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GRADES 7 & 8
SUGGESTED SUMMER READING LIST
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Grades 7 & 8 Suggested Summer Reading: Welcome
REALISTIC FICTION
Grades 7 & 8 Suggested Summer Reading: Team Members
Junior is a budding cartoonist growing up on the Spokane Indian Reservation. Determined to take his future into his own hands, Junior leaves his troubled school on the “rez” to attend an all-white farm town high school where the only other Indian is the school mascot.
Camino Rios lives for the summers when her father visits her in the Dominican Republic. But this time, on the day when his plane is supposed to land, Camino arrives at the airport to see crowds of crying people. A novel in verse about the devastation of loss, the difficulty of forgiveness, and the bittersweet bonds that shape our lives.
Sam looks just like the rest of the popular girls in her junior class, but hidden beneath the straightened hair and expertly applied makeup is a secret that her friends would never understand: Sam has OCD and is consumed by a stream of dark thoughts and worries that she can't turn off.
Sixteen-year-old Starr moves between two worlds: the poor neighborhood where she lives and the suburban prep school she attends. The uneasy balance between these worlds is shattered when Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend, Khalil, at the hands of a police officer. Khalil was unarmed.
JANE THE VIRGIN meets THE ABSOLUTELY TRUE DIARY OF A PART-TIME INDIAN in this poignant but often laugh-out-loud funny novel about losing a sister and finding yourself amid the pressures, expectations, and stereotypes of growing up in a Mexican-American home.
Haley and her dad, a traumatized veteran of the Iraq war, have been living on the road. Finally, they settle down so Haley can attend school but can she lead a normal life, even when she meets Finn, a boy she likes who is hiding his own secrets?
Set in a horrifying near-future United States, seventeen-year-old Layla Amin and her parents are forced into an internment camp for Muslim-American citizens.
Nic Stone creates two unforgettable characters in one hard-hitting story about class, money—both too little and too much—and how you make your own luck in the world.
Quarterback Clay loves football, and his coach is like a second father. But Clay soon realizes that Coach Cooper’s lapses in memory and mood swings may be side effects from the many concussions he sustained while playing for the Dallas Cowboys.
Danny's fastball is so fierce, any college scout would sign him on the spot. But when he's on the mound, he chokes. No one at his private school expects much else from this half-Mexican boy who doesn’t speak Spanish. Danny must face his demons to succeed on the mound and in life.
A ton of copycat gossip apps have popped up since Simon died, but in the year since the Bayview four were cleared of his shocking death, no one's been able to fill the gossip void quite like he could. The problem is, no one has the facts...
until now.
Bri wants to be one of the greatest rappers of all time. But it’s hard to get your come up when you’re labeled a hoodlum at school and your fridge at home is empty after your mom loses her job. So Bri pours her anger and frustration into her first song, which goes viral for all the wrong reasons.
Quentin has spent a lifetime loving the adventurous Margo Spiegelman from afar. So, when she climbs into his window and his life, dressed as a ninja and summoning him for an ingenious campaign of revenge, he follows.
Zuri Benitez has pride. Brooklyn pride, family pride, and pride in her Afro-Latino roots. But pride might not be enough to save her rapidly gentrifying neighborhood from becoming unrecognizable. PRIDE AND PREJUDICE gets remixed in this retelling of the classic Jane Austen story.
A novel in verse that tells the story of seventeen-year-old Blade Morrison who knows, from watching his father live it, the life of a rock star isn’t really about glitz and glamour.
Natasha is a girl who believes in science and facts. Not fate. Not destiny. Daniel has always been the good son, the good student. But something makes them both think that fate has something extraordinary in store.
When America is not so beautiful, or right, or just, it can be hard to know what to do. Best friends Walt and Noah decide to use their voices to grow more good in the world, but first they’ve got to find cool.
After her best friend drowns, Suzy is convinced the true cause of the tragedy must have been a rare jellyfish sting. Retreating into a silent world of imagination, she crafts a plan to prove her theory, even if it means traveling the globe alone.
Aza Holmes, a sixteen-year-old high school student living with anxiety disorders, searches for a fugitive billionaire.
Tyler used to fade into the background. But since he got busted for graffiting his high school and spent the summer doing outdoor work to pay for it, he stands out more than he ever cared to. Tyler questions his place in school, in his family, and in the world.
Lia and Cassie are best friends, wintergirls frozen in fragile bodies, competitors in a deadly contest to see who can be the thinnest. But then Cassie suffers the ultimate loss—her life. And Lia is left behind.
MS. EVANS & MS. BIANCO'S
MUST-READS FOR 2020!
Grades 7 & 8 Suggested Summer Reading: Team Members
This is NOT a history book.
This is a book about the here and now.
A book to help us better understand why we are where we are.
A book about race.
A book that everyone should read.
A poignant, heartbreaking, and uplifting, story in the tradition of THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER about three friends coming-of-age in the early 1980s as they struggle to forge their own paths in the face of fear of the unknown.
