RMS READING
EIGHTH GRADE

Everyone At Richmond Reads!

All English teachers at the Richmond School ask their students to read a minimum of two books over the summer and read continuously throughout the year. This site contains the reading lists sent out to students coming into grades six through twelve.

The Sixth Grade List contains new books from this year's Vermont's Dorothy Canfield Fisher Award and the New Hampshire Great Stone Face Award selections.
The Seventh Grade List contains brief reviews written over the years by students leaving the seventh grade.
Howe Library and The Norwich Public Library both have terrific librarians who will recommend more favorites. Enjoy!!!

8TH GRADE READING LETTER (Sent with Report Cards)

SUMMER READING ASSIGNMENT
All Richmond School students are expected to read at least two books over the summer, and we hope you will read many more. Find books that appeal to you, are not too difficult to read, and enjoy them! Try to get in the habit of reading daily, even for a short stretch. The eighth grade list below contains a wide selection of books listed by genre; in addition, you can link to our page of the 2011 American Library Association top picks for young adults ~ the page contains cover shots and annotations.

ALA Top 10
Printz Award
Alex Awards
YALSA Non-Fiction Awards

None of these lists is meant to be exclusive or definitive: they are simply an expression of Richmond's deep commitment to pleasure reading. Many of the authors on our list have written a number of excellent books: only one or two are listed here in the interest of space. PG NOTE: Some of the books on this list contain teenage or adult issues and situations. Please respect your family's wishes about appropriate books as you would about film choices and internet sites. We try to develop lists with all our readers in mind, as does the American Library Association.

Please save the following to be read and discussed as class books during the year:
Lee. To Kill A Mockingbird
Shakespeare. Romeo and Juliet
Steinbeck. Of Mice and Men
Wiesel. Night

2010-2011 EIGHTH GRADE RECOMMENDATIONS

FANTASY * SCIENCE FICTION * HORROR * DYSTOPIAN FICTION

Addams. Watership Down
Adams. Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Anderson. Feed
Asimov. Foundation
Bacigalupi, Paolo. Ship Breaker ('11 ALA/ Printz Winner & '11 Alex)
Barlow. Sharp Teeth
Barron. Lost Years of Merlin
Bell. The Reapers ('11 Alex)
Bender. The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake ('11 Alex)
Bradbury. Fahrenheit 451
Bray. A Great and Terrible Beauty
Brennan. Demon's Lexicon ('10 ALA)
Brunner. Shockwave Rider
Card. Ender's Game / 7th Sun
Chabon. Summerland
Colfer. Artemis Fowl
Carriger. Soulless: Alexia Tarabotti ('10 Alex)
Eddings. Pawn of Prophecy
Anthony. Centaur Aisle
Clement-Davies. Fire Bringer
Connolly. The Book of Lost Things
Constable. Singer of All Songs
Cooper. The Dark is Rising
Crichton. Jurrasic Park
DePrau. City of Ember
Farmer. The House of the Scorpion

Feist. Magician's Apprentice
Funke. The Thief Lord / Inkheart
Gaiman. Anansi Boys / Stardust
Grossman. The Magicians ('10 Alex)
Hearn. Across the Nightingale Floor
Hunter. Warriors (series)
Jacques. Mossflower
Jenkins. Repossessed
Jinks. The Reformed Vampire Support Group ('10 ALA)
King. Please Ignore Vera Dietz ('11 Printz Honor)
Knox. Dreamquake
Lanagan. Tender Morsels
Landy. Skulduggery Pleasant
Larbalestier. Magic or Madness
L'Engle. A Wrinkle in Time
LeGuin. Wizard of Earthsea
Lewis. Chronicles of Narnia
Marchetta. Finnikin of the Rock.('11 ALA)
Martin. Storm of Swords
McBride. Hold Me Closer, Necromancer. ('11 ALA)
McCaffrey. Dragonsong
McKinley. Deerskin
Meyer. Twilight
Mulligan. Trash ('11 ALA)
Murphy. Night Flying
Nix. Sabriel
Paolini. Eragon & Eldest

