Battle of the Books

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Battle of the Books

Vote for 2024 Battle of the Books Titles....March Madness Style!

Vote Here

Voting for round one is now closed.  Tune in on Wednesday, March 27th, to take part in Round Two!

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Round Two of the BOTB bracket, showcasing the book covers of the eight nominated titles, paired off against each other for your vote.

Welcome to the ACLD Battle of the Books—March Madness edition! For the 2024 voting period, staff has selected 16 popular YA titles to be voted on by you, bracket by bracket, eliminating half each week until we get to our winners.

Here’s how it works: The 16 books have originally been placed into eight pairs, as seen in the image above. Now that Round One has ended, those 8 pairs have been halved into 4. Vote for your preferred title for each pair (you can also submit your vote without voting for everything). After the second round of voting ends, the 8 titles will be reduced to 4 titles, and Round 3 begins. Rinse and repeat until we have our two winners!

Vote every time! If you have a favorite and you miss voting, it could easily be eliminated from consideration.

The timeline goes:

  • March 20-25: Open voting to reduce 16 titles to 8  COMPLETED
  • March 27-April 1: Open voting to reduce 8 titles to 4
  • April 3-8: Open voting on the final two pairs to choose two of the titles we will be reading this summer!

Voting will be done through this form.

You, the voter, will choose two of the three titles for this summer’s competition. We will announce our Wild Card pick (chosen by staff) to be the third title read at a later date.  As a reminder, teens in Alachua County can sign up to be part of a team in this summer’s ultimate literary trivia competition. Everyone who enters will receive a free copy of the three books to keep.

The books under consideration, their summaries, and their link to our library catalog are all listed below. For any questions, please contact us at ysref@aclib.us.

Thank you again!

Book Titles and Summaries--Round Two

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Family Style

Family Style:  Memories of an American from Vietnam by Thien Pham 
Graphic novel; Autobiography

Told through the lens of meaningful food and meals, this graphic novel chronicles the author's childhood immigration to America where food takes on new meaning as he and his family search for belonging, happiness, and the American dream.
 

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I must betray you

I Must Betray You by Ruta Sepetys 
Historical Fiction 

In a country governed by isolation, fear, and a tyrannical dictator, 17-year-old Cristian Florescu is blackmailed by the secret police to become an informer. He decides to use his position to try to outwit his handler, undermine the regime, give voice to fellow Romanians, and expose to the world what is happening in his country.
 

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What I Carry

What I Carry by Jennifer Longo 
Contemporary Romance 

Growing up in foster care, Muir has lived in many houses. And if she's learned one thing, it is to Pack. Light. Carry only what fits in a suitcase. Toothbrush? Yes. Socks? Yes. Emotional attachment to friends? Foster families? A boyfriend? Nope! There's no room for any additional baggage. 

Muir has just one year left before she ages out of the system. One year before she's free. One year to avoid anything—or anyone—that could get in her way. Then she meets Francine. And Kira. And Sean. And everything changes.
 

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 huda F
Huda F Are You by Huda Fahmy  
Graphic novel; Humor
 
Huda F. is starting high school in a new town and needs to figure out where she fits.
 
 
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 Girl who fell beneath the sea
The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea by Axie Oh 
Fantasy 
 
In this retelling of the Korean legend The Tale of Shim Cheong, 16-year-old Mina is swept away to the Spirit Realm, where, assisted by a motley crew of demons, gods, and lesser spirits, she sets out to awaken the sleeping Sea God and save her homeland and family from deadly storms.
 
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Cemetery Boys
Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas  
Fantasy Paranormal
 
Yadriel, a trans boy, summons the angry spirit of his high school's bad boy and agrees to help him learn how he died, thereby proving himself a brujo, not a bruja, to his conservative family.
 
 
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Mamo
Mamo by Sas Milledge 
Graphic novel; Fantasy
 
Orla O'Reilly, the youngest in a long line of hedge witches, is compelled to return home after the death of her grandmother, Mamo. In the wake of her Mamo's passing, seas are impossible to fish, crops have soured, and even Jo Manalo's attic is taken over by a poltergeist! And to make matters worse, it appears that the cause is Mamo, or her mislaid bones that is. Can Orla shoulder the responsibility of quieting her Mamo's spirit, and saving her hometown, and will she have to step up as the new witch of Haresden like Mamo always wanted?
 
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Me Moth
Me (Moth) by Amber McBride
Book-in-verse; African-American
 
Moth, who lost her family in an accident, and Sani, who is battling ongoing depression, take a road trip that has them chasing ghosts and searching for ancestors, which helps them move forward in surprising, powerful, and unforgettable ways.

