Required Reading

for

Incoming Eighth Graders

The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer
In a future where humans despise clones, Matt enjoys special status as the clone of El Patron, the 140-year-old leader of a corrupt drug empire nestled between Mexico and the United States. As Matt struggles to understand his existenence, he is threatened by a sinister cast of characters.

Faculty Recommendation
for
Incoming Eighth Graders

English
Bless Me Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya - This is a beautifully written and moving story of Antonio Marez, a young six-year-old boy who lives in post-war New Mexico when Ultima comes to stay with his family. Ultima is a curandera, one who cures with herbs and magic, and under her tutelage, Antonio comes to understand himself, his family, and his culture.

The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway - You’ll never forget this tragic story of an old fisherman who catches the fish of his life and then sadly loses it.

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith - Francie Nolan, a young Irish American girl, grows up in Brooklyn during the early 1900’s and learns about herself and the world.

The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier - A boy refuses to give in to the cruelty practiced by the group of students that rules his high school (mature theme).

Ender’s Game and Ender’s Shadow by Orson Scott Card - Aliens have attacked Earth and almost destroyed the human species. To make sure humans win the next war, the world government breeds military geniuses and trains them for the ultimate war. Ender Wiggins is the genius for whom the the earthlings have been looking. However, is he smart enough to save the planet?

Gathering Blue and The Messenger both by Lois Lowry - Lois Lowry delivers stunning looks at disturbing alternative worlds.

World Languages
Go and Come Back by Joan Abelove - Alicia is apprehensive when two American anthropologists come to study her Peruvian jungle village. Told from Alicia’s point of view, the story takes a close look at understanding different cultures.

The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery - The little prince lives alone on a tiny planet no larger than a house. He leaves his planet for an interplanetary trip where he learns the secret of what is really important in life.

The Well of Sacrifice by Chris Eboch - When a Mayan girl in ninth century Guatemala suspects that a high priest sacrifices anyone who stands in the way of his power, she proves herself a hero.

Math
Reading the Sports Page by Jeremy R. Feinberg - This book is a clearly written guide to understanding the different statistics that appear in the sports section of a newspaper.

Zero by Charles Seife - You might think it means nothing, and for thousands of years, it was an unnecessary concept. But any mathematics more complicated than counting--that is, any mathematical system that uses place values, as our system does--needs zero as a placeholder. And once zero got that job, it became far more useful, and far more frightening, than its inventors ever imagined. Charles Seife's "biography" tells us everything we need to know about the number zero, from why we need it, to how we use it, to what comes next for it.

Science
The Longitude Prize by Joan Dash - This is the remarkable story of John Harrison, a maker of clocks and watches in the 1700’s, who spent a lifetime perfecting the timepiece that would accurately record the longitude of ships at sea.

Rocket Boys: A Memoir by Homer H. Hickam, Jr. - This is the book that inspired the movie October Sky. It is a memoir of Sonny Hickam who was never the same after Sputnik streaked across the sky in 1957 (mature theme).

Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer- A meteor knocks the moon closer to Earth causing tsumanis and many other nautral disasters What unfolds is a heart-pounding story of a girl Miranda and her family as they struggle to survive in a drastically changing time while finding hope brings them closer than ever.

Catalyst by Laurie Halse Anderson - The story of a star student, Kate, who deals with many twists in life when she gets turned down from her only application to college. While the plot is fiction, the metaphor with chemistry is cleverly employed throughout.

Social Studies
Autobiography of Malcolm X - This book belongs on the small shelf of great autobiographies. The reasons are many: the blistering honesty with which he recounts his transformation from a bitter, self-destructive petty criminal into an articulate political activist, the continued relevance of his militant analysis of white racism, and his emphasis on self-respect and self-help for African Americans.

Roots by Alex Haley - This tale begins with a birth in 1750 in an African village and ends seven generations later at the Arkansas funeral of a black professor whose children are a teacher, an architect, an assistant director of the U.S. Information Agency, and an author.

Warriors Don’t Cry by Melba Pattillo Beals - This searing memoir of the battle to integrate Little Rock’s Central High is a true story you will never forget. Melba, the author of the book, is one of the nine African American teenagers chosen to integrate Central High in 1957. The book is an account of her ordeal.

Daniel’s Story by Carol Matas - Daniel, whose family suffers as the Nazis rise to power in Germany, describes his imprisonment in a concentration camp and his eventual liberation.

The Watsons Go to Birmingham 1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis - The ordinary interactions and everyday routines of the Watsons, an African American
family living in Flint, Michigan, are drastically changed after they visit Grandma in Alabama in the summer of 1963.

Night by Elie Weisel - Read this author’s own account of his horrifying experience as a Holocaust victim.

All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich M. Remarque - Young German soldiers go to the front with idealism and enthusiasm, but the war soon changes them. As fear, frustration, and anger set in, the soldiers must make their own peace with combat. This book shows the human side of World War I (mature theme).

Special Areas
Up Country by Alden Carter - Forced to leave his alcoholic mother, Carl goes to live with his relatives in Wisconsin where he discovers much about himself.

A Separate Peace by John Knowles - Two friends at a New England boarding school after the war share an interesting and tragic friendship (mature theme).

Just Be Gorgeous by Barbara Wersba - Under pressure from her mother to be “gorgeous,” Heidi finds solace in a friendship with a homeless street performer.

The Painter’s Eye: Learning to Look at Contemporary American Art by Jan Greenberg and Sandra Jordan - Students interested in modern art will enjoy this look at several post-war American painters.

Ludwig van Beethoven by Wendy Thompson - Enjoy this story of the life of the famous composer that includes excerpts from some of his musical scores.

Chicken Soup for the Teen Age Soul by Jack Canfield - This book is part of the popular Chicken Soup for the Soul series. It contains stories, poems, and cartoons relating to the specific troubles that traumatize teenagers everywhere.

The Beauty Trap by Elaine Landau - This book is a close look at how young women are convinced by society and the media that beauty is the only thing that counts.

Artist in Overalls: The Life of Grant Wood by John Duggleby - Follow the life of an Iowa farm boy who went to Paris to paint but returned to his rural home and became an accomplished painter.

No More Dead Dogs by Gordon Korman - An eighth grade football hero is sent to detention attending rehearsals of the school play. He becomes involved in the production and makes suggestions that improve the play and his own life.

Kid Picks
for
Incoming Eighth Graders

Novels
1. Hope Was Here, by Joan Bauer
2. Marley and Me, by John Grogan
3. Night, by Elie Weisel
4. Into the Wild, by Jon Krakauer
5. The House of the Scorpion, by Nancy Farmer
6. Speak, by Laurie Anderson
7. Eragon by Christopher Paolini
8. The Wanderer, by Sharon Creech
9. The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton

Series
1. The Uglies Series, by Scott Westerfeld
2. Alex Rider Series, Anthony Horowitz
3. The Clique Series
4. The Dark Materials, by Phillip Pullman
5. Pentagon Series