Battle of the Books List
Summer 2004

• Baker, Julie. Up Molasses Mountain. When union members arrive to organize their West Virginia coal mining town, 14 year old Clarence Henderson, shunned for his cleft lip, and his neighbor Elizabeth Braxton narrate the changes in their own lives and in the lives of everyone in their community.
• Bunting, Eve. Is Anybody There? After discovering the disappearance of several household items, Marcus, a 13 year old latchkey child, suspects that a stranger may be prowling around inside his house while he's at school and his mother is at work.
• Christopher, John. The White Mountains. Young Will Parker and his companions make a perilous journey toward an outpost of freedom where they hope to escape from the ruling Tripods, who capture mature human beings and make them docile, obedient servants.
• Ellis, Deborah. The Breadwinner. Because the Taliban rulers of Afghanistan impose strict limitations on women's freedom and behavior, 11 year old Parvana must disguise herself as a boy so that her family can survive after her father's arrest.
• Gantos, Jack. Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key. To the constant disappointment of his mother and teacher, Joey has trouble paying attention or controlling his mood swings when his prescription medicine wears off and he starts acting wired.
• Gilbreth, Frank B. Cheaper By the Dozen. True and funny story of a family with twelve children growing up in New Jersey in the early part of the 20th century.
• Horowitz, Anthony. Stormbreaker. After the death of the uncle who had been his guardian, 14 year old Alex Rider is coerced to continue his uncle's dangerous work for Britain's intelligence agency.
• Kehret, Peg. Small Steps: the Year I Got Polio. The author describes her battle against polio when she was twelve and thirteen and her efforts to overcome its debilitating effects.
• Manes, Stephen. Be A Perfect Person In Just Three Days. Milo, tired of problems with his sister, parents, and classmates, finds a book in the library which promises to make him perfect in just three days.
• Nixon, Joan Lowery. A Family Apart. When their mother can no longer support them, six siblings are sent by the children's Aid Society of New York City to live with farm families in Missouri in 1860. The oldest girl, Frances, becomes involved in the Underground Railroad.
• Park, Linda Sue. A Single Shard. Tree-ear, a 13 year old orphan in medieval Korea, lives under a bridge in a potters' village, and longs to learn how to throw the delicate celadon ceramics himself.
• Peck, Richard. A Long Way from Chicago. A boy recounts his annual summer trips to rural Illinois with his sister during the Great Depression to visit their larger-than-life grandmother.