REALISTIC /PARANORMAL FICTION. "A heartbreaking and powerful story about a black boy killed by a police officer, drawing connections through history, from award-winning author Jewell Parker Rhodes. Only the living can make the world better. Live and make it better. Twelve-year-old Jerome is shot by a police officer who mistakes his toy gun for a real threat. As a ghost, he observes the devastation that's been unleashed on his family and community in the wake of what they see as an unjust and brutal killing. Soon Jerome meets another ghost: Emmett Till, a boy from a very different time but similar circumstances." 360L

NOVEL IN VERSE. "Last year, Jett and his mother had moved to a new town for a fresh start after his father went to jail. But Jett soon learned that fresh starts aren't all they're cracked up to be. When he befriended a boy with a difficult home life, Jett found himself in a cycle of bad decisions that culminated in the betrayal of a friend - a shameful secret he still hasn't forgiven himself for. Will a summer spent with his unconventional grandmother help Jett find his way to redemption?"

NON-FICTION. "Many of the political issues we struggle with today have their roots in the US Constitution.Husband-and-wife team Cynthia and Sanford Levinson take readers back to the creation of this historic document and discuss how contemporary problems were first introduced--then they offer possible solutions. Think Electoral College, gerrymandering, even the Senate. Many of us take these features in our system for granted. But they came about through haggling in an overheated room in 1787, and we're still experiencing the ramifications." 1110 L.

REALISTIC FICTION.

"Seventh-grader Zoey Albro focuses on caring for three younger siblings and avoiding rich classmates at school until her fascination with octopuses gets her on the debate team and she begins to speak out."

NON-FICTION. "I'm Charlie, also known across the internet as charlieissocoollike. In my book, I'll be taking you on an awesome journey through the cosmos, beginning with the Big Bang through to the Solar System and the origins of life on Earth, all the way down to the particles that make up everything around us (including you and me!). "

FANTASY. "Affectionately dubbed 'the Nigerian Harry Potter, ' Akata Witch weaves together a heart-pounding tale of magic, mystery, and finding one's place in the world. Twelve-year-old Sunny lives in Nigeria, but she was born American. Her features are African, but she's albino. She's a terrific athlete, but can't go out into the sun to play soccer. There seems to be no place where she fits in. And then she discovers something amazing--she is a 'free agent' with latent magical power." 590L

SCI-FI. "Gabe Fuentes is reading under the covers one summer night when he is interrupted by a creature who looks like a purple sock puppet. The sock puppet introduces himself as the Envoy and asks if Gabe wants to be Earth’s ambassador to the galaxy. What sane eleven-year-old could refuse?

Some ingenious tinkering with the washing machine sends Gabe’s “entangled” self out to the center of the galaxy. There he finds that Earth is in the path of a destructive alien force—and Gabe himself is the target of an assassination plot. Exactly who wants him out of the way? And why?" 690L

MAGICAL REALISM.

"After her mother's suicide, fifteen-year-old Leigh travels to Taiwan where she will finally meet the grandparents she never knew and come to terms with her mother's death. As she immerses herself the culture, she finds signs and hidden meanings all around her, and begins to believe that her mother has been reincarnated as a giant red bird."

670 L.

GRAPHIC NOVEL.

"A misfit girl and her brother attend summer camp, where they struggle with primitive plumbing, snobby tentmates, and boys-versus-girls competitions."

ILLUSTRATED MEMOIR. "... an intimate look at one family's journey form their war-torn home in Vietnam to their new lives in America. Exploring the anguish of immigration and the lasting effects that displacement has on a child and her family, Bui documents the story of her family's daring escape after the fall of South Vietnam in the 1970s and the difficulties they faced."

