Level 6 thru 9

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2009
Level 6 thru 9
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Introduction
The Oregon Battle of the Books is a statewide
reading motivation and comprehension program
sponsored by the Oregon Association of School
Libraries in conjunction with a Library Services
and Technology Act grant.

• Students are exposed to fabulous literature
  representing a variety of literary styles and
  viewpoints.
• The goals of the program are
• to encourage and recognize students who enjoy
  reading to broaden reading interests
• to increase reading comprehension
• to promote academic excellence.

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The WOMScompetition

• These will be all class competitions. Mrs. F-B
  will ask random questions based on any of the
  novels from the list.
• Answers will consist of book titles (3 points)
  and authors (2 points).
• You will get three tickets per person to give
  titles. You may answer unlimited authors. So,
  everyone should learn all the authors, even if
  you dont read all the books because you can help
  your team that way. There is no helping among
  team members by calling out answers.
• If your team misses a title, the question moves
  to the next team.

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The state OBOBcompetition
These will be 4 person team competitions (with a
5th alternate member) with only one spokesperson
per team. These competitions will run
differently. There will be In which Book
questions - answers will consist of book titles
(3 points) and authors (2 points) And there will
be and Open Response/Content questions -
answers for these will be worth 5 points. If your
team misses a title, the question moves to the
next team. We will have local competitions at our
school to determine the team which goes to
regionals. The regional competition will have
over 30 schools participating and will be held
here at WOMS on Saturday, February 28th.
Regional winners will go to the state competition
in April. If you are interested in signing up for
the Oregon Battle team, please get a flyer from
Mrs. FB.
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Introducingthis years books!
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A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin
Dragons, wizards, mages, spells, magic, pride,
jealousy, friendships, loyalty, good versus
evil are all part of this well-written fantasy
adventure story. While defending his village,
the young boy, Sparrowhawk, realizes that he has
amazing powers against his enemy. He soon
enrolls in a school for wizards and excels much
faster than the others. Yet, that breeds envy of
the others, and too much pride for
Sparrowhawk--which pushes him to challenge
dangerous powers he is not yet ready to handle
and an evil shadow is loosed, ready to haunt him
to the evil side of magic. Will Sparrowhawk
have the determination and courage to challenge
and beat this strong defying, clever dark shadow?
Lexile 1150
Fantasy
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The Stout-Hearted Seven Orphaned on the
Oregon Trail by Neta Lohnes Frazier
In the 1840s, the Sager family set off on the
Oregon Trail, a dangerous and adventure-filled
journey. Tragedy struck when both the mother and
father died from a fever, orphaning seven
youngsters, one just a newborn. For the rest of
the trip, the entire wagon train adopted them,
until they arrived at the Whitman Mission in
Oregon. There, the Sager children settled into a
new life, until the day of a massacre where many
were killed. Based on a true story,
originally written by one of the Sager sisters.
Historical fiction
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Do you love animals? Learn about otters!
Sea Otter Rescue the Aftermath of an Oil
Spill by Roland Smith
Roland Smith has always loved animals and in fact
was a zoo keeper in Portland Oregon for many
years. He was asked to help clean up one of the
largest oil spills in Alaska, the Exxon Valdez,
and help rescue the many otters and animals
suffering. When Smith returned, he felt it was
important that everybody should know about the
rescue efforts of the otter, and their plight, so
he wrote this book, his first. What happened? How
did this oil spill occur and how much damage did
it do the environment?
Lexile 1170
Non Fiction
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The Pinhoe Egg By Diana Wynn Jones
2009 YRCA
The magical Pinhoe family lives in the shadow of
the castle and on the edge of a magic wood that
labors under an ancient malignant influence that
hides much from the witch-wise modern Pinhoes and
from the prying eyes of Chrestomanci. What are
the Pinhoes hiding? And why is Gammer Pinhoe so
keen on a feud with the rival witchy family the
Farleighs? And just what is the pinkish
cranberry red mauve speckled egg up in her
attic? Fanciful! Adventurous! Mysterious!
Fantasy
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Would you like to climb Mt Everest?
Peak by Roland Smith
Peak, a 14 year old boy named by his
famous mountaineering father, is arrested after
he climbs a 75 foot building. The juvenile court
is prepared to sentence him to a long term, but
Peaks father convinces the judge that he will
take him overseas with him and enroll him in an
international school--thus keeping him away from
other skyscrapers. Peak does move with his
father to Kathmandu but he doesnt attend school.
Instead his father prepares him to be the
youngest person climb Mt. Everest! However, he
is not the only teen preparing to accomplish this
feat, as a Tibetan boy is also working toward
that goal. Will Peak make it to the top? Will he
be the youngest climber to do so?
Lexile 780
Adventure
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Funny! Fun!
Minerva Clark gets a Clue by Karen Karbo
7th grader Minerva Clark lives with her 3
brothers and her father, hangs out with her
friends, says things just to be cool, hates her
hair and big feet. That is until she gets an
electric shock! Poof! Her low self esteem and
self doubts evaporate with that single electrical
jolt. She is now SO confident that she takes on
the curious and troubling circumstances of her
favorite cousins stolen identity. Despite the
ploys by others that might have deterred her
before, Minerva continues to dig for answers.
With her furry white ferret as her main
companion and her new-found confidence, Minerva
is determined to help her cousin.
Lexile 820
Mystery/Humor
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Atherton House of Power by
Patrick Carman
2008 YRCA
In the world of Atherton, the 3 levels of society
and power is just the way it is. The top level
