tammyw Posted August 28, 2015 Share Posted August 28, 2015 I tried to create a list of good 7th grade books to allow my voracious reader (12 yo, 7th grade) to be able to always have books to choose from this year. I thought I'd share. Basically I just pulled this list together from everyone else's posts over the years. If anyone has feedback as to books I should remove or add, I'm all ears. I edited the below to include a few more recommendations and also a handful of non-fiction at the end. If anyone has more, please continue to add, and I will continue to add/edit. Classics: The Enchanted Castle, E. Nesbit The Little White Horse, Elizabeth Goudge – we own this The Book of Three, Lloyd Alexander, and all others by him – we own these Over Sea, Under Stone, Susan Cooper Macbeth, Shakespeare Dr Jekyl & Mr Hyde, R L Stevenson The Invisible Man, HG Wells Shane, Jack Schaefer (there is also a movie we could watch afterwards) The Friendly Persuasion, Jessamyn West (also a movie) Arsenic and Old Lace, Joseph Kesselring (also a movie) Romeo & Juliet, Shakespeare (also a movie) Much Ado About Nothing, Shakespeare (probably a movie or play) Robinson Crusoe, Daniel Defoe Kidnapped, Robert Louis Stevenson King Arthur: Tales of the Round Table, Andrew Lang Rip Van Winkle, Washington Irving Paul Revere’s Ride, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (we might own this) Oliver Twist, Charles Dickens The Bronze Bow, Elizabeth George Speare Kim, Rudyard Kipling Black Ships Before Troy, Rosemary Sutcliff (we own illustrated version) The Wanderings of Odysseus, Rosemary Sutcliff (we own illustrated version) Tom Sawyer, Mark Twain The Aeneid For Boys and Girls, Alfred Church The Light Beyond the Forest, Rosemary Sutcliff Carry On, Mr. Bowditch, Jean Latham (we own I believe) Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (we own illustrated version) All Creatures Great and Small (we own) The Children of Odin The View From Saturday The Magic Garden (My Book House) Seabiscuit (we own this) The Light Princess and Other Stories Little Women (we have hardcover) Robinson Crusoe, Daniel Defoe Treasure Island, Robert Stevenson (we have illustrated) Captains Courageous, Rudyard Kipling (we have movie from library) Around the World in 80 Days (do we own this?) The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes or Hound of the Baskervilles Animal Farm (must discuss Russian Revolution and Stalin before reading) Witch of Blackbird Pond Island of the Blue Dolphins Caddie Woodlawn Anne of Green Gables series The Reluctant Dragon, Grahame Five Children and It, Nesbit Fairy & Fantasy: Grimm’s Fairy Tales The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald (we have in our bookshelf) King Arthur books Wind in the Willows (before The Hobbit) The Hobbit (we have annotated version, which is recommended) The Lord of the Rings The Wizard of Earthsea trilogy The Glassblower’s Children The Thirteen Clocks Mio, My Son The Brothers Lionheart Ronia, the Robber’s Daughter The Black Cauldron series The Princess Bride (we have this book) Stardust Un Lun Dun OR Neverwhere The Once and Future King (recommended by Farrar as must read!) Moorchild Dark is Rising series The Rumpelstiltskin Problem, Velde The Green Book, Walsh Never Ending Story, Ende Gregor the Overlander series, Collins The Secret Platform 13, Ibbotson Inkheart series, Funke (we have?) Dragonkeepers chronicles, Paul Sea of Trolls series, Farmer (we have?) 7th grade history focused (Early Modern to Modern) Russian Revolution Angel on the Square The Impossible Journey Letters from Rifka India Homeless Bird Depression Era Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry Bud, Not Buddy Turtle in Paradise Moon Over Manifest Out of the Dust Esperanza Rising A Long Way From Chicago & A Year Down Yonder WWII and the aftermath War Horse War Game Listening for Lions Charlotte Sometimes WWII Farewell to Manzanar Hiroshima Journey to America Book 1 Number the Stars It Began with a Parachute Usborne True Stories of the Second WW The Spy Who Came in From the Sea Early Sunday Morning : Pearl Harbor Diary Snow Treasure If I Perish Waiting for Anya Goodnight Mr. Tom The Machine Gunners by Robert Westal Carrie’s War by Nina Baldwin The Diary of Anne Frank Operation Minemeat (there’s a documentary also) Under the Blood Red Sun Black Radishes (we have this) The Devil’s Arithmetic (we have this and there’s also a movie I believe) The Book Thief Yellow Star Manhattan Project The Green Glass Sea Hiroshima (by Yep) Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes (we have this) Post WWII Communism The Wall: Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain Breaking Stalin’s Nose Korea Year of Impossible Goodbyes When My Name Was Keoko (I believe we have this one) Communist China Red Scarf Girl: A Memoir of the Cultural Revolution Homescik: My Own Story Red Land, Yellow River: Story from the Cultural Revolution The House