Ever since she got pregnant freshman year, Emoni’s life has been about making tough decisions—doing what has to be done for her daughter and abuela. The one place she can let all that go is in the kitchen, where she adds a little magic to everything she cooks.
HISTORICAL FICTION & NONFICTION
Grades 7 & 8 Suggested Summer Reading: Team Members
One teenager in a skirt.
One teenager with a lighter.
One moment that changes both of their lives forever.
A true account of the case that garnered international attention and thrust two teenagers into the spotlight.
When Death has a story to tell, you listen. It is 1939 in Nazi Germany. The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier, and he will become busier still. This is an unforgettable story about the ability of books to feed the soul.
Jarrett's family is very complicated. His mom is an addict, and he doesn't know his father. This is a profoundly important memoir about growing up in a family grappling with addiction and finding the art that helps Jarrett survive.
The host of THE DAILY SHOW, Trevor Noah, tells the story of growing up half black, half white in South Africa under and after apartheid in this young readers' adaptation of his bestselling adult memoir.
In this very personal work, which THE NEW YORK TIMES calls "as compelling as TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD," acclaimed lawyer and social justice advocate Bryan Stevenson offers a glimpse into the lives of the wrongfully imprisoned and his efforts to fight for their freedom.
A denouncement of our society's failures and a love letter to all the people with the courage to say #MeToo and #TimesUp, whether aloud, online, or only in their own hearts, SHOUT speaks truth to power in a loud, clear voice—and once you hear it, it is impossible to ignore.
The story of modern Haiti told through the eyes of two teenagers, this is a powerful portrayal of the poverty and oppression that exist in Haiti today.
This historical fiction novel in verse is about a strong, smart, and brave girl who risks her life fighting for the rights of Jews in a war-torn, Nazi-occupied world.
MRS. TKAC'S
MUST-READS FOR 2020!
Grades 7 & 8 Suggested Summer Reading: Team Members
Can a lost girl save a found dog? Find out in this unforgettable story about discovering true friendship, finding home, and the possibilities of forgiveness.
After a plane crash leaves Robie and the plane's co-pilot, Max, stranded on a raft in the Pacific Ocean, they must now fight for their lives. They have no water. Their only food is a bag of Skittles. There are sharks. And there's no sign of help on the way.
It's been three years since the Virgil County High School Massacre. Three years since my best friend, Sarah, was killed in a bathroom stall during the mass shooting. Everyone knows Sarah's story--that she died proclaiming her faith. But it's not true.
FANTASY & SCI-FI
Grades 7 & 8 Suggested Summer Reading: Team Members
Everything changed the night magic disappeared. Under the orders of a ruthless king, maji were killed, leaving Zélie without a mother and her people without hope. They killed her mother. They took her magic. They tried to bury her people. Now Zélie and her people will rise.
When nineteen-year-old huntress Feyre kills a wolf in the woods, a beast-like creature kidnaps her. Dragged to a treacherous magical land she knows about only from legends, Feyre discovers that her captor is one of the lethal, immortal faeries who once ruled their world.
Miles is an average teenager. He has dinner every Sunday with his parents; he plays old-school video games with his best friend, Ganke; he spends time crushing on Alicia, a brainy, beautiful poet; he even has a scholarship to the prestigious Brooklyn Visions Academy. Oh yeah, and he’s Spider-Man.
Every life has a price in this high-octane, sci-fi thriller—the first in a trilogy. What would you be willing to risk for a lifetime of fortune?
A world with no hunger, no disease, no war, no misery: humanity has conquered all those things, and has even conquered death. Now Scythes are the only ones who can end life—and they are commanded to do so, in order to keep the size of the population under control.
The chilling sequel to the Printz Honor Book SCYTHE from NEW YORK TIMES bestseller Neal Shusterman.
In the highly anticipated finale to the NEW YORK TIMES bestselling trilogy, dictators, prophets, and tensions rise. In a world that’s conquered death, will humanity finally be torn asunder by the immortal beings it created?
After the death of her father, Emika Chen is broke, about to be evicted, and barely making money as a bounty hunter trying to catch people illegally betting on the fantasy game of Warcross.
SHORT STORY COLLECTIONS
Grades 7 & 8 Suggested Summer Reading: Team Members
By turns funny and sad, wrenching and poignant, the moments large and small described in these stories capture perfectly the agony and ecstasy of being thirteen.
Whether it is basketball dreams, new neighborhoods, family fiascos, or first crushes. This bold anthology celebrates uniqueness and universality.
All it takes to rewrite the rules is a little fresh ink in this remarkable YA collection from thirteen of the most recognizable diverse authors writing today. Published in partnership with We Need Diverse Books.
Hope is a decision, but sometimes it is a hard one to recognize. To help embolden hope, here is a powerhouse collection of essays and personal stories that speak directly to teens and all YA readers.
Book descriptions are courtesy of Amazon.com.
Grades 7 & 8 Suggested Summer Reading: About
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