“ENGAGE YOUR MIND 24 / 7!
READ, READ, READ IN 2011!”

-Selected Titles for Eighth Graders' Enjoyment-

Lorraine Bentley, Librarian Media Specialist.

An * indicates one of Mrs. Bentley's favorites.

• Abdel-Fattah, WHERE THE STREETS HAD A NAME

  When her grandmother becomes ill, Hayaat believes that only a handful of dirt from her grandmother’s ancestral home in Jerusalem will make her better. With her friend Samy, they take advantage of a curfew-free day to make the dangerous journey from Bethlehem to Jerusalem.

• Adams, HITCHHIKER’S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY

  Seconds before the earth is demolished to make room for a galactic freeway, an earthman, Arthur Dent, and his friend, Ford Prefect, escape and travel to a variety of galactic civilizations to gather information for a hitchhiker’s guide.

• Armstrong, SHIPWRECK AT THE BOTTOM OF THE WORLD: THE EXTRAORDINARY TRUE STORY OF SHACKLETON AND THE ENDURANCE

  When Sir Ernest Shackleton undertakes his second Antarctic expedition in 1914, his ship becomes frozen in ice floes, leaving him and his crew in a fight for survival. This, one of the most spectacular real-life survival stories ever experienced, is documented by the expedition’s photographer. (If you are interested in photography, see also PHOTO BY BRADY, A PICTURE OF THE CIVIL WAR.)

• Barron, THE FIRES OF MERLIN

  In this Book Three of the Lost Years of Merlin, Merlin travels to the Otherworld where he must face fire in many different forms and deal with the possibility of losing his own magical powers.

• Bauer *, RULES OF THE ROAD

  When Madeline Gladstone, the elderly owner of a shoe store chain, hires 16-year-old Jenna, a new driver with a talent for selling shoes, to drive her to Texas, Jenna begins a summer-long adventure. See also the sequel, BEST FOOT FORWARD.

• Bruchac, CODE TALKER: A NOVEL ABOUT THE NAVAJO MARINES OF WORLD WAR TWO

  Ned Begay becomes one of the brave Navajo code talkers whose messages helped the U.S. achieve victory in World War II.

• Card, ENDER’S GAME

  To defend against an anticipated alien attack, Earth’s military takes children to an orbiting school to train them to do battle in a weightless environment. Ender Wiggins, a gifted yet vulnerable student at the school, finds himself facing the question of what is a game and what is dangerously real. (Series)

• Carson *, GIFTED HANDS

  Dr. Ben Carson, head of pediatric neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital, relates his story from his inner-city childhood, his struggles to beat the odds growing up, to his current prominent career in brain surgery .

• Collins, THE HUNGER GAMES

  It is time for the annual Hunger Games. When the selection of two young people is made from District 12, Katniss Everdeen steps up to take her younger sister’s place. Also selected is Peeta Mellark, son of the baker. They must contend if they are to survive, but contending means choosing against humanity, life, and love.

• Conner *, CRUNCH

  With gas pumps dry and a sudden energy crisis leaving his parents stranded far from home, Dewey Marriss, age 14, finds himself juggling the management of his family’s bicycle business while sharing household and farm duties with his siblings – older sister Lil, younger brother and fellow bike-repairman Vince, and five-year-old twins, Eva and Angus.

• Cooney *, CODE ORANGE

  Mitty, a likable slacker at a NY prep school, leaves his biology paper until the last minute. When he does begin his research, he discovers an envelope containing a couple of smallpox scabs from the 1902 epidemic in an old book. Are they contagious?

• Couloumbis, SUMMER’S END

  The summer of 1965, Grace celebrates her 13th birthday, and her older brother Collin burns his draft card and goes to Canada to avoid serving in Vietnam. Grace and her cousins, Dolly and Theo, try to make sense out of the war.

• Creech *, WALK TWO MOONS

  While traveling cross-country, Salamanca Tree Hiddle tells her grandparents stories about herself and her best friend and, in turn, begins to accept the loss of her mother.