Pattou. East
Pierce. Trickster's Choice
Pierson. The Boy Who Couldn't Sleep and Never Had To ('11 Alex)
Pratchett. Nation
Oppel. Airborn / Skybreaker
Riordan. Lightning Thief
Rowling. Harry Potter
Ruff. Bad Monkeys
Sage. Magyk
Sedgwick. Revolver ('11 Printz Honor)
Slade. Dust
Sleator. Beasties
Snicket. Series of Impossible Events
Stead. When You Reach Me ('10 ALA)
Stewart. The Crystal Cave
Stroud. Bartimaeus Trilogy
Swanick. The Dragons of Babel
Taylor. Lips Touch: Three Times ('10 ALA)
Tolan. Welcome to the Ark
Tolkien. The Hobbit / Lord of the Rings
Turner. The King of Attolia
Vanderveld. Knight's Apprentice
Verne. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
Wells. The War of the Worlds
Westerfield. Uglies / Peeps
Vonnegut. Cat's Cradle
Yolen. Dragon's Blood
Zevin. Elsewhere

HISTORICAL FICTION
EARLY HISTORY

Anderson. The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation &Volume II
Anderson. Octavian Nothing Volume II
Avi. Crispin: The Cross of Lead
Achebe. Things Fall Apart
Blackwood. Shakespeare Stealer
Bradley. The Mists of Avalon
Brooks. Year of Wonders

 Crichton. Timeline
Collier. My Brother Sam Is Dead
Cross. Pope Joan
Follett. Pillars of the Earth
Gregory. The Other Boleyn Girl
Iggulden. Genghis: Birth of an Empire
Levitin. The Cure
 Meyers. Mary Bloody Mary

Napoli. Breath
Rinaldi. A Break With Charity
Renault. The King Must Die
Rosoff. The Bride’s Farewell ('10 Alex)
Smith. I Capture the Castle
Tinti. The Good Thief
White. The Once and Future King
Yolen. Sword of the Rightful King: Arthur

19TH CENTURY
Alcott. Little Women
Austen. Pride and Prejudice
Avi. The Barn
Brontë, C. Jane Eyre
Brontë, E. Wuthering Heights
Chevalier. Girl With a Pearl Earring
Crane. The Red Badge of Courage
Dumas. Three Musketeers
Crichton. The Great Train Robbery
Dickens. Oliver Twist
Doyle. The Hound of the Baskervilles
du Maurier. Rebecca
Farmer. A Girl Named Disaster
Frazier. Cold Mountain		 Gratz. Samurai Shortstop
Haley. Roots
Hesse. Stowaway
Lester. Day of Tears: A Novel in Dialogue
Meyer. Bloody Jack
Jones. Mister Pip
Lockhart. The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks
Lutz. The Spellman Files
Montgomery. Anne of Green Gables
Napoli. Bound (China)
Napoli. Alligator Bayou ('10 ALA)		 Park. A Single Shard (Korea)
Pearsall. Crooked River
Rawlings. The Yearling
Rothfuss. The Name of the Wind
Sayers. Gaudy Night
Shaara. The Killer Angels
Stevenson. Treasure Island
Stowe. Uncle Tom's Cabin
Tan.The Arrival
Twain. Tom Sawyer / Huckleberry Finn
Walker. Charles and Emma: The Darwins' Leap of Faith ('10 Printz Honor)
Wharton. Ethan Frome
20TH & 21ST CENTURY LIFE & CONFLICT - CULTURAL FICTION
Adichie. Purple Hibiscus
Alvarez. In the Time of the Butterflies
Benioff. City of Thieves
Cheech. Walk Two Moons
Crowe. Mississippi Trial, 1955
Duncan, D. The Brothers K
Gaines. A Lesson Before Dying
Gibbons. Ellen Foster
Gorman. The Stumptown Kid
Hemingway. The Old Man and the Sea Hidier. Born Confused
Hosseini. The Kite Runner
 Jordan. Mudbound
Kidd. Secret Life of Bees
King. The Beekeeper's Apprentice
Kingsolver. Poisonwood Bible
Kwok. Girl in Translation ('11 Alex)
McCullers. Member of the Wedding
Mosher. Looking for Teddy Williams
Myers. Fallen Angels
O'Brien. The Things They Carried
Paterson. Preacher's Boy
Peck. A Day No Pigs Would Die
 Peet. Tamar

