4th – 6th Grade

The Books

Titles for the 4th-6th Grade Battle of the Books competition are taken from the current school year’s Iowa Children’s Choice Award nominees. Click here to learn more about the Iowa Children’s Choice Award.

Books are available in multiple formats (including print, Large Print, ebook, eaudiobook, Playaway, and Read Along) through the public libraries. Many schools also have school library and/or classroom copies.

2026-2027 title list

Away — Megan E. Freeman
The Cookie Crumbles — Tracy Badua and Alechia Dow
Faker — Gordon Korman
Let It Glow — Marissa Meyer and Joanne Levy
Lion of the Sky — Ritu Hemnani
The Mystery of Locked Rooms— Lindsay Currie
Not Nothing — Gayle Forman
Popcorn— Rob Harrell
Puppet — David Almond and Lizzy Stewart
Right Back at You — Carolyn Mackler
Ripley: Fire Station Five — W. Bruce Cameron
Same Page — Elly Swartz
The Sherlock Society — James Ponti
Stranded — Nikki Shannon Smith
A Strange Thing Happened in Cherry Hall — Jasmine Warga
The Tenth Mistake of Hank Hooperman — Gennifer Choldenko
Tree. Table. Book. — Lois Lowry
The Trouble with Heroes — Kate Messner
Uprising — Jennifer A. Nielsen
Wild Wave — Rodman Philbrick

The Battle

  1. School Level – Schools determine their best team. If there are three or less buildings in that district/area that participate, one team from each will represent their district in the final battle.
  2. District Level – One team from each participating school in the district will battle each other for the right to represent their district in the final Eastern Iowa Regional Battle of the Books. Sponsoring libraries will host these battles at the place and time of their choosing.
  3. Final Battle – “Eastern Iowa Regional Battle of the Books” will be hosted by the winning team from the previous year unless worked out otherwise. 
Battle Dates

2026-2027 Regional Battle Date:
Saturday, April 3rd | 10:00 AM | Bettendorf Public Library

District Battle Dates:

  • Bettendorf: March 10th at 4:30 PM | Bettendorf Public Library
  • Davenport: March 10th at 4:00 | Davenport Public Library Eastern
  • Homeschool: TBD
  • North Scott: March 5th at 1:30 PM | Scott County Library System Eldridge branch
  • Pleasant Valley: March 11th at 4:30 PM | Bettendorf Public Library
  • Private School: March 6th at 10:00 AM | Bettendorf Public Library

School Battle Dates: Please contact your school’s teacher librarian for more information!

The Questions

Create and share practice questions with other Elementary schools here!

Teacher and School Librarians who need more information can use this link to request access to the Eastern Iowa Battle of the Books Google Drive.

Each book is reviewed, and questions are written by public librarians from sponsoring libraries. All questions are answered with the title of a book and the author.

The Students

All students in 4th-6th grades in Eastern Iowa can participate through their school. Please contact your school librarian or English teacher for more information.

Homeschool teams are welcome to participate! Please reach out to your local public librarian for more information on how to compete.

The Rules

Rules for the 2027 battles are currently being updated. Check back soon!