Top 10 American literature books for middle schoolers 7th to 8th grade?

[JadeOrchidSong]

What are your top 10 American literature books for middle school? I have to narrow the list down to make it not overwhelming. A few short stories can be grouped as one book. Thanks!

[MinivanMom]

Short stories by Edgar Allen Poe

Little Women

Tom Sawyer

Call of the Wild

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

A Separate Peace

The Chosen

To Kill a Mockingbird

The Outsiders

Fahrenheit 451

[JadeOrchidSong]

Thanks! We can use 5 of these. The other 5 are read.

Anyone else?

[freelylearned]

Most of the ones that I would have mentioned were already listed, but here are a few more ideas:

 

Johnny Tremain

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (short story)

The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County (short story)

A drama like West Side Story might be a fun change of pace.

Witch of Blackbird Pond

Sign of the Beaver

Huck Finn

Island of the Blue Dolphins

Poetry of Robert Frost, Carl Sandburg, e e cummings

[JadeOrchidSong]

Thanks! I would also use Sonlight Core 100 lit list for référence. I will post another question about this.

[Farrar]

I tend to think there is no perfect list, but that it has to be tailored to the kid - their reading level, interests, etc. - at least a little bit. But I like to think of a good list as having categories. It should hit some different time periods, for example. And my top would definitely include a diversity in the authors.

 

So, for a well-rounded list, you definitely should include at least one work by an African-American author. Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry is a good one for that age range. Monster by Walter Dean Myers would be another good option. Some students are ready for Narrative of a Life by Frederick Douglass at that age.

 

Also, at least something about the immigrant experience. Esperanza Rising would be a good choice for a more YA/MG leaning reader. Some students would be more ready for How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents. I'm trying to think of a boy protagonist option... maybe The Circuit.

 

 

[AdventuresinHomeschooling]

The Hobbit

The Giver

The Grapes of Wrath

Our Town

Journey to the Center of the Earth or anything by Jules Verne

The Swiss Family Robinson 

Treasure Island

Oliver Twist

Pilgrim's Progress

The Scarlet Pimpernel

The Princess Bride

Diary of Anne Frank

To Kill a Mockingbird (maybe more high school)

Puddinhead Wilson or anything by Twain

 

 

[ScoutTN]

The Hobbit  Tolkien was English

The Giver

The Grapes of Wrath

Our Town

Journey to the Center of the Earth or anything by Jules Verne  Verne was French.

The Swiss Family Robinson   Wyss was Swiss.

Treasure Island     Stevenson was Scottish.

Oliver Twist        Dickens was English

Pilgrim's Progress   Bunyan was Englsih

The Scarlet Pimpernel    Orczy was Hungarian.

The Princess Bride

Diary of Anne Frank     Frank was German.

To Kill a Mockingbird (maybe more high school)

Puddinhead Wilson or anything by Twain

 

Good lit, but not all American and so not really answering the OP's question.

 

I was looking over some American lit lists and it is all so dreary and heavy. I think of these authors/works more as high school literature. Strong 7th and 8th graders could do them, but balanced out by some lighter fare and poetry. 

I like short stories for middle school so they don't have this heavy stuff in such quantity.

 

Hawthorne

Melville 

Stephen Crane  - ugh!

Hemmingway - The Sun Also Rises

Fitzgerald - The Great Gatsby

Faulkner - ugh! 

Edith Wharton

Arthur Miller

 

 

Some American lit classes skip the early years and leave Franklin, Paine, Jefferson etc. to history class. 

 

 

 

[Tanaqui]

So, for a well-rounded list, you definitely should include at least one work by an African-American author. Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry is a good one for that age range. Monster by Walter Dean Myers would be another good option. Some students are ready for Narrative of a Life by Frederick Douglass at that age.

 

Something by an Asian author as well, I should think. I mean to say, it shouldn't be 8 white authors, one black author, one Hispanic author (immigrants!) whee, now we've done diversity :P

 

Actually, with that in mind, right now my approach to literature is "Okay, you finished that? Let's look at the shelf and pick another book by a non-white author for you!" because for a while the girls were only reading the whitest books they could find and it annoyed me that they were ignoring all the other books I carefully cultivated for them.

[Tanaqui]

I was looking over some American lit lists and it is all so dreary and heavy. I think of these authors/works more as high school literature. Strong 7th and 8th graders could do them, but balanced out by some lighter fare and poetry.

 

Welcome to the Death March Through Literature. Drives me up the freaking wall. There's no excuse for it, even in high school and college. There are quality books for all levels of education that aren't unadulturated grimdark.