HISTORICAL FICTION. These books tell this story:

"Omakayas, a seven-year-old Native American girl of the Ojibwa tribe, lives through the joys of summer and the perils of winter on an island in Lake Superior in 1847." 970L

REALISTIC FICTION. "Brett McCarthy lives for soccer, vocabulary words, and her largerthan-life grandmother, Nonna. Unfortunately, Brett's got a huge mouth she can't seem to tame and opinions she can't keep to herself. It's thanks in part to both of those things (well, really, the evil Jeanne Anne) that Brett finds herself going from good student and BFF to Diane, to twicesuspended, friendless, and lunching with the principal every day." 700L

HISTORICAL FICTION. Book #4 in The Blackthorn Key Series is here! "Christopher Rowe has no idea who he is. After being shipwrecked in Devonshire, he wakes up alone, his memories gone. Villagers tell him he was possessed by an unseen evil, and only became conscious after being visited by the local witch. As Christopher tries to get his bearings, he realizes his current state may be far from coincidence. Dark events have been happening in this corner of Britain..." 550L

PARANORMAL. "Ever since her near-fatal drowning, Cassidy has been able to pull back the "Veil" that separates the living from the dead and see ghosts, not that she wants to, and she was really looking forward to a ghost-free summer at the beach; however her parents are going to start filming a TV series about the world's most haunted places, starting with Edinburgh with its graveyards, castles, and restless phantoms--and Cass and her personal ghost companion, Jacob, are about to find out that a city of old ghosts can be a very dangerous place indeed." 720L

MYSTERY THRILLER.

"In the shadows of Sangui City, there lives a girl who doesn’t exist. After fleeing the Congo as refugees, Tina and her mother arrived in Kenya looking for the chance to build a new life and home. Her mother quickly found work as a maid for a prominent family, headed by Roland Greyhill, one of the city’s most respected business leaders. But Tina soon learns that the Greyhill fortune was made from a life of corruption and crime. So when her mother is found shot to death in Mr. Greyhill’s personal study, she knows exactly who’s behind it.With revenge always on her mind, Tina spends the next four years surviving on the streets alone, working as a master thief for the Goondas, Sangui City’s local gang." 650L

NON-FICTION."The WWII invasion of Allied troops into German-occupied Europe, known as D-Day, was the largest military endeavor in history. By the time it occurred on June 6, 1944, Hitler and the Axis powers had a chokehold grip on the European continent, which the Allies called "Fortress Europe." Behind enemy lines, Nazi Germany was engaged in the mass extermination of the Jewish people and the oppression of civilians across Europe. The goal of D-Day was no less than the total defeat of Hitler's regime--and the defense of free democracies everywhere." 1060L

FANTASY. "Uptight elfin historian Brangwain Spurge is on a mission: survive being catapulted across the mountains into goblin territory, deliver a priceless peace offering to their mysterious dark lord, and spy on the goblin kingdom from which no elf has returned alive in more than a hundred years. Brangwains host, the goblin archivist Werfel, is delighted to show Brangwain around. They should be the best of friends, but a series of extraordinary double crosses, blunders, and cultural misunderstandings throws these two bumbling scholars into the middle of an international crisis that may spell death for them and war for their nations." 760L

Which will be the Big Winner of this year's Battle?

Read more here about the BOB and how it works.

MODERN HISTORICAL FICTION "After Nadia is separated from her family while fleeing the civil war, she spends the next four days with a mysterious old man who helps her navigate the checkpoints and snipers of the rebel, ISIS, and Syrian armies that are littering Aleppo on her way to meeting her father at the Turkish border." 880L

BIOGRAPHY. From Jeannine Atkins, we have a "A gorgeously written biographical novel in verse of three different girls in three different time periods who grew up to become groundbreaking scientists." 970L

FANTASY, TIME TRAVEL.

"Growing up on her father's time-traveling ship, sixteen-year-old Nix struggles to preserve her life when her father pursues a map in the past that threatens her existence." 750L

HISTORICAL FICTION, CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS.

"While adjusting to his family's move from California to Utah, and while the adults concerned about the looming Cuban Missile Crisis and his father recovering from an immune disorder, Eric meets Grace--his classmate and a runaway--and decides to hide her in the clubhouse in his backyard. Eric grows closer to Grace but can their new relationship survive the harsh realities of life?"