• Crew *, CHILDREN OF THE RIVER

  At age 13, Sundara fled Cambodia to escape the Khmer Roughe army. Now, four years later, she is torn between the customs and lifestyle of her own people and enjoying her Oregon high school days as a “regular” American teenager.

• Crutcher, STAYING FAT FOR SARAH BYRNES

  Eric and Sarah are social outcasts, Eric because he is fat and Sarah because her hands and face are disfigured from a childhood accident, and friends. When Eric begins swimming and losing weight, their friendship is threatened.

• CUMMINGS *, RED KAYAK REQUIRED READING FOR ALL STUDENTS

  After his young neighbor is killed in a kayaking accident, 13-year-old Brady must decide whether to divulge the prank that caused the accident or keep silent to protect his friends.

• Cushman, THE MIDWIFE'S APPRENTICE

  Brat, a young homeless girl, is rescued from a dung heap by Jane the Midwife. Jane needs a helper so Brat becomes a midwife's apprentice, learns to deal with Jane’s wicked temper and sour disposition, and finds a place for herself and a future in medieval England. Try also MATILDA BONE by this author.

• Dickinson, AK

  When the bush war ends, orphaned, 12-year-old boy-soldier Paul Kagomi buries his beloved AK rifle. Peace, however, does not last long, and Paul is again involved in another civil war.

• Farmer *, THE HOUSE OF THE SCORPION

  Matt is the young clone of El Patron, the 140-year-old leader of a corrupt drug empire located between Mexico and the United States. While El Patron protects and educates Matt, the rest of the family treats him like a beast. Amidst love and hate, Matt struggles to understand his existence.

• Fleishman *, WHIRLIGIG

  Brent Bishop makes a fatal mistake one night driving home from a party. His punishment requires him to travel cross-country to build whirligigs.

• Funke, INKHEART

  Meggie learns that her father Mo can “read” fictional characters to life.

• Garcia, THE LEGEND OF THE WANDERING KING

  In ancient Arabia, Prince Walid sets out on a quest to right the terrible wrong he has committed out of jealousy.

• Gonzalez, THE RED UMBRELLA

  With Castro in power in Cuba, the Communist revolution in Lucia’s hometown in 1961 becomes more oppressive. Her father, Fernando Alvarez, refuses to support the new regime, is jailed and loses his job. Her parents then decide to send Lucia and her younger brother Frankie to the U.S. where they are placed with a family in Nebraska.

• Gordon, WAITING FOR THE RAIN

  On his grandfather's South African farm, Frikkie establishes a friendship with the Black hired-hand’s son Tengo, a friendship that is challenged by the injustices of apartheid.

• Graham, LORD OF THE DEEP

  Mikey spends his summer working as an assistant to his stepfather Bill on Bill’s charter fishing boat in Hawaii where he finds adventure, risks, and difficult choices.

• Grimes *, BRONX MASQUERADE

  When Wesley Boone shares one of his poems with his English class, Open Mike Friday is born in Mr. Ward’s English class.

• Hahn, HEAR THE WIND BLOW: A NOVEL OF THE CIVIL WAR

  13-year-old Haswell Magruder helps a wounded Confederate soldier who shows up at his farm and sets off a chain of events that leaves him and his sister orphans and homeless.

• Hesse *, PHOENIX RISING

  Nyle Sumner and her grandmother have a good life on a Vermont sheep farm, but that life changes dramatically after an explosion at a nearby nuclear plant.

• Hesse, WITNESS

  Neither Leonora, a twelve-year-old African-American girl, nor Esther, a six-year-old Jewish girl, are safe when the Ku Klux Klan tries to infiltrate their small Vermont town in the 1920's.

• Hiasson *, HOOT

  Because of his dad’s job, Roy’s family moves a lot. One day in his new Florida town when the school bully is smashing his face against the school bus window, he spots a barefoot boy running away from the bus -- the first interesting thing he has seen since he arrived -- and Roy determines to find out who this boy is. In his newest book SCAT, Bunny Starch, the most feared biology teacher at Truman school is missing. She never returns after a school field trip to Black Vine Swamp, which ends suddenly due to a wild fire. Nick and Marta decide to find out why this unpopular teacher disappeared.