living in luxury and power the middle area, the
Tabletop, living a day-to-day existence of hard
work with little rewards and the bottom
wastelands is the place where no one goes --- and
if they do, they never come back. Then one day,
Edgar a curious 11 year old, finds a book that
contains important secrets, but he cannot read
them. To solve the mysteries, he needs to travel
between the layers of the world. It is dangerous
and has never been done before! Will Edgar solve
the mystery? Will he survive?
Lexile 950
Fantasy/Science Fiction
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HalfMoon Investigations by Eoin Colfer
Fletcher Moon has just earned a real detective
badge from the Bob Bernstein Academy and is ready
to solve the towns mysterious mishaps. April
and May, two cousins, seem nice enough but are
they behind the trouble? Then there is the
Sharkey family, well known to be a criminal
family. Hmmm. Could it be the schools rude
principal? While in the midst of working on
this crime spree, Moon is framed and accused of
being the culprit. To make matters worse, Red
Sharkey, yes of the famous criminal family, is
now working with himas a partnerand they
are both on the run from the police! Can Moon
prove himself innocent? Will they even believe
him, anyway?
Funny! Clever
Lexile 620
Mystery/Adventure
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A Girl from Yamhill A Memoir by Beverly Cleary
Author Beverly Cleary was born in 1913 on a farm
in Oregon. Living during the Depression, Cleary
shares her childhood struggles, friendships,
fears and her hopes. She was an unhappy child who
longed for her strict mothers approval and
affection. Though Cleary is one of the 20th
Centurys most popular and prolific childrens
authors, as a child she struggled with reading.
Yet, through strong determination she went to
college and became a successful author. Just
ask your parents if theyve read any
Ramona the Pest stories!
Lexile 1040
Autobiography
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Fire on the Windby Linda Crew
Exciting! Oregon setting
For loggers and their families living in the log
camps in August 1933 meant challenging times, as
it was a dry and brittle month for the forests of
Oregon. 13 year old Storie watches her father as
he works steadily providing for his family she
observes her mother devotedly keeping their home
comfortable, and her brother playing to the other
kids dangerous antics, in hopes that he will
prove that he is tough enough to become a logger
one day. However, Storie is curious and worried
about the future growth of the forest and of the
animals who live within the big trees. Then,
fire breaks out all around them and their lives
are in danger. Will they
survive?
Lexile 850
Historical Fiction
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Fablehaven by Brandon Mull
Would you like to visit or even live in a land
with fairies, trolls, satrys, imps and many other
mythical creatures? In this book, Seth and his
sister Kendra, must stay with their grandparents.
At first, their home seems to be located on a
beautiful tranquil piece of land, surrounded by
flowers and other lush flora. Yet, once Seth
disobeys one of his grandfathers rules, he
discovers that this land is actually a sanctuary
and a refuge for mythical creatures. And . . .
his grandfather is the caretaker of them
all! Exciting? Adventurous? Dangerous?
Yes! Yes! and Yes!
Lexile 700
Fantasy
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Eyes of the Emperor by Graham Salisbury
Honor World War II The Bombing of Pearl
Harbor Loyalty to the US All of the above
stimulate Eddy Okubo to enlist in the U.S. armed
forces. However, he and the other
Japanese-Americans serving in the army are
segregated, given the worst menial labor, and
ultimately find themselves literally imprisoned,
surrounded by men and machine guns. How is
this fair, right, patriotic? How does Eddy
respond to this treatment? How do those around
him respond? (Based on true
experiences.)
Lexile 630
Historical Fiction
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Call Me Hope by Gretchen Olson
Sixth grader Hope Elliotts mother verbally
abuses her, even when she tries her hardest to
make her happy. Struggling to overcome the
negativity, Hope finds encouragement from the
novel, The Diary of Anne Frank and employs
strategies to overcome the abuse of her mothers
words and actions. Hope also has a support group
of friends and other adults in her life who help
her to become emotionally resilient and to
overcome. Will Hope find the courage to
confront her mother to help her mom change?
Lexile 780
Realistic Fiction
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Oregon reads 2009 title
Bat 6 By Virginia Wolff
Since 1899, there has been a softball game, Bat
6, that is played every year between the
sixth-grade girls of Barlow and Bear Creek Ridge.
All the girls have been waiting for their turn
at Bat 6 since they could first toss a ball. This
year, 1949, there's a newcomer on each team Aki,
at first base for the Ridgers, who just returned
with her family from a place she's too
embarrassed to talk about and Shazam, center
field for Barlow, who's been shunted around by
her mother since her father was killed on
December 7, 1941. Will
the girls be friends? Who will win this
competition?
Lexile 930
Historical Fiction
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Ark Angel by Anthony Horowitz
2008 YRCA
Alex Rider, the teen spy and often double agent,
has just been shot by a bullet and is in the
hospital. While recuperating, Alex gets entangled
into another adventure rescuing a patient from
four armed men. The patients billionaire
grandfather is so thankful that he invites Alex
to the first luxury hotel in outer space. Yet,
danger follows him there also. Will Alex survive?
Will he save the posh hotel, the Ark Angel?
Lexile 680
Adventure/Science Fiction
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Mrs. F-B's favorite of the list
Alphabet of Dreams by Susan Fletcher
Mitra and her brother live on the streets begging
and stealing just to survive. Mitra burns with
hope and ambition that her life should be as it
might have been. Her father was killed after an
unsuccessful plot to murder the king, and that
has left Mitra and her brother on the streets
with nothing. However, Babak the younger
brother, realizes that he possesses a skill, one
that may very well restore their rightful place
of royalty and riches. What is this gift that
he possesses? Are they restored as royalty to
live a life of luxury again?
Lexile 760
Historical Fiction
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Which books will YOU read to join the fun?