Eighth Grade Reading List

Mt. Lebanon Middle Schools

Department of English

This is the reading list used for summer reading suggestions and for required outside reading assignments for the eighth grade.

Just click on the title to see if the book is in the library at this time.
***There may be additional copies available. Ask a librarian for help in finding them.***
Across Five Aprils - Irene Hunt
During the Civil War, Jethro is left behind to take care of the farm when the men go off to fight.

Black Boy - Richard Wright
Autobiography of the African-American writer who grew up in the Jim Crow South and who was brutally taught his place in life by his family.

Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
A satire describing a scientific and industrialized utopia.

Dicey's Song - Cynthia Voigt
A novel about the adjustments of four children when they move in with their grandmother and start a new life.

Eight Plus One - Robert Cormier
Nine stories probe the feelings and reactions of people in life's most trying situations.

How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents - Julia Alvarez
Fifteen interconnected stories portray with warmth and humor the assimilation of a Dominican doctor's family into American culture.

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings - Maya Angelou
An African-American woman recounts her painful growth to maturity.

The Illustrated Man - Ray Bradbury
A fantasy of a man whose tattoos can predict the future.

The Joy Luck Club - Amy Tan
Vignettes alternate back and forth between the lives of four Chinese women in pre-1949 China and the lives of their American-born daughters in California.

The Killer Angels - Shaara, Michael
A fictionalized, Pulitzer-prize winning account of the four bloodiest days of the Civil War -- the Battle of Gettysburg.

The Last of the Mohicans - James Fenimore Cooper
A story of a man who chooses to leave society and his subsequent struggle for survival on the frontier.

Lily's Crossing - Patricia Reilly Giff
This historical novel presents the impact of World War II on an American child and a Hungarian refugee.

Little Women - Louisa May Alcott
The story of the March family and their four daughters.

The Outsiders - S.E. Hinton
Tough, lower class boys have a running feud with a middle class gang.

Robinson Crusoe - Daniel Defoe
A classic of English literature about a shipwrecked mariner who overcomes self-pity and despair to reconstruct his life on a deserted island.

Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry - Mildred Taylor
The only African-American family in Spokane, Mississippi wages a courageous struggle to remain independent.

Taking Sides - Gary Soto
Lincoln Mendoza faces a racist coach and conflicting loyalties to old friends when he becomes the only Hispanic-American on his new school's basketball team.

Tex - S.E. Hinton
Tex and his brother learn to cope with their father's absence.

That Was Then, This is Now - S.E. Hinton
Two teenage boys find themselves in conflict when one begins to mature and the other does not.

True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle - Avi
A sea-faring adventure set in 1832 in which Charlotte, age 13, becomes involved in a mutinous plot against the insane captain.

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea - Jules Verne
While exploring marine disturbances, the central characters are captured by the maniacal Captain Nemo.

Where the Lilies Bloom - Vera and Bill Cleaver
An Appalachian girl attempts to preserve the dignity and independence of her family.

The Witch of Blackbird Pond - Elizabeth George Speare
This Newbery winner traces the tale of Kit Tyler who, in 1687, befriends an old woman considered a witch by the community and suddenly finds herself standing trial for witchcraft.

Zlata's Diary: A Child's Life in Sarajevo - Zlata Filipovic
This account of Zlata Filipovic's war-torn childhood makes a compelling plea for "peace on earth and good will toward all."

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Last updated: 11/05/99