High School Battle of the Books Parent Information
Thank you for your interest in the high school Battle of the Books! Please take a few moments to look at the 2024-2025 book list and complete the questions at the end of the form. These books are selected by the NC School Library Media Association and are used by all participating high schools across the state. The document linked below includes multiple reviews, if available, for each title:

https://bit.ly/25hBOB

We respect parental choice in the selection of reading materials for their students.  If you prefer for your student to opt out of reading a specific title, please indicate that using the optional comment box under each book image.

*Please Note: Selection/competition participation of team members may vary from school to school.  The NCSLMA organization limits competition teams to no more than 12 members with only 6 members competing in each round.  Families who choose to “opt out” of specific titles may jeopardize their standing with the competitive team.

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With the Fire on High
by Elizabeth Acevedo

Teen mother Emoni Santiago struggles with the challenges of finishing high school and her dream of working as a chef.
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Recursion by Blake Crouch

Investigating a suicide, New York City police officer Barry Sutton finds a connection to the outbreak of a memory-altering disease and a controversial neuroscientist working to preserve precious memories.

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Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann

Presents a true account of the early twentieth-century murders of dozens of wealthy Osage and law-enforcement officials, citing the contributions and missteps of a fledgling FBI that eventually uncovered one of the most chilling conspiracies in American history.

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We Deserve Monuments by Jas Hammonds

When seventeen-year-old Avery moves to rural Georgia to live with her ailing grandmother, she encounters decade-old family secrets and a mystery surrounding the town's racist past.

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Check & Mate by Ali Hazelwood

When eighteen-year-old Mallory begrudgingly agrees to return to chess in one last charity tournament, her surprise upset against Nolan Sawyer, the reigning world champ and bad boy of the chess world, sets her on an whirlwind adventure as she rediscovers her passion for the game.  


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The Silence that Binds Us by Joanna Ho

In the year following their son's death, May Chen's parents face racist accusations of putting too much pressure on their son and causing his death by suicide, and May attempts to challenge the racism and ugly stereotypes through her writing, only to realize that she still has a lot to learn and that her actions have consequences for her family as well as herself.  

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Darius the Great Is Not Okay by Adib Khorram

Clinically-depressed Darius Kellner, a high school sophomore, travels to Iran to meet his grandparents, but it is their next-door neighbor, Sohrab, who changes his life.

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The Drowned Woods by Emily Lloyd-Jones

Mer, the last living water diviner in the isles of Wales, seeks revenge against the prince who used her powers for his own evil ends.

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Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

Ostracized or incarcerated her whole life, seventeen-year-old Juliette is freed on the condition that she use her horrific abilities in support of The Reestablishment, a post-apocalyptic dictatorship, but Adam, the only person ever to show her affection, offers hope of a better future.

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Enter the Body by Joy McCullough

In the room beneath a theater stage, the ghosts of Juliet, Ophelia, Cordelia, and other teenage girls who died tragically in Shakespeare's plays, share their experiences and trauma and get the chance to retell the stories of their lives in their own terms.  
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They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera

In a near-future New York City where a service alerts people on the day they will die, teenagers Mateo Torrez and Rufus Emeterio meet using the Last Friend app and are faced with the challenge of living a lifetime on their End Day.
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Accountable by Dashka Slater

Tells the story of how an Albany High School handled a racist social media incident that caused lasting and devastating consequences. 

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Victory, Stand!

by Tommie Smith, Derrick Barnes, & Dawud Anyabwile

A groundbreaking and timely graphic memoir from one of the most iconic figures in American sports-and a tribute to his fight for civil rights. 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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Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up with Me by Mariko Tamaki

Laura Dean, the most popular girl in high school, was Frederica Riley's dream girl: charming, confident, and SO cute. There's just one problem: Laura Dean is maybe not the greatest girlfriend. Reeling from her latest break up, Freddy's best friend, Doodle, introduces her to the Seek-Her, a mysterious medium, who leaves Freddy some cryptic parting words: break up with her. But Laura Dean keeps coming back, and as their relationship spirals further out of her control, Freddy has to wonder if it's really Laura Dean that's the problem. Maybe it's Freddy, who is rapidly losing her friends, including Doodle, who needs her now more than ever. Fortunately for Freddy, there are new friends, and the insight of advice columnists like Anna Vice to help her through being a teenager in love.

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Burn Down, Rise Up by Vincent Tirado

When an urban legend rumored to trap people inside subway tunnels seems to be behind mysterious disappearances in the Bronx, sixteen-year-old Raquel and her friends team up to save their city--and confront a dark episode in its history in the process.

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Educated by Tara Westover

A . . . memoir about a young girl who, kept out of school, leaves her survivalist family and goes on to earn a PhD from Cambridge University.

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