Perkins. Bamboo People ('11 ALA)
Picoult. A Second Glance
Potok. The Chosen
Salinger. Catcher in the Rye
Smith. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
Steinbeck. Grapes of Wrath / Red Pony
Stockett. The Help
Taylor. The Land
Thornton. Our Town
Watkins. Far from the Bamboo Grove
Whelan. Listening for Lions
Wright. Native Son
WORLD WAR II & THE HOLOCAUST
Boyne. The Boy in Striped Pajamas
Bruchac. Code Talker
Chambers. Postcards from No Man's Land
Courtney. The Power of One
Elliott. Under the War Torn Sky
Hamill. Snow in August
Hegi. Stones from the River
Heller. Catch-22
 Helperin. Soldier of the Great War
Knowles. A Separate Peace
Magorian. Goodnight, Mr. Tom
Mazer, H.. The Last Mission
Mazer, N.. Good Night, Maman
Mishima. The Sound of Waves
Napoli. Stones in the Water
Park. When My Name Was Keoko: A Novel of Korea
Nelson. And One For All
Nolan. If I Should Die Before I Wake
Spinelli. Milkweed
Spiegelman. Maus I / Maus II
Pullman. The Ruby and the Smoke
Yolen. The Devil's Arithmetic
Zusak. The Book Thief
MODERN REALISTIC FICTION
Alexie. The Absolute True Diary of a Part Time Indian.
Alvarez. Before We Were Free
Anderson. Wintergirls
 Asher. 13 Reasons Why
Blackwell. Noughts and Crosses
Braff. The Unthinkable Thoughts of Jacob Green
Brashares. The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants
Barnes. Tales of the Madman Underground ('10 Printz Honor)
 Bognanni. The House of Tomorrow ('11 Alex)
Bray. Going Bovine ('10 Printz Winner)
Brooks, K. Lucas: A Story of Love and Hate
Brown. Angels & Demons / Da Vinci Code
Buckhanon. Upstate
Chbosky. The Perks of Being a Wallflower
Choldenko. Al Capone Does My Shirts
Christie. And Then There Were None
Christopher. Stolen ('11 Printz Honor)
Cisneros. House on Mango Street
Clancy. Patriot Games
Clarke. One Whole and Perfect Day
Clements. Things Not Seen
Collins. Hunger Games
Connor. Waiting for Normal
Cook. Outbreak
Cooney. Driver's Ed
Cormier. The Rag and Bone Shop
Crutcher. Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes
Currie. Everything Matters! ('10 Alex)  
Curtis. Bucking the Sarge
Cussler. Park Watch
de la Peña. Mexican White Boy
Dessen. Lock and Key
King. Please Ignore Vera Dietz ('11 Printz Honor)
Doig The Whistling Season
Donoghue. Room ('11 Alex)
Dowd. Bog Child
Draper. Forged By Fire
Deenham. Before I Die
Duncan, D. The Brothers K
Duncan, L. Stranger With My Face
Ferraris. Finding Nouf
Flake. Beggin' for Change
Fleischman. Breakout
Flinn. Breathing Under Water
Frost. Keesha's House
Giles. Shattering Glass
Going. Fat Kid Rules the World
Golding. Lord of the Flies
Grant. Vanishing of Katharine Linden
('11 Alex)
Green. Looking for Alaska / Paper Towns

