Put ‘Battle’ books on your summer read list

The Catawba County Library’s Summer Reading program goes hand-in-hand with the Battle of the Books reading list.

The North Carolina Battle of the Books list has been released, and Catawba County Library System has them all available. Any of the titles would be excellent choices for children participating in the Summer Reading program, an incentive to keep young people reading when school is not in session.

Battle of the Books challenges kids to test knowledge of literature and help instill a love of reading. Kids in grades 5-8 prepare for the contest by reading from a pre-selected book list sponsored by the N.C. School Library Media Association. The reading list offers sound choices for kids. The titles are highly regarded children’s literature representing a cross-section of subjects and genres: biography, adventure, fantasy, examples of world cultures and so on.

This year’s list includes:

Grade 5
How Tia Lola Came to Stay by Julia Alvarez
The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall
The World According to Humphrey by Betty G. Birney
The Summer of the Swans by Betsy Cromer Byars
Dr. Mr. Henshaw by Beverly Cleary
Extra Credit by Andrew Clements
Free Baseball by Sue Corbett
Kenny & the Dragon by Tony DiTerlizzi
A Strong Right Arm by Michelle Y. Green
Princess Academy by Shannon Hale
Turtle in Paradise by Jennifer L. Holm
Blue by Joyce Hostetter
Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin
Rules by Cynthia Lord
Hatchet by Gary Paulsen
The Cricket in Times Square by George Selden
The Sinking of the Titanic, 1912 by Lauren Tarshis
The Dollhouse Murders by Betty Ren Wright

Grades 6-8:
A Single Shard by Linda Sue Park
Al Capone Does My Shirts by Gennifer Choldenko
Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians by Brandon Sanderson
Beneath My Mother’s Feet by Amjed Qamar
Chasing Lincoln’s Killer by James. L. Swanson
Cuba 15 by Nancy Osa
Fever 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson
Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Voices from a Medieval Village by Laura Amy Schlitz
Good Night, Mt. Tom by Michelle Magorian
Journey to the River Sea by Eva Ibbotson
Last Shot: A Final Four Mystery by John Feinstein
Mockingbird by Kathryne Erskine
Moon Over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool
My Life in Dog Years by Gary Paulsen
One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia
Road to Tater Hill by Edith M. Hemingway
Romiette and Julio by Sharon M. Draper
Tangerine by Edward Bloor
The Alchemyst: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flame by Michael Scott
The Ghost in the Tokaido Inn by Dorothy and Thomas Hoobler
The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer
The Other half of my Heart by Sundee T. Frazier
The Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan
The Roar by Emma Clayton
The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare
Treasure Island (Complete & Unabridged)by Robert Louis Stevenson

Catawba County Library System will have multiple copies available on specially marked shelves. If you cannot find a title, be sure to ask a librarian.