We hope that you find this list a good place to start your reading. Remember, ask your librarian for additional suggestions by these and other favorite authors.
7th Grade
8th Grade

7th Grade

Fiction

All American Girl by Meg Cabot
Becoming a hero and teen role model is not on Samantha’s list of things to do, but she can’t stop what happens after she saves the President’s life. (Sequel: Ready or Not)    TEEN, TEEN PBK

Before We Were Free by Julia Alvarez
12-year-old Anita lives a happy and carefree life in the Dominican Republic, until she and her family are caught up in the events surrounding an unsuccessful revolution against the dictator, Rafael Trujillo.   JFIC, TEEN, TEEN PBK

Birdland by Tracy Mack
While videotaping his East Village, New York neighborhood for a school assignment, Jed meets a mysterious homeless girl and starts to come to terms with the death of his older brother Zeke.   TEEN

Bound by Donna Jo Napoli
In this Chinese Cinderella story, Xing Xing is mistreated by her mean stepmother and stepsister, but she finds solace in memories of her mother and a beautiful carp that lives in the local pond.    TEEN

Bucking the Sarge by Christopher Paul Curtis
The Sarge, Luther’s slumlord mother, keeps him in line with threats, or so she thinks. But, somehow, Luther manages to outwit the Sarge.    TEEN

Criss Cross by Lynne Rae Perkins
During the turbulent 1960’s, 14-year-olds Debbie and Hector and their friends are at a crossroads in their lives—the time between childhood and young adulthood.   JFIC

Downriver by Will Hobbs
A group of rebellious teens in a wilderness program steals their leader’s equipment and attempts a dangerous white water rafting trip.    JFIC, TEEN

Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie by Jordan Sonnenblick
During his eighth grade year, Steven plays drums, is confused about girls and deals with his little brother’s leukemia.  TEEN

The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm by Nancy Farmer
In the year 2194, the three children of Zimbabwe’s military ruler are kidnapped as they try to explore the dangerous world outside their protected home.    JFIC, JPBK, TEEN PBK

First Test by Tamora Pierce
Unlike the male pages, Keladry must pass a special probationary period before she can hope to become the kingdom’s second female knight. (First book in the Protector of the Small series)    JFIC, TEEN PBK

Freak the Mighty by W. Rodman Philbrick
Separately, Max and Freak both suffer from disabilities, but together these unlikely friends find new power.  JFIC, JPBK, TEEN PBK

Hoot by Carl Hiaasen
Roy is the new kid in town dealing with the local bully. again. But this time he also solves a mystery surrounding vandalism at the construction site of a new pancake house.   JFIC, TEEN, TEEN PBK

JumpMan: Rule #1 Don't Touch Anything by James Valentine
Strange things happen after Theodore, a time-traveling boy from the far distant future, shows up in the bedroom of a 21st century teen by accident. (Sequel: JumpMan: Rule #2: Don’t Even Think About It)   TEEN, TEEN PBK

Just Ella by Margaret Peterson Haddix
A Cinderella story that begins where the fairytale ends, but with a vacuous Prince Charming and a very independent and socially-conscious Ella.      JFIC JPBK

Last Shot: A Final Four Mystery by John Feinstein
Two eighth grade journalists win a contest and the chance to join the press corps at the NCAA finals. But when they overhear someone threatening a star player, they get involved in more than the games. (Sequel: Vanishing Act)  TEEN

The Lighting Thief by Rick Riordan
After Percy Jackson discovers that he is the son of one of the Greek gods, he gets involved in a quest to prevent a terrible war between the gods. (Sequel: The Sea of Monsters)    TEEN, TEEN PBK

Mississippi Trial 1955 by Chris Crowe
Hiram is visiting his grandfather in Mississippi, when a black teen from the north is murdered after talking to a white woman.During the trial that follows, Hiram discovers his own family’s secrets.   TEEN, TEEN PBK