Books that were outvoted but are still amazing reads

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Ordinary Hazards

Ordinary Hazards by Nikki Grimes 
Book-in-verse; Memoir

Growing up with a mother suffering from paranoid schizophrenia and a mostly absent father, Nikki Grimes found herself terrorized by babysitters, shunted from foster family to foster family, and preyed upon by those she trusted. At six years old, she poured her pain onto a piece of paper late one night—and discovered the magic and impact of writing. For many years, Nikki's notebooks were her most enduring companions. In this accessible and inspiring memoir that will resonate with young readers and adults alike, Nikki shows how the power of those words helped her conquer the hazards—ordinary and extraordinary—of her life.
 

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 Victory Stand

Victory Stand!:  Raising My Fist For Justice by Tommie Smith  
Graphic novel; Sports memoir

On October 16, 1968, during the medal ceremony at the Mexico City Olympics, Tommie Smith, the gold medal winner in the 200-meter sprint, and John Carlos, the bronze medal winner, stood on the podium in black socks and raised their black-gloved fists to protest racial injustice inflicted upon African Americans. Both men were forced to leave the Olympics, received death threats, and faced ostracism and continuing economic hardships. In his first-ever memoir for young readers, Tommie Smith looks back on his childhood growing up in rural Texas through to his stellar athletic career, culminating in his historic victory and Olympic podium protest.
 

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We are not from here
We Are Not From Here by Jenny Torres Sanchez 
Contemporary
 
Pulga has his dreams. Chico has his grief. Pequeña has her pride. And these three teens have one another. But, none of them have illusions about the town they've grown up in and the dangers surrounding them. Even with the love of family, threats lurk around every corner. And when those threats become all too real, the trio knows they have no choice but to run. Crossing from Guatemala through Mexico, they follow the route of La Bestia, the perilous train system that might deliver them to a better life—if they are lucky enough to survive the journey. Pulga, Chico, and Pequeña know there is no turning back, despite the unknown that awaits them. And the darkness that seems to follow wherever they go.
 
 
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Breathe and count back from ten
Breathe and Count Back From Ten by Natalia Sylvester  
Contemporary; Peruvian/Disability Fiction 
 
Verónica has had many surgeries to manage her disability. The best form of rehabilitation is swimming, so she spends hours in the pool, but not just to strengthen her body. Her Florida town is home to Mermaid Cove, a kitschy underwater attraction where professional mermaids perform in giant tanks . . . and Verónica wants to audition. But her conservative Peruvian parents would never go for it. And they definitely would never let her be with Alex, her cute new neighbor. She decides it's time to seize control of her life, but her plans come crashing down when she learns her parents have been hiding the truth from her--the truth about her own body.
 
 
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Raybearer
Raybearer by Jordan Ifueko 
Fantasy 
 
Raised in isolation, Tarisai yearns for the closeness she could have as one of the Crown Prince's Council of 11, but her mother, The Lady, has magically compelled Tarisai to kill the Crown Prince.
 
 
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House of Hollow
House of Hollow by Krystal Sutherland 
Fantasy Horror 
 
Iris and Vivi work to uncover their dark, dangerous, and possibly magical past when their older sister Grey goes missing.
 
 
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Nubia
Nubia:  Real One by L.L. McKinney 
Graphic novel; Superhero 
 
Nubia has always stood out because of her Amazonian strength, but even though she uses her ability for good she is seen as a threat, so when her best friend Quisha is threatened by a boy who thinks he owns the town, Nubia risks everything to become the hero society tells her she is not.
 
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Blackout
Blackout by Dhonielle Clayton, Tiffany D. Jackson, Nic Stone, Angie Thomas, Ashley Woodfolk, and Nicola Yoon
Contemporary 
 
Six critically acclaimed, bestselling, and award-winning authors bring the glowing warmth and electricity of Black teen love to this interlinked novel of charming, hilarious, and heartwarming stories that shine a bright light through the dark.
 

Congratulations to Last Year's Winners

WINNERS

Congratulations to our winners of the 2023 Battle of the Books trivia competition!

1st Place: Waldo Branch

2nd Place: Millhopper Branch

3rd Place: Alachua Branch

Alachua County teen participants were given free copies of selected books to read over the summer to prepare to flex their trivia skills at the annual Battle of the Books. The competition took place July 23 at 2 p.m. on Zoom.

Alachua County teens selected the following books for 2023:

 

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book cover art for The Seventh Raven
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book cover art for Girl, Serpent, Thorn

Thank you to our Battle of the Books sponsor, RTI Surgical, for their generous donation that funded this program.

 

Hall of Fame

Previous Winning Teams

  1. (2010) Tower Road Branch
  2. (2011) Millhopper Branch
  3. (2012) Headquarters Library
  4. (2013) Tower Road Branch
  5. (2014) Tower Road Branch
  6. (2015) High Springs Branch
  7. (2016) High Springs Branch
  8. (2017) Headquarters Library tied with Newberry Branch
  9. (2018) Headquarters Library tied with Tower Road Branch
  10. (2019) Headquarters Library
  11. (2020) Tower Road Branch
  12. (2021) Millhopper Branch
  13. (2022) Millhopper Branch
  14. (2023) Waldo Branch
  15. (2024) We'll find out this summer!