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Battle of the Books 2025
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What is Battle?
Battle of the Books is a trivia-style reading competition and all Ferndale Upper Elementary 5th graders are invited to participate!
The youth librarians at FADL have hand-picked a diverse selection of 6 middle-grade books.
In teams of 2-4, participants will read the books and prepare for Battle day (Thursday, March 21st), when they can test their Battle Book knowledge against their peers!
The winning team will be honored by having their names engraved on a plaque for all future FUEL students to see.
How Do I Sign Up?
FUEL 5th graders can sign up with their teachers starting Thursday, December 12th.
Get with your friends to form a team, think up a creative team name, and get reading!
Prize for best team name will be announced at Battle in the spring.
Need a team? See your teacher for assistance.
Where do I get the books?
FADL has provided enough copies of the books to FUEL to provide each team with one copy of each book. Ask your teacher about getting the books for your team. Teams can keep the books when they are done.
If you need extra copies, there are copies at Ferndale Library that you can check out with your library card. Click on the book covers below to place a hold today. Where available, eBook and eAudiobook copies can be borrowed from Libby and Hoopla.
Don't have a library card? As a Ferndale student or resident you are eligible for a Ferndale library card! Learn more about signing up for a library card.
You can also call the youth reference desk (248.546.2504 x694) and we would be happy to place a hold for you.
How do I prepare for Battle?
Watch this strategy video for some tips.
What happens on the day of Battle?
Battle of the Books is Tuesday, March 18th at 1:30 PM in the FUEL gym. Things to know about the day of Battle:
- You will sit with your team.
- Ferndale Youth Librarians will give each team blank answers sheets.
- There will be two rounds of questions, with 10 questions each round, making for a total of 20 questions.
- If there is a tie, we will read tiebreaker questions.
- We will announce the winning Battle team.
- We will announce the team that won Best Team Name.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does spelling count?
- Do your best.
- Spelling only counts if we have to do tiebreaker questions.
How long do you have to answer each question?
- 90 seconds
How does your team turn in their answer sheet?
- Designate a team member to hold up the answer sheet.
- Please stay seated as a volunteer/staff collects answer sheets.
How many points for each question?
- 1 point for the author's full name.
- 1 point for the book title.
Battle Books
"Will on the Inside" by Andrew Eliopulos
Will loves playing center midfield on his middle school soccer team. This year, though, Will hasn't felt like himself; his stomach has been bothering him, and he has no energy at all. When his new doctor diagnoses him with Crohn's disease, Will hopes that means he'll start feeling better soon and he can get back to playing with his team before the season ends.
But Will's new medicines come with all kinds of side effects. Forced to sit out afternoon practice, Will finds himself hanging out with a kid at school, Griffin. This could be a real problem, seeing as Griffin just asked Will's best friend to the spring dance. As in, guy friend. What would Will's teammates say if they knew the whole story? Not to mention Will's friends at church.
With all these changes happening faster than he can process them, Will knows that he has a lot to figure out about who he really is on the inside.
Available through the library catalog in print and Book on CD as well as on Libby as an eBook and eAudiobook.
"Eb & Flow" by Kelly J. Baptist
Ebony and De'Kari (aka Flow) do not get along. How could they when their cafeteria scuffle ended with De'Kari's ruined shoes, Ebony on the ground, and both of them with ten days of at-home suspension? Now Eb and Flow have two weeks to think about and explain their behavior--to their families, to each other, and ultimately to themselves.
Award-winning author Kelly J. Baptist delivers a novel in verse that follows Eb and Flow as they navigate their parallel lives. Single-parent homes, tight funds, and sibling dynamics provide a balancing act for the growing tweens. And whether they realize it or not, these two have a lot more in common than they think.
Available through the library catalog in print, Book on CD, and Playaway as well as Libby as an eBook and eAudiobook.
"We Still Belong" by Christine Day
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Wesley is proud of the poem she wrote for Indigenous Peoples' Day--but the reaction from a teacher makes her wonder if expressing herself is important enough. And due to the specific tribal laws of her family's Nation, Wesley is unable to enroll in the Upper Skagit tribe and is left feeling "not Native enough." Through the course of the novel, with the help of her family and friends, she comes to embrace her own place within the Native community.
Available through the library catalog in print and Book on CD as well as Libby as an eBook and eAudiobook and Hoopla as an eBook and eAudiobook.
"Continental Drifter" by Kathy Macleod
With a Thai mother and an American father, Kathy lives in two different worlds. She spends most of the year in Bangkok, where she's secretly counting the days till summer vacation. That's when her family travels for twenty-four hours straight to finally arrive in a tiny seaside town in Maine.
Kathy loves Maine's idyllic beauty and all the exotic delicacies she can't get back home, like clam chowder and blueberry pie. But no matter how hard she tries, she struggles to fit in. She doesn't look like the other kids in this
rural New England town. Kathy just wants to find a place where she truly belongs, but she's not sure if it's in America, Thailand . . . or anywhere.
Available through the library catalog in print and Book on CD as well as Libby as an eBook.
"Nayra and the Djinn" by Iasmin Omar Ata
Nothing is going right for Nayra Mansour. There's the constant pressure from her strict family, ruthless bullying from her classmates, and exhausting friendship demands from Rami -the only other Muslim girl at school. Nayra has had enough. Just when she's considering transferring schools to escape it all, a mysterious djinn named Marjan appears.
As a djinn, a mythical being in Islamic folklore, Marjan uses their powers and wisdom to help Nayra navigate her overwhelming life. But Marjan's past is fraught with secrets, guilt, and trouble, and if they don't face what they've done, Nayra could pay the price.
Available through the library catalog in print and Libby as an eBook.
"A Seed in the Sun" by Aida Salazar
Lula Viramontes aches to one day become someone whom no one can ignore: a daring ringleader in a Mexican traveling circus. But between working the grape harvest in Delano, California, with her older siblings under dangerous conditions; taking care of her younger siblings and Mamá, who has mysteriously fallen ill; and doing everything she can to avoid Papá's volatile temper, it's hard to hold on to those dreams.
Then she meets Dolores Huerta, Larry Itliong, and other labor rights activists and realizes she may need to raise her voice sooner rather than later: Farmworkers are striking for better treatment and wages, and whether Lula's family joins them or not will determine their future.
Available through the library catalog in English and Spanish as well as Libby as an eBook and eAudiobook.