Green & Levithan. Will Grayson / Will Grayson ('10 Goodling/Horan Award) Greene. The Drowning of Stephan Jones
Griffin. The Orange Houses ('10 ALA)
Grisham. Street Lawyer / Kid Lawyer
Gruen. Water for Elephants
Haddix. Among the Hidden
Haddon. Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
Haig. The Radleys ('11 Alex)
Hamilton. The Lock Artist ('11 Alex)
Hartinger. Geography Club
Hartnett. Surrender
Hautman. Godless / Rash
Herlong. The Great Wide Sea ('10 ALA)
Hiaasen. Hoot / Flush
Hinton. The Outsiders
Horowitz. Stormbreaker / Raven's Gate
Hosseini. Kite Runner
Hurwin. A Time for Dancing
Kyle. The God of Animals
Iverson. Only the Strong Survive
Jenkins. Out of Order
Joern. Floor of the Sky
Johnson. The First Last Part
Klass. You Don't Know Me
Konigsburg. The Outcasts of 19 Schuyler Place
Korman. Son of the Mob
Lanagan. Black Juice
Lawrence. B for Buster
Monninger. Baby
Lawrence. The Lightkeeper's Daughter
Lemire. Tales from the Farm
Levenkron. The Luckiest Girl in the World
Levithan. Boy Meets Boy
Lockhart. The Disreputable History of Landau-Banks
Ludlum. The Bourne Identity
Lupica. Travel Team
Lynch. The Highest Tide
Marchetta. Jellicoe Road
Martell. Life of Pi
McCaughrean. The White Darkness
McCormick. Sold
McDonald. Swallowing Stones
McNeal. Crooked
Maltman. The Night Birds
Meyer. Twilight: A Novel
Mikaelsen. Touching Spirit Bear
Mori. Shizuko's Daughter
Moriarty. Feeling Sorry for Celia
Morpurgo. Private Peaceful
Mosher. Zazoo
Matson. Amy & Roger’s Epic Detour ('11 ALA)

Murrow. Twelve Days in August
Myers. Monster / Scorpions
Na. A Step from Heaven
Naidoo. The Other Side of Truth
Murdock. Dairy Queen
Nolan. If I Should Die Before I Wake
Oates. Big Mouth and Ugly Girl
Paterson. Same Stuff As Stars
Paulsen. Hatchet / Tracker
Peet. Tamar
Picoult. My Sister's Keeper / 19 Minutes
Plum-Ucci. Whatever Happened to Lani Garver
Rapp. Under the Wolf, Under the Dog
Rapp. Punkzilla ('10 Printz Honor)
Reinhardt. The Things a Brother Knows
Rock. My Abandonment ('10 Alex)
Rash. The World Made Straight
Rebeck. Three Girls and Their Brother.
Robinson. U.S.S. Seawolf
Rosoff. how i live now
Roth. Avalanche
Saenz. Last Night I Sang to the Monster ('11 ALA)
Sayres. Anahita's Woven Riddle
Sebold. The Lovely Bones
Sedgwick.  Revolver ('11 ALA & Printz Honor)
Selznick. The Invention of Hugo Cabret
Setterfield The Thirteenth Tale
Shea. Tangled Threads: A Hmong Girl's Story
Smelcer The Trap
Scoppetone. Trying Hard to Hear You
Sones. What My Mother Doesn't Know
Spinelli. Stargirl
Stork. Marcelo in the Real World ('10 ALA)
Stratton. Chanda's Secrets
Tamaki. Slim
Teller. Nothing ('11 Printz Honor)
Thompson. Blankets: An Illustrated Novel
Tolan. Me and Hank
Townsend. Secret Diary of Adrian Mole
Trueman. Stuck in Neutral
Vaughan. Runaways: Volume 1
Voorhees. Ten Cents a Dance
Weeks. So B It: A Novel
Whelan. Homeless Bird
White. Deathwatch
Williams. When Kambia Elaine Flew In From Neptune
Wilson. Tunneling to the Center of the Earth ('10 Alex)
Wolff. Make Lemonade / True Believer
Wooding. Poison
Woodson. Locomotion
Zusak. I am the Messenger

