RECOMMENDED BOOKS FOR STUDENTS IN GRADES 6–8

5-BookDive!5-BookDive!Agosin, Marjorie. I Lived on Butterfly Hill.

Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2014. Celeste lives happily in Valparaiso, Chile, dreaming of the day when she will be a writer. But when a cruel dictator takes over the government, everything begins to change. People disappear. Her family must go into hiding. And Celeste is sent away to live with an aunt in Maine, which seems to her to be a very strange and cold world.

Albee, Sarah. Bugged: How Insects Changed History. Walker Books for Young Readers, 2014.For as long as humans have been on earth, we have shared it with bugs. As small as they are, insects have had a tremendous impact on history, both for better and for worse. From plagues to parasites, these are the fact-filled and often disgusting stories of bugs through the ages.

Alexander, Kwame. The Crossover. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2014. Twins Josh and JB are the perfect team, both on the basketball court and off. But things are changing – their father is ill, and JB likes the new girl in school – and their bond will be tested. This novel in verse mashes up poetry, hip-hop, basketball action, family ties, and growing up.

Auxier, Jonathan. The Night Gardner. Amulet Books, 2014. Driven from Ireland by the Famine, Molly and her brother, Kip, find work at a creepy old mansion in England. But a malevolent spirit haunts the estate, wandering the halls at night to collect the inhabitants’ tears and sweat to water a mysterious tree.

Barnett, Mac. The Terrible Two Get Worse.Amulet Books, 2016.Now that they’ve joined forces, pranksters Miles and Niles are a devious dream team. But when their favorite victim Principal Barkin is replaced by his no nonsense father, Former Principal Barkin, a ban on pranks spoils their fun. Nothing can keep these two down for long, and soon they are hatching a plan for the most epic prank of all…

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Bendis, Brian Michael, Sara Pichelli, Chris Samnee and David Marquez. Miles Morales: the Ultimate Spider-Man: Ultimate Collection 1. Marvel Worldwide, 2015.Like Peter Parker before him, Miles Morales is bitten by a radioactive spider and develops arachnid-like super powers. But now that Peter is dead, Miles must take on the role of Spiderman, facing off against villains like the Prowler – who just happens to be Miles’ uncle.

Black, Holly and Cassandra Clare. The Iron Trial. Scholastic, Inc., 2015.The collaboration between two very popular authors is the first book in a new series about a boy who doesn’t want to be a wizard. But despite Cal’s best efforts to fail the entrance exam, he is sent to the Magisterium magic academy where he makes friends and finds adventures – and some surprising twists and turns along the way!

Bragg, Georgia. How They Choked: Failures, Flops, and Flaws of the Awfully Famous. Walker Books for Young Readers, 2014.Did you ever notice that biographies always seem to be about people doing great things? Not this book! From embarrassing to tragic, these are the stories of historical figures who were just as human as the rest of us and made the mistakes to prove it.

Cass, Kiera. The Selection. HarperTeen, 2012.In a dystopian future where people are ranked by caste, lower class America Singer is selected to appear on a reality television show, competing with 34 other young women for the prize of marrying a prince and guaranteeing herself and her family a life of privilege. But she doesn’t want a prince – she’s already in love with Aspen, whose caste is even lower than her own.

Chevat, Richie and Michael Pollan. The Omnivore’s Dilemma: the Secrets Behind What You Eat (Young Readers’ Edition). Dial Books for Young Readers, 2015.In this adventure through the American food chain, adapted from the original bestseller for young readers’ edition, the author explores the question: if humans can eat practically anything, what should we eat? Explore the origins of four meals – “industrial”, organic, local and sustainable, and hunted-and-gathered – and make up your own mind.

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Flanagan, John. The Outcasts: Brotherband Chronicles, Book 1. Puffin Books, 2011.In a Viking-like warrior society, young Hal has been appointed the leader of his training group, called a brotherband, but his team is comprised of the left-overs – the misfits that nobody else wanted. He must learn how to take advantage of each brother’s hidden strengths to turn them into a force to be reckoned with, and prove themselves in competition. This is the first book of the Brotherband Chronicles, a spinoff series of the Ranger’s Apprentice books.

