2025-2026 OBOB Title List

Notes about editions and ISBNs: 

• The title committee makes every effort to choose books that are available in paperback in order to lower costs to schools, libraries, and families. We make a few exceptions each year for books that are unlikely to come out in paperback.
• We are sharing the ISBN of the specific edition question writers will be using as they develop their questions. Unless specified otherwise, readers should familiarize themselves with the same edition so they can answer any questions that come from forwards, author’s notes, end material, etc. For a few classic books, we encourage you to use any edition you have available, as question writers will only pull from the original text.

3-5 division:

• Better with Butter by Victoria Piontek – ISBN 9781338662214
• City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau – ISBN 9780375822742 – Please note this is the original novel, not the adapted graphic novel by the same name!
• Elf Dog and Owl Head by M. T. Anderson – ISBN 9781536235166
• Escape from Mr. Lemoncello’s Library by Chris Grabenstein  – ISBN 978059389720 — *Please note this is the original novel, not the adapted graphic novel by the same name!
  
• Finding Langston by Lesa Cline-Ransome – ISBN 9780823445820
• Hatchet by Gary Paulsen – ISBN 9780545462211 — *The questions for this specific title will be taken from the original text, not supplemental material. Any American edition of this book will prepare OBOBers for a battle, although page numbers may differ.
• Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhhà Lại – ISBN 9780061962790
• Just Like Click by Sandy Grubb – ISBN 9781646034390
• The Lost Library by Rebecca Stead and Wendy Mass – ISBN 9781250838834
• The Million Dollar Race by Matthew Ross Smith – ISBN 9781534420281
• Number the Stars by Lois Lowry – ISBN 9780547577098 — *The questions for this specific title will be taken from the original text, not supplemental material. Any American edition of this book will prepare OBOBers for a battle, although page numbers may differ.
• Odder by Katherine Applegate – ISBN 9781250147424 — *Please note this is the novel, not the author’s picture book by the same name! We are using the hardback edition as the paperback has only been published in the UK.
• The Remarkable Rescue at Milkweed Meadow by Elaine Dimopoulos – ISBN 9781623545857
• The Secret Garden on 81st Street by Ivy Noelle Weir and Amber Padilla – ISBN 9780316459709
• Squished by Megan Wagner Lloyd and Michelle Mee Nutter – ISBN 9781338568936
• The Tail of Emily Windsnap by Liz Kessler – ISBN 9780763660208 — *Be sure you are purchasing a US version of this, as the UK version differs in some ways.

6-8 division:

• Aru Shah and the End of Time by Roshani Chokshi – ISBN 9781368023566
• Asha and the Spirit Bird by Jasbinder Bilan – ISBN 9781911490197
• Dealing with Dragons by Patricia C. Wrede – ISBN 9780544541221 — *The questions for this specific title will be taken from the original text, not supplemental material. Any American edition of this book will prepare OBOBers for a battle, although page numbers may differ.
• A Dictionary of Scoundrels by Beth Lincoln – ISBN 9780593533253
• Dragon Pearl by Yoon Ha Lee – ISBN 9781368014748
• Ellen Outside the Lines by A.J. Sass – ISBN 9780759556294
• The Eyes and the Impossible by Dave Eggers – ISBN 9781524764234
• Mexikid: A Graphic Memoir by Pedro Martín – ISBN 9780593462294
• An Occasionally Happy Family by Cliff Burke – ISBN 9780063286672
• Projekt 1065: A Novel of World War II by Alan Gratz – ISBN 9780545880169 — *While a paperback edition of this book exists, it seems to be out of print and hard to locate, so we are using the readily-available hardback.
• Rain Rising by Courtne Comrie – ISBN 9780063159716
• Remember My Story by Claire Sarnowski and Sarah Durand – ISBN 9780316592895 — *There is a paperback scheduled to be released in June, but since we can’t guarantee that, we are using the hardback.
• Soar by Joan Bauer – ISBN 9780147513151
• Tagging Freedom by Rhonda Roumani – ISBN 9781454950721
• Tumble by Celia C. Pérez – ISBN 9780593325186
• Uprooted: A Memoir About What Happens When Your Family Moves Back by Ruth Chan – ISBN 9781250855343

9-12 division:

• All My Rage by Sabaa Tahir – ISBN 9780593202364
• An Appetite for Miracles by Laekan Zea Kemp – ISBN 9780316461849
• Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas – ISBN 9781250792075
• A Crane Among Wolves by June Hur – ISBN 9781250858085
• Dragon Hoops by Gene Luen Yang – ISBN 9781250363084
• Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree – ISBN 9781035007325
• Promise Boys by Nick Brooks – ISBN 9781250362674
• Seven Percent of Ro Devereux by Ellen O’Clover – ISBN 9780063255043
• Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi – ISBN 9780316056199
• Six Crimson Cranes by Elizabeth Lim – ISBN 9780593300947
• The Sunbearer Trials by Aiden Thomas – ISBN 9781250822741
• When We Make It by Elisabet Velasquez – ISBN 9780593324509