The Battle of the Books is an annual reading competition that encourages quality reading, team spirit and friendly competition. Sponsored by local public libraries in conjunction with the Williamsburg Regional Library, this exciting contest has students in fourth through eighth grades reading and answering questions about books representing a variety of genres of children's literature. Four person teams from participating York County elementary and middle schools compete against each other for the opportunity to represent York County in the regional contest against schools from Newport News, Hampton, Gloucester, Poquoson and Williamsburg.

Congratulations to our 2020 Battle of the Books York County winners: Coventry Elementary School and Tabb Middle School. These teams would have represented York County in the Regional Battle of the Books which was canceled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

2021 Battle of the Books

Follow the book title link to check for availability and to request the title through the library catalog. Most titles are also available in the Library's OverDrive digital collection.

2021 Grades 4-5 Titles

Battle of the Books 2021 List for Grades 4-5 (PDF)
 

• One-Third Nerd by Gennifer Choldenko
• Cosmic by Frank Cottrell Boyce
• The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo
• Wed Wabbit by Lissa Evans
• The Lincoln Project by Dan Gutman
• Roller Girl by Victoria Jamieson
• Because of the Rabbit by Cynthia Lord
• Pilfer Academy: A School So Bad It's Criminal by Lauren Magaziner
• Bob by Wendy Mass and Rebecca Stead
• Waylon! One Awesome Thing by Sara Pennypacker
• Pay Attention, Carter Jones by Gary D. Schmidt
• One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia

2021 Grades 6-8 Titles

Battle of the Books 2021 List for Grades 6-8 (PDF)
 

• Down the Rabbit Hole by Peter Abrahams
• The War that Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker
• Sanity & Tallulah by Molly Brooks
• See You in the Cosmos by Jack Cheng
• New Kid by Jerry Craft
• The Ruins of Gorlan by John Flanagan
• Refugee by Alan Gratz
• Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones
• Ungifted by Gordon Korman
• I Am Princess X by Cherie Priest
• The True Meaning of Smekday by Adam Rex
• Front Desk by Kelly Yang

Battle of the Books Practices and Battles