of Sixty Fathers (we have this book) Cuba & Missile Crisis Countdown 90 Miles to Havana The Red Umbrella Leaving Glorytown Civil Rights One Crazy Summer series Sylvia and Aki The Watsons Go to Birmingham (also we watched the movie) The Rock and the River Revolution (by Wiles) Vietnam Water Buffalo Days: Growing Up in Vietnam Inside Out and Back Again (we own this) Africa Out of Bounds: Seven Stories of Conflict and Hope Journey to Jo’Burg & Chain of Fire A Long Walk to Water (we own this) Afghanistan The Breadwinner & Parvana’s Journey More Great Titles: Adam of the Road Golden Goblet Indian Captive Across 5 Aprils By the Great Horn Spoon (we own) Little House series (we own) Ben and Me (we own) Mr. Revere and I, Robert Lawson (do we own?) The Last Safe House The Birchbark House (plus its sequels, we own the first one) Hitty: Her First 100 Years The Wheel on the School (we own) All of a Kind Family series (we own the first one) Betsy Tacy series Om-kas-toe, Kenneth Thomasma (do we own?) Moccasin Trail (we might own) Little Britches series (non-fiction, we own the first two books) The Bronze Bow The Apple and the Arrow The Moffats Johnny Tremain True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle Bridge to Terabithia Call of the Wild, London I Am David (there’s a movie also) Julie of the Wolves, George (realistic, adventure with animals) The Pushcart War, Merrill (realistic with humor, borders on tall tales) Sounder, Armstrong (realistic with animals) Summer of the Swans, Byars (realistic) Angel on the Square, Whelan (historical) Catherine Called Birdy, Cushman (historical) The Westing Game, Raskin (mystery) A Wrinkle in Time series, L’Engle (sci-fi) Tuck Everlasting, Babbitt, (sci-fi) Canterbury Tales, McCaughrean Fever 1793 The Whipping Boy Flowers for Algernon The Martian Chronicles Murder on the Orient Express Thank You, Jeeves Watership Down Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass Red Scarf Girl Great Expectations The Crucible The Endless Steppe: Growing Up in Siberia, Esther Hautzig The Winged Watchman, Hilda Van Stockum Miracles on Maple Hill, Virginia Sorensen (we may own?) The Von Trapp family singers, Maria Von Trapp Mysterious Island, Jules Verne Yearling, Majorie Kinnan (there’s a movie, I believe) I Lived on Butterfly Hill Short Stories: The Lottery The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas Rikki Tikki Tavi, Kipling The Open Window, Saki The Gift of the Magi and other short stories, O. Henry (Christmas) Non-Fiction: Small Steps: The Year I Got Polio, Peg Kehret Bomb, The Race to Build… The Family Romanov I Am Malala (there are two editions – adult and younger audience I Will Always Write Back Prisoner B-3087 Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass The Story Behind an American Friendship The Notorious Benedict Arnold Angel Island : Gateway to Gold Mountain Pure Grit: How American WWII Nurses Survived Battle and Prison Camp in the Pacific Sugar Changed The World: A Story of Magic, Spice, Slavery, Freedom, and Science We are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball The Hiding Place 13 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Junie Posted August 28, 2015 Share Posted August 28, 2015 Julie of the Wolves is the first book in a trilogy The Oz books (I believe there are 14!) Leaving Glorytown (Cuba) -- this was an excellent book; I would probably pre-check The Curious Case of Benjamin Button -- F. Scott Fitzgerald (not the movie) Bernice Bobs Her Hair -- F. Scott Fitzgerald The Gift of the Magi -- O. Henry The Hiding Place -- Corrie ten Boom (WWII concentration camp survivor) ETA: A Wrinkle in Time is the first book of a series. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TarynB Posted August 28, 2015 Share Posted August 28, 2015 Wow! Amazing list. So very nice of you to share. Thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miss Tick Posted August 28, 2015 Share Posted August 28, 2015 Sometimes I start to worry that we've read everything, and then a list like this comes out! Thanks, another panic attach averted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tress Posted August 28, 2015 Share Posted August 28, 2015 Thank you very much. English is a foreign language for me and I find it difficult to judge which books are appropriate for what grade, so I´m always looking for great lists made by more knowledgeable people :D. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tammyw Posted August 28, 2015 Author Share Posted August 28, 2015 I'm so glad this is helpful to others as well! Since I don't really assign anything but do want her having lots of quality choices, I think this will work so well. There are quite a few she's read but I will also use it for my son, and I created this in a word doc with each bullet as a checkbox so she can mark off as she goes! We also own a bunch, and I've gathered a lot and created a special bookshelf in her room specifically for those so she can easily grab a book whenever she wants! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tammyw Posted August 29, 2015 Author Share Posted August 29, 2015 I realized I need to go back and add in non-fiction. Here are a few but I will work more on this over the weekend. Any other suggestions for favorite non-fiction for grade 7? - Bomb, The Race to Build... - The Family Romanov - I am Malala - I Will Always Write Back - I Lived on Butterfly Hill - Prisoner B-3087 - Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass The Story Behind an American Friendship - The Notorious Benedict Arnold - Angel Island : Gateway to Gold Mountain - Pure Grit: How American WWII Nurses Survived Battle and Prison Camp in the Pacific - Sugar Changed The World: A Story of Magic, Spice, Slavery, Freedom, and Science - We are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball - 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VANURSEPRAC Posted August 29, 2015 Share Posted August 29, 2015 WOW!!!!!! Thank You, Thank You, Thank You. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sahamamama Posted August 29, 2015 Share Posted August 29, 2015 When you study the polio epidemic, you might want her to read Small Steps: The Year I Got Polio, by Peg Kehret. I highly recommend this book! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tammyw Posted August 29, 2015 Author Share Posted August 29, 2015 When you study the polio epidemic, you might want her to read Small Steps: The Year I Got Polio, by Peg Kehret. I highly recommend this book! Oh yes, we read that one a few years ago and loved it!!! There are a few that all of us have read so I didn't add to my list but that one would definitely be a great addition for anyone looking for non-fiction :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shellydon Posted August 30, 2015 Share Posted August 30, 2015 Thank you so much! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucy the Valiant Posted August 30, 2015 Share Posted August 30, 2015 Thank you for sharing! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs. B Posted August 30, 2015 Share Posted August 30, 2015 So many books....so little time....... Thanks for sharing your list. I hope to get to many of them in the next few years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skyler Posted August 30, 2015 Share Posted August 30, 2015 Thank you so much for putting this fabulous list together and sharing it here. You saved me a lot of work! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted August 30, 2015 Share Posted August 30, 2015 Awesome list of options. What about WWI books? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tammyw Posted August 30, 2015 Author Share Posted August 30, 2015 Awesome list of options. What about WWI books? Good idea! Do you have any to recommend? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Serenade Posted August 30, 2015 Share Posted August 30, 2015 Thanks for sharing! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted August 30, 2015 Share Posted August 30, 2015 Good idea! Do you have any to recommend? War Horse is probably my top pick, though I have taught All Quiet on the Western Front to 8th graders, I think I wouldn't suggest it for most kids before that age. There's some great shorter works, like War Game, and there's tons of poetry about the war that's just terrific stuff. Also, for the aftermath, Listening for Lions is a good one - about the Spanish flu as well as African colonization. The ending is a bit silly, but the story is nice and Gloria Whelan is always a solid writer. Charlotte Sometimes is also about the flu, though a very different sort of book - at a boarding school. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tammyw Posted August 30, 2015 Author Share Posted August 30, 2015 War Horse is probably my top pick, though I have taught All Quiet on the Western Front to 8th graders, I think I wouldn't suggest it for most kids before that age. There's some great shorter works, like War Game, and there's tons of poetry about the war that's just terrific stuff. Also, for the aftermath, Listening for Lions is a good one - about the Spanish flu as well as African colonization. The ending is a bit silly, but the story is nice and Gloria Whelan is always a solid writer. Charlotte Sometimes is also about the flu, though a very different sort of book - at a boarding school. Wonderful, thank you! I read All Quiet on the Western Front a couple years ago and I found it hard to get through, lol! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tammyw Posted August 30, 2015 Author Share Posted August 30, 2015 I added a bunch of the suggestions recommended. If anyone has more, please continue to post and I will continue to add and edit the original document! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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