7th/8th Graders

[Holly]

Hi all! I am looking for book suggestions for 7th or 8th graders both in content and in difficulty. I am open to all genres. Thank you so much for helping me out!

[Jessica]

Some that I have recently read and enjoyed were:
- The Aurora County All Stars by Deborah Wiles
- Robot Dreams by Sara Varon
- Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis

Also, booklists from libraries are good. Here is the link to my library system's teen page - they have good lists on tons of topics, as you can see! Hope that helps!

[Lusty Reader]

There is a similar discussion about books for 10-ish year olds here: http://bookblogs.ning.com/forum/topics/best-books-for-10ish-year-olds, but for some reason 8th grade recommendations is stumping me, it is such an in-between age I think.

In school at that time I read Snow Falling on Cedars and Angela's Ashes and loved both, outside of school my fav book in 8th grade was The Mists of Avalon

[Lusty Reader]

I also just remembered True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi, and A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith. Weird how all the ones I remember are historicals...

[Lexie]

I loved True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle (it was the ONLY book that I loved for that summer reading assignment). The Pigman by Paul Zindel was also popular, though I'm not much for it myself.

[Holly]

I know what you both mean! I am working on getting my teaching license for adolescents/young adults grades 7-12, and I am trying to have a list of books for all of those grades to be prepared. 7th-8th grade has got me stumped. I read Tom Sawyer, but apparently because of some of the language, many school districts no longer allow it to be taught, which is extremely unfortunate. But thanks for you help! I will definitely check out those lists!

[Amy]

I read Flowers for Algernon, Night by Elie Wiesel, and The Diary of Anne Frank all in 8th grade. In seventh grade I remember reading the Outsiders.

[Bookish Ruth]

My eighth grade teacher introduced me to the Sherlock Holmes stories, and I'm forever in his debt for that.

[Sue Jackson]

I have one son now in 9th grade and another in 5th grade, and I review books for Family Fun magazine, plus for my own blog. We also love to read aloud to our boys, even though they're both avid readers on their own now. Here are some of our favorites for middle-graders:
- Gregor the Overlander series by Suzanne Collins
- The Roman Mysteries by Caroline Lawrence
- Any books by Margaret Peterson Haddix
- The Lionboy trilogy by Zizou Corder
- Percy Jackson and the Olympians series by Rick Riordan

You can read reviews of most of these, plus some more middle-grade suggestions at my blog.

Hope this helps!

Sue Jackson

www.greatbooksforkidsandteens.com

www.bookbybook.blogspot.com

[Jenny]

I read The Giver in 7th and loved it! I usually read in series so I don't know if thats what you're looking for.

[sumthinblue]

Markus Zusak's The Book Thief, one of the best books I read recently :)

[Donald James Parker]

I have written several, including my brand new one, that feature eighth graders as the protagonists. Love Waits is about sexual pressure in schools today and the opposite reaction - purity pledges. You can download any of my ebooks for free at My Website - Free Ebooks Reforming the Potter's Clay and The Bulldog Compact are also about eighth graders.

[Sue Jackson]

Our family recently finished a wonderful book for middle-graders, Alabama Moon.

Sue Jackson