First Book's Summer Book List: Grades 7-8
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Looking of more summer book lists? This week you’ll find some fantastic tales for readers in seventh and eighth grade.
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For Grades 7 and 8
“Shark Girl” by Kelly Bingham
A teenager struggles through physical loss to the start of acceptance in an absorbing, artful novel at once honest and insightful, wrenching and redemptive.
On a sunny day in June, at the beach with her mom and brother, fifteen-year-old Jane Arrowood went for a swim. And then everything–absolutely everything–changed. Now she’s counting down the days until she returns to school with her fake arm, where she knows kids will whisper, “That’s her–that’s Shark Girl,” as she passes. In the meantime there are only questions: Why did this happen? Why her? What about her art? What about her life? In this striking first novel, Kelly Bingham uses poems, letters, telephone conversations, and newspaper clippings to look unflinchingly at what it’s like to lose part of yourself–and to summon the courage it takes to find yourself again.
“Monster” by Walter Dean Myers
While on trial as an accomplice to a murder, sixteen-year-old Steve Harmon records his experiences in prison and in the courtroom in the form of a film script as he tries to come to terms with the course his life has taken.
“The Giver” by Lois Lowry
Jonas’ world is perfect. Everything is under control. There is no war or fear of pain. There are no choices. Every person is assigned a role in the community. When Jonas turns 12, he is singled out to receive special training from The Giver. The Giver alone holds the memories of the true pain and pleasure of life. Now it is time for Jonas to receive the truth. There is no turning back.
“Heist Society” by Ally Carter
For as long as she can remember, Katarina has been a part of the family business – thieving. When Kat tries to leave the life for a normal life, her old friend Hale conspires to bring her back into the fold. Why? A mobsters art collection has been stolen, and Kat’s father is the only suspect. Caught between Interpol and a far more deadly enemy, Kat’s dad needs her help.
The only solution is to find the paintings and steal them back. Kat’s got two weeks, a teenage crew, and hopefully enough talent to pull off the biggest heist in her family’s history and, with any luck, steal her life back along the way.
With its glamorous international settings, intriguing suspense, complicated cons, and even more complicated romance, Heist Society is stealing the hearts of Ally Carter fans everywhere.
“The True Meaning of Smekday” by Adam Rex
When twelve-year-old Gratuity (“Tip”) Tucci is assigned to write five pages on “The True Meaning of Smekday” for the National Time Capsule contest, she’s not sure where to begin. When her mom started telling everyone about the messages aliens were sending through a mole on the back of her neck? Maybe on Christmas Eve, when huge, bizarre spaceships descended on the Earth and the aliens – called Boov – abducted her mother? Or when the Boov declared Earth a colony, renamed it “Smekland” (in honor of glorious Captain Smek) and forced all Americans to relocate to Florida via rocketpod? In any case, Gratuity’s story is much, much bigger than the assignment. It involves her unlikely friendship with a renegade Boov mechanic named J.Lo.; a futile journey south to find Gratuity’s mother at the Happy Mouse Kingdom; a cross-country road trip in a hovercar called Slushious; and an outrageous plan to save the Earth from yet another alien invasion.
Looking for our Summer Reading Lists from previous weeks? Click below:
K-2
Grades 3-4
Grades 5-6