Great books mentioned here already I thought I'd mention: Lloyd Alexander: Book of Three, Black Cauldron, Castle of Llyr , Taran the Wanderer, and the High King The Enchanted Island (Shakespeare in everyday English.) Highly recommended. The Hobbit My Side of the Mountain (and the Other side of the Mountain) Ender's Game To Kill a Mocking Bird Percy Jackson (All the Rage here! My kids destroyed all the paperbacks we had, reading and re-reading them. That got them started on Greek Mythology too!) The Lost Hero (the series AFTER Percy Jackson deals with Roman mythology) Red Pyramid and the Red Throne (Rick Riordan, the author who writes Percy Jackson. Got my kids interested in Egyptian Myths) The Wizard of OZ series The Black Stallion series Hatchet (Gary Paulson) Anne of Green Gable series (more for Girls) Island of the Blue Dolphins White Fang I also read Anne McCaffrey in middle school and LOVED her! But honestly there is some "adult" themes and scenes in the books. (I have yet to let my older boys read them for that reason.)
Scholastic has a Summer Reading Challenge. http://www.scholastic.com/summer/ They have reading lists based on age. You could get some ideas there.
I guess I am not adding many new titles- I will second The Bronze Bow, Carry On Mr Bowditch, The Witch of Blackbird Pond, and The Hiding Place. Also, Number the Stars is good. For younger readers, try Snow Treasure (different than Treasure in the Snow). We also liked Across Five Aprils, Rifles for Watie, and Out on the Pampas (by G.A. Henty). The Cat of Bubastes and Beric the Briton by GA Henty were good too. Andrew Clement has some wonderful stories. Standing Up to Mr. O (by Claudia Mills I believe) started some good discussions about student's "rights", and biology class. Oldest DS read Animal Farm, The Old Man and the Sea, and the Crucible in a Lit class. Also, 100 Best-Loved Poems (not all of them!)- introduced him to different poets. MT3
How about: The Cay Roll of Thunder, Hear my Cry A Door in the Wall A Long Way From Chicago The Wave Freckles The Golden Goblet Many great ones bear repeating so I can't neglect mentioning The Midwife's Apprentice and Matilda Bone for those who like Medieval settings. My boys read these several times. They also read all the Redwall series. What about The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy books by Douglas Adams? I would consider these the high school counterpart to Hank the Cowdog. My boys can't help but read portions out loud to me....they are laugh-out-loud funny. They also enjoy the historical fiction series about Genghis Khan by Conn Iggulden who wrote the Dangerous Book for Boys. Even my 14yo who doesn't read much blazes through them. (being about Khan and war they are probably gritty and more geared for high school age...)
No one's mentioned the Harry Potter books of JK Rowling. They are the best children's read in many a year: well-developed characters, clear distinction between good and evil, and extremely well written. I understand that some parents prefer not to use them, but our children devoured them.
You guys have to add "Moon Over Manifest" to your reading lists! It's brand new, out last year, by Clare Vanderpool. I read it last week on vacation, and today I learned it took this year's Newberry. It's excellent! And no objectionable content. Keep the titles coming! So many great ones. I'm reminiscing and adding titles I want to review for my classics category on my blog.
Middlereaders, I looked it up. It sounds fascinating!!! I'm trying to figure how it will fit in this year, and can't. So maybe I'll read it aloud to the kids once we get back from camp (whole familiy going!!!) the end of July.
My DD's book club includes girls from the 7-12th grade range. They usually pick classics. Right now the are reading David Copperfield at my suggestion. It's one of my favorites, and all the girls are raving about it. Others that DD suggests: The Importance of Being Ernest The Jungle Anything Shakespeare Animal Farm The Count of Monte Cristo Uncle Tom's Cabin Northanger Abbey
'The Count of Monte Cristo' was released as a movie a few years ago, and it was very well done. If your book club chooses to read that book, it would be interesting to compare with the movie.
The Count of Monte Cristo is good, but I remember it being a pain to read! I enjoyed the Three Musketeers and all its sequels much better!
Thanks for sharing your list. We have a planning meeting for next school year coming up and it will be good to have a few ideas. I'll be e-mailing you about other ideas. Thanks.
Maranatha, I tried e-mailing you but it didn't go through. If you can share some of your book club ideas here on the forum, I would appreciate it. Thanks
