Grade 8

•  The pigman / by Paul Zindel.
For sophomores John and Lorraine, the world feels meaningless, nothing is important. they certainly can never please their parents, and school is a chore. To pass the time, they play pranks on unsuspecting people. It's during one of these pranks that they meet the "Pigman" - a fat, balding man with a zany smile plastered on his face. In spite of themselves, John and Lorraine soon find that they're caught in Mr. Pignati's zest for life.

•  Bad boy : a memoir / by Walter Dean Myers.
This account of Myers's family history and his boyhood paint a fascinating picture of a childhood growing up in Harlem in the 1940s. From his turbulent adolescence and his slow, painful development as a writer, Myers shares funny anecdotes and poignant insights into the everyday struggle for survival.

•  A summer life / by Gary Soto.
This collection of essays and short stories explores a young boy's life as he grows up in Fresno, California. Through the boy's personal experiences with his family and his surrounding, he matures from age five to seventeen, and is confronted with events that teach him lessons about life.

•  The giver / by Lois Lowry.
Eleven year old Jonas and everyone in his community live rigid lives of Sameness. They make no choices; a committee of elders chooses careers, spouses, even children. Feelings of passion and pain are squelched immediately. The people of the community cannot even see colors or hear music. When Jonas is chosen to be his community's next Receiver, he must receive all the memories of the past.

•  Summer of my German soldier / by Bette Greene.
Twelve year old Patty Bergen was outraged by the injustices of her Arkansas World War II community. She is a character to admire - bright and compassionate. Unloved by both her selfish parents and abused by her father, Patty finds love from the family housekeeper and in a young German prisoner of waar whom she hides and cares for. A heartbreaking novel.

•  The true confessions of Charlotte Doyle / by Avi.
Charlotte Doyle is a 13 year old aboard the Seahawk. She is the only passenger, and she is the only female on the ship. A harsh-speaking captain and a crew on the verge of mutiny are just the beginning. Just when Charlotte thinks she has found someone she can trust, the man is found dead. And Charlotte is brought to trial and found GUILTY!

•  Woodsong / by Gary Paulsen.
This man against nature adventure is divided into two parts. In the first party, "Running," Paulsen relates anecdote after anecdote about how his dogs and the frozen, wintry adventures he has had while sledding have taught him to be more human. The second part, "Racing," the story of Paulsen's first Iditarod - a sled race across the Alaskan wilderness from downtown Anchorage to downtown Nome - burns with feverish intensity as one grueling day follows another.

•  And not afraid to dare: the stories of ten African-American women / by Tonya Bolden.
Bolden presents 10 African-American women who have made significant contributions to American life in spite of racial and gender barriers. These stories of ordinary women doing extraordinary things, including several who made important contributions to the civil rights movement, repeatedly convey the message that with hard work and dedication, every door can be opened.

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Grade 9

•  Fever 1793 / by Laurie Halse Anderson.
During the hot, mosquito-infested summer of 1793, the dreaded yellow fever spreads like wildfire, killing people overnight. Sixteen year old Mattie's comfortable and interesting life is shattered when she is forced to cope with the horrors of the epidemic. Separated from her sick mother, she learns about perseverance and self-reliance.

•  Fahrenheit 451 / by Ray Bradbury.
A classic, frightening vision of the future where firemen don't put out fires - they start them in order to burn books. Bradbury's vividly painted society holds up the appearance of happiness as the highest goal - a place where trivial information is good, and knowledge and ideas are bad.

•  Breaking through / by Francisco Jimenez.
At the age of 14, Francisco and his family are caught by la migra (immigration officers) and forced to leave their California home, but soon find their way back. The author explores the prejudice and challenges they face while also relaying universal adolescent experiences of school, dances and romances.

•  Baseball in April / by Gary Soto.
Soto tells 11 short stories about everyday problems growing up and describes young teens who struggle with the longing, hope and acceptance that are part of everyday life. Latinos in central California are the focus of the stories, but the events are typical of young teens anywhere in the United States.

•  Dicey's song / by Cynthia Voigt.
Thirteen year old Dicey and her three siblings are sent to live with their grandmother whom they have never met. They have trouble adjusting to their new home. Dicey worries about all of them. Somehow, Dicey and Gram must reach out and hold on to the people they love.

•Ransom / by Lois Duncan.
Five high school students are kidnapped on the school bus ride home. Their kidnappers think they are rich kids. How will their parents get the money and save the group before it is too late?

•  The great fire / by Jim Murphy.
Beginning on a warm Sunday evening, October 8, 1871, in the O'Leary barn, Murphy traces the great Chicago fire through its three horror-filled days. Considered one of the biggest disasters in American history, the fire was fed by gusty prairie winds, cinders from a Saturday night blaze, and structures (even streets and sidewalks) built almost entirely of wood. It consumed block after block of homes, businesses, and bodies eventually leaving 100, 000 people homeless.

•  Zero G : life and survival in space / by Peter Bond.
How do humans adapt to life in space? Zero G, or the absence of gravity, is one of the challenges faced by explorers in space. Drawing upon the cumulative experiences of 400 astronauts and cosmonauts, Bond explores the issues of life in space. This exploration of four decades of human space travel includes the process of selection and training for the space programs, the technological advances and the future plans for an International Space Station.

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