NON-FICTION

HISTORY AND SOCIAL STRUGGLES

Atkin. Voices from the Streets
Bartoletti. Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler's Shadow
Bartoletti. They Call Themselves the KKK ('11 Non-Fiction Finalist)
Beah. A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier
Bowers. Spies of Mississippi ('11 Non-Fiction Finalist)
Cheng. Bound Feet and Western Dress
Crowe. Getting Away with Murder: The Emmett Till Case
DuBois. The Souls of Black Folk
Finkel. The Good Soldiers ~ Iraq ('10 Alex)
Frank. Diary of a Young Girl
Griffith. Black Like Me
Hoose. Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice ('10 YALSA Non-Fiction)
Janeczko. The Dark Game ('11 Non-Fiction Finalist)
Jiang. Red Scarf Girl
Jones . Our America

 Kozol. Amazing Grace
Lester. To Be A Slave
Mah. Chinese Cinderella
Mathabane. Kaffir Boy
Malcolm X. Autobiography of Malcolm X
McCourt. Angela's Ashes
McPherson. Fields of Fury: The American Civil War
Mellon. Bullwhip Days: Slave Narratives
Moody. Coming of Age in Mississippi
Murphy. American Plague: Yellow Fever Epidemic 
Opdyke. In My Hands: Memories
Satrapi. Persepolis
Walker.Written in Bone: Buried Lives of Jamestown and Colonial Maryland ('10 ALA & Non-Fiction Finalist)
Williams. Eyes on the Prize
Yancy. Charles and Emma: The Darwins Leap of Faith ('10 Printz Honor & Non-Fiction Finalist)
NATURE, SURVIVAL & SPORTS
Armstrong. It's Not About the Bike
Bissinger. Friday Night Lights
Blais. In These Girls, Hope Is a Muscle
Colton. Counting Coup
Bookreev. The Climb
Bryson. A Walk in the Woods
Carson. Silent Spring
Hoose. The Race to Save the Lord God Bird 

Junger. The Perfect Storm
Krakauer. Into Thin Air
Lansing. Endurance
Lewis. The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game
Paulsen. How Angel Peterson Got His Name (Stories of Extreme Sports)
Philbrick. In The Heart of the Sea
Raskowitz. The Long Walk
Simpson. Touching the Void
UNIQUE PEOPLE & CULTURES

Angel. Janis Joplin ('11 Non-Fiction Winner)
Akbar & Burton, Susan. Come Back to Afghanistan: A California Teenager's Story
Bolden. Wake Up Our Souls: Black American Artists
Bowman. It's Complicated: The American Teenager
Charrier. Papillon
Copland. What to Listen For in Music
Curie. Madam Curie: a Biography
Feldstein. The Oxford Project
Fleming. The Great and Only Barnum: The Tremendous, Stupendous Life of Showman P. T. Barnum ('10 Non-Fiction Finalist)
Fleischman. Phineas Gage: A Gruesome but True Story About Brain Science
Gantos. Hole in My Life
Grandin. Emergence from Autism / Animals in Translation

Guevara. The Motorcycle Diaries
Heiligman. Charles and Emma: The Darwins’ Leap of Faith ('10 ALA & Non-Fiction Winner)
Hemphill. Your Own Sylvia
Kamkwamba. The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind: Creating Currents of Electricity and Hope ('10 Alex)
Murray. Breaking Night ('11 Alex)
Petroski. Invention by Design
Polly. American Shaolin
Rubalcaba & Robertshaw. Every Bone Tells A Story ('11 Non-Fiction Finalist)
Small.. Stitches: A Memoir ('10 ALA & Alex)
Stone. Almost Astronauts: 13 Women Who Dared to Dream ('10 Non-Fiction Finalist)
Welch. The Kids Are All Right: A Memoir ('10 Alex)