Fiction/Seventh-Eighth Grades

  • The Cay

    by Theodore Taylor Year Published:

    The story follows the adventures, joys, and heartaches of a privileged and prejudiced Dutch boy stranded on a remote tropical island with a wise West Indian, following an enemy attack on a boat leaving Curacao.

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  • The Wanderer

    by Sharon Creech Year Published:

    !3 year old Sophie hears the sea calling, promising adventure and a chance for discovery as she sets sail for England with her three uncles and two cousins. Through travel logs, we hear stories of the past and the challenges of surviving at sea.

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  • A Corner of the Universe

    by Ann M. Martin Year Published:

    The summer Hattie turns 12, her uncle returns after being away for ten years. He is schizophrenic and autistic. Hattie takes to her uncle, even though the rest of the family has trouble dealing with him. Adam sees that Hattie's shy ways are not a disability.

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  • A Year Down Yonder

    by Richard Peck Year Published:

    During the Recession in 1937, Mary Alice has to spend a year in a rural town with her feisty and conniving Grandma Dowdel. After enduring outrageous schemes, Mary Alice eventually learns to appreciate her grandma's wisdom and ways.

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  • A Long Way From Chicago

    by Richard Peck Year Published:

    Every summer from 1929-1935, Joey Dowdel and his younger sister are sent to spend a week with their grandmother in her small Illinois town. Much excitement occurs when Grandma Dowdel outwits the banker, sets illegal fish traps, and saves the town from the terror of the Cowgill boys. Now an old man, Joe Dowdel remembers those seven summers and his larger than life grandma.

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  • Gregor the Overlander

    by Suzanne Collins Year Published:

    When Gregor falls through the grate in the laundry room of his apartment building, he hurtles into the dark underland where spiders and rats coexist with humans. This world is on the brink of war. A prophecy foretells that Gregor has a role to play in the underland's future. Gregor wants no part of it, until he realizes it's the only way to solve the mystery of his father's disappearance. 

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  • Chasing Redbird

    by Sharon Creech Year Published:

    It started out as an ordinary summer until 13 year old Zinny discovered the old, overgrown trail that ran through the woods behind her family's house. It was her chance to finally make people notice her.

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  • Fair Weather

    by Richard Peck Year Published:

    Rosie Beckett has never left her family farm. Then a letter from her aunt arrives and her life changes. She's invited to visit her aunt and go to the Chicago World's Fair.

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  • Willow Run

    by Patricia Giff Year Published:

    Meggie Dillon's life has been turned upside down by World War II. She and her family move to Michigan where her father will help the war effort by building planes used to fight the enemy. While there, Meggie faces questions about courage and what it takes to go into battle.

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  • Brian's Winter

    by Gary Paulsen Year Published:

    This book is the alternative ending to Hatchet. (You need to read Hatchet first.)

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  • The River

    by Gary Paulsen Year Published:

    Two years after Brian survived 54 days alone in the Canadiann wilderness, the government wants him to head back so they can learn what he did to stay alive. He's accompanied by a psychologist who is knocked unconscious during a storm. Now Brian needs to save the man and himself while fighting nature.

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  • Lily's Crossing

    by Patricia Giff Year Published:

    It's the summer of 1944, and World War II has changed everyone's life. Lily and her family will go to their summer home by the Atlantic Ocean, but her father and best friend won't. Lily has no one her age to spend vacation with until Albert, a refugee with a secret sewn into his coat, comes. Both have secrets and have told lies that might jeopardize the life of one of them.

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  • And Then There Were None

    by Agatha Christie Year Published:

    Ten strangers are lured to a mansion on an isolated island by an absent host "U.N. Owen". Someone begins killing them off one by one. They work together to determine who the killer is only to.....

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  • The Westing Game

    by Ellen Raskin Year Published:

    A bizarre chain of events begins when sixteen unlikely heirs gather for the reading of Samuel W. Westing's will. No one knows why the millionaire has chosen a stranger, a possible murderer, to inherit his fortune. That doesn't stop him from challenging them to figure out the secret of his death using the clues in his will.

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  • Lord of the Flies

    by William Golding Year Published:

    Stranded on an uninhabited island, a group of boys try to govern themselves. They begin to lose sight of common decency and morals, and chaos ensues resulting in death and destruction.

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  • A Wrinkle in Time

    by L'Engle, Madeleine Year Published: Average
    Meg Murry and her family receive a surprise visit from an unearthly stranger out of another dimension in time. Book #1
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  • Among the Hidden

    by Margaret Petersen Haddix Year Published: Average
    Luke, a twelve-year old, lives in hiding because he is a third child, which is in violation of the law. Because of a new development nearby, he is no longer able to go outside. When he meets a shadow child like himself, they become involved in a dangerous plan.
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  • Eleven

    by Patricia Reilly Giff Year Published: Average
    Sam is almost 11 when he discovers a locked box in the attic above his grandfather Mack’s room, and a piece of paper that says he was kidnapped. There are lots of other words, but Sam has always had trouble reading. He’s desperate to find out who he is, and if his beloved Mack is really his grandfather. At night he’s haunted by dreams of a big castle and a terrifying escape on a boat. Who can he trust to help him read the documents that could unravel the mystery? Then he and the new girl, Caroline, are paired up to work on a school project, building a castle in Mack’s woodworking shop. Caroline loves to read, and she can help. But she’s moving soon, and the two must hurry to discover the truth about Sam.

