Battle of the Books

I am excited to announce that there will be a Battle of the Books program being offered to fourth and fifth grade students for the 2023-2004 school year. The program contains a list of 18 books that have been chosen by myself and the elementary school librarians at Lisle Library District. Beginning next school year, we will meet monthly to discuss the books, participate in activities, do practice quizzes on our book knowledge, promote reading at Lisle Elementary School, and have a ton of fun! Later in the school year, students will have the opportunity to try out for a position on one of the LES Battle of the Books teams. They will compete in the spring against the other fourth and fifth grade teams in the building. 


Students may participate in the Battle of the Books year-long program without obligation to try out for the Battle of the Books teams, since our goal of the program is to encourage elementary age students to read quality books from a wide variety of genres. Although I wish I could take everyone to the competition, I am only allowed four students per fourth and fifth grade classroom. The criteria for choosing the teams will be:



But please note that even after the teams have been chosen, students who did not make the teams are more than welcome to attend our sessions, help out their friends and enjoy some quality literature. 


Our first meeting will be announced in the fall. We encourage all fourth and fifth grade students to come and hear about this exciting program. We will continue to meet throughout the year through May 2024, when the battle will occur. Please take the attached list and begin reading the books over the summer! Lisle Library District will have multiple copies of all the battle books available for checkout. 




Battle of the Books 2024

Thirst by Varsha Bajaj (Realistic Fiction)

Swim Team by Johnnie Christmas (Graphic Novel)

Falling Short by Ernesto Cisneros (Sports/Realistic Fiction)

Alone by Megan E. Freeman (Survial/Verse)

Freestyle by Gale Galligan (Graphic Novel/Realistic Fiction)

Two Degrees by Alan Gratz (Survival/Environmental)

The Star that Always Stays by Anna Rose Johnson (Historical Fiction)

Those Kids From Fawn Creek by Erin Entrada Kelly (Realistic Fiction)

Chester Keene Cracks the Code by Kekla Magoon (Mystery)

Tumble by Celia C. Perez (Realistic Fiction/Sports)

Toxic: The World's Deadliest Creatures by Ico Romero Reyes (Nonfiction)

It's the End of the World and I'm in my Bathing Suit by Justin A. Reynolds (Humor)

Solimar: The Sword of the Monarchs by Pam Munoz Ryan (Fantasy)

A Seed in the Sun by Aida Salazar (Historical Fiction/Social Justice)

The In-Between by Katie Van Heidrich (Memoir in Verse)

A Rover's Story by Jasmine Warga (Science Fiction)

Nightbooks by J.A. White (Scary)

Zachary Ying and the and the Dragon Emperor by Xiran Jay Zhao (Fantasy/Science Fiction)