parents and the separation from his sister, Lili, by writing poetry.

Realistic Fiction:

 

Emako Blue by Brenda Woods (128 pages - E) From the moment she stands up in chorus auditions and her heavenly voice fills the room, Emako Blue profoundly affects anyone who meets her. But even as Emako draws together new friends and catches the attention of an important record producer, the streets of South Central Los Angeles are never far away, where everything changes in one horrific instant.

 

Heat by Mike Lupica (240 pages – E) Growing up in the Bronx and playing Little League baseball in the shadow of Yankee Stadium, it's no surprise that 12-year-old Michael Arroyo loves baseball, especially the New York Yankees, even though he can't afford to buy a ticket to watch them play. Michael's the best Little League pitcher in the district, and seems destined to lead his all-star team to the championship game, which will be held inside Yankee Stadium, with a trip to the Little League World Series on the line. But all that changes when a jealous rival coach challenges whether Michael is as young as he claims.

 

Make Lemonade by Virginia Euwer Wolff  (200 pages - A)  Living in the projects but determined to be the first person in her family to go to college, LaVaughn takes a job babysitting for Jolly, the teenage mother of two-year-old Jeremy and baby Jilly, whose life is the epitome of disorganization.

 

My Thirteenth Season by Kristi Roberts (160 pages - A)   Already downhearted due to the loss of her mother and her father's overwhelming grief, thirteen-year-old Fran decides to give up her dream of becoming the first female in professional baseball after a coach attacks her just for being a girl.

 

Old Yeller by Fred Gipson (192 pages - A)  The simple story of a boy and his dog in the Texas hill country of the 1860s. Yeller accompanies Travis everywhere, and as Travis grows up he learns something about love and responsibility, as well as the pain of life.

 

Stanford Wong Flunks Big-time by Lisa Yee (304 pages - A)  After flunking sixth-grade basketball prodigy Stanford Wong must struggle to pass his summer-school class, keep his failure a secret from his friends, and satisfy his academically demanding father.

 

Surviving the Applewhites by Stephanie Tolan (224 pages – A to C)  Jake, a budding juvenile delinquent, is sent for home schooling to the arty and eccentric Applewhite family's Creative Academy, where he discovers talents and interests he never knew he had.

 

Touching Spirit Bear by Ben Mikaelson (256 pages - A) After his anger erupts into violence, Cole, in order to avoid going to prison, agrees to participate in a sentencing alternative based on the Native American Circle Justice, and he is sent to a remote Alaskan Island where an encounter with a huge Spirit Bear changes his life.

 

The View from Saturday by E.L. Konigsburg (163 pages - A) Four hilariously different students develop a special friendship and attract the attention of their teacher, a paraplegic, who chooses them to represent their sixth grade class in the Academic Bowl competition.

 

Adventure:

 

Escape From Fire Mountain by Gary Paulsen (80 pages– E) The characters face danger at every turn in the great outdoors and learn to face their fears head on.  From a forest fire to a raging river to a scary bull named Diablo, the action doesn’t stop.

 

Millions by Frank Boyce Cottrell (272 pages - A)  After their mother dies, two brothers find a huge amount of money which they must spend quickly before England switches to the new European currency, but they disagree on what to do with it.

 

Science Fiction/Fantasy:

 

Mission: In Search of the Time and Space Machine (Spy Force) by Deborah Abela (224 pages - A) Max Remy, 11, spends much of her time alone because her divorced parents are busy with their high-powered jobs. To pass the time she writes stories about super spy Alex Crane and the top-secret agency, Spy Force. Little does she dream that she will soon be involved in an adventure to rival those of her protagonist.

 

Mystery:

 

Chasing Vermeer by Blue Balliett (272 pages - A) When seemingly unrelated and strange events start to happen and a precious Vermeer painting disappears, eleven-year-olds Petra and Calder combine their talents to solve an international art scandal.

 

Historical Fiction:

 

Pedro's Journal by Pam Conrad (96 pages - E) The cabin boy on the "Santa Maria" keeps a diary in which records his experiences when he sails with Columbus on his first voyage to the New World in 1492.

 

Non-Fiction:

 

Phineas Gage:  A Gruesome But True Story About Brain Science by John Fleischman  (86 pages - A)  The fascinating story of the construction foreman who survived for 10 years after a 13-pound iron rod shot through his brain.

 

Humor:

 

Tripping the Lunch Lady: And Other School Stories edited by Nancy E. Mercado (192 pages– E) A collection of funny short stories about life in school.

 

Suggested Titles Strutting into Eighth:  For students entering Grade 8

 

Realistic Fiction:

 

Al Capone Does My Shirts by Gennifer Choldenko (228 pages - E) Moose moves to Alcatraz Island in 1935 when guards' families were housed there, and has to contend with his extraordinary new environment in addition to life with his autistic sister.

 

Bronx Masquerade by Nikki Grimes (Poetry 176 pages - A)  When Wesley Boone writes a poem for his high school English class and reads it aloud, poetry-slam-style, he kicks off a revolution. Soon his classmates are clamoring to have weekly poetry sessions. One by one, eighteen students take on the risky challenge of self-revelation.

