Thank-you so much to everyone who responded to my question about a good
book to discuss with an accelerated group of 8th grade readers.
This is a separate AR reading group as these students also take high
school math classes.
Not only did I receive ideas for this group but also ideas for
additional fiction titles to order for the middle school
Again thank-you so much, Nancy
Stiner
-------- Following are the results:
Have them do Wednesday Wars (Newbery Honor). This is a new
book that is great! It deals with a junior high boy who is trying to
survive school, family, and everything in between in the 1960's. There
is heartbreak, humor, and action. It reminds me of The Christmas
Story. There is a lot to discuss: the threat of nuclear war, the
hippies versus adults, being yourself, Shakespeare plays, romance, ect.
Off the top I would recommend The Book Thief, The Wednesday
Wars or Red Kayak
Our 9th grade boys read Monster and the girls read Speak. A
few more good ones for discussion are Uglies, The Outsiders, A Child
Called It and Stargirl.
One of my favorite books of late is Staying Fat for Sarah
Burns by Crutcher. I also liked The Window by Ingold.
How about Redwall?
Nancy,
There is great literature now for young readers as you know. I have
listed a few fiction titles here.
The trap by Smelcer
Stuck in neutral by Trueman
Harris and me by Paulsen
Speak by Anderson
Staying fat for Sarah Byrnes by Crutcher
The house of scorpion by Farmer
Secret Life of Bees by Monk - awesome and fantastic!
Big ideas and themes.
I don't know if you can get enough copies but I really
loved The Wednesday Wars by Gary Schmidt. It was a Newbery Honor this
year. I think it will appeal to boys and girls. It is historical
fiction and the character is in 7th grade.
Seeker by William Nicholson
Red Kayak by Priscilla Cummings
Our book club discussed Touching Spirit Bear (the
boys loved it). I think other good books for discussion would be
Surviving the Applewhites, The Misfits, and The City of Ember.
Uglies by Westerfeld would be a good choice. The lexile isn't high,
but the themes provide for great discussion and higher level thinking.
Shackleton's Stowaway would also provide some great discussion as does
My Sister's Keeper by Picoult. 8th graders here are eating up the Percy
Jackson books by Riordan, and that would have some great discussion
revolving around ancient mythology which is often part of the 9th grade
curriculum.
Touching Spirt Bear by Mikaelsen
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