• Hobbs, JASON’S GOLD

  Jason Hawthorn is in New York City when he reads about the discovery of gold in the Canadian Yukon in 1897. Struck by a bad case of Klondike fever, he sets out on a 5000-mile journey to stake his claim and strike it rich.

• Holt, WHEN ZACHARY BEAVER CAME TO TOWN

  When Zachary Beaver, the fattest boy in the world, comes to Antler, Texas, in the summer of 1971, Toby and his best friend find their lives changed after the 600-pound Zachary is abandoned in a tiny trailer across the street from the Bowl-a-Rama Cafe.

• Horowitz, ARK ANGEL

  In his sixth adventure, Alex Rider gets involved in a terrorism plot and befriends Paul Drevin, the creator of Ark Angel, the first hotel in space. (Series)

• Houston *, FAREWELL TO MANZANAR

  When Jeanne Wakatsuki, a native-born American child, was seven years old, her family was taken from their home and sent to live at Manzanar, an internment camp for Japanese - Americans in the U.S. complete with barbed wire and armed guards.

• Jiang, RED SCARF GIRL: A MEMOIR OF THE CULTURAL REVOLUTION

  Ji-li Jiang was 12 years old in 1966 when the Cultural Revolution in China changed her life and forced her to choose between her family and the Communist party.

• Jones, HOWL'S MOVING CASTLE

  17-year-old Sophie, turned into an old woman by a witch, goes to live with the feared Wizard Howl in his castle and becomes involved in many events that lead to her happiness.

• Karr, THE BOXER

  Caught in a boxing match during a raid at a New York City bar in 1885, 15-year-old Johnny is sent to prison. There he meets Professor O’Shaunnessey who teaches him the art of boxing and how to use his talent to help his mother and five younger siblings better their lives.

• Kerley, WALT WHITMAN: WORDS FOR AMERICA

  This book is a moving tribute to the remarkable humanity and compassion of this great American poet.

• Kerr *, GENTLEHANDS

  Buddy loves his grandfather but discovers that he is hiding a sinister past.

• Keyes *, FLOWERS FOR ALGERNON

  When a mouse named Algernon becomes a genius among mice after an experimental operation, Charlie, who has always been slow mentally, is persuaded to have the same operation. He keeps a journal to demonstrate the operation's success. But, is it?

• Koertge *, SHAKESPEARE BATS CLEAN-UP

  Kevin loves to play baseball. When he gets mono, his poet father gives him a journal. Much to Kevin’s surprise, not only does he like keeping a journal but he even expresses himself in verse!

• Korman *, LOSING JOE'S PLACE

  Jason and his two friends look forward to spending an unchaperoned summer in his "cool" older brother's apartment in Toronto. Then Joe's best friend -- 300 lb. Rootbeer -- moves in too.

• Larson *, HATTIE BIG SKY

  Hattie Brooks, a 16-year-old orphan, travels to Montana to take over her uncle’s homesteading claim, which she has inherited and is determined to maker her own.

• Lester, DAY OF TEARS

  When his gambling debts mount, Pierce Butler decides to cash in on his assets and holds the biggest slave auction in American history.

• Lipsite, ONE FAT SUMMER

  200-pound Bobby Marks finds out that heroes come in all shapes and sizes.

• Magorian *, GOOD NIGHT, MR. TOM

  A quiet, abused boy is evacuated from London to the countryside during World War II. With the help of Mr. Tom, he learns to be friendly and not afraid. Then a telegram from his mother says he must return to London immediately.

• Mah *, CHINESE CINDERELLA: THE TRUE STORY OF AN UNWANTED DAUGHTER

  Adeline Yen Mah recalls her childhood growing up in China in the 1940’s, ruled by a cruel stepmother.

