Battle of the Books 2025-26 List

Since school is starting soon, it's time to consider extracurricular activities. If your school offers Battle of the Books and you enjoy reading and competing, I suggest participating in the Battle of the Books for your school!

Listed below are the High School Battle of the Books for the 2025-26 school year:

The Naturals by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

• "Seventeen-year-old Cassie Hobbes is a natural at reading people. Piecing together the tiniest details, she can tell you who you are and what you want. But, it's not a skill that she's ever taken seriously. That is, until the FBI come knocking: they've begun a classified program that uses exceptional teenagers to crack infamous cold cases, and they need Cassie. What Cassie doesn't realize is that there's more at risk than a few unsolved homicides--especially when she's sent to live with a group of teens whose gifts are as unusual as her own. Soon, it becomes clear that no one in the Naturals program is what they seem. And when a new killer strikes, danger looms close. Caught in a lethal game of cat and mouse with a killer, the Naturals are going to have to use all of their gifts just to survive"- Back cover

  
  

The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline

• "In a future world ravaged by global warming, people have lost the ability to dream, and the dreamlessness has led to widespread madness. The only people still able to dream are North America's indigenous population - and it is their marrow that holds the cure for the rest of the world. But getting the marrow - and dreams - means death for the unwilling donors. Driven to flight, a 15-year-old and his companions struggle for survival, attempt to reunite with loved ones, and take refuge from the "recruiters" who seek them out to bring them to the marrow-stealing 'factories.'"- Provided by publisher

Dancing at the Pity Party by Tyler Feder

• "Tyler Feder shares her story of her mother's first oncology appointment to facing reality as a motherless daughter in this frank and refreshingly funny graphic memoir"- Provided by publisher

The Great Cool Ranch Dorito in the Sky by Josh Galarza

• "Ever since cancer invaded his adoptive mother’s life, Brett feels like he’s losing everything, most of all control. To cope, Brett fuels all of his anxieties into epic fantasies, including his intergalactic Kid Condor comic book series, which features food constellations and characters not unlike those in his own life."-Provided by publisher

Everyone Dies Famous in a Small Town by Bonnie-Sue Hitchcock

• "A lyrical story collection shares the experiences of teens from small communities in Alaska and the American West, whose lives are impacted by wildfires, child predators, disappearances and other traumas." -Novelist

Raybearer by Jordan Ifueko

• "Inspired by Nigerian folklore, this lush and lyrical high fantasy series follows Tarisai, who has lived all eleven years of her life in isolation until her mysterious mother, known only as the Lady, commands her to infiltrate Crown Prince Ekundayo's Council and murder him. Tarisai must navigate her own feelings for Ekundayo, her mother's powerful will, and potential political fallout."-Novelist

You Have a Match by Emma Lord

• "When Abby signs up for a DNA service, it's mainly to give her friend and secret love interest, Leo, a nudge. After all, she knows who she is already: Avid photographer. Injury-prone tree climber. Best friend to Leo and Connie...although ever since the B.E.I. (Big Embarrassing Incident) with Leo, things have been awkward on that front. But she didn't know she's a younger sister. When the DNA service reveals Abby has a secret sister, shimmery-haired Instagram star Savannah Tully, it’s hard to believe they’re from the same planet, never mind the same parents. The logical course of action? Meet up at summer camp (obviously) and figure out why Abby’s parents gave Savvy up for adoption. But there are complications: Savvy is a rigid rule-follower and total narc. Leo is the camp’s co-chef, putting Abby's growing feelings for him on blast. And her parents have a secret that threatens to unravel everything." -Novelist

Angel of Greenwood by Randi Pink

• "Angel and Isaiah share a hidden love for black literature, and now each other, when tragedy and triumph emerge during the Greenwood Massacre of Tulsa, Oklahoma."-Novelist

Everything We Never Had by Randy Ribay

• "Set in the 1930s to today, four generations of Filipino American boys grapple with identity, masculinity, and father-son relationships." -Novelist

  
  

Powerless by Lauren Roberts

• "In a kingdom divided by extraordinary powers and a strict caste system, Paedyn Gray, a young girl with no abilities, must hide her ordinary nature as she navigates a forbidden romance with a powerful prince and must participate in the perilous Purging Trials that could reveal her true identity." - UCL OPAC

  
  

The Cat I Never Named by Amra Sabic-El-Rayess

• "The stunning memoir of a Muslim teen struggling to survive in the midst of the Bosnian genocide-and the stray cat who protected her family through it all." -UCL OPAC 

Starter Villain by John Scalzi

• "Inheriting your uncle's supervillain business is more complicated than you might think. Particularly when you discover who's running the place." -UCL OPAC 

Impossible Escape by Steve Sheinkin

• "From three-time National Book Award finalist and Newbery Honor author Steve Sheinkin, a true story of two Jewish teenagers racing against time during the Holocaust--one in hiding in Hungary, and the other in Auschwitz, plotting escape." -UCL OPAC 

Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas

• "Yadriel has summoned a ghost, and now he can't get rid of him. When his traditional Latinx family has problems accepting his true gender, Yadriel becomes determined to prove himself a real brujo. With the help of his cousin and best friend Maritza, he performs the ritual himself, and then sets out to find the ghost of his murdered cousin and set it free." -UCL OPAC 

Fable by Adrienne Young

• "As the daughter of the most powerful trader in the Narrows, the sea is the only home seventeen-year-old Fable has ever known. It's been four years since the night she watched her mother drown during an unforgiving storm. The next day her father abandoned her on a legendary island filled with thieves and little food. To survive she must keep to herself, learn to trust no one and rely on the unique skills her mother taught her. The only thing that keeps her going is the goal of getting off the island, finding her father and demanding her rightful place beside him and his crew. To do so Fable enlists the help of a young trader named West to get her off the island and across the Narrows to her father." -UCL OPAC