Battle of the Books is an annual contest that pits teams from Manitowoc and Calumet county libraries against one another over a pre-determined set of books using a game show format. Open to grades 7 and up, team members read from an assortment of books and answer questions about them at the Battle. To sign up, stop by the Reference Desk or e-mail mplref@manitowoc.org.

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• A time of miraclesBy Anne-Laure Bondoux

  Blaise Fortune, also known as Koumaïl, loves hearing the story of how he came to live with Gloria in the Republic of Georgia: Gloria was picking peaches in her father’s orchard when she heard a train derail. After running to the site of the accident, she found an injured woman who asked Gloria to take her baby. The woman, Gloria claims, was French, and the baby was Blaise.   When Blaise turns seven years old, the Soviet Union collapses and Gloria decides that she and Blaise must flee the political troubles and civil unrest in Georgia. The two make their way westward on foot, heading toward France, where Gloria says they will find safe haven. But what exactly is the truth about Blaise’s past? Bits and pieces are revealed as he and Gloria endure a five-year journey across the Caucasus and Europe, weathering hardships and welcoming unforgettable encounters with other refugees searching for a better life. During this time Blaise grows from a boy into an adolescent; but only later, as a young man, can he finally attempt to untangle his identity.

  

• Bad IslandBy Doug TenNapel

  Something on this island is up to no good . . . When Reese is forced to go on a boating trip with his family, the last thing he expects is to be shipwrecked on an island-especially one teeming with weird plants and animals. But what starts out as simply a bad vacation turns into a terrible one, as the castaways must find a way to escape while dodging the island's dangerous inhabitants. With few resources and a mysterious entity on the hunt, each secret unlocked could save them . . . or spell their doom. One thing Reese knows for sure: This is one Bad Island.

  

• Can I see your I.D.?By Chris Barton

  Who are you? Why should I believe you? Can I see some I.D.?
  
  These fascinating stories of ten imposters -- many of them teenagers -- push questions of identity, deception, and gullibility to the extreme. Sometimes, reality truly does defy belief!

• Can I see your I.D.?By Chris Barton

  Who are you? Why should I believe you? Can I see some I.D.?
  
  These fascinating stories of ten imposters -- many of them teenagers -- push questions of identity, deception, and gullibility to the extreme. Sometimes, reality truly does defy belief!

• Can I see your I.D.?By Chris Barton

  Who are you? Why should I believe you? Can I see some I.D.?
  
  These fascinating stories of ten imposters -- many of them teenagers -- push questions of identity, deception, and gullibility to the extreme. Sometimes, reality truly does defy belief!

  

• Ruby RedBy Kerstin Gier

  Gwyneth Shepherd's sophisticated, beautiful cousin Charlotte has been prepared her entire life for traveling through time. But unexpectedly, it is Gwyneth, who in the middle of class takes a sudden spin to a different era! Gwyneth must now unearth the mystery of why her mother would lie about her birth date to ward off suspicion about her ability, brush up on her history, and work with Gideon--the time traveler from a similarly gifted family that passes the gene through its male line, and whose presence becomes, in time, less insufferable and more essential. Together, Gwyneth and Gideon journey through time to discover who, in the 18th century and in contemporary London, they can trust.

  

• The Fault in our StarsBy John Green

  Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has brought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But whena a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel's story is about to be completely rewritten

  

• The Running DreamBy Wendelin Van Draanen

  Sixteen year old Jessica is a runner, It's not just what she does, it's who she is. So when an accident causes her to lose one of her legs, she is shattered -- inside and out.
  
  Though the doctor say she'll be able to walk with a prosthetic limb, recovery is full of pitfalls. Jessica wonders if the girl who died in the accident didn't get the better end of the deal. But as she struggles to reclaim her life, Jessica gets to know Rosa -- a girl with cerebal palsy whom she and her friends had always overlooked. Not only does Rosa come to her rescue in math, she also helps her reach for a future that is full of unexpected opportunities. And Jessica starts to wonder: is it possible not only to walk again, but to run?

  

• The Scorpio RacesBy Maggie Stiefvater

  Every November, the Scorpio Races are run beneath the chalk cliffs of Skarmouth. Thousands gather to watch the horses and the sea that washes the blood from the sand. The mounts are capaill uisce: savage water horses. There are no horses more beautiful, more fearless, more deadly. To race them can be suicide but the danger is irresistible.

  

• This Dark EndeavorBy Kenneth Oppel

  The purest intentions can stir up the darkest obsessions.
  
  Sixteen year old Victor Frankenstein begins a dark journey that will change his life forever. Victor's twin, Konrad, has fallen ill, and no doctor can cure him. Unwilling to give up on his brother, Victor enlists his beautiful cousin Elizabeth and his best friend, Henry, on a treacherous search for the ingreidents to create the forbidden Elixir of Life.

  

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• Fat CatBy Robin Brande

  You are what you eat. . . . Cat is smart, sassy, and funny but thin, she's not. Until her class science project. That's when she winds up doing an experiment on herself. Before she knows it, Cat is living and eating like the hominids, our earliest human ancestors. True, no chips or TV is a bummer and no car is a pain, but healthful eating and walking everywhere do have their benefits. As the pounds drop off, the guys pile on. All this new found male attention is enough to drive a girl crazy! If only she weren't too busy hating Matt McKinney to notice. . . .

  

• Five Flavors of DumbBy Antony John

  The Challenge: Piper has one month to get the rock band Dumb a paying gig.
  

  
  

  The Deal: If she does it, Piper will become the band's manager and get her share of the profits.

  
  

  The Catch: How can Piper possibly manage one egomaniacal pretty boy, one talentless piece of eye candy, one crush, one silent rocker, and one angry girl? And how can she do it when she's deaf?