• McKinley, THE HERO AND THE CROWN

  Aerin, the only child of the King of Damar and his rightful heir, battles Maur, the Black Dragon, meets the wizard Luthe, and faces the evil mage Agsded who has seized the Hero's Crown ‑‑ the greatest treasure and the strength of Damar.

• Myers, BAD BOY, A MEMOIR

  Popular young adult author, Walter Dean Myers, shares the story of his own troubled teen years. See also his biography, THE GREATEST: MUHAMMAD ALI.

• Na *, A STEP FROM HEAVEN

  Young Ju emigrates from Korea to the United States believing that America is heaven. The family struggles to adjust to life in America, a new culture, and the difficulty of learning English, and that struggle takes its toll on the family.

• Naidoo, CHAIN OF FIRE

  Naledi learns that her village in South Africa is to be relocated to a "homeland." When students demonstrate peacefully, the police violently terminate the demonstration.

• Napoli *, STONES IN WATER

  Kidnapped from a movie theater in Venice by German soldiers, Roberto is forced to work for the German war effort. Escape becomes his only hope.

• Naylor, WALKER’S CROSSING

  Ryan has always wanted to be a working cowboy on the Saddlebow Ranch in Wyoming where he lives with his family; but, when his brother and his best friend Matt become involved in a local militia group run by Matt’s dad, Ryan faces some difficult choices.

• Nelson, AND ONE FOR ALL

  Geraldine has always had a close relationship with her older brother Wing and his best friend Sam, but that relationship changes when Wing joins the Marines and Sam becomes involved in a peace march against the Vietnam War.

• Opdyke *, IN MY HANDS: MEMORIES OF A HOLOCAUST RESCUER

  Irene Gut is a Polish patriot, a good Catholic girl, and just seventeen years old and training to be a nurse when war breaks out. Finding herself in the midst of Nazi officers and determined to fight their evil, she takes incredible risks to help the Jews.

• Orlev, THE MAN FROM THE OTHER SIDE

  14-year-old Marek helps a young Jewish man hide from the hated German soldiers in his grandparents' home in the Warsaw ghetto.

• Park *, A SINGLE SHARD

  Tree-ear, an orphan living under a bridge in a potters’ village in 12th century Korea, watches the potters at work and secretly wishes he too could learn to throw the delicate celadon ceramics himself. His desire leads him on a long and dangerous journey.

• Park, WHEN MY NAME WAS KEOKO

  When the Japanese occupied Korea in World War II, Kim Sun and her brother Tae-yul had to take Japanese names, attend Japanese schools, and give up their Korean identity.

• Paterson *, BREAD AND ROSES, TOO

  Jake and Rosa form an unlikely friendship as they try to survive and understand the 1912 Bread and Roses strike of mill workers in Lawrence, Massachusetts.

• Paterson, JACOB HAVE I LOVED

  In the shadow of her beautiful and talented twin sister Caroline, Louise struggles to find her place and her own identity.

• Paulsen, A SOLDIER’S HEART

  Charley Goddard enters military service at age 15 and, through various Civil War battles, discovers the grim reality of war.

• Peck, THE RIVER BETWEEN US

  When the Rob Roy steamboat, traveling up the Mississippi River, docks in a little town along the river in Illinois, two remarkable young women disembark and change the life of Tilly Pruitt and her family forever.

• Peck *, THE TEACHER’S FUNERAL: A COMEDY IN THREE PARTS

  Russell hates school and dreams of quitting. When his mean old teacher Myrt Arbuckle dies right before school begins, he is delighted until he learns that his older sister is going to take over the teaching in his one-room school house.

• Rinaldi, WOLF BY THE EARS

  Harriet Hemmings, rumored to be Thomas Jefferson's daughter, faces the choice of passing as a white or remaining a slave in the sheltered life at Monticello.

• Rostkowski *, AFTER THE DANCING DAYS

  In the aftermath of World War I, Annie develops a friendship with a badly disfigured soldier.