REALISTIC FICTION.

"New friends and a mystery help Aven, thirteen, adjust to middle school and life at a dying western theme park in a new state, where her being born armless presents many challenges." 700L.

REALISTIC FICTION. "In Caitlin's world, everything is black or white. Things are good or bad. Anything in between is confusing. That's the stuff Caitlin's older brother, Devon, has always explained. But now Devon's dead and Dad is no help at all. Caitlin wants to get over it, but as an eleven-year-old girl with Asperger's, she doesn't know how." 610L

HISTORICAL FICTION. "My name is hard like ocean ice grinding the shore...Luke knows his Iñupiaq name is full of sounds white people can’t say. So he leaves it behind when he and his brothers are sent to boarding school hundreds of miles away from their Arctic village. At Sacred Heart School, students—Eskimo, Indian, White—line up on different sides of the cafeteria like there’s some kind of war going on. Here, speaking Iñupiaq—or any native language—is forbidden. And Father Mullen, whose fury is like a force of nature, is ready to slap down those who disobey." 830L

REALISTIC FICTION. "Since the dealth of her father, Isabelle's family has only functioned on the surface. Her mother, who used to take care of herself, now wears only lumpy, ill-fitting clothes, cries all night, and has taken every picture of her dead husband and put them under her bed. Isabelle tries to make light of this, but the underlying tension is expressed in overeating and then binging. As the novel opens, Isabelle's little sister, April, has told their mother about Isabelle's problem. Isabelle is enrolled in group therapy. Who should show up there, too, but Ashley Barnum, the prettiest, most together girl in class." 590L

GRAPHIC NOVEL. "Prince Sebastian is looking for a bride―or rather, his parents are looking for one for him. Sebastian is too busy hiding his secret life from everyone. At night he puts on daring dresses and takes Paris by storm as the fabulous Lady Crystallia―the hottest fashion icon in the world capital of fashion!" 360L

FANTASY. "Harper Price, peerless Southern belle, was born ready for a Homecoming tiara. But after a strange run-in at the dance imbues her with incredible abilities, Harper's destiny takes a turn for the seriously weird. She becomes a Paladin, one of an ancient line of guardians with agility, super strength and lethal fighting instincts." 780L

HISTORICAL FICTION, WW2. "Chaya Lindner is a teenager living in Nazi-occupied Poland. Simply being Jewish places her in danger of being killed or sent to the camps. After her little sister is taken away, her younger brother disappears, and her parents all but give up hope, Chaya is determined to make a difference." 810L

FANTASY. "A warlord killed Caledonia’s parents and kidnapped her brother. Now, on the deadly Bullet seas, Captain Caledonia Styx and her all-female crew are ready for revenge." 840L

“This is Mad Max by way of Davy Jones, a high-energy, breathless adventure [about] a group of damaged girls who find home in one another.” –Booklist

SPORTS FICTION. "Jeremiah is the world’s biggest baseball fan and he knows just about everything there is to know about the game. So when he’s told he can’t play baseball following an operation on his heart, Jeremiah decides he’ll do the next best thing and become a coach. The problem is, there’s not much call for a twelve-year-old coach. "510L

HISTORICAL FICTION. "It’s 1947, and India, newly independent of British rule, has been separated into two countries: Pakistan and India. The divide has created much tension between Hindus and Muslims, and hundreds of thousands are killed crossing borders.

Half-Muslim, half-Hindu twelve-year-old Nisha doesn’t know where she belongs, or what her country is anymore. When Papa decides it’s too dangerous to stay in what is now Pakistan, Nisha and her family become refugees and embark first by train but later on foot to reach her new home." 700L.

REALISTIC FICTION. "Summer knows that kouun means “good luck” in Japanese, and this year her family has none of it. Just when she thinks nothing else can possibly go wrong, an emergency whisks her parents away to Japan—right before harvest season. Summer and her little brother, Jaz, are left in the care of their grandparents, who come out of retirement in order to harvest wheat and help pay the bills." 700L