books for independent reading for 8th grader?

[ktgrok]

We are doing Oh, Freedom for history and it has some selections we will use as read alouds, but I want some books for DD13 to read on her own as well. I'm thinking at least one book a month I choose for her, and she can pick her own books the rest of the month? Or alternate, or whatever. The books with Oh, Freedom are often heavy, addressing issues of racial injustice and such, so something lighter and more fun - NOT historical fiction, is my preference. We will discuss them but not dissect them, is my plan. 

Any favorites? She is dyslexic but is a pretty darned good reader now. 

[Amoret]

Are you looking for books related to your history, or just books worth talking about? I am not familiar with Oh, Freedom, but here are a few books that my DD13 has enjoyed recently. Her tastes are eclectic, but lean toward fantasy.

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Smith)

The Goblin Emperor and sequels (Addison)

Annals of the Western Shore trilogy (Gifts, Voices, and Powers by Le Guin; she liked the Earthsea trilogy too, but not as much)

I Robot (Asimov)

Connie Willis time travel books (To Say Nothing of the Dog, especially, but these may be too historical fictionish for you)

The Scarlet Pimpernel (Orczy)

Hidden Life of Trees (nonfiction, short essays)

Haroun and the Sea of Stories (Rushdie)

Howl's Moving Castle trilogy (Jones)

The Coincidence Makers (Blum)

The Hero and the Crown and The Blue Sword as well as Beauty by Robin McKinley

True Grit (Portis)

And Then There Were None (Christie)

Enchantress From the Stars (Engdahl)

ETA:

Egg and Spoon (Maguire)

Sophie Quire, Peter Nimble, Sweep, and The Night Gardner (Auxier, may be too young, but they are good)

Pushcart War (a parable of war, but with pea shooters and pushcart operators in NYC, so substantive but not dark)

Goth Girl Books (Riddell; definitely for younger readers, but also funny, and if your DD has ready any Victorian literature, they are full of allusions, which are fun to spot)

 

Edited July 22, 2023 by Amoret

[ktgrok]

17 hours ago, Amoret said:

Are you looking for books related to your history, or just books worth talking about? I am not familiar with Oh, Freedom, but here are a few books that my DD13 has enjoyed recently. Her tastes are eclectic, but lean toward fantasy.

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Smith)

The Goblin Emperor and sequels (Addison)

Annals of the Western Shore trilogy (Gifts, Voices, and Powers by Le Guin; she liked the Earthsea trilogy too, but not as much)

I Robot (Asimov)

Connie Willis time travel books (To Say Nothing of the Dog, especially, but these may be too historical fictionish for you)

The Scarlet Pimpernel (Orczy)

Hidden Life of Trees (nonfiction, short essays)

Haroun and the Sea of Stories (Rushdie)

Howl's Moving Castle trilogy (Jones)

The Coincidence Makers (Blum)

The Hero and the Crown and The Blue Sword as well as Beauty by Robin McKinley

True Grit (Portis)

And Then There Were None (Christie)

Enchantress From the Stars (Engdahl)

Not related to history, since we will already have a good selection of historical fiction. some stuff just for fun. These look great, thank you!

[ScoutTN]

Lots of good suggestions so far. Some 8th grade faves here:

The Hobbit
Tanglewood Tales
A Wrinkle in Time
The Pushcart War
Death on the Nile
Holes
Hatchet
Treasure Island
The Arabian Nights
White Fang
A Christmas Carol
A Little Princess
The Earthsea Trilogy by Le Guin
HP, if not already read.

 

I’d add Everything Sad is Untrue by Daniel Nayeri, a recent book. 

Edited July 22, 2023 by ScoutTN

[caffeineandbooks]

19 minutes ago, ScoutTN said:

I’d add Everything Sad is Untrue by Daniel Nayeri, a recent book. 

I loved this book!  Such a beautifully told memoir from the perspective of his fifth grade refugee self.  However, OP: do be aware that there are some traumatic experiences recounted in the book.  Beautiful, worthwhile, but not light.

[ScoutTN]

56 minutes ago, caffeineandbooks said:

I loved this book!  Such a beautifully told memoir from the perspective of his fifth grade refugee self.  However, OP: do be aware that there are some traumatic experiences recounted in the book.  Beautiful, worthwhile, but not light.

True. Maybe better as a lit book with mom reading ahead, depending on the kid. 

Edited July 22, 2023 by ScoutTN

[ktgrok]

On 7/22/2023 at 5:36 PM, caffeineandbooks said:

I loved this book!  Such a beautifully told memoir from the perspective of his fifth grade refugee self.  However, OP: do be aware that there are some traumatic experiences recounted in the book.  Beautiful, worthwhile, but not light.

Thank you. I think I'd looked at that and decided not this year, just because we have a lot of other heavy stuff this year. We are really focusing on racism, civil rights, etc this year, including everything from treatment of Native people to slavery to Jim Crow to treatment of Chinese immigrants to Japanese internment, etc etc. So to balance that out I'm looking for a few that are just...not tragic, I guess?

[ScoutTN]

Seconding the Howl’s Moving Castle books and Sophie Quire etc. Light, fun fantasy.