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"On the wings of knowledge, soaring to excellence." - Dr. Jerry Cade
Battle of the Books is a competition in which any students in grades 4 or 5 may participate. Students read eight books from a list. They meet weekly in the library to discuss their reading and develop questions for each book. Students will create teams of four to compete against other teams. Near the end of the year, the team that wins within the school will move on to compete against teams from other elementary schools. This is an exciting event and the students who participate make wonderful memories as they work together. The books are listed below with links to purchase them. Contact Mr. Turney with any questions at turneal1@nv.ccsd.net.
Beti and the Little Round House
Beti lives in a little round house in the green woods under the mountains with Mam, Tad, baby Jac, and her very own tiny goat named Naughty. Beti loves the little round house, where there is always the promise of adventure with Naughty, Jac, and her friends—whatever the season! With charming black-and-white and color illustrations throughout, this warm and lyrical collection is alive with themes of endurance, friendship, and the power of self-belief. It celebrates the gift of the seasons and the art of living simply and joyfully in nature.
The Bellwoods Game
Everyone knows Fall Hollow is haunted. It has been ever since Abigail Snook went into the woods many years ago, never to be seen again. Since then, it’s tradition for the sixth graders at Beckett Elementary to play the Bellwoods Game on Halloween night. Three kids are chosen to go into the woods. Whoever rings the bell there wins the game and saves the town for another year, but if Abigail’s ghost captures the players first, the spirit is let loose to wreak havoc on Fall Hollow—or so the story goes.
Now that it’s Bailee’s year to play, she can finally find out what really happens. And legend has it the game’s winner gets a wish. Maybe, just maybe, if Bailee wins, she can go back to the way things used to be before her grandma got sick and everyone at school started hating her. But when the night begins, everything the kids thought they knew about the game—and each other—is challenged. One thing’s for sure: something sinister is at play…waiting for them all in the woods.
Now that it’s Bailee’s year to play, she can finally find out what really happens. And legend has it the game’s winner gets a wish. Maybe, just maybe, if Bailee wins, she can go back to the way things used to be before her grandma got sick and everyone at school started hating her. But when the night begins, everything the kids thought they knew about the game—and each other—is challenged. One thing’s for sure: something sinister is at play…waiting for them all in the woods.
Find Your Porpoise
Autumn on the Maine coastline: beautiful red leaves, hot apple cider, crashing waves, and . . . dogs playing with porpoises? That's life for Lars and Bangor, a dog and harbor porpoise, best friends in the town of Ogunquit -- and everyone knows it. They became a sensation after Bangor was separated from his pod and trapped in the harbor, and it was up to Lars and his human, Natalie, to reunite him with his family.
Now, Bangor and his pod are back, but they're not the only newcomers in town: Oguinquit has been overrun with tourists and reporters (and in the off-season, too!) who want to catch a glimpse of the dog-and-porpoise duo. And to make things worse for Lars, a river otter named Marina has captured everyone's hearts -- including Bangor's! With Marina taking center stage, will Lars' and Bangor's friendship ever be the same again?
Now, Bangor and his pod are back, but they're not the only newcomers in town: Oguinquit has been overrun with tourists and reporters (and in the off-season, too!) who want to catch a glimpse of the dog-and-porpoise duo. And to make things worse for Lars, a river otter named Marina has captured everyone's hearts -- including Bangor's! With Marina taking center stage, will Lars' and Bangor's friendship ever be the same again?
Finally Seen
When ten-year-old Lina Gao steps off the plane in Los Angeles, it’s her first time in America and the first time seeing her parents and her little sister in five years! She’s been waiting for this moment every day while she lived with her grandmother in Beijing, getting teased by kids at school who called her “left behind girl.” Finally, her parents are ready for her to join their fabulous life in America! Except, it’s not exactly like in the postcards:
1. School’s a lot harder than she thought. When she mispronounces some words in English on the first day, she decides she simply won’t talk. Ever again.
