BATTLE OF THE BOOKS

Our 4th and 5th graders will soon be getting ready for battle…Battle of the Books! Starting in September, students will form teams and begin reading the 20 books nominated for Illinois’ 2015 Bluestem Award. Each team member will be responsible for reading 5 of the 20 books as their team prepares to face off against other teams in March. The battles will culminate in a Championship battle, following which the winning team will battle one last time…against the Teacher Team!

Battle of the Books is a chance to read great books, engage in learning about their settings and characters, develop teamwork and sportsmanship, and experience the spirit of friendly competition.

This year’s Bluestem nominees are:

• Chained by Lynne Kelly
• A Dog Called Homeless by Sarah Lean
• Dogs on Duty: Soldiers’ Best Friends on the Battlefield and Beyond by Dorothy Hinshaw Patent
• Drita, My Homegirl by Jenny Lombard
• The Dunderheads by Paul Fleischman and David Roberts (ill)
• Frindle by Andrew Clements
• Gregor the Overlander by Suzanne Collins
• If You Lived Here: Houses of the World by Giles Laroche
• Liar & Spy by Rebecca Stead
• Lunch Lady and the Cyborg Substitute by Jarrett J. Krosoczka
• Niagara Falls, or Does It by Henry Winkler and Lin Oliver
• Night of the Twisters by Ivy Ruckman
• The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate
• Rich: A Dyamonde Daniel Book by Nikki Grimes and R. Gregory Christie (ill)
• Shiloh by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
• Small Steps : The Year I Got Polio by Peg Kehret
• The Stonekeeper by Kazu Kibuishi
• Truth About Poop by Susan E. Goodman and Elwood H. Smith (ill)
• Wild River by P.J. Petersen
• Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick