Concord Middle School Reading List

Summer 2011

8th Grade

Bullet Point by Peter Abrahams
Wyatt is a seventeen-year-old boy whose father is in prison for life.  He meets with him and his father tells him that he was framed for the crime.  Wyatt believes him, helps him escape and also helps him to prove is innocence.  The question remains is he innocent or guilty.  What does Wyatt uncover?

The Twin’s Daughter by Lauren Baratz-Logsted
 Lucy Sexton lives happily with her father and mother in London. One day there is a knock on the door and a woman appears who looks exactly like her mother. Lucy’s family welcomes her mother’s twin into their family… over time their identities become blurred… this book is full of twists and turns!

The Wager by Donna Jo Napoli
Don Giovanni loses his wealth after a tsunami. Now that he has lost everything he resorts to begging.  He travels the countryside and meets a stranger that offers him a magical, bottomless purse of gold coins if he agrees not to bathe, groom himself, or change his clothes for three years. He realizes that he is wagering his soul with the devil.   Don accepts the gold coins and begins his long journey.

Matched by Ally Condie
Cassia trusts the Society to make the right choices for her in their futuristic world.  They dictate what to read, what to watch and what to believe. The Society tell her during her Matching ceremony that her mate will be Xander, which seems perfect; however, it is Ky’s face that flashes before her more and more frequently.  As the relationships develop, Cassia begins to question the Society and everything it stands for.

Forge by Laurie Halse Anderson
This compelling sequel to Chains brings to life what it means for a runaway slaves to be forging  their way to freedom, in the midst of the American Revolution. Isobel and Curzon explore the meaning of friendship while navigating their desperate circumstances in the bloody battles and a Valley Forge winter.

Numbers by Rachel Ward
Fifteen-year-old Jem has an unusual ability…when she looks into someone’s eyes; she sees a series of numbers…representing the date of their death.  When she and her boyfriend visit the London Eye, she sees the same series of numbers in all of the passengers’ eyes… This is a fast-paced thriller, with clear, straightforward prose.

Incarceron by Catherine Fisher
Incarceron is a vast prison, made of metal and technology – it was designed as an experiment to create a model utopia in which undesirables would be kept inside. No one from Outside enters; no one from Inside leaves.  Finn finds a crystal key and, believing that he belongs on the Outside, embarks on a journey to escape with Claudia, the warden’s daughter. A gripping futuristic fantasy with shocking twists.

The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness
Todd Hewitt flees his settlement on a planet where war has killed all the women and all the men are infected with a virus that allows all of their thoughts to be heard out loud.  This thought cloud is referred to as Noise.  Todd discovers there is a hole in the Noise – and realizes that he lives in a much different world than the one he thought he lived in.

The Card Turner by Louis Sachar
Alton Richards is not doing much for the summer. He has no job, and no money. At the urging of his parents, he becomes the driver and card turner for his rich, very sick Great-Uncle Lester, an avid bridge player. Everyone is interested in Uncle Lester. Is it his money? How many people really care about him, and how does the Castaneda family fit into the puzzle of his life? For Alton, it promises to be a very interesting summer.