2. Her chatty little sister has no problem with English. And seems to do everything better than Lina, including knowing exactly the way to her parents’ hearts.
3. They live in an apartment, not a house like in Mom’s letters, and they owe a lot of back rent from the pandemic. And Mom’s plan to pay it back sounds more like a hobby than a moneymaker.
As she reckons with her hurt, Lina tries to keep a lid on her feelings, both at home and at school. When her teacher starts facing challenges for her latest book selection, a book that deeply resonates with Lina, it will take all of Lina’s courage and resilience to get over her fear and choose a future where she’s finally seen.
1. School’s a lot harder than she thought. When she mispronounces some words in English on the first day, she decides she simply won’t talk. Ever again.
2. Her chatty little sister has no problem with English. And seems to do everything better than Lina, including knowing exactly the way to her parents’ hearts.
3. They live in an apartment, not a house like in Mom’s letters, and they owe a lot of back rent from the pandemic. And Mom’s plan to pay it back sounds more like a hobby than a moneymaker.
As she reckons with her hurt, Lina tries to keep a lid on her feelings, both at home and at school. When her teacher starts facing challenges for her latest book selection, a book that deeply resonates with Lina, it will take all of Lina’s courage and resilience to get over her fear and choose a future where she’s finally seen.
The Wild Journey of Juniper Berry
Eleven-year-old Juniper Berry lives with her family deep in the wild woods. Living off the grid is pretty exciting, but her happy life in the wild ends abruptly when her younger brother gets sick, and they move to the city to be closer to the hospital. Juniper and her older sister end up living with cousins they hardly know and attending public school for the first time, which is harder to navigate than the wild woods ever were. Juniper feels like a wolf cub separated from her pack.
As the hospital bills for her brother start piling up, Juniper knows they’ll need to be paid before the family can go back to the woods, so she decides to make enough money to help out. With her cousin Alayna’s support, Juniper starts posting videos filled with her wisdom from the woods, hoping to get a following. But what if it doesn’t work? What if the bills never get paid? Not going home to the wild is Juniper’s worst nightmare. While she’s stuck in the city, she might as well make the most of it, like sticking up for Alayna, who’s being bullied by her supposed friends, for starters.
The Wild Journey of Juniper Berry is a story about perseverance when faced with difficult and unfamiliar challenge, belonging and finding your identity, compassion for others, and learning that our differences can sometimes be our strengths.
As the hospital bills for her brother start piling up, Juniper knows they’ll need to be paid before the family can go back to the woods, so she decides to make enough money to help out. With her cousin Alayna’s support, Juniper starts posting videos filled with her wisdom from the woods, hoping to get a following. But what if it doesn’t work? What if the bills never get paid? Not going home to the wild is Juniper’s worst nightmare. While she’s stuck in the city, she might as well make the most of it, like sticking up for Alayna, who’s being bullied by her supposed friends, for starters.
The Wild Journey of Juniper Berry is a story about perseverance when faced with difficult and unfamiliar challenge, belonging and finding your identity, compassion for others, and learning that our differences can sometimes be our strengths.
The First State of Being
It's August 1999. For twelve-year-old Michael Rosario, life at Fox Run Apartments in Red Knot, Delaware, is as ordinary as ever—except for the looming Y2K crisis and his overwhelming crush on his sixteen-year-old babysitter, Gibby. But when a disoriented teenage boy named Ridge appears out of nowhere, Michael discovers there is more to life than stockpiling supplies and pining over Gibby.
It turns out that Ridge is carefree, confident, and bold, things Michael wishes he could be. Unlike Michael, however, Ridge isn’t where he belongs. When Ridge reveals that he’s the world’s first time traveler, Michael and Gibby are stunned but curious. As Ridge immerses himself in 1999—fascinated by microwaves, basketballs, and malls—Michael discovers that his new friend has a book that outlines the events of the next twenty years, and his curiosity morphs into something else: focused determination. Michael wants—no, needs—to get his hands on that book. How else can he prepare for the future? But how far is he willing to go to get it?
