State College Area School District
Secondary English Department
Summer Reading List
For Students Entering 8th Grade
2010-2011
Aaron, Hank I Had a Hammer. A baseball biography.
Alcott, Louisa May Little Women. The story of the March family women
and their lives in New England during the Civil War.
Alexander, Lloyd The Cat Who Wished to Be a Man. Lionel, the cat, gets
his wish and is changed into a man . After experiencing all
of the adventures and emotions that go into being a man,
how will he ever be content changing back into a cat?
Austen, Jane Emma. Emma, an heiress determined not to marry, ends
up falling in love and growing in maturity.
Avi The Man Who Was Poe. This mystery involves Poe,
young Edmund, and his twin who has disappeared.
Avi Wolf Rider. A psychologically riveting story of a boy
grappling with a potential killer.
Bradbury, Ray Something Wicked This Way Comes. This mystery involves a carnival that feeds on dreams and weaknesses.
Brooks, Bruce The Moves Make the Man. A black boy and an
emotionally disturbed white boy form a friendship.
Christie, Agatha Murder on the Orient Express. Poirot tries to trap a killer
on an express train across Europe.
Clark, Mary Higgins The Cradle Will Fall. A psychopathic doctor and illegal
operations are involved in this mystery.
Cole, Brock Celine. Through this first-person narrative we find out
about this sixteen-year-old artist who needs to “show some
maturity,” finish an overdue paper, and help her seven-
year-old neighbor before she can take a trip to Europe.
Collier, James My Brother Sam Is Dead. This book illustrates how Tim’s
family has divided loyalties during the Revolutionary War.
Cooper, James Fenimore The Last of the Mohicans. A tale of a young white man
and his Mohican Native American friends during the
French and Indian War.
Crutcher, Chris The Crazy Horse Electric Game. Frustrated after an
accident, a high school athlete enrolls himself in a special
school.
Doyle, Arthur Conan Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. In this book, Holmes and his sidekick, Dr. Watson, solve four mysteries.
Duder, Tessa In Lane Three, Alex Archer. Alex’s goal is to make the
Olympic team.
Dumas, Alexander The Count of Monte Cristo. The adventures of a swashbuckling sailor falsely accused of treason.
Farmer, Nancy A Girl Named Disaster. In this novel set in Mozambique
and Zimbabwe, a Shona girl flees an arranged marriage and
sets off on a dangerous journey.
Fleischman, Paul The Borning Room. Lying at the end of her life in the
room where she was born in 1851, Georgina remembers what it was like to grow up on the Ohio frontier.
Haddix, Margaret Among the Hidden. Luke, one of the shadow children
forbidden by the Population Police, has lived his entire life
in hiding. Then, one day he looks out and sees another shadow child.
Haddix, Margaret Just Ella. In this continuation of the Cinderella story,
fifteen-year-old Ella finds that accepting Prince Charming's
proposal ensnares her in a suffocating tangle of palace
rules.
Hemingway, Ernest The Old Man and the Sea. In this symbolic story, an old
fisherman catches a giant marlin, only to have sharks strip
it to the bone.
Holt, Kimberly When Zachary Beaver Came to Town. Toby’s bored in his
small Texas town and depressed because his mother has
left him to become a music star. He finds out that his life
could be worse when he meets Zachary Beaver, a 600-pound teenager, "the fattest man in the world," who never leaves his trailer.
Keller, Helen The Story of My Life. Helen Keller’s triumph over her
blindness and deafness and her relationship with her
teacher, Annie Sullivan, make up this autobiography.
Kelly, Eric Trumpeter of Krakow. Set in 15th century Poland, this
book tells the tale of a courageous patriot and a mysterious
jewel.
Kinsella, W. P. Shoeless Joe. A dreamer builds a baseball field and
waits for the ghosts of long-gone players to appear.
Kipling, Rudyard Kim. The tale of an Irish orphan who meets a Tibetan lama
and sets out on a quest in the mountains of India.
Lipsyte, Robert The Contender. A seventeen-year-old Harlem boy
struggles to become a boxer.
London, Jack Sea Wolf. In this romantic sea adventure, the survival of the fittest is pitted against civilization.
Lord, Walter A Night to Remember. The story of the unsinkable
Titanic.
Meyer, Carolyn Mary, Bloody Mary. This novel, told from the point of
view of England's Queen Mary I, covers her life from the
age of ten to twenty. She is known in history as Bloody
Mary for having 300 people put to death for being heretics.
Nixon, Jean Lowery A Family Apart. This is part of the Orphan Train series.
Frances is adopted by a family going West.
O'Brien, Robert Z for Zachariah. Life after a nuclear war is dangerous for
the survivors.
Paterson, Katherine Lyddie. A Vermont farm girl becomes a factory worker in
the 1840’s.
Peck, Richard Dreamland Lake. When two thirteen-year-olds discover a
body, a chain of events occurs that involves several more
deaths.
Rawlings, Marjorie Kinnan The Yearling. A young Florida boy is forced to decide the
fate of a young deer that he has raised.
Sachar, Louis Holes. The philosophy of the juvenile detention center
where Stanley is sent as a result of mistaken identity is “if you take a bad boy and make him dig a 5’ hole every day in the blazing sun, you will make him into a good boy.”
Shakespeare, William A Midsummer Night's Dream. A story of magic, mischief,
and the trials and tribulations of love.
Stevenson, Robert Louis Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde This is the tale of two people in
one—the well-intentioned Dr. Jekyll and the evil Mr. Hyde.
Stoker, Bram Dracula. This is the classic vampire tale of Count Dracula.
Swift, Jonathan Gulliver's Travels. The fantastic adventures of an English
ship’s surgeon through such lands as Lilliput and
Brobdingnag.
Tolkien, J. R. R. The Hobbit. This tale is set in the imaginary world of
Middle-Earth.
Voigt, Cynthia The Runner. Sam begins to question his racial prejudice
when a black student joins the team.
Wells, H. G. The War of the Worlds. This is an adventure based on a
Martian invasion of the Earth
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