Johnstown by Ann E. Burg 

9. Wildfire by Rodman Philbrick

10. Major Impossible by Nathan Hale

11. All He Knew by Helen Frost 

12. Paradise on Fire by Jewell Parker Rhodes 

13. Front Desk by Kelly Yang

14. The Unforgettable Logan Foster by Shawn Peters

15. Ghostopolis by Doug TenNaple 

16. Legend of Auntie Po -by Shing Yin Khor

HIGH SCHOOL 2022

1. Deepfake by Sarah Darer Littman 

2. Dear Justyce by Nic Stone

3. Enter Title Here by Rahul Kanakia 

4. Everything I Thought I Knew by Shannon Takaoka 

5. Five Feet Apart by Rachael Lippincott 

6. The Fountains of Silence by Ruta Sepetys 

7. On the Come Up by Angie Thomas 

8. Opposite of Always by Justin Reynolds 

9. Talking to Strangers by Malcolm Gladwell

10. Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas  

11. The Wicked King by Holly Black 

12. Wilder Girls by Rory Power 

middle school 2022

1. The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins 

2. Becoming Muhammed Ali by Kwame Alexander 

3. Before the Ever After by Jacqueline Woodson 

4. Dress Coded by Carrie Firestone

5. Echo Mountain by Lauren Wolk 

6. Efren Divided by Ernesto Cisneros 

7. Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus by Dusti Bowling 

8. The Leak by Kate Reed Petty 

9. Lizzy Legend by Matthew Ross Smith

10. Look Both Ways by Jason Reynolds 

11. Mananaland by Pam Munoz Ryan 

12. New Kid by Jerry Craft

13. One Time by Sharon Creech

14. Premeditated Myrtle by Elizabeth Bunce 

15. When You Trap a Tiger by Tae Keller 

16. Wink by Rob Harrell 

middle school 2021

17th/18th Annual Competition

Amal Unbound by Aisha Saeed 

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins

Beastly Brains by Nancy Castaldo 

The Boy in the Black Suit by Jason Reynolds

The Boy on the Wooden Box by Leon Leyson

Crenshaw by Katherine Applegate

Harbor Me Jacqueline Woodson

Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus by Dusti Bowling

It Wasn't Me by Dana Alison Levy

Lifeboat 12 by Susan Hood

Lizzy Legend by Matthew Ross Smith

Love from A to Z by S. K. Ali

The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl by Stacy McAnulty

New Kid by Jerry Craft

Nowhere Boy by Katherine Marsh

Rebound by Kwame Alexander

Roll with It by Jamie Sumner

The Parker Inheritance by Varian Johnson 

Storm Horse by Nick Garlick

Under Their Skin by Margaret Peterson Haddix

High school 2021

13th/14th Annual Competition

All Our Broken Pieces by L.D. Crichton

Big Fish by Daniel Wallace

Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi

Cruel Prince by Holly Black

Dear Evan Hansen by Val Emmich

The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert

A Heart in a Body in the World by Deb Caletti

Holding Up the Universe by Jennifer Niven

Internment by Samira Ahmed 

The Librarian of Auschwitz by Antonio Iturbe

Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds

#MurderTrending by Gretchen McNeil

Saint Anything by Sarah Dessen

Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson 

The Story of Seeds by Nancy Castaldo 

Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas 

middle school 2020

17th Annual Competition

Arlo Finch in the Valley of Fire by John August
Beastly Brains by Nancy Castaldo
The Boy in the Black Suit by Jason Reynolds
The Boy on the Wooden Box by Leon Leyson
Crenshaw by Katherine Applegate
Harbor Me Jacqueline Woodson
Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus by Dusti Bowling
It Wasn't Me by Dana Alison Levy
Just Mercy (adapted for young adults) by Bryan Stevenson
Lifeboat 12 by Susan Hood
Lizzy Legend by Matthew Ross Smith
Love from A to Z by S. K. Ali
The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl by Stacy McAnulty
New Kid by Jerry Craft
Nowhere Boy by Katherine Marsh
Rebound by Kwame Alexander
Storm Horse by Nick Garlick
Tin by Pádraig Kenny
Under Their Skin by Margaret Peterson Haddix
Wild Blues by Beth Kephart

