8th Grade Lit Recommendations? (not traditional classics)

[zarabellesmom]

I need some recommendations for books to read with my 8th grader next year. I'm not interested in a list of classics as I have that part covered. I would like a diverse list of more recent works that aren't necessarily ALL depressing. She likes fantasy novels but I want to broaden her horizons without killing her love of books. I'm totally uninspired and feel like I've looked at hundreds of book lists. Bonus points for books that have diverse characters, though that isn't an absolute necessity.  Where are you Farrar?

 

[Miss Tick]

I'm doing a light literature co-op class for my 8th graders and some other middle schoolers next year. I think we will focus on A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park and The Crossover by Kwame Alexander. If there is time I'll probably add part of I, Robot. I felt like I had to shoot low on reading level and "non-inflammatory" on subject matter AND nothing too long requiring burdensome homework.

So, those titles might work for you, and you could probably cover them one-on-one in a month. Lol

[Lori D.]

Two titles that we read this year in my 7th/8th grade Lit. & Comp class that the students esp. enjoyed were: 
- The Cay (Taylor)
- A Long Walk to Water (Park).
My students were divided on A Wrinkle in Time (L'Engle) and Enchantress From the Stars (Engdahl) -- some really liking these and others not liking them -- but since your DD enjoys fantasy, she might enjoy these, and we had some good discussions in class about all 4 of these titles.

For some diversity -- note: many of these might be too young for an 8th grader:
- The Birchbark House (Erdrich) -- 1800s; Native American; first of a 5-book series
- Walk Two Moons (Creech) -- 1990s; Native American girl coming of age
- Maniac Magee (Spinnelli) -- 1990; themes of racism and homelessness
- Wonder (Palacio) -- contemporary setting, boy with facial deformity
- The War That Saved My Life (Bradley) -- WW2 British homefront; girl with a twisted foot
- Esperanza Rising (Ryan) -- 1930s, Mexican immigrants to the US
- Brown Girl Dreaming (Woodson) -- 1960s-1970s, black female protagonist, written as a series of poems
- Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry (Taylor) -- 1930s, black family in the US Deep South
- The Hate U Give (Thomas) or All American Boys (Reynolds & Kiely) -- contemporary setting; black lives matter
- I Am Masala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Talaban (Yousafzai) -- autobiography
- American Born Chinese (Yang) -- graphic novel

Fantasy/Sci-Fi/Speculative fiction for discussion:
- The Book Thief (Zusak) -- WW2 German home front and events of the war, but with Death as the narrator
- The Giver (and/or sequels) (Lowry) -- sci-fi/dystopia
- A Wind in the Door (sequel to A Wrinkle in Time) (L'Engle) -- speculative / sci-fi
- Tuck Everlasting (Babbitt) -- speculative fiction
- House of the Scorpion (Farmer) -- futuristic dystopia, Mexico/US borderland drug empire
- The Ear, The Eye, and The Arm (Farmer) -- sci-fi, African setting

[Aurelia]

Momo (Ende) 

El Deafo (Bell) - DD's favorite book EVER

The City of Ember series, especially The People of Sparks (DuPrau)

Seconding: The Birchbark House (Erdrich) -- 1800s; Native American; first of a 5-book series
- Wonder (Palacio) -- contemporary setting, boy with facial deformity
- The War That Saved My Life (Bradley) -- WW2 British homefront; girl with a twisted foot
- The Book Thief (Zusak) -- WW2 German home front and events of the war, but with Death as the narrator
- The Giver (and/or sequels) (Lowry) -- sci-fi/dystopia
- A Wind in the Door (sequel to A Wrinkle in Time) (L'Engle) -- speculative / sci-fi
- Tuck Everlasting (Babbitt) 

[Tanaqui]

Quote

- Walk Two Moons (Creech) -- 1990s; Native American girl coming of age

 

Problematic.

Quote

- The War That Saved My Life (Bradley) -- WW2 British homefront; girl with a twisted foot

 

Also complex PTSD, which, if anything, is even more disabling than the clubfoot.

Now, let me see what I've got. Zarabellesmom, you and I are on the same page here! Some of these books will be a bit easy, but it's good to mix things up a bit.

Full Cicada Moon

A Time to Dance

Seraphina

The Epic Crush of Genie Lo (this is more fun!)

If I Ever Get Out of Here

Ancillary Justice (written for adults - a few mentions of sex, but we don't see anything at all, the protagonist is Just Not Interested)

Lucky Broken Girl

It Ain't So Awful, Falafel

My Basmati Bat Mitzvah

The Education of Margot Sanche

Face Like Glass

Quest for a Maid

The Revolution of Evelyn Serrano

The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm

Blackbird Fly

The First Rule of Punk

Oddity (my new fave)

Salvage and Sound (should read both books)

Ambassador and Nomad by William Alexander (must read both books)

Summer of the Mariposas

Code Talkers

Fly Girl

Hellfighters (graphic novel)

American Born Chinese (graphic novel)

Climbing the Stairs

Celeste's Harlem Renaissance

Zahrah the Windseeker

Leviathan

Runemarks

Echo

Un Lun Dun

Parable of the Sower (definitely needs a pre-read)

The Dispossessed

One Crazy Summer

I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter

Outrun the Moon

Rain Isn't My Indian Name

Braced

Farewell to Manzanar

House of the Scorpion

[zarabellesmom]

Wow! You guys are great! You know you are on the right track when you see a few books on the list that she's already read and enjoyed! I have so much to look at now Thank you, thank you, thank you!