Grade 8 Independent Reading Titles for Monthly Book Reports
Following is a list of books from which to choose to write your monthly book reports. You should carry
your book with you at all times so that you can pick it up and read it whenever you have a chance. I
encourage you to go to your local library and ask the librarian to help you locate a book from the list, or
go online and purchase the book.
When choosing your books for the year, keep in mind two important points:
1. More than half of the books you read must be non-fiction.
2. Refer to the Lexile number for each title and set a goal to raise that number with each book that you
read. (Lexile measure is defined as "the numeric representation of a text’s readability or difficulty.
According to Common Core State Standards, students in grade 8 should set a goal of reading texts with a
Lexile level of between 925 and 1185.)
3. **One of your book selections for the year must be a biography of a saint. You may choose from the
summer reading list or you may choose your own. I encourage you to read this biography early in the
year since Confirmation is in the spring, and you might want to base your Confirmation name on this
saint.
The following titles contain brief descriptions in your literature textbook on the pages indicated.
Title
Author
Fiction/
Lexile
Informational level
Description in
Literature
Textbook
The Boy Who Reversed Himself
William
Sleator
Miriam BatAmi
Fiction
710
Page 226
Fiction
550
Page 226
Informational
Informational
N/A
1010
Page 226
Page 226
Informational
N/A
Page 226
Isaac Asimov
Angela Bull
Irene Hunt
Delia Ray
Fiction
Fiction
Fiction
Informational
N/A
600
1000
1120
Page 456
Page 456
Page 456
Page 456
William Safire
(ed.)
Donald
MacKay
Peter Chrisp
Frieda
Informational
N/A
Page 456
Informational
N/A
Page 632
Informational
Informational
540
1040
Page 632
Page 632
Two Suns in the Sky
Discoveries: Believe It or Not
Travels with Charley
The Words We Live By: Your
Annotated Guide to the
Constitution
Robot Dreams
Robin Hood
Across Five Aprils
Behind the Blue and Gray: the
Soldier’s Life in the Civil War
Lend Me Your Ears: Great
Speeches in History
The Building of Manhattan
The Story of Columbus
Albert Einstein: A Photographic
John
Steinbeck
Linda R.
Monk
Story of a Life
Cool Stuff and How it Works
Helen Keller: A Photographic
Story of a Life
Discoveries: Exploring the
Possibilities
No Promises in the Wind
The Heart of a Chief
A Street Through Time
Discoveries: Lines of
Communication
Anne Frank and Me
Narrative of the Life of Frederick
Douglass
Eight Plays of US History
The Moustrap and Other Plays
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
Cut From the Same Cloth:
American Women of Myth,
Legend, and Tall Tale
John F. Kennedy
Freedom Walkers
Wishinsky
Chris
Woodford…
Leslie Garrett
Informational
1120
Page 632
Informational
890
Page 632
Informational
N/A
Page 632
Irene Hunt
Joseph
Bruchac
Anne Millard
Fiction
Fiction
930
750
Page 632
Page 798
Informational
Informational
680
910
Page 798
Page 798
Cherie
Bennett
Frederick
Douglass
Fiction
550
Page 1004
Informational
1080
Page 1004
Drama
Drama
N/A
N/A
Page 1004
Page 1004
Fiction
Fiction
950
1050
Page 1174
Page 1174
Informational
N/A
Page 1174
Informational
1110
Page 1174
Agatha
Christie
Mark Twain
Robert San
Souci
Howard S.
Kaplan
Russell
Freedman
Following are additional titles provided by the Oyster Bay Library:
Title
Author
Lexile Level
Night (Informational)
Wiesel, Elie
Heart of a Champion (Fiction)
Deucker, Carl
Ship Breaker (Fiction)
Bacigalupi, Paolo
Eragon (Fiction)
Paolini, Christopher
Book Thief, The (Historical Fiction)
Zusak, Markus
Giver, The (Fiction)
Lowry, Lois
Walk Two Moons (Fiction)
Creech, Sharon
Five People You Meet in Heaven, The (Fiction)
Albom, Mitch
Chains (Historical Fiction)
Anderson, Laurie Halse
Wonder (Fiction)
Palacio, R.J.
Red Pony, The (Fiction)
Steinbeck, John
Secret Life of Bees, The (Historical Fiction)
Kidd, Sue Monk
Woods Runner (Fiction)
Paulsen, Gary
Watership Down (Fiction)
Adams, Richard
Single Shard, A (Fiction)
Park, Linda Sue
Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, The (Fiction)
Lewis, C.S.
Wednesday Wars, The (Fiction)
Schmidt, Gary D.
Island of the Blue Dolphins (Fiction)
O'Dell, Scott
Hobbit, The (Fiction)
Tolkien, J.R.R.
Hatchet (Fiction)
Paulsen, Gary
Code Name Verity (Fiction)
Wein, Elizabeth
Treasure Island (Fiction)
Stevenson, Robert Louis
Hound of the Baskervilles, The (Fiction)
Doyle, Arthur Conan
Non-Fiction and Biography
Non-Fiction
Armstrong, Jennifer
Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World
Aronson, Marc
Witch-Hunt: Mysteries of the Salem Witch
Bartoletti, Susan Campbell
They Called Themselves the K.K.K.
Blumenthal, Karen
Bootleg: Murder, Moonshine, and the Lawless Years of Prohibition
Bradley, James
Flags of our Fathers
Brown, Dee
Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee
Hawk, Tony
Hawk: Occupation Skateboarder
Jacobs, Tom
Teen Cyberbullying: Investigated
Jiang, Ji-Li
Red Scarf Girl: A Memoir of the Cultural
Kettlewell, Caroline
Electric Dreams: One Unlikely Team of Kids
Lewis, Michael
Blind Side: Evolution of a Game
Macy, Sue
Wheels of Change
Mann, Charles C.
Before Columbus: The Americas of 1491
Montville, Leigh
Big Bam: The Life & Times of Babe Ruth
Murphy, Jim
Truce: The Day the Soldiers Stopped Fighting
Sobey, Ed
A Field Guide to Household Technology
Thimmesh, Catherine Team Moon: How 400,000 People Landed
Walker, Sally M
Written in Bone: Buried Lives of Jamestown
Warren, Andrea
Under Siege!: Three Children at the Civil War Battle for Vicksburg
Sender, Ruth Minsky
Cage
Biography:
Angel, Ann Janis Joplin: Rise UP Singing
Beah, Ishmael Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Sold
Frank, Ann Diary of a Young Girl
Fleischman, Sid Trouble Begins at 8: A Life of Mark Twain
Garner, Eleanor Ramrath Eleanor's Story: An American Girl in Hitler
Heiligman, Deborah Charles and Emma: The Darwins' Leap
Hoose, Phillip Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice
Jones, Ron Acorn People
Kamkwanba, William Boy Who Harnessed the Wind
Marrin, Albert Great Adventure: Theodore Roosevelt
Murphy, Jim Real Benedict Arnold
Rodriguez, Luis J. Always Running: La Vida Loca, Gang Days in LA
Sender, Ruth Minsky Cage
Sheinkin, Steve Notorious Benedict Arnold: A True story
Zacks, Richard Pirate Hunter: The True Story of Captain Kidd
**Finally, I have many appropriate book titles in my classroom library. Feel free to browse the
“library,” but if you would like to borrow a book, please sign it out.