 

Freak The Mighty by Rodman Philbrick (179 pages - E) The characters are contemporary and endearing with Max--an oversized, learning disabled, middle school student--as the narrator. Max becomes Freak the Mighty when he befriends an extremely small, yet highly intelligent, boy named Kevin (a.k.a. Freak) who has a physical disability called Morquio's Syndrome.

 

If A Tree Falls At Lunch Period by Gennifer Choldenko (224 pages – E)  Kirsten's parents are barely speaking to each other, and her best friend has fallen under the spell of the school's queen bee, Brianna. It seems like only Kirsten's younger science-geek sister is on her side.

 

Monster by Walter Dean Myers (288 pages - C)  Steve is accused of being an accomplice in the robbery and murder of a drug store owner. A teenager who dreams of being a filmmaker, he writes the story of his trial for felony murder in the form of a movie script, with journal entries after each day's action.

 

A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry (Play 176 pages - C) Hansberry’s award-winning drama about the hopes and aspirations of a struggling, working-class family living on the South Side of Chicago connected profoundly with the psyche of black America--and changed American theater forever.  The play's title comes from a line in Langston Hughes's poem "Harlem," which warns that a dream deferred might "dry up/like a raisin in the sun."

 

Shabanu, Daughter of the Wind by Suzanne Fisher Staples (288 pages - A)  When eleven-year old Shabanu, the daughter of a nomad in the Cholistan Desert of present-day Pakistan, is pledged in marriage to an older man whose money will bring prestige to the family, she must either accept the decision, as is the custom, or risk the consequences of defying her father's wishes.

 

Historical Fiction:

 

Bull Run by Paul Fleischman (104 pages – E)  Northerners, Southerners, generals, couriers, dreaming boys, and worried sisters describe the glory, the horror, the thrill, and the disillusionment of the first battle of the Civil War.

 

Adventure:

 

Call of the Wild by Jack London (208 pages - A)  Taken from a kindly owner, Buck is forced into the perilous life of a sled dog in the treacherous Yukon Territory during the Klondike gold rush.

 

Johnny Hangtime by Dan Gutman (144 pages– E) Thirteen-year old Johnny Thyme is “Johnny Hangtime,” a stunt kid who fills in for Ricky Corvette during dangerous stunts that are done in Ricky’s action films.  Johnny’s father died doing a stunt and his mother wishes that he would quit the profession.  A big surprise awaits him when he does a stunt at the site of his father’s death.  

 

Science Fiction/Fantasy:

 

Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry (224 pages - A)  Kira, an orphan with a twisted leg, lives in a world where the weak are cast aside. She fears for her future until she is spared by the all-powerful Council of Guardians. Kira is a gifted weaver and is given a task that no other community member can do. While her talent keeps her alive and brings certain privileges, Kira soon realizes she is surrounded by many mysteries and secrets. No one must know of her plans to uncover the truth about her world and see what places exist beyond.

 

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams (320 pages - C)   Join Douglas Adams's hapless hero Arthur Dent as he travels the galaxy with his intrepid pal Ford Prefect, getting into horrible messes and generally wreaking hilarious havoc. Dent is grabbed from Earth moments before a cosmic construction team obliterates the planet to build a freeway.

 

The Hobbit: Or There and Back Again by J.R.R. Tolkien (320 pages - C)   Bilbo Baggins was a hobbit who wanted to be left alone in quiet comfort. But the wizard Gandalf came along with a band of homeless dwarves. Soon Bilbo was drawn into their quest, facing evil orcs, savage wolves, giant spiders, and worse unknown dangers.

 

Non-Fiction:

 

Code Talker: A Novel About the Navajo Marines of World War Two by Joseph Bruchac (240 pages - A) Throughout World War II, in the conflict fought against Japan, Navajo code talkers were a crucial part of the U.S. effort, sending messages back and forth in an unbreakable code that used their native language. Yet their story remained classified for more than twenty years. This book is based on that story.

 

The Greatest, Muhammed Ali by Walter Dean Myers (192 pages– A) This book traces the life and career of Muhammad Ali, the only boxer to be the heavyweight champion of the world three times.  Ali’s life is placed in the context of historical events, such as the civil rights movement, the Vietnam War, and Watergate.

 

Here in Harlem: Poems in Many Voices by Walter Dean Myers (Poetry 88 pages - E) In the introduction, Myers writes that he was inspired by Edgar Lee Masters' Spoon River Anthology, in which the people who live in a fictional town tell their stories in verse, and by his love of the Harlem community where he grew up. In each poem here, a resident of Harlem speaks in a distinctive voice, offering a story, a thought, a reflection, or a memory.

 

Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler’s Shadow by Susan Campbell Bartoletti (176 pages - C)  What was it like to be a teenager in Germany under Hitler? The author draws on oral histories, diaries, letters, and her own extensive interviews with Holocaust survivors, Hitler Youth, resisters, and bystanders to tell the history from the viewpoints of people who were there. Most of the accounts and photos bring close the experiences of those who followed Hitler and fought for the Nazis, revealing why they joined, how Hitler used them, what it was like.