Others See Us by William Sleator
After falling into a toxic swamp, Jared finds that he is able to read minds.   JFIC, JPBK, TEEN PBK

Rules of the Roadby Joan Bauer
Jenna spends her summer driving Mrs. Gladstone around the country visiting the Gladstone Shoe Stores and learning a lot about business, but even more about families. (Sequel: Best Foot Forward)   TEEN, TEEN PBK

Shakespeare Bats Cleanup by Ron Koertge
In this novel in verse, a teen boy, sidelined from baseball while he recuperates from mono, learns to express his feelings and dreams in writing.   TEEN

The Shakespeare Stealerby Gary Blackwood
Orphan Widge plans to steal the script for Hamlet, but ends up joining Shakespeare’s acting troupe instead. (Sequels: Shakespeare’s Scribe and Shakespeare’s Spy)    JFIC, JPBK

Small Steps by Louis Sachar
Two years after his release from Camp Green Lake, Armpit (a character from Sachar’s book Holes) is trying to get his life back on track, but unpredictable things happen when he gets involved with his friend’s scheme to make money scalping tickets.    JFIC

Stargirl  by Jerry Spinelli
The students at Mica High don’t know what to make of Stargirl, who likes everyone, dresses and acts oddly, and brings her pet rat to school.   JFIC, JPBK, TEEN, TEEN PBK

Swallowing Stones by Joyce McDonald
The lives of Michael and Jenna change forever when Michael shoots his new rifle into the air and the bullet accidentally kills Jenna’s father a mile away.   TEEN, TEEN PBK

Tangerine by Edward Bloor
12-year-old, nearly blind soccer player Paul encounters some very strange things after his family moves to Tangerine.   TEEN, TEEN PBK

Things Not Seen by Andrew Clements
Bobby wakes up one morning and discovers that he has become invisible. (Sequel: Things Hoped For)  TEEN, TEEN PBK

Under the Persimmon Tree by Suzanne Fisher Staples
The lives of Najmah, an Afghani teen, and Nasrat, an American woman, intersect in a refugee camp in Peshawar, Pakistan during the war in 2001.    TEEN

Z for Zachariah by Robert O’Brien
The last man left on earth after a nuclear holocaust finds the last girl and tries to take control of her and her possessions.   JFIC
 

Nonfiction

Close to Shore: The Terrifying Shark Attacks of 1916 by Mike Capuzzo
In 1916, a rogue shark attacked and killed swimmers in New Jersey. Why did he do this and what did it take to stop him?  J597.3C

Dr. Ernest Drake's Dragonology: The Complete Book of Dragons edited by Dugald A. Steer
This book will tell you everything you ever wanted to know about dragons.  You’ll even get to feel some simulated dragon skin.  J398.24D

George Washington, Spymaster by Thomas B. Allen
George Washington’s spy network helped win the Revolutionary War.  Find out how they did it and try out some of the codes and ciphers they used.    JB WASHINGTON

Getting Away with Murder: The True Story of the Emmett Till Case by Chris Crowe
In 1955, Emmett Till, a black 14-year-old from Chicago, visited his relatives in Mississippi.  While there, he was murdered for making a remark to a white woman.      J364.15C

Her Stories: African American Folk Tales, Fairy Tales, and True Tales by Virginia Hamilton
Retellings of nineteen stories about black female folk and fairy characters, passed down through the generations.  J398.2H

Mistakes that Worked by Charlotte Foltz Jones
The stories behind forty things that were invented or named by accident; including aspirin, X-rays, frisbees, silly putty and velcro.   J609 J, YA 609 J762M

Phineas Gage: A Gruesome but True Story about Brain Science by John Fleischman
A thirteen pound spike accidentally went through Phineas’s brain and amazingly he survived for ten years. Why didn’t the spike kill him, and why did it change his personality?  J362.1G

Red Scarf Girl by Ji-li Jiang
A young Chinese girl must make difficult choices when the government asks her to repudiate her ancestors and inform on her parents.  J951.056J