  
  

  Piper can't hear Dumb's music, but with growing self-confidence, a budding romance, and a new understanding of the decision her family made to buy a cochlear implant for her deaf baby sister, she discovers her own inner rock star and what it truly means to be a flavor of Dumb.

  

• Get Real: What Kind of World are You Buying?By Mara Rockliff

  Can you change the world with your wallet?
  You already do.
  
  This frank, teen-friendly manifesto reveals what you're really buying when you spend your money on a burger, a cheap t-shirt, or a cell phone--and points the way to better choices, both for people and the planet.
  
  Start seeing the world for real, and discover how you can make a difference.
  You've got buying power--now let's see you change the world for good!
  

  

• Heart of a SamuraiBy Margi Preus

  In 1841, a Japanese fishing vessel sinks. Its crew is forced to swim to a small, unknown island, where they are rescued by a passing American ship. Japan's borders remain closed to all Western nations, so the crew sets off to America, learning English on the way. Manjiro, a fourteen-year-old boy, is curious and eager to learn everything he can about this new culture. Eventually the captain adopts Manjiro and takes him to his home in New England. The boy lives for some time in New England, and then heads to San Francisco to pan for gold. After many years, he makes it back to Japan, only to be imprisoned as an outsider. With his hard-won knowledge of the West, Manjiro is in a unique position to persuade the shogun to ease open the boundaries around Japan; he may even achieve his unlikely dream of becoming a samurai.

  

• Hex HallBy Rachel Hawkins

  Three years ago, Sophie Mercer discovered that she was a witch, which has gotten her into a few scrapes. Her non-gifted mother has been as supportive as possible, consulting Sophie's estranged father;an elusive European warlock;only when necessary. But when Sophie attracts too much human attention for a prom-night spell gone horribly wrong, it's her dad who decides her punishment: exile to Hex Hall, an isolated reform school for wayward Prodigium, a.k.a. witches, faeries, and shapeshifters.
  
  By the end of her first day among fellow freak-teens, Sophie has quite a scorecard: three powerful enemies who look like supermodels, a futile crush on a gorgeous warlock, a creepy tagalong ghost, and a new roommate who happens to be the most hated person and only vampire on campus. Worse, Sophie soon learns that a mysterious predator has been attacking students, and her only friend is the number-one suspect.
  
  As a series of blood-curdling mysteries starts to converge, Sophie prepares for the biggest threat of all: an ancient secret society determined to destroy all Prodigium, especially her.

  

• Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451: The Authorized AdaptationBy Ray Bradbury & Tim Hamilton

  “Monday burn Millay, Wednesday Whitman, Friday Faulkner, burn ’em to ashes, then burn the ashes.”
  
  For Guy Montag, a career fireman for whom kerosene is perfume, this is not just an official slogan. It is a mantra, a duty, a way of life in a tightly monitored world where thinking is dangerous and books are forbidden.

  
  

  In 1953, Ray Bradbury envisioned one of the world’s most unforgettable dystopian futures, and in Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, the artist Tim Hamilton translates this frightening modern masterpiece into a gorgeously imagined graphic novel.
  

  

• Ship BreakerBy Paolo Bacigalupi

  In a futuristic world, teenager Nailer scavenges copper wiring from grounded oil tankers for a living, but when he finds a beached clipper ship with a girl in the wreckage, he has to decide if he should strip the ship for its wealth or rescue the girl. A tale of adventure and cutthroat action.

  

• Tiger's CurseBy Colleen Houck

  Many years ago, two Indian princes fell in love with the same woman. Her sorcerer father took advantage of the brothers' rivalry to gain control of the magical amulets they possessed. The girl was killed, and the brothers were transformed into tigers.
  
  More than 300 years later, Kelsey, an American orphan who has just graduated from high school, takes a temporary job working with a circus. There, she develops an inexplicable bond with a white tiger named Ren, and she is asked to accompany him to a wildlife preserve in India. There he temporarily transforms into a handsome young man and reveals that only Kelsey can help break the curse he is under. She must embark upon a journey where she is in danger of losing her heart, her life, or both.

  

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• Chasing Lincoln’s KillerBy James L. Swanson

  Find out more on the intrigue of the Lincoln assassination by tracing the path of John Wilkes Booth that led to and followed the fateful night at Ford’s Theater.

  

• Marcelo in the Real WorldBy Francisco Stork

  Marcelo has spent his life in controlled situations as he has grown up with Asperger’s syndrome, but finds his world shaken up as his father puts him to work in the real world in a mailroom.

  

• Mouse Guard Fall 1152By David Petersen

  In the mouse world, the Mouse Guard exists to protect mice from the dangers of weather and predators, but face their most dangerous foe when a traitor is discovered in their midst.

  

• Poisons of Caux: The Hollow BettleBy Susannah Applebaum

  In a kingdom where poison is a daily concern, Ivy gets swept up in a prophecy that may save the king.

  

• Prophecy of the SistersBy Michelle Zink

  Twin sisters Lia and Alice discover a prophecy that pits them against one another.

  

• Suck It UpBy Brian Meehl

  Morning, a goofy misfit among other beautiful vampires, is selected to be the one who will introduce humans to their existence. When the vegetarian Morning begins to acquire the taste of human blood, things get sticky.

  

• What I Saw and How I LiedBy Judy Blundell

  While vacationing in Palm Beach, FL, Evie learns her parents are not who she thought they were and is swept up in a mystery that may destroy the life she knows.

  

• When You Reach MeBy Rebecca Stead

  Miranda seems like any other teen, but when she discovers notes written by an unknown author, she may be able to see things before they happen.