Battle of the Books

KLO Grade 7 Titles2015-2016

Unwanteds

• Every year in Quill, thirteen-year-olds are sorted into categories: the strong intelligent Wanteds go to university, and the artistic Unwanteds are sent to their deaths

• Alex tries his hardest to be stoic when his fate is announced as Unwanted, even while leaving behind his twin, Aaron, a Wanted.

• However, upon arrival at the "death farm" where he expects to be eliminated, Alex discovers a stunning secret instead – a place called Artime.

TAGS: dystopia, fantasy, magic(First of 4)

1:14

Among the Imposters

• Out of hiding, and in to danger.• Luke Garner is an illegal third child. All his life has

been spent in hiding. Now, for the first time, Luke is living among others.

• He has assumed a deceased boy's identity and is attending Hendricks School for Boys, a windowless building with cruel classmates and oblivious teachers. Luke knows he has to blend in, but he lives in constant fear that his behavior will betray him.

• Then one day Luke discovers a door to the outside. He knows that beyond the walls of Hendricks lie the secrets he is desperate to uncover. What he doesn't know is whom he can trust – and where the answers to his questions may lead him...

TAGS: dystopia, adventure, fantasy(2nd of 7 books in Shadow Children series)

1:47

Camp X

• It's 1943, and nearly-12-year-old George and his older brother Jack are spending a restless wartime summer in Whitby, Ontario.

• One afternoon, the boys stumble across Canada's top-secret spy camp-and so begins an exciting and terrifying adventure as George and Jack get caught up in the covert activities of Camp X.

• Unable to resist the camp's allure, the boys keep going back to find out more details of what's going on.

• They also attract the attention of someone who is determined to use George and Jack's knowledge against the Allies, no matter the consequences . . . or the casualties.

TAGS: historical fiction, Canada, Second World War(First of 6)

The Alchemyst

• The records show that he died in 1418. But his tomb is empty: Nicholas Flamel lives.

• But only because he has been making the elixir of life for centuries. The secret of eternal life is hidden within the book he protects—the most powerful book that has ever existed. In the wrong hands, it will destroy the world. That's exactly what Dr. John Dee plans to do when he steals it.

• If the prophecy is right, Sophie and Josh Newman are the only ones with the power to save the world as we know it.

• Sometimes legends are true. And Sophie and Josh are about to find themselves in the middle of the greatest legend of all time.

TAGS: fantasy, magic, mythology(First of 6)

1:31

Ungifted

• When one of Donovan’s thoughtless pranks accidentally destroys the school gym during the Big Game he knows he's in for it.

• But through a strange chain of events, his name gets put on the list for the local school for gifted students.

• Donovan knows he's not a genius, but he can't miss this chance to escape.

• Now, he has to figure out a way to stay at Academy of Scholastic Distinction and fit in with the kids there..

TAGS: realistic fiction, humor, middle school

1:00

The Supernaturalist

• Unwanted by his parents, Cosmo Hill is put to work by the state, testing highly dangerous products.

• Cosmo realizes he must get away, and escapes with the help of the Supernaturalists, a group of kids who have the same special abilities as Cosmo--they can see supernatural Parasites, creatures that feed on the life force of humans.

• The Supernaturalists patrol the city at night, hunting the Parasites in hopes of saving what is left of humanity in Satellite City.

• But soon they find themselves caught in a web far more complicated than they'd imagined, and they discover a horrifying secret that will force them to question everything they believe in.

TAGS: dystopia, science fiction, fantasy

1:12

The Fugitive Factor

• Aiden and Meg are out to find the evidence that will free their parents from a life sentence in prison. But in order to do that, they have to live undercover.

• Ever since they broke out of a juvenile detention facility, they've been chased by the FBI ... and by a strange killer they've nicknamed Hairless Joe.

• Now their story has hit the airwaves, and suddenly everyone is looking for them. They think they can hide with an old family friend...

• But when she turns them in and Meg is put in jail, the danger and adventure only increase.

TAGS: mystery, adventure(2nd of 6 books in On the Run series)

The Extraordinary Adventures of Alfred Kropp

• Alfred Kropp was just trying to survive high school when his guardian uncle gets him roped into a suspicious get-rich-quick scheme that changes his life forever: stealing Excalibur – the legendary sword of King Arthur.

• This marks the beginning Alfred’s adventure as he sets off on an unlikely quest to try to right a wrong and save the world from imminent destruction.

TAGS: adventure, fantasy, Arthurian mythology(First of trilogy)

1:00

The City of Ember

• Ember, a 241-year-old, ruined domed city surrounded by a dark unknown, was built to ensure that humans would continue to exist on Earth, and the instructions for getting out have been lost and forgotten.

• On Assignment Day, 12-year-olds leave school and receive their lifetime job assignments. Lina Mayfleet becomes a messenger, and her friend Doon Harrow ends up in the Pipeworks beneath the city, where the failing electric generator has been ineffectually patched together.

• Both Lina and Doon are convinced that their survival means finding a way out of the city, and after Lina discovers pieces of the instructions, she and Doon work together to interpret the fragmented document before the lights go out on Ember forever!

TAGS: dystopia, fantasy, adventure(First of 4)

1:34

Coraline

• In Coraline's family's new flat are twenty-one windows and fourteen doors. Thirteen of the doors open and close.

• The fourteenth is locked, and on the other side is only a brick wall, until the day Coraline unlocks the door to find a passage to another flat in another house just like her own.

• Only it's different.

TAGS: fantasy, horror, paranormal

1:40

Iqbal

• When young Iqbal is sold into slavery at a carpet factory, his arrival changes everything for the other overworked and abused children there.

• It is Iqbal who explains to them that despite their master's promises, he plans on keeping them as his slaves indefinitely.

• But it is also Iqbal who inspires the other children to look to a future free from toil...and is brave enough to show them how to get there.

TAGS: realistic fiction, historical fiction, Pakistan, child labor

When You Reach Me• Four mysterious letters change Miranda’s world

forever.

By sixth grade, Miranda and her best friend, Sal, know how to navigate their New York City neighborhood. They know where it’s safe to go, like the local grocery store, and they know whom to avoid, like the crazy guy on the corner.

But things start to unravel. Sal gets punched by a new kid for what seems like no reason, and he shuts Miranda out of his life. The apartment key that Miranda’s mom keeps hidden for emergencies is stolen. And then Miranda finds a mysterious note scrawled on a tiny slip of paper:

I am coming to save your friend’s life, and my own. I must ask two favors. First, you must write me a letter.

• TAGS: Science Fiction, Mystery

When You Reach Me