High school 2020

13th Annual Competition

All Our Broken Pieces by L.D. Crichton
Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi
Dear Evan Hansen by Val Emmich
Educated by Tara Westover
Fresh Ink edited by Lamar Giles
The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert
A Heart in a Body in the World by Deb Caletti
Holding Up the Universe by Jennifer Niven
The Librarian of Auschwitz by Antonio Iturbe
Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds
Pride by Ibi Zoboi
Saint Anything by Sarah Dessen
A Separate Peace by John Knowles
Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson
The Story of Seeds by Nancy Castaldo
Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas 

Middle School 2019

16th Annual Competition

5 to 1 by Holly Bodger
All's Faire in Middle School by Victoria Jamieson
Bloody Jack by L A Meyer
Children of Eden by Joey Graceffa
Echo by Pamela Munoz Ryan
The Exact Location of Home by Kate Messner
Ghost Boys by Rhodes, Jewell Parker
The Ghost of Graylock by Dan Poblocki
Halfway Normal by Barbara Dee
Keeper of the Lost Cities by Shannon Messenger
The List by Patricia Forde
Me and Marvin Gardens by Amy Sarig King
Refugee by Alan Gratz
The Outcasts by John Flanagan
Outcasts United by Warren St. John
The Sword of Summer by Rick Riordan
The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner
Thornhill by Pam Smy
Wishtree by Katherine Applegate
Yellow Star by Jennifer Roy

High School 2019

12th Annual Competition

The 57 Bus by Dashka Slater
Don't Get Caught by Kurt Dinan
The Epic Crush of Genie Lo by F.C. Lee
Everybody Sees the Ants by A. S. King
Girls of Atomic City by Denise Kieran
Language of Thorns by Leigh Bardugo
Mindblind by Jennifer Roy
One of Us is Lying by Karen M McManus
The Pearl by John Steinbeck
Quiet Power by Susan Cain
Scythe by Neal Shusterman
The Serpent King by Jeff Zentner
Simon vs. the Homo-Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli
Turtles All the Way Down by John Green
Warcross by Marie Lu
Wolf by Wolf by Ryan Graudin

Middle School 2018

15th Annual Competition

All Rise for the Honorable Perry T Cook by Leslie Connor
Code Talkers by Joseph Bruchac
Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis
Fish in a Tree by Lynda Mullaly Hunt
Ghosts by Raina Telgemeier
Hatchet by Gary Paulsen
Hush by Jacqueline Woodson
I am Malala : How One Girl Stood up for Education and Changed the World by Malala Yousafzai
Liesl & Po by Lauren Oliver
March: Book One by John Lewis and Andrew Aydin
Pax by Sara Pennypacker
Samurai Rising by Pamela S. Turner
Soar by Joan Bauer
Sticks and Stones by Abby Cooper
The 11th Plague by Jeff Hirsch
The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer
The Inquisitor's Tale by Adam Gidwitz
The Misadventures of the Family Fletcher by Dana Alison Levy
The Unwanteds by Lisa McMann
Wolf Hollow by Lauren Wolk

High School 2018

11th Annual Competition

And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz
Audacity by Melanie Crowder
Carve the Mark by Veronica Roth
Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare
Everything Everything by Nicola Yoon
Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell
Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh
Seth Baumgartner's Love Manifesto by Eric Luper
Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of Nike by Phil Knight
The Boys in the Boat by Brown, Daniel
The Girl From Everywhere by Heidi Heilig
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
The Long Run by Joseph Bruchac
This is our Story by Ashley Elston
Welcome to Night Vale by Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor