8th+Grade+Book+Recommendations

Naughts and Crosses by Malorie Blackman This book takes place in an alternate world, it is recognizably England but there’s a twist, conditions for the pale-skinned naughts have improved little since the days of slavery; the dark-skinned Crosses have the money and power. The book begins when best friends Callum and Sephy are 13. Sephy is the Cross daughter of a racist politician and Callum is the naught son of her mother’s former maid. Sephy is excited that Callum has won a scholarship to her almost 100% Cross school Callum is struggling about integrating the school and frustrated that Sephy is blind to the fact that not everyone is as happy about him being allowed in the school. The book plays out over a number of years during which Callum and Sephy’s friendship grows into a socially unacceptable romance and the second class naughts turn to terrorism and Callum finds himself involved. It is a story of the racial divide, friendship, love and what people will do to protect their families. It is told from both teens’ points of view and has a Romeo and Juliet feel to it.

Copper Sun by Sharon Draper This is an action-packed historical fiction novel depicting the realities of the slave trade and plantation life which portraying the perseverance and triumph of human spirit. Amara is a 15 year old Ashanti girl who is happy anticipating her marriage. When slavers arrive in her village, they slaughter her family and force her into slavery. She is purchased in the Carolinas as a girft for a rich plantation-owner’s 16 year old son. At the plantation Amari befriends a white indenturad servant and the two of them work together to try to protect their mistess and survive.

Evil Genius by Catherine Jinks Cadel Piggott was hacking into computer systems by the time he was seven and causing all sorts of trouble by the time he fast-tracked through high school. At age 14, he is encouraged by his longtime "psychiatrist" to enroll in the Axis Institute. There, the classes include Misinformation, Disguise, Basic Lying, Embezzlement, and Explosives. Cadel settles into his first semester of studies, but soon begins to suspect that something is very wrong here. Through Partner Post, his online matching service experiment, he receives a cryptic warning from one of his subscribers, and he begins to make plans to investigate his teachers. A trail of hacked information takes him to places he doesn't want to go. The book quickly becomes a thriller as Cadel moves through his fear and realization of what is happening around him.

Patron Saint of Butterflies by Celia Galante Honey and Agnes are 14-year-old best friends growing up in the Mount Blessing religious commune near Fairfield, CT, but are polar opposites in their adherence to the "Four Big Rules" that govern daily life. Honey, abandoned at the commune as a newborn, is a perpetual rebel, having most recently been sent to the Regulation Room for kissing a boy. Agnes is a self-described "saint wannabe." She starves herself, sleeps on stones, and wears a cord tightly belted under her robe as reminders of the suffering endured by the saints. The girls share a love for Nana Pete, Agnes's father's mother, and live for her annual summer visits. When Nana discovers the physical and emotional abuse imposed on the children, she resolves to spirit them away. Honey is a willing runaway, but Agnes is reluctant. Read this book to find out how Honey and Agnes survive in a world outside their commune and if they succeed in their attempts to learn the truth and get to safety.

Jumping the Scratch by Sarah Weeks This is the new book by the author of So B It. After his father runs off with the cashier at the MicroMart, Jamie Reardon and his mother move from Battle Creek to Traverse City in northern Michigan to live with Aunt Sapphy at the Wondrous Acres trailer park. His aunt had an accident at the cherry factory and is unable to make any new memories. Jamie wants to find the magic trigger that will help her memory get unstuck, or jump the scratch, like a needle on a record. Ironically, he is trying to forget a memory that is haunting his days and inhibiting him from making friends and doing well in school. This book haunts his days and inhibits his making friends or doing well in school. This book uses touches of humor to help ease the seriousness of it’s content, but it deals with a heavy subject matter.

Laika by Nick Abadzis During the Cold War, Russia and the U.S. were entrenched in a battle to be first in space. Laika tells the tale of one special soldier in that battle, the dog who flew in Sputnik II. Former Gulag prisoner Korolev has ascended to the rank of Chief Designer, and, after the successful launch of Sputnik I, he is called upon to send a live creature into space within one month's time. Laika, also known as Kudryavka (curly tail), is a down-and-out stray caught by local officials and sent to the canine lab at the Institute of Aviation Medicine. Higher-ups notice the dog's special ability to withstand g-force, environments without gravity, and the special gel food given to the test subjects. When the time comes to select a dog to go into space, she is the obvious choice. This book combines amazing artwork with an understandable take on what was going on in the USSR at the time of the Cold War. Those with a special fondness for dogs may wish to have some tissues handy.

Double Helix by Nancy Werlin Imagine that you’re Eli, a high school senior about to graduate second in your class. Eli is smart, funny, has a great girlfriend and feels like he is the most alone person in the world. His mom is in a nursing home slowly dying from Huntington’s Disease, an illness that makes you slowly go crazy, and that Eli himself might be a carrier for. His dad is closed off from the world and barely able to communicate anything other than his disappointment in Eli’s decision not to go to college the next year. When Eli takes a job at Wyatt Transgenics, he is ecstatic- a job with the famous Dr. Quincy Wyatt, the man who revolutionized genetic studies – what could be better? But when he gets home and tells his father, he finds his father is shocked and outraged at his decision, but he won’t tell Eli why. Confused, Eli continues to close inside himself, refusing to tell his understanding girlfriend Viv about his dying mother and let himself understand what is going on. When Eli takes the ob at Wyatt, he begins to learn things about Dr. Wyatt that makes him curious, including Dr. Wyatt’s odd interest in Eli himself. Help Eli unfold the mystery of Wyatt Transgenics, his mother’s connection to Dr. Wyatt and his own history by reading Double Helix by Nancy Werlin.

13 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson In 17 year old Ginny’s family, everyone has always known that her Aunt Peg was free-spirited and unpredictable and that Ginny not a risk taker. After Aunt Peg passes away, Ginny receives a little blue envelope with $1,000 and instructions to buy a plane ticket. Against her better judgement, Ginny does it, and what ensues is the adventure of her life. She is instructed to open one envelope upon the arrival of each place she goes to. Following the directions in the envelopes take Ginny across Europe, introduces her to some interesting people and brings her closer to her aunt. This book is a fun adventure.