Welcome to Battle of the Books 2025!

Battle of the Books is a reading competition for all fourth and fifth graders in the Birmingham Public School district, designed to foster a love of reading and encourage students to read books outside their comfort zone. Students read six books and compete against other teams in a battle of trivia questions. Battle books will be announced and available for checkout on Kickoff Day: Monday, December 2, 2024. The actual Battle will take place at Groves High School on Saturday, March 15 at 10:00 a.m.

Click here for the 2025 informational flier. 

An informational video for interested teams and coaches will be available in December. Videos with practice questions from the books will be available in January.

New this year: We are giving awards for Best Team Name and Best Team Spirit. Team spirit includes not just your creativity in your spirit wear on Battle day but also how you interact with your teammates, other teams, students who are looking for a team to join, behavior on Battle day, overall attitudes, etc.

Key Dates:

• Kickoff and book titles announced: Monday, December 2, 2024
• Team Registration starts: Monday, January 6, 2025
• Team Registration closes: Friday, February 28, 2025
• Battle Day: Saturday, March 15, 2025 at 10:00 a.m. Battle will end by 11:30 a.m.

Email Stephanie Klimmek, Head of Youth Services (stephanie.klimmek@baldwinlib.org) with any questions.

2025 Battle of the Books

Titles and Summaries

Watch to learn how Battle of the Books works and view the summaries for each book.

Click on each title to place a hold with your Library card:

• Dragons in a Bag by Zetta Elliott
• Shirley and Jamila Save Their Summer by Gillian Goerz
• The Evers: Forever Twelve by Stacy McAnulty
• The Unforgettable Logan Foster by Shawn Peters
• Ben Yokoyama and the Cookie of Doom by Matthew Swanson & Robbi Behr
• A Rover’s Story by Jasmine Warga