Recommended King Philip Middle School Independent Reading Books
Realistic Fiction, Teenage Issues, Coming of Age, Humor
Little Brother by Cory Doctorow
Sloppy Firsts, by Megan McCafferty
Before I Die, by Jenny Downham
Undercover by Beth Kephart
This Is What I Did by Ann Dee Ellis
I Love You, Beth Cooper
If I Have a Wicked Stepmother, Where's My Prince? by Melissa Kantor
If I Tell You but Then I'd Have to Kill You by Ally Carter
Runaround by Helen Hemphill
Whale Talk by Chris Crutcher
Beige by Cecil Castellucci
The Higher Power of Lucky by Susan Patron
So B. It by Sarah Weeks
24 Girls in 7 Days by Bradley
Death by Eggplant by Susan Heyboer O'Keefe
First Part Last by Angela Johnson
Give a Boy a Gun by Todd Strasser
After by Francine Prose
Fifteen by Beverly Cleary
Loud Silence of Francine Green by Karen Cushman
Fallout by Trudi Krisher
A Northern Light by Alex Flinn
Sister Spider Knows All by Adrian Fogelin
The Diary of Pelly D by L.J. Adlington
Adam Canfield of the Slash by Mike Wineup
Runaround by Helen Hemphill
My Almost Epic Summer by Adele Griffing
Life As We Know It by Susan Beth Pfeffer
12 Again by Sue Corbett
Speak, Prom and Catalyst by Laurie Halse Anderson
A Mango Shaped Space by Wendy Mass
Rock Star, Superstar by Blake Nelson
Hush by Jacqueline Woodson
Words by Heart Ouida Sebestyen
Empire Falls by Richard Russo
Homecoming, Diceys Song by Cynthia Voigt
Stuck in Neutral ,Cruise Control , and anything by Terry Trueman
The Silent Boy by Lois Lowry
All the Lisa Harrison books Revenge of the Wannabes, Its Not Easy Being Mean, Dial L for Loser, Bratfest at Tiffany's
Heres to You, Rachel Robinson by Judy Blume
Cut and My Brothers Keeper by Patricia McCormick
A Walk to Remember by Nicholas Sparks
Scorpions, Fallen Angels, The Beast or anything by Walter Dean Myers
Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy by Gary D. Schmidt
Outcasts of Schuyler Place by E.L. Konigsbury
Go Ask Alice Anonymous
The Truth About Forever, Dreamland or anything by Sarah Dessen
Rob&Sara.com by Peterson and Ruckman
Dont Read This, Mrs. Dunphrey by Margaret Haddix
How My Private Personal Journal Became a Bestseller by Julia DeVillers
An All American Girl by Meg Cabot
Small Steps, the sequel to Holes by Louis Sachar
The Truth About Forever and What Happened When My Sister Went Crazy by Sonia Sones
Girl Interrupted by Susanna Kaysen
Bronz Masquerade by Nikki Grimes
Honey, Baby Sweetheart by Deb Caletti
A Tree Grows In Brooklyn by Betty Smith
Perfect and Lush by Natasha Friend
The Pigman and The Pigman Legacy by Paul Zindel
The Schwa Was Here by Neal Shusterman
The Teachers Funeral, A Comedy in Three Parts by Richard Peck
Nothing to Lose by Alex Flinn
How I Live Now, by Meg Rosoff (terrorist survival)
A Summer of Kings by Han Nolan
Wrecked by E.R. Fran
The Battle of Jericho by Susan Draper
Give a Boy a Gun by Todd Strasser
Other Places, Other Lands; Adjusting to a New Life
A Step From Heaven by An Na
Over a Thousand Hills by Hanna Jansen
Naming Maya by Uma Krishnaswami
Born Confused by Tanuja Desai Hidier
Shivas Fire, Haveli, Shabanu, Daughter of the Wind by Suzanne Fisher Staples
Bound by Donna Jo Napoli
So Far From the Bamboo Grove by Yoko Kawashima Watkins
Project Mulberry, My Name is Keoko by Linda Sue Park
Thuras Diary by Thura al-Windawi
The Kite Runner by Khaled Housseini
The Other Side of Truth by Beverly Naidoo
Becoming Naomi Leon by Pam Munoz Ryan
The Good Earth by Pearl Buck
Chandas Secrets by Allan Stratton
Chinese Cinderella by Adeline Yen Mah
Sold by Patricia McCormick
Ask Me No Questions by Marina Budhos
Futuristic and Fantasy
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
Brave Story by Miyuki Miyabe
Book of a Thousand Days by Shannon Hale
Beauty by Robin McKinley
Dreamhunterand the companion book Dreamquake by Elizabeth Knox
The Cry of the Icemark by Stuart Hill
The Amulet of Samarkand, Bartimaeus Trilogy by Jonathan Stroud
Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo
The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
Wicked by Gregory Maguire
Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse , or any book by Stephanie Myers
Gifts by Ursula LeGuin
So Yesterday, Pretties, Uglies, Specials , Extras by Paul Westerfield
The High King by Lloyd Alexander
The Supernaturalist by Eoin Colfer
The Road by Cormac McCarthy ( a bestseller)
The Golden Compass , The Amber Spy Glass by Philip Pullman
The Ear, The Eye, and The Arm by Nancy Farmer
House of The Scorpion by Nancy Farmer
Eva by Peter Dickenson
Enders Game, Speaker for the Dead by Orson Scott Card
Messenger, Gossamer by Lois Lowry
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
The Tombs of Atuan by Ursula LeGuin
Enchantress from the Stars by Sylvia Louise Engdahl (challenging)
Eragon, Eldest by Christopher Paolini
The Thief Lord and Inkheart by Cornelia Funke
Feed by M.T. Anderson
The Afterlife by Gary Soto
Night of the Bat by Paul Zindel
Shades Children, Sabriel, Lirael, Abhorsen by Garth Nix
Buried Fire and the Bartimaeus trilogy by Jonathan Stroud
The Gift Moves by Steven Lyon
First Test, Page, Squire, and Lady Night by Tamora Pierce
The Night Dance by Suzanne Weyn
The Silver Child and The Silver City by Cliff McNish (easy)
Things Not Seen and Things Hoped For by Andrew Clements
Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr
Elsewhere by Zevin
Inventing Elliot by Graham Gardner
Redwall series by Brian Jacques
Dragonriders of Pern series by Anne McCaffrey
Airborne series by Kenneth Oppel
Hungry City series by Philip Reeve
Pendragon series by D.J.McHale
Larklight by Philip Reeve
The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper
The Indian in the Cupboard by Lynne Reid Banks
Stranger with My Face by Lois Duncan
Ranger's Apprentice Series by John Flanagan
Action and Adventure and Survival
Born To Rock by Gordon Korman
Miracle's Boys by Jacqueline Woodson
Crossing the Wire by Will Hobbs
Skelling by David Almond
Touching Spirit Bear by Ben Mikaelsen
Life As We Know It by Susan Beth Pfeffer
The Lightening Thief, The Sea of Monsters and The Titans Curse by Rick Riordan (Hero quest)
The Game of Sunken Places by M.T.Anderson
The Alex Rider series of books by Anthony Horowitz
Maximum Ride, The Angel Experiment and Maximum Ride, School is Out Forever by James Patterson
A Time to Kill by John Grisham
The Shadow Children series by Margaret Haddix
Breakout by PaulFleischman
Hatchet, Guts, Brians Winter by Gary Paulsen
Island Boys (short stories) ed. By Wendy Lamb by Random House
Airborn by Kenneth Oppel
Godless, and Rash by Peter Hautman
The Star of Kazan by Eva Ibbotson
Sports
Raiders Night by Robert Lipsyte
Goal, The Dream Begins by Robert Rigby (soccer)
Crackback by Jon Coy
Heat by Mike Lupica
Larry Bird, Drive, The Story of My Life by Larry Bird with Bob Ryan
Under the Baseball Moon by John H. Ritter
Football and Other Contact Sports by Carter
Kind of the Mild Frontier: An Ill-Advised Autobiography by Chris Crutcher
How Angel Peterson Got His Name: And Other Outrageous Tales about Extreme Sports ed. By Wendy Lamb for Random House
Life, Love and the Pursuit of Free Throws by Janette Rallson
The Moves Make the Man by Bruce Brooks
Iron Man, The Crazy Horse Electric Game , Stotan or any book by Chris Crutcher
The Boy Who Saved Baseball by John H. Ritter
Last Shot: A Final Four Mystery by John Feinstein
Faithful by Stephen King and Steward ONan (2004 World Series Red Sox season)
Slot Machine by Chris Lynch
Mystery , Suspense, Witchcraft
Cirque Du Freak, by Darren Shan
The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova
Bad Monkeys by Matt Ruff
A Northern Light by Jennifer Donnelly
Killing Mr. Griffin, Down a Dark Hall , Stranger with My Face or anything by Lois Duncan
Kidnappers, A Mystery by Willo Davis Roberts
Demon In My View, In the Forests of The North, Hawksong by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes
Never Trust a Dead Man by Vivian Vande Velde
Nightmare by Nixon
The Christopher Killer by Alane Ferguson ( a forensic mystery)
Chasing Vermeer by Blue Balliett
Story Time by Edward Bloor
A Break With Charity by Ann Rinaldi
Clay by David Almond ( a good companion to A Single Shard)
Grand and Humble by Brent Hartinger (paranormal)
And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
Historical Fiction
Coal Black Horse by Robert Olmstead
Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Pal Curtis
Hattie Big Sky by Kirby Larson
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
The Winter King, Enemy of God by Bernard Cornwell
A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray
Fever 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson
Catherine Called Birdy by Karen Cushman
The Shakespeare Stealer by Gary Blackwood ( highly recommended as it connects to eighth grade Shakespeare curriculum)
any book by Ann Rinaldi
The Girl With the Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier
Black Duck by Janet Lisle
Bread and Roses, Too by Katherine Patterson
Crispen, the Cross of Lead by Avi
Copper Sun by Susan Draper
Best sellers not to be missed..
A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson
In a Sunburned Country by Bill Bryson
A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson
The Memory Keepers Daughter by Kim Edwards (best seller)
The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls (memoir)
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon
The Davinci Code, Angels and Demons by Dan Brown
19 Minutes by Jodi Picoult
Memoir
The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch
A Long Way Gone, Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah
Hole in My Life, by Jack Gantos
All Over but the Shoutin' by Rick Bragg
My Grandfather's Son: A Memoir by Clarence Thomas
Bad Boy: A Memoir by Walter Dean Myers
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
The Life and Times of the Thunderbold Kid: A Memoir, by Bill Bryson
The Unheard - A Memoir of Deafness and Africa by Josh Swiller
90 Minutes in Heaven: A True Story of Death and Life by Don Piper
This Boy's Life by Tobias Wolff
Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Relin
Girl Interrupted by Susanna Kayson
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers
Go Ask Alice by Anonymous
Graphic Novels
Sidescrollers by Matthew Loux
Skim by Mariko Tamaki
Re-Gifters by Mike Carey
Prince of Persia by A.B. Sina
Persepolis by Marjane Strapi
To Dance by Siena Siegel and Mark Siegel
The Arrival by Shaun Tan
For more details about any of the above books, just go to www.amazon.com and type in the title.
List compiled by Susan Stoller