 

[lisabees]

Welcome to the Death March Through Literature. Drives me up the freaking wall. There's no excuse for it, even in high school and college. There are quality books for all levels of education that aren't unadulturated grimdark.

 

I remember DD begging me to stop with the sad literature last year.  It only took three books and she was DONE. 

[Farrar]

 

 

Something by an Asian author as well, I should think. I mean to say, it shouldn't be 8 white authors, one black author, one Hispanic author (immigrants!) whee, now we've done diversity :p

 

Actually, with that in mind, right now my approach to literature is "Okay, you finished that? Let's look at the shelf and pick another book by a non-white author for you!" because for a while the girls were only reading the whitest books they could find and it annoyed me that they were ignoring all the other books I carefully cultivated for them.

 

 

I agree. This is why I'm not fond of top ten lists in general (or, in a weird way, I am fond of them because I like to size them up). And why creating a canon is so impossible and inevitably exclusionary. I like, here's the ten books for this kid, for this year, and I thought about diversity in themes, subjects, authors, race, ethnicity, gender, etc. and next year we'll have a new list and away we go.

 

We did an excerpt from Joy Luck Club for our short stories this year but the whole book wouldn't be right for middle schoolers for the most part - but you can find the chapter where Waverly plays chess works well as an excerpt. I actually did try to think what would be a good Asian American book for this age but the only really good one I came up with was Dragonwings. I can think of others... and Yep has a whole ton of books to his credit as well but I have to admit I haven't read most of them...

[Tanaqui]

I actually did try to think what would be a good Asian American book for this age but the only really good one I came up with was Dragonwings.

 

There's not as many Asian American authors. And while I'm a huge fan of Grace Lin, you're right, I wouldn't handle it as assigned reading for most kids in this age group.

 

With that said, I do love Dragonwings. Do you realize it's part of a whole series?

 

[RebeccaMary]

Two contemporary options to add some diversity: Inside Out and Back Again by Thanha Lai and One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia. 

 

A few classics from the 70s: Julie of the Wolves, Bridge to Terabithia, and Philip Hall Likes Me, I Reckon Maybe.

 

Short story collections by Poe or Bradbury. Here's a great list of 24 short stories for Middle Schoolers.

 

[happypamama]

I don't know about top ten, but some that my kids enjoyed were Johnny Tremain, Tom Sawyer, Animal Farm, Little Women, and My Side of the Mountain.

[Lori D.]

On 8/14/2016 at 11:51 AM, ScoutTN said:

Hawthorne
Melville 
Stephen Crane  - ugh!
Hemmingway - The Sun Also Rises
Fitzgerald - The Great Gatsby
Faulkner - ugh! 
Edith Wharton
Arthur Miller

Agree. Those authors are LATE high school level -- some even should be postponed until college for most students. Why on earth would we hand these off to a 7th-8th grader?? :confused1:  SWB herself talks about how some works and authors should be waited on until after college, when a person has had a chance to have years (decades) of experiencing life as an adult, in order to be able to fully appreciate and understand those authors/works. 
 

On 8/14/2016 at 11:51 AM, ScoutTN said:

...I like short stories for middle school so they don't have this heavy stuff in such quantity...

 

On 8/15/2016 at 7:05 PM, Farrar said:

...I like, here's the ten books for this kid, for this year, and I thought about diversity in themes, subjects, authors, race, ethnicity, gender, etc. and next year we'll have a new list and away we go.

Agree. A *great* way to go for American Lit. for middle school is short stories and good good quality young adult works, with just a few beginning classics such as Tom Sawyer, Call of the Wild, and Rip Van Winkle.

Short stories are a terrific way to ease into more formal literature studies, and there a LOT more well-written/classic humorous short stories out there than novels. And there are a ton of really good American young adult works out there that often get missed because everyone is in a "rush for early rigor", and trying to jump into heavy older classic literature when the kid is only 10-12 years old. Good literature of any type (children's books, young adult, and adult) opens doors to whole new worlds and things to think about -- I can't think of a better way to crush a student's budding interest in literature and permanently slam shut those doors than to make a middle schooler read some subtle, complex classic works written by, and meant to resonate with, middle-aged adults...
 

On 8/14/2016 at 11:51 AM, ScoutTN said:

Some American lit classes skip the early years and leave Franklin, Paine, Jefferson etc. to history class...

Agree! I continue to argue that even a Great Books study (which combines History and Literature), has two elements that, while they do inform and enhance one another, ultimately need to be studied in depth each in their own direction. Non-fiction writings (autobiographies, speeches, histories and other primary source writings) support and illuminate History studies -- they  just can NOT be read, analyzed and discussed in the same way as fiction (novels, novellas, short stories, poetry, plays), because the purposes, and even the use of language, are so very different.
 

On 8/15/2016 at 2:47 PM, Tanaqui said:

Welcome to the Death March Through Literature. Drives me up the freaking wall. There's no excuse for it, even in high school and college. There are quality books for all levels of education that aren't unadulturated grimdark.

Ideas for detouring the American lit. death march ? :
"American Literature - happy, uplifting?"
"Need North American novels that are not depressing!!!"
"Ok - last one for today, I promise" [your favorite light, funny, we-loved-this-book-because-it-made-us-smile titles.... American lit please]
"Best 20th century US literature suggestions?" -- favorite American classics (not all are lighter, but were enjoyed/meaningful)

And ideas that are not exclusively American Lit:
"s/o Steinbeck thread: I need novels that DON'T have a tragic/fatalistic worldview"
"High school literature suggestions that aren't so dark and depressing"
"Help! Need some modern world literature that is NOT depressing!"
"High literature which is encouraging"
"Suggestions for meaty but not depressing classics for teenagers?"
"Looking for upbeat literature selections"

Edited November 5, 2018 by Lori D.

[Farrar]

And there are a ton of really good American young adult works out there that often get missed because everyone is in a "rush for early rigor", and trying to jump into heavy older classic literature when the kid is only 10-12 years old. Good literature of any type (children's books, young adult, and adult) opens doors to whole new worlds and things to think about -- I can't think of a better way to crush a student's budding interest in literature and permanently slam shut those doors than to make a middle schooler read some subtle, complex classic works written by, and meant to resonate with, middle-aged adults...

 

:iagree: Yes. I was wanting to say something along these lines but it's hard on these boards sometimes with the push for classics. But you said it perfectly. There's some great, meaty stuff out there in upper MG and YA novels and *this* is the time to read it.

[goldenecho]

Summer of My German Soldier

To Kill a Mockingbird*

Fahrenheit 451*

Huckleberry Fin

Wrinkle in Time (and rest of series)

My Side of the Mountain (actually read in 6th)

Dicey's Song

 

...dang, my mind is drawing a blank but I will add more if I think of them.

 

 

*I actually read these in high school myself, but might work for a middle schooler (though I tried Fahrenheit 451 with my middle schooler, who reads several grades ahead, and he did not like it.  I loved it when I read it in high school).

Edited August 21, 2016 by goldenecho

[goldenecho]

Welcome to the Death March Through Literature. Drives me up the freaking wall. There's no excuse for it, even in high school and college. There are quality books for all levels of education that aren't unadulturated grimdark.

 

I agree...I listed some darker ones just because I liked them myself around that age, even though they made me cry, but there were many others that just depressed me.  And what is it with stories for middle schoolers where they have to kill a pet?   Where the Red Fern Grows (5th), The Yearling (7th), A Day No Pigs Would Die (8th)?  ONE of these I think is fine, as all are good books...but I would never purposefully assign all of these to students (granted I was in a different school system when I got The Red Fern Grows, so maybe that wasn't on purpose).   By the time I got to "No Pigs" I could so see it coming...and I was like, GROAN...not this again!   And then we moved on to having to kill a mentally challenged friend (Of Mice and Men, high school). 

Edited August 21, 2016 by goldenecho

[Tanaqui]

I listed some darker ones just because I liked them myself around that age, even though they made me cry

 

It can be cathartic to have a good cry, and certainly *some* issues which adolescents are tackling are Super Serious and we may as well address them in literature. I just feel we should intersperse lighter fare in our studies.

 

I don't think we did many dead dog books when I was in school, but we did Richard Corey at least once a year in high school. And I like that poem well enough, but not enough to analyze it 6 times in four years! (Seriously, high school teachers of the world: Pick a different poem.)

[goldenecho]

It can be cathartic to have a good cry, and certainly *some* issues which adolescents are tackling are Super Serious and we may as well address them in literature. I just feel we should intersperse lighter fare in our studies.

 

I don't think we did many dead dog books when I was in school, but we did Richard Corey at least once a year in high school. And I like that poem well enough, but not enough to analyze it 6 times in four years! (Seriously, high school teachers of the world: Pick a different poem.)

 

LOL.  Yeah, I like Richard Corey but once over is plenty!    That's one good thing about homeschool...you don't have to worry "has a previous teacher taught this 5 times?"

