Reading goal:
Students enrolled in Spanish as a Native Speaker, should read at least one English and at least one Spanish novel or book from the grade level list.
Students enrolled in Spanish as a Foreign Language, should read at least two English novels or books from the grade level list.
Students may purchase their own copy of the book or check it out at a local library. There is no written assignment or project to complete. In September, the teachers at each grade level will place the students into reading discussion groups based on their book selection. Students should be prepared to discuss the book’s plot, setting, characters, and important themes during the group discussions. Of course, students are encouraged to read lots of books during the summer months. Students who want more book ideas can visit ASM’s Library website for more book ideas!
Grade 8 Summer Reading Book List
Stamped : Racism, anti-racism and you by Jason Reynolds and Ibram Kendi Nonfiction
The construct of race has always been used to gain and keep power, to create dynamics that separate and silence. This remarkable reimagining of Dr. Ibram X. Kendi's National Book Award-winning Stamped from the Beginning reveals the history of racist ideas in America, and inspires hope for an antiracist future. It takes you on a race journey from then to now, shows you why we feel how we feel, and why the poison of racism lingers. It also proves that while racist ideas have always been easy to fabricate and distribute, they can also be discredited.
Piecing me together by Renee Watson Realistic Fiction
Jade believes she must get out of her neighborhood if she’s ever going to succeed. Her mother says she has to take every opportunity. She has. She accepted a scholarship to a mostly-white private school and even Saturday morning test prep opportunities. But some opportunities feel more demeaning than helpful. Like an invitation to join Women to Women, a mentorship program for “at-risk” girls. Except really, it’s for black girls. From “bad” neighborhoods.
The sun is also a Star by Nicola Yoon Realistic Fiction
Natasha: I’m a girl who believes in science and facts. Not fate. Not destiny. Or dreams that will never come true. I’m definitely not the kind of girl who meets a cute boy on a crowded New York City street and falls in love with him. Not when my family is twelve hours away from being deported to Jamaica. Falling in love with him won’t be my story. Daniel: I’ve always been the good son, the good student, living up to my parents’ high expectations. Never the poet. Or the dreamer. But when I see her, I forget about all that. Something about Natasha makes me think that fate has something much more extraordinary in store—for both of us.
Enrique’s Journey by Sonia Nazaro Non-fiction
Enrique’s Journey recounts the unforgettable quest of a Honduran boy looking for his mother, eleven years after she is forced to leave her starving family to find work in the United States. Braving unimaginable peril, often clinging to the sides and tops of freight trains, Enrique travels through hostile worlds full of thugs, bandits, and corrupt cops. But he pushes forward, relying on his wit, courage, hope, and the kindness of strangers. As Isabel Allende writes: “This is a twenty-first-century Odyssey. If you are going to read only one nonfiction book this year, it has to be this one.”
Skink by Carl Hiassen Mystery/Adventure
When your cousin goes missing under suspicious circumstances, who do you call? There’s only one man for the job: a half-crazed, half-feral, one-eyed ex-governor named Skink. Skink joins 14-year-old Richard on a breakneck chase across Florida, undaunted by lightning storms, poisonous snakes, flying bullets, and giant gators. There are a million places cousin Malley could be, a million unpleasant fates that might have befallen her, but one thing is certain: in the Florida swamp, justice is best served wild.
All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr Historical fiction
New York Times bestseller about a blind French girl and a German boy whose paths collide in occupied France as both try to survive the devastation of World War II. Marie-Laure lives in Paris near the Museum of Natural History, where her father works. When she is twelve, the Nazis occupy Paris and father and daughter flee to the walled citadel of Saint-Malo, where Marie-Laure’s reclusive great uncle lives in a tall house by the sea. With them they carry what might be the museum’s most valuable and dangerous jewel. In a mining town in Germany, Werner Pfennig, an orphan, grows up with his younger sister, enchanted by a crude radio they find that brings them news and stories from places they have never seen or imagined. Werner becomes an expert at building and fixing these crucial new instruments and is enlisted to use his talent to track down the resistance. Deftly interweaving the lives of Marie-Laure and Werner, Doerr illuminates the ways, against all odds, people try to be good to one another.
Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech Realistic Fiction
Thirteen-year-old Salamanca Tree Hiddle, proud of her country roots and the "Indian-ness in her blood," travels from Ohio to Idaho with her eccentric grandparents. Along the way, she tells them of the story of Phoebe Winterbottom, who received mysterious messages, who met a "potential lunatic," and whose mother disappeared. As Sal entertains her grandparents with Phoebe's outrageous story, her own story begins to unfold—the story of a thirteen-year-old girl whose only wish is to be reunited with her missing mother.
Fire from the Rock by Sharon Draper Historical fiction
Sylvia is shocked and confused when she is asked to be one of the first black students to attend Central High School, which is scheduled to be integrated in the fall of 1957, whether people like it or not. Before Sylvia makes her final decision, smoldering racial tension in the town ignites into flame. When the smoke clears, she sees clearly that nothing is going to stop the change from coming. It is up to her generation to make it happen, in as many different ways as there are colors in the world.
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas Realistic fiction
Sixteen-year-old Starr lives in two very different worlds: one is her home in a poor black urban neighborhood; the other is the tony suburban prep school she attends and the white boy she dates there. Her bifurcated life changes dramatically when she is the only witness to the unprovoked police shooting of her unarmed friend Khalil and is challenged to speak out—though with trepidation—about the injustices being done in the event’s wake.
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak Historical fiction
With the comprehension of a typical 9-year-old, Liesel Merminger struggles to survive with a foster family in Nazi Germany. Books and the words within become Liesel's strongest tool as she learns to read and fight for her life.
A Few Red Drops: The Chicago Race Riot of 1919 by Claire Hartfield History / Nonfiction
On a hot day in July 1919, three black youths went swimming in Lake Michigan, unintentionally floating close to the "white" beach. An angry white man began throwing stones at the boys, striking and killing one. Racial conflict on the beach erupted into days of urban violence that shook the city of Chicago to its foundations. This mesmerizing narrative draws on contemporary accounts as it traces the roots of the explosion that had been building for decades in race relations, politics, business, and clashes of culture.
La trilogía de los tres cerrojos, Sonia Fernández Vidal Aventura / ciencia
La trilogía que nos descubre el fascinante mundo de la física cuántica
Una trilogía que mezcla por primera vez aventura y física cuántica, y hace que la ciencia sea accesible para todos los lectores.
Donde aprenden a volar las gaviotas, Ana Alcolea Novela histórica
Arturo pasa sus vacaciones de verano en Noruega con su amigo Erik. La casa en la que viven se asienta sobre los cimientos de un campo de concentración nazi de la Segunda Guerra Mundial. Un día, mientras cavan un hoyo en el jardín para plantar un árbol, encuentran una caja de metal, cerrada a cal y canto. La investigación para conocer su contenido llevará a los jóvenes a una lejana cabaña en medio de las montañas, a una vieja casa de pescadores en la fría y agreste costa norte de Noruega, y al pasado misterioso de la enigmática abuela de Erik.
Mi familia y otros animales, Gerald Durrel Autobiografía
Mi familia y otros animales es sin duda su obra más conocida y celebrada. Primera parte de su divertida trilogía de Corfú, que prosigue con Bichos y demás parientes y El jardín de los dioses, la obra nos presenta una ágil y graciosa galería de personajes, como Larry -Lawrence Durrel, el futuro autor del Cuarteto de Alejandría- y sus estrafalarias amistades, mamá Durrell y su inagotable sentido común, o Spiro, el corfuano angloparlante, junto con toda una serie de animales retratados como sólo puede hacerlo quien a lo largo de toda una vida dedicada a la investigación y el cuidado de la naturaleza.
Alma y los siete monstruos, Iria G. Parente y Selene M. Pascual Novela realista
Siete criaturas (algunas terribles, otras aparentemente inofensivas) viven debajo de la cama de Alma y salen por la noche para robarle su luz, sus sueños y sus esperanzas.Alma no se atreve a hablar de ellas ni con su familia ni con sus amigos por miedo a que nadie crea que son reales. Pero lo que Alma no sabe es que hay monstruos que solo se pueden combatir en compañía. Iria G. Parente y Selene M. Pascual abordan la depresión en esta emotiva alegoría para grandes y pequeños.