Summer Reading for students entering Grade 8

Summer is a great time to read a book for enjoyment!   You are required to read three books from this list during your vacation.   In September you will be asked by your teacher to demonstrate your knowledge of these books.  

Have a restful and enjoyable summer!!

Tuesdays With Morrie by Mitch Albom

A true story chronicling the lessons learned about the meaning of life from visits between sportswriter Mitch Albom and his former professor, Morrie Schwartz, who is dying of Lou Gehring’s disease.

The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi

The only passenger on the long Atlantic Ocean crossing, Charlotte Doyle found herself caught between the ruthless captain and the rage of a mutinous crew.   This is her terrifying account of that fateful voyage.

We Are Witnesses: Five Diaries of Teenagers Who Died in the Holocaust   Jacob Boas

Fifty years after the liberation of Auschwitz, the diaries of 5 teenagers who died in the Holocaust explore what it was like to be young at the time of the Nazis.

Something Wicked this Way Comes – Ray Bradbury

This masterpiece of fantastic fiction will stir and stretch your imagination with its tantalizing blend of dread and wonder.   Legendary storyteller Ray Bradbury weaves dreams and nightmares, childhood memories, and fantasies to create a darkly poetic magical tale of two boys encountering evil secrets.

Backwater by   Joan Bauer

Ivy Breedlove sets out on the journey of a lifetime to find the missing link in the Breedlove family.

Artemis Fowl by Eoin Cofer

As Artemis rushes to his kidnapped father’s rescue, he is stopped by a familiar nemesis, Captain Holly Short of the LEPrecon fairy police.   This time, however, he is going to have to join forces with them if he wants to save his father.

The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier

A young high school student refuses to join in the school’s annual fund raising drive and learns about intimidation and peer pressure first hand.

I Heard the Owl Call My Name by Margaret Craven

This is a beautiful story of a terminally ill priest learning the meaning of life among Canada’s Kwakiutl Indians.    This is a compelling portrait of the traditions of a North American Indian Tribe.

Catherine, Called Birdy by Karen Cushman

Catherine, a spirited and inquisitive young woman of a good family, narrates in a diary from the story of her 14 th year – the year 1290.

The Eye, the Ear and the Arm by Nancy Farmer

Adventures of three children in 23 rd century Zimbabwe.

The Summer of My German Soldier by Bette Greene

The moving story of a dangerous friendship between a 12 – year-old Jewish girl and a German POW during WWII.

River Thunder by Will Hobbs

Troy finances a second white-water raft trip.   This time the Hoods in the Woods group is determined to conquer the Colorado River.   Sequel to Downriver

Night Kites by M.E. Kerr

Seventeen-year-old Erick Rudd should be in the prime of his life.   He is a senior in high school and he is going steady with his long-time girlfriend.   His best friend has a new girlfriend that he really likes and he has a good relationship with his parents and his older brother.   But romance and family relationships get difficult to sustain when problems arise for Erick.

The Contender by Robert Lipsyte

This is the moving story of Albert Brooks, a high school dropout who dares to follow his dream of becoming a boxing champion despite overwhelming obstacles.

Parrot in the Oven by Victor Martinez

Manny relates his coming-of-age experiences as a member of a poor Mexican family in which the alcoholic father only adds to everyone’s struggle.

Darnell Rock Reporting by Walter Dean Myers

Darnell Rock, 13, has always taken a lackadaisical attitude toward school, and he is a fringe member of the Corner Crew, south Oakdale Middle School’s semi-deviant clique.   Things begin to change for Darnell after he joins, on a whim, the staff of the school newspaper.

The Magic Circle by Donna Jo Napoli

A witch’s unwilling descent into evil and her ultimate redemption when Hansel and Gretel visit her candy-bedecked house.

Z is for Zachariah by Robert C. O’ Brien

The unthinkable has finally happened: a nuclear holocaust has destroyed civilization.   Sixteen-year-old Ann Burden believes she is the last person alive- until she finds another survivor.   Suddenly she discovers there are worse things than being alone.   Ann tries to build a new life in a strange world.

The Light in the Forest   by Conrad Richter

The unforgettable story of a white boy raised by Indians and returned to white society.

The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara

Pulitzer Prize winning novelist Michael Shaara provides an accurate fictional re-enactment of the battle of Gettysburg and fills in the psychological gaps with provocative portraits of the men who fought there. (historical fiction)

House of Stairs by William Sleator

Five-year –old orphans of widely varying personality characteristics are involuntarily placed in a house of endless stairs as subjects for a psychological experiment.

The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare

When Kit’s friendship with the old woman is discovered, she is accused of witchcraft.

I Am Mordred: A Tale from Camelot by Nancy Spinger

Foretold by Merlin that he will grow up to kill his father, the beloved King Arthur, Modred is determined to have peace in his life at any cost – even if it costs him his soul.

The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien

The world of fantasy called middle-earth and those charming Lilliputian creatures, the Hobbits.

The Prince and the Pauper by Mark Twain

When young Edward VI and a poor boy who resembles him exchange places, each learns something about the other’s very different station in life.

Armageddon Summer by Jane Yolen and Bruce Coville

This is a realistic exploration of cult dynamics.    As the end of the millennium approaches, a religious group moves to a mountain top to await Armageddon.   The vigil is chronicled by two teenaged members: Jed and Marian.   Their friendship grows as they try to understand the groups’ increasingly militant preparations

Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson

British classic.

Flipped by Wendelin Van Draanen

In alternating chapters, two teenagers describe how their feelings about themselves, each other, and their families have changed over the years.

The Time Machine by H.G. Wells

British classic time travel novel.