• Schlosser *, CHEW ON THIS: EVERYTHING YOU DON’T WANT TO KNOW ABOUT FAST FOOD

  “Americans eat 13 billion hamburgers each year. If you put them in a straight line, they would circle the earth more than 32 times.” For more about junk food, eating habits and fast-food restaurants, read this book!

• Schmidt, LIZZIE BRIGHT AND THE BUCKMINSTER BOY

  Turner Buckminster, son of the new minister in Phippsburg, Maine, is miserable until he meets Lizzie Bright, a girl from a community of former slaves. Together they get caught up in a fight for justice. 2005 Newbery Honor book.

• Sleator *, HOUSE OF STAIRS

  Five 16‑year old orphans find themselves alone in an experimental nightmare ‑‑ where only stairs and landings stretch as far as the eye can see and a strange red light trains them to dance for their food.

• Smith *, PEAK

  When he is caught scaling a skyscraper by the NYPD, 14 year old Peak leaves his mother, step-father and twin sisters and goes off to Thailand with his mountain-climbing father, a man determined to lead the youngest-ever climber to the top of Mt. Everest.

• Spinelli, MILKWEED

  Living in the Warsaw Ghetto in World War II, Misha, a homeless and gutsy young boy, desperately seeks an identity.

• Spinelli, WRINGER

  All of Palmer LaRue’s friends want to be wringers. Palmer, however, does not; but he is running out of time.

• Staples, SHABANU, DAUGHTER OF THE WIND

  Shabanu, a member of a Nomadic tribe in the Pakistani dessert, is torn between allegiances to her family and its traditions and her own growing independence.

• Taylor *, LET THE CIRCLE BE UNBROKEN

  The year is 1935, and this sequel to Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry finds the Logan family deep into the problems of the Depression in rural Mississippi. Followed by The Road to Memphis, in which Cassie Logan must help a good friend escape to the North after a violent racial incident on the eve of World War II.

• Temple *, THE RAMSAY SCALLOP

  14-year-old Elenor and her betrothed, Lord Thomas, just returned from a Crusade to the Holy Land, are sent by their priest on a religious pilgrimage across France to a shrine in Spain.

• Voigt, DICEY'S SONG

  When Dicey, James, Sammy, and Maybeth are taken in by their grandmother, Dicey must adjust to being a "kid" again with someone else in charge. See also Jeff’s story in the companion book SOLITARY BLUE.

• Voigt *, IZZY WILLY NILLY

  Socially conscious sophomore Izzy dates Marco, a senior, to enhance her popularity. Then Marco drinks too much at a party and on the way home crashes his car into a tree.

• Whelan *, HOMELESS BIRD

  At age 13, Koly is getting married, not uncommon for girls her age in India. She is apprehensive but know it will help the financial burden on her family. Then she discovers that her husband is younger than promised and very sickly!

• White *, DEATHWATCH

  Ben agrees to guide Madec on a hunting trip for bighorn sheep in the desert mountains because he needs the money, but it almost costs Ben his life.

• Wyss *, HERE AT THE SCENIC-VU MOTEL

  In his journal for English class, senior Jake Callahan tells about his experiences in charge of seven teenagers, who live at the Pineville Motel Sunday night through Friday because their own town is too far away from the school to commute each day.

• Yep, DRAGON'S GATE

  When he accidently kills a Manchu, Otter is sent from China to America to join his father Squeaky and his Uncle Foxfire and other Chinese men working to build a tunnel through the Sierra Nevada Mountains for the Transcontinental Railroad.

• Yolen *, THE DEVIL'S ARITHMETIC

  Hannah wonders why she has to spend every Jewish holiday listening to boring stories of the past. Then, at Passover Seder, she opens the door to symbolilcally welcome the prophet Elijah and suddenly finds herself in a Jewish village in Poland in the 1940's.

• Zusak *, THE BOOK THIEF

  “It’s just a small story really, about, among other things: a girl, some words, an accordionist, some fanatical Germans, a Jewish fist fighter, and quite a lot of thievery …” Narrated by Death, Liesel’s story is anything but small!

• Copyright © 2010 by Lorraine Bentley