Freedman, Russell. Because They Marched: the People’s Campaign for Voting Rights that Changed America. Holiday House, 2015.Last year marked the 50th anniversary of the 1965 march for voting rights from Selma to Montgomery, which sparked the passing of the Voting Rights Act. Experience this pivotal moment in civil rights history.

Han, Jenny. To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before. Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2014.Lara Jean Song has written a love letter to every boy she’s ever loved – five of them – but she never sends them; it’s just how she moves on from a crush. But then one day the letters go missing, and she discovers that they have been mailed, including the one to her sister’s ex-boyfriend! What do you do when the past meets the present,and they’re both out of control?

Harrington, Karen. Courage for Beginners. Little, Brown and Company, 2014.Mysti Murphy wishes she were a character in a book who would magically know how to deal with her chaotic life. Her mother is agoraphobic and refuses to leave the house, her father is in a coma, and her best friend has abandoned her for a “social experiment” in being popular. But with new friends at her side, Mysti will find the courage to take care of herself.

Holm, Jennifer L. Sunny Side Up. Graphix, 2015.Sunny isn’t sure what is wrong with her brother, but it means that she has to spend the whole summer with her grandfather in a retirement community in Florida. Thank goodness there is one other kid there – Buzz, who loves comic books and becomes her partner in adventures. But what has happened to Sunny’s brother? (Graphic novel.)

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Hoover, P.J. Tut: the Story of My Immortal Life. Starscape, 2014.Granted immortality by the god Osiris, Tutankhamen, king of Egypt, has been 14 for the last 3,000 years. He’s just another teenager living in Washington, D.C., with his one-eyed cat (really the god Horus), but when his ancient enemy surfaces after thousands of years, he may finally have the chance for revenge – even if it means risking his own immortality, and his life.

Kadohata, Cynthia. The Thing About Luck. Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2014.Summer and her family travel around Kansas working the wheat harvest each year for money to pay the mortgage. But this year has been unlucky: Summer is recovering from malaria, and her parents must go to Japan to care for relatives. So Summer, her odd brother, and her elderly grandparents must go on the harvest circuit together. Will she rise to the challenge?

Korman, Gordon. Ungifted. Balzer + Bray, 2014.Donovan’s last prank went out of control, but instead of the punishment he expects, an administrative mix-up lands him in the district’s gifted school instead. Feeling like an “exotic space alien who crash-landed in the gifted program,” Donovan ultimately realizes that his “normality” is just what the gifted kids need.

Lopez, Diana. Ask My Mood Ring How I Feel. Little, Brown and Company, 2014.Erica “Chia” Montenegro is mostly concerned with cute boys, hanging out with her friends (the Robins), and her Chia Pet collection. But when her mother is diagnosed with breast cancer, everything changes.

Nielsen-Fernlund, Susan. We Are All Made of Molecules. Wendy Lamb Books, 2015.When nerdy Stewart’s father moves in with popular Ashley’s mother, they have to find common ground – but what could they possibly have in common other than both being made of molecules?

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Ryan, Pam Muñoz. Echo. Scholastic Press, 2015.An enchanted harmonica ties together the stories of three kids whose lives are changed by its music. Each character learns to face adversity and stand against injustice, as well as how to play the harmonica, in this fascinating work of historical fiction.

Sloan, Holly Goldberg. Counting by 7s. Dial Books for Young Readers, 2013.Willow Chance is a genius who likes plants, diseases, and the number seven – people, not so much. But when her parents are killed in a car crash and she is taken in by friends, she must find a “new normal” and create a new family.

Wilson, G. Willow and Adrian Alphona. Ms. Marvel 1: No Normal. Marvel Worldwide, 2014.Kamala Khan is a geeky Pakistani girl with strict Muslim parents, who dreams of becoming a superhero: the white, blonde Ms. Marvel. Remarkably, one day she gets her wish! But does she really want to be somebody else, or can she be a superhero and still be herself, as well?

Woodson, Jacqueline. Brown Girl Dreaming. Nancy Paulsen Books, 2014. Popular author Jacqueline Woodson (After Tupac & D Foster, Locomotion, Feathers, Show Way, etc.) shares her childhood memories of growing up in South Carolina and New York during the civil rights movement in this powerful memoir in verse.