This year is the 25th anniversary of the Washington County Free Library’s Battle of the Books program. The program was inaugurated in 1986 by librarians Donna Parks and Jeff Ridgeway in an effort to bring great kids and great books together and to reward kids who excel in reading—much like students who get rewarded for sports and music programs. Over the years the program has evolved, but the goal remains the same—to pair great kids with great books.
Every student who takes part in the program receives a brand new paperback book and a certificate verifying that he or she competed in the 2011-12 competition. Teams that advance to the final round will receive trophies or a gift certificate from a local business. Many times over the past quarter century, parents and children who have participated in the program stop and talk to the librarians about the books that they read and loved. Selected books include Newbery winning and honor books, popular fiction, children’s classics, and books that exhibit a unique perspective on the world. The common element is that the books are all quality literature.
2011-2012 Book list
The Dark Hills Divide by Patrick Carman
Masterpiece by Elise Broach
The Egypt Game by Zilpha Keatley Snyder
Matilda by Roald Dahl
Escaping the Giant Wave by Peg Kehret
The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg by Rodman Philbrick
Faith, Hope, and Ivy June by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
One-Handed Catch by Mary Jane Auch
Half Magic by Edward Eager
Sign of the Beaver by Elizabeth George Spear
Here Lies the Librarian by Richard Peck
Trouble Don’t Last by Shelley Pearsall
Holes by Louis Sachar
War Horse by Michael Morpurgo
The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place by Maryrose Wood
