Reguired Reading Title for 8th Grade: The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer
8th Grade Recommended Reading
Rising 8th graders should also read two other books of their choice. They do not need to choose from the recommended list below, but they should pick texts suitable to their reading level.
Keep track of the titles and authors on the school form; parents should sign the form before students return it to their English teacher in the fall.
The following list has titles that students and faculty have recommended; students and parents should review the selections together to evaluate age appropriateness, subject matter and readability.
Reality Check by Peter Abrahams (YA)
After a knee injury destroys sixteen-year-old Cody's college hopes, he drops out of high school and gets a job in his small Montana town; but when his ex-girlfriend disappears from her Vermont boarding school, Cody travels cross-country to join the search.
Catalyst by Laurie Halse Anderson
Kate finds herself losing control in her senior year as she faces difficult neighbors, the possibility that she may not be accepted by the college of her choice, and an unexpected death.
Taken by Edward Bloor
In 2036 kidnapping rich children has become an industry, but when Charity Meyers is taken and held for ransom, she soon discovers that this particular kidnapping is not what it seems.
A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray
After the suspicious death of her mother in 1895, sixteen-year-old Gemma returns to England, after many years in India, to attend a finishing school where she becomes aware of her magical powers and ability to see into the spirit world.
Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
Ender may be the military genius Earth needs in its war against an alien enemy, but first he has to survive the training.
Salt by Maurice Gee
Hari, a poor boy, and Pearl, a privileged girl, hone their talents with ESP and mind control when they find themselves thrown together on a quest to save mankind from a terrible weapon.
Gone by Michael Grant
In a small town in California, everyone over the age of fourteen disappears, setting up a battle between town residents and the students from a private school, as well as those who can perform supernatural feats and those who cannot.
Charles and Emma: The Darwins' Leap of Faith by Deborah Heiligman
A biography of Charles Darwin that depicts the personality behind evolutionary theory and the affect of his work on his personal life, such as his relationship with his religious wife.
Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer
The true account of a young man’s secret journey to Alaska, where he lives in the wilderness inside an abandoned bus. He records his experiences in a diary, relating his harrowing week-to-week existence.
Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game by Michael Lewis
Lewis utilizes baseball stats as he chronicles the success of Billy Beane, the general manager of the Oakland A's in 2002 who put together a winning team on a tight budget.
Dairy Queen by Catherine Murdock
15-year-old DJ does most of the work on her family’s Wisconsin dairy farm with little help from her parents. She wants to try out for the football team and ends up training (and having a crush on) the star quarterback.
Alligator Bayou by Donna Jo Napoli
Fourteen-year-old Calogero Scalise and his Sicilian uncles and cousin live in small-town Louisiana in 1898, when Jim Crow laws rule and anti-immigration sentiment is strong, so despite his attempts to be polite and to follow American customs, disaster dogs his family at every turn.
The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson
In the future, when biotechnology has made synthetic bodies possible but illegal, a seventeen-year-old girl, recovering from an accident and suffering memory lapses, learns a startling secret about her existence.
Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer
Through journal entries Miranda describes her family's struggle to survive after a meteor hits the moon, causing worldwide natural disasters and a breakdown in national government.
Trouble by Gary Schmidt
Fourteen-year-old Henry, wishing to honor his brother Franklin's dying wish, sets out to hike Maine's Mount Katahdin with his best friend and dog, but fate adds another companion--the Cambodian refugee accused of fatally injuring Franklin--and reveals troubles that predate the accident.
The Last Universe by William Sleator
When her desperately ill older brother insists that she take him into their mysterious backyard garden, designed by their quantum physicist great uncle, fourteen-year-old Susan unleashes the garden's horrible secret.
Marcelo in the Real World by Francisco X. Stork (YA)
Marcelo, a seventeen-year-old boy on the high-functioning end of the autistic spectrum, faces challenges and solves a legal mystery when he goes to work for his father in the mailroom of a law firm.
The Radioactive Boy Scout by Ken Silverstein
The true story of a boy scout who builds a nuclear reactor in his backyard shed.
The Body of Christopher Creed by Carol Plum Ucci
Torey Adams, a high school junior with a seemingly perfect life, struggles with doubts and questions surrounding the mysterious disappearance of the class outcast.
This acclaimed survivor of the Holocaust relates the horrifying account of his prison camp experience in this concise and thought-provoking book.
American Born Chinese by Gene Yang
A graphic novel. Alternates three interrelated stories about the problems of young Chinese Americans trying to participate in the popular culture.
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
Trying to make sense of the horrors of World War II, Death relates the story of Liesel--a young German girl whose book-stealing and story-telling talents sustain her family, the Jewish man they are hiding, and their neighbors.