A story of time travel, friendship, found family, and first loves, this thematically rich novel is distinguished by its voice, character development, setting, and exploration of the issues that resonate with middle grade readers.
It turns out that Ridge is carefree, confident, and bold, things Michael wishes he could be. Unlike Michael, however, Ridge isn’t where he belongs. When Ridge reveals that he’s the world’s first time traveler, Michael and Gibby are stunned but curious. As Ridge immerses himself in 1999—fascinated by microwaves, basketballs, and malls—Michael discovers that his new friend has a book that outlines the events of the next twenty years, and his curiosity morphs into something else: focused determination. Michael wants—no, needs—to get his hands on that book. How else can he prepare for the future? But how far is he willing to go to get it?
A story of time travel, friendship, found family, and first loves, this thematically rich novel is distinguished by its voice, character development, setting, and exploration of the issues that resonate with middle grade readers.
The Indestructible Tom Crean: Heroic Explorer of the Antarctic
At the turn of the twentieth century, Antarctica is the last unexplored continent. The ice is unforgiving. It can break the human spirit. It takes many men willing to face hardship, danger, and years away from home to journey to this uncharted end of the earth. This is the story of one. His name is Tom Crean.
The Indestructible Tom Crean reveals the incredible true stories of Crean's adventures on the Discovery, Terra Nova, and Endurance expeditions. He hauls eight-hundred-pound sleds full of supplies, escapes from drifting ice floes, and trudges miles alone across a treacherous ice shelf. When the Endurance becomes trapped in the frozen sea and sinks, it is up to Crean and several others to go for help. They sail a tiny lifeboat through the most violent seas in the world and cross a daunting glacial mountain range by foot in order to save their fellow explorers. Tom Crean's heroic acts of courage, perseverance, and teamwork inspire the men to keep going.
Through dazzling mapwork and vivid illustrations, Jennifer Thermes brings a formidable landscape and the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration to life.
The Indestructible Tom Crean reveals the incredible true stories of Crean's adventures on the Discovery, Terra Nova, and Endurance expeditions. He hauls eight-hundred-pound sleds full of supplies, escapes from drifting ice floes, and trudges miles alone across a treacherous ice shelf. When the Endurance becomes trapped in the frozen sea and sinks, it is up to Crean and several others to go for help. They sail a tiny lifeboat through the most violent seas in the world and cross a daunting glacial mountain range by foot in order to save their fellow explorers. Tom Crean's heroic acts of courage, perseverance, and teamwork inspire the men to keep going.
Through dazzling mapwork and vivid illustrations, Jennifer Thermes brings a formidable landscape and the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration to life.
Life After Whale: The Amazing Ecosystem of a Whale Fall
All living things must one day die, and Earth’s largest creature, the majestic blue whale, is no exception. But in nature, death is never a true ending. When this whale closes her eyes for the last time in her 90-year life, a process known as whale fall is just beginning. Her body will float to the surface, then slowly sink through the deep; from inflated behemoth to clean-picked skeleton, it will offer food and shelter at each stage to a vast diversity of organisms, over the course of a century and beyond.
Caldecott Medalist Jason Chin’s astonishing artwork enriches and amplifies engaging, well-researched text by Bill Nye the Science Guy writer Lynn Brunelle. Young lovers of the macabre will relish each page of Life After Whale. Meanwhile, those grappling with the hard subject of death will take solace in this honest look at the circle of life, which closes on a young whale enjoying the same waves as her ancestor. Additional back pages offer further info and reading recommendations on whales, whale falls, and ecosystems.
Caldecott Medalist Jason Chin’s astonishing artwork enriches and amplifies engaging, well-researched text by Bill Nye the Science Guy writer Lynn Brunelle. Young lovers of the macabre will relish each page of Life After Whale. Meanwhile, those grappling with the hard subject of death will take solace in this honest look at the circle of life, which closes on a young whale enjoying the same waves as her ancestor. Additional back pages offer further info and reading recommendations on whales, whale falls, and ecosystems.
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