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  • Esperanza Rising

    by Pam Munoz Ryan Year Published: Easy Reading
    Esperanza Rising is a book about a girl's journey through hard times. Esperanza is a girl living on a Mexican farm with her mama and her papa in about 1924. Everthing seems to be wonderful when a family tragedy makes Esperanza and Mama go to a camp for Mexican workers. Esperanza faces many challenges when she is at the camp. Something happens to Mama and the workers go on strike to make things worse. In the end, Esperanza and Mama find a way to make the best of everything they have. - Katarina age 10
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  • Hatchet

    Hatchet

    by Gary Paulsen Year Published: Average
    Brian, a 13 year ld boy, is on his way to visit his father when the single engine plane crashes in the Canadian wilderness. Alone in the woods and with the cold weather approaching, he has to learn to survive the elements and the wildlife.
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  • Holes

    by Louis Sachar Year Published: Average
    Stanley has been sent to Camp Green Lake for doing something bad even though he didn't do anything bad. Read the book to find out the reason why he was sent to Camp Green Lake. At camp there are several other kids; Armpit, Zigzag Squid, and Zero were nicknames given to a few kids. Stanley's nickname is Caveman. At camp the punishment is to dig a hole five feet deep and five feet wide. I like this book because it had lots of details and events. My favorite part was when Zero and Stanley ran away and find refuge on Gods Thumb. Stanley is like me in this story, he gets in extreme trouble for doing something and like me he gets punished.
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  • Stargirl

    by Jerry Spinelli Year Published: Average

    Stargirl, a tenth grader, is a nonconformist who enters Mica High. She is at first embraced by the students for her uniqueness and then shunned by them for it. The rise and fall of her popularity and its consequences is narrated by Leo, her boyfriend, who also becomes a target. They both find ways to meet the challenges of being the outcasts.

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  • Tale of Despereaux

    by Kate DiCamillo Year Published: Average
    WINNER OF THE NEWBERY MEDAL! Welcome to the story of Despereaux Tilling, a mouse who is in love with music, stories, and a princess named Pea. It is also the story of a rat called Roscuro, who lives in the darkness and covets a world filled with light. And it is the story of Miggery Sow, a slow-witted serving girl who harbors a simple, impossible wish. These three characters are about to embark on a journey that will lead them down into a horrible dungeon, up into a glittering castle, and, ultimately, into each other’s lives. And what happens then? As Kate DiCamillo would say: Reader, it is your destiny to find out.

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  • The Chronicles of Narnia

    by C.S. Lewis Year Published: Average
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  • The Hunger Games

    by Suzanne Collins Year Published: Challenging
    In what was once North America, the Capitol of Panem maintains its hold on its 12 districts by forcing them each to select a boy and a girl, called Tributes, to compete in a nationally televised event called the Hunger Games. Every citizen must watch as the youths fight to the death until only one remains. District 12 Tribute Katniss Everdeen has little to rely on, other than her hunting skills and sharp instincts, in an arena where she must weigh survival against love.
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  • The Old Man and the Sea

    by Ernest Hemingway Year Published: Average

    An old Cuban fisherman's dry spell is broken when he hooks a gigantic fish that drags him out to sea.

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  • The Secret Garden

    by Frances Hodgson Burnett Year Published: Challenging
    Can you imagine living with no mom or dad? That's what Mary Lenox was faced with after her parents died. She had to go live with her uncle, Mr. Craven. Mary had never seen her uncle before, but he was her only living relative. Life at her uncle's house was different than at her old home. Before, Mary had books and toys to play with, but now she didn't. Trying to amuse herself was difficult. One day she overhears from her maid that there is a secret garden outside. No one had gone in it for 10 years. Because of that, Mary was curious and eager to find the secret garden. If she does find it, what do you think she will see inside?
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  • Tuck Everlasting

    by Natalie Babbitt Year Published: Average
    Winnie Foster discovers members of a family who never grow old. She must decide if she should keep their secret and eventually join them in everlasting life or tell their secret to the man in the yellow suit who is following her.
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  • Walk Two Moons

    by Sharon Creech Year Published: Average
    Thirteen-year-old Salamanca Tree Hiddle's mother has disappeared. While tracing her steps on a car trip from Ohio to Idaho with her grandparents, Salamanca tells a story to pass the time about a friend named Phoebe Winterbottom whose mother vanished and who received secret messages after her disappearance. One of them read, "Don't judge a man until you have walked two moons in his moccasins." Despite her father's warning that she is "fishing in the air," Salamanca hopes to bring her home. By drawing strength from her Native American ancestry, she is able to face the truth about her mother. Walk Two Moons won the 1995 Newbery Medal.
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  • Wednesday Wars

    by Gary D. Schmidt Year Published: Average
    Holling Hoodhood is a seventh grader who has to spend Wednesdays with his teacher. He is sure that she hates him. As the Vietnam War rages on, Holling's family tries to live normal lives, but how can Holling deal with bullies and rats and having to wear yellow tights in a play?
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