 

My favorite poem about poetry is also by Robert Graves...much lighter:

 

A Plea to Girls and Boys

by Robert Graves

 

You learned Lear's Nonsense Rhymes by heart, not rote;

You learned Pope's Iliad by rote, not heart;

These terms should be distinguished if you quote

My verses, children--keep them poles apart--

And call the man a liar who says I wrote

All that I wrote in love, for love of art.

[nansk]

... I actually did try to think what would be a good Asian American book for this age but the only really good one I came up with was Dragonwings. I can think of others... and Yep has a whole ton of books to his credit as well but I have to admit I haven't read most of them...

 

Two popular choices in Singapore middle schools are:

Sing To The Dawn by Minfong Ho

A Single Shard by Linda Sue Park

 

Mingfong Ho has written other books that are good, too.

There is one other book that is studied here - Chinese Cinderella by Adeline Yen Mah - but I am not familiar with it.

 

Totto Chan by Tetsuko Kuroyanagi is also popular in the upper primary grades, but Kuroyanagi is not an American author.

[Tanaqui]

Chinese Cinderella is... it's not a bad book, far from it, but there's a lot of focus on how much her family hates her. Right around when her pet duckling gets eaten because one of the other kids egged on the badly behaved dog you start to think the whole appeal is this sort of rubbernecking interest in child abuse.

[JadeOrchidSong]

Thank you for your help! I love the idea of doing short stories and poetry. This is the list I finished putting together last night with some Sonlight Core 100 titles and wonderful ideas from you. Both ds will read all of the books in the list. We may take 1.5 school year to do American history and literature. ds13 will do CLE Changing Frontiers and ds11 will do America the Beautiful. And their writing will include lit analysis, so i may only choose a very limited few in this list for them to do a deeper study. Otherwise it will be simply reading on their own. 

I do not know how to put them in chronological order, though I did look at their in a short summary online. Can someone help me please? 

Would like to incorporate movies and documentaries in the study, too. There are so many good movies we want to enjoy!

 

Put a check mark before each title when you finish reading it.

Daily:  A Treasury of Poetry for Young People ---1 page a day

Go to this site to read American short stories https://americanliterature.com/twenty-great-american-short-stories. Read two stories a day if they are short; read one a day if it is a long story.

All Summer in a Day (google it yourself)

The Gift of the Magi (1905) by O. Henry  

To Build a Fire (1908) by Jack London

An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge (1890, 1891) by Ambrose Bierce

The Monkey's Paw (1902) by W.W. Jacobs (study)

Regret (1897) by Kate Chopin

The Lady or the Tiger (google it yourself, then google questions to read and think about)

The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County (1865) by Mark Twain

Ransom of Red Chief (1906) by O. Henry (google yourself)

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (1820) by Washington Irving

Rip Van Winkle (google it yourself, study)

The Tell-Tale Heart (1843) by Edgar Allan Poe

Scarlet Stockings (~1869) by Louisa May Alcott

Bartleby the Scrivener - by Herman Melville

The Lottery (1948) by Shirley Jackson

Thank you, M’am (google it yourself)

Novels:

Amos Fortune, Free Man -----1 week

Indian Captive-----2 weeks

They Loved to Laugh-----2 week

The adventures of Tom Sawyer with analysis---3 weeks (study for younger son)

A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court by Mark Twain---2 weeks

Bound for Oregon----1 week

Dragon’s Gate-----2 weeks

Dragon’s Wing---2 week

Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglas---2 weeks (study for older son)

Red Badge of Courage—2 weeks

The Call of the Wild ----1 week  (study for younger son)

Out of the Dust----1 week

Their Eyes Were Watching God---2 week

The Yearling---3 weeks 

To Kill a Mockingbird-----3 weeks (study in older son's online writing class in WHA FOEW)

Moonshiner’s Son---2 weeks

A Year Down Yonder ---1 week

Maniac Magee---1 week

My Side of the Mountain---1 week (study for younger son)

A Wrinkle in Time—1 week

The View from Saturday---1 week

Wednesday Wars----1 week

When You Reach Me—1 week

The Outsiders ---2 weeks (study for older son)

[JadeOrchidSong]

Add Journey Man for younger son.

[vonfirmath]

Chinese Cinderella is... it's not a bad book, far from it, but there's a lot of focus on how much her family hates her. Right around when her pet duckling gets eaten because one of the other kids egged on the badly behaved dog you start to think the whole appeal is this sort of rubbernecking interest in child abuse.

 

Yep. I read that book and never saw the point.

[amsunshine]

Story of My Life by Helen Keller (I don't think this one was mentioned yet).

[goldenecho]

A Wrinkle in Time and the books that follow are all really good!  I second those.  My Side of the Mountain too.  Also a good positive one.