8th Grade – Summer Reading List 2010

Academic Language Arts Fiction Book Choices

Creech, Sharon. Absolutely Normal Chaos. Thirteen-year-old Mary Lou keeps a summer journal, which chronicles her first experiences with romance, homesickness, and death.

Lawrence, Michael. A Crack in the Line. Alaric’s life has unraveled in the two years since he lost his mother in a train crash. Alaric discovers how to travel to an alternate reality, where his mother is alive and his place in the family is held by a girl named Naia.

Myers, Walter Dean. Hoops. Lenny, a basketball player from Harlem, meets a former professional player from Harlem who becomes his coach and friend. Problems, however, from the pro player’s past, get in their way.

Spinelli, Jerry. Milkweed. Stopthief, a young Jewish orphan living in the Warsaw ghetto during World War II, slowly understands the horrible reality that surrounds him and attempts to steal in order to help others survive.

 
Non-Fiction Book Choices for All Students

Abrams, Dennis. Anthony Horowitz. This biography tells the story of English author Anthony Horowitz, creator of the Alex Rider book series. It describes his difficult childhood and the challenges he faced on the way to success as an author.

Barnholdt, Lauren, editor. Fab Girls' Guide to Sticky Situations. Offers advice to middle schoolers on how to deal with a variety of difficult, awkward, or dangerous situations such as best friend blunders, parental pressure, threatening strangers, and cheating.

David, Laurie. The Down-to-Earth Guide to Global Warming. Facts and information about global warming and its consequences with suggestions on maintaining a healthy environment in the home and in the community.

Davis, Sampson, George Jenkins, and Rameck Hunt . We Beat the Street: How a Friendship Pact Helped Us Succeed. Three boys growing up in Newark struggle against peer pressure, gang violence and more until they make an inspiring pact.

Dendy, Leslie and Mel Boring. Guinea Pig Scientists: Bold Self-Experimenters in Science and Medicine. Recounts the true stories of 10 scientists and medical researchers who have endured extreme hardship and discomfort in order to test new discoveries and inventions in the fields of medicine and science.

Kirberger, Kimberly. No Body’s Perfect: Stories by Teens About Body Image, Self-Acceptance, and the Search for Identity. A 24 step plan designed to help teens learn to accept and appreciate themselves and their bodies.

Lutes, Jason and Nick Bertozzi. Houdini: The Handcuff King. A brief biography of escape artist Harry Houdini written in graphic comic format that reveals the secret of some of his stunts.

Meltzer, Milton. Piracy & Plunder: A Murderous Business. Surveys the history of pirates, why and how they became thieves and killers, the lives they led on sea and on land, the harm they did, and fates they suffered.

Robinson, Sharon. Jackie’s Nine: Jackie Robinson’s Values to Live By. Baseball hero Jackie Robinson’s daughter discusses nine values that her father held dear and shares memories from her life and her father’s that illustrate these values.

Tanaka, Shelley. Mummies: The Newest, Coolest & Creepiest from Around the World. Examines mummy discoveries made around the world. Young adults will be able to get up-to-date information on the latest mummy finds from different cultures, climates and time periods.

Required Reading for Students in Advanced Language Arts

Keyes, Daniel. Flowers for Algernon. Charlie, a man of low intelligence who wants more than anything to be smart, is chosen to be the “guinea pig” for a neurological experiment.

Listen NJ

Listen NJ is a free library service that offers downloadable audio books which are playable on computers, iPods, and MP3 players. Accessing ListenNJ is very easy: Click the link on the North Brunswick Public Library home page.
The first time you log in you will need to create an account and download OverDrive. To download OverDrive, simply click on one of the links on the right side of the ListenNJ page under Software Downloads. (If you plan to use an MP3 player, download the OverDrive MP3 Audiobook. It is a very small file but is essential for converting tracks.)
Next, create an account. Click on Audiobook Account. Select your library (which is Libraries of Middlesex Automation Consortium), type in your library card number (on the back of your library card, starts with 29302...) and your PIN (If you don't know your PIN, bring your library card to the library so we can look it up for you).
Next, simply search for a title or author for your summer reading list. Once the list is populated, select ADD TO CART. If you want more than one, click Continue Browsing. At any time, click on My Cart at the top to begin downloading.
Click Proceed to Checkout to finalize the process. Click Download. A box will open with Open with (OverDrive Media Console) select OK. The download will begin filling in your OverDrive Folder. Once it is complete, you can listen to it.

Grade 8 Listen NJ
Spinelli, Jerry. Milkweed.