Hi rising 8th grade parents, 

This summer we are excited to offer summer reading with both a required text and two choices with some freedom attached to it when it comes to selecting the books. 

This summer the REQUIRED TEXT for all students is Prisoner B 3087 by Alan Gratz. . 

In addition, there will be two choice reads as well. Having done our homework, we are confident in the power and value of choice reading, especially at the middle school level. Students will spend the school year reading required texts in ELA, so while we hope that they will enjoy those, we find that giving them this opportunity through summer reading is a way to carry a passion for reading over into the school year during daily independent reading time at school and hopefully at home. 

With all of this being said, we want to offer suggestions as well as some parameters: 

  • Students MUST read one fiction book and their third book may be fiction or nonfiction 
  • Books must be considered grade level 
  • Only one novel in verse allowed to count for summer reading (though more are encouraged!) ● Suggestions of books, series, and authors are listed below.

8th grade student favorites over the years: 

The War that Saved My Life by Kimberly Bradley (fiction) 

The Girl in the Blue Coat by Monica Hesse (fiction)

Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys (fiction) 

From Salt to Sea by Ruta Sepetys 

Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie by Jordan Sonnenblick (fiction) 

Ghost Boys by Jewell Parker Rhodes (fiction) 

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott (fiction) 

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs (fiction) 

Hatchet by Gary Paulsen (fiction) 

Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly (nonfiction) 

Orbiting Jupiter by Gary G. Schmidt (fiction) 

Ali Cross by James Patterson (fiction) 

As Brave as You by Jason Reynolds (fiction) 

Notes from a Midnight Driver by Jordan Sonnenblick (fiction) 

Stella by Starlight by Sharon M. Draper (fiction) 

White Bird, a Wonder Story by RJ Palacio (fiction) 

Phineas Gage: A Gruesome but True Story about Brain Science by John Fleischman (nonfiction) 

 

Archdiocese of Philadelphia Summer Reading Recommendations: 

The Red Bandana by Tom Ridaldi (fiction) 

The Apothecary by Maile Meloy (fiction) 

Endurance Young Readers Edition by Scott Kelly (nonfiction) 

Code Girls the True Story of the American Girls Who Broke Code in WWII by Lizz Mundy (WWII nonfiction) 

Torpedoed: The True STory of the World War II Sinking of “The Children’s Ship” by Helligman ( WWII nonfiction) 

Resistance by Jennifer Nielsen (WWII fiction) 

A Light in the Darkness: Janusz Korczak, His Orphans, and the Holocaust by Albert Marrin (WWII nonfiction) 

The Boys’ War: Confederate and Union Soldiers Talk About the Civil War by Jim Murphy (nonfiction)