Dutchman Creek Middle School
Rising 8th Grade
2009 Summer Reading List
Taking Sides (Lexile: 750) by Gary Soto
Eighth-grader Lincoln Mendoza and his mother have just moved from a San Francisco barrio
to a wealthy, predominantly white suburb. He misses his old friends and neighborhood.
Having made first string on the basketball team, he finds that the coach dislikes him for no
good reason. Lincoln must decide where his loyalty lies as an upcoming game between his
new school and the old one approaches.
I Hadn't Meant to Tell You This (Lexile: 740) by Jacqueline Woodson
Despite differences in race and economics, Lena and Marie become friends when they
discover that neither of them has a mother at home. Lena's mother is dead and Marie's has
left for the lure of greater individual freedom. As their friendship grows, Lena trusts Marie
with a secret that both shames and enrages her.
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (Lexile: 1000) by Douglas Adams
Seconds before Earth is demolished to make room for a galactic freeway, Arthur Dent is
saved by Ford Prefect. Together, they journey through the galaxy.
On the Devil's Court (Lexile: 730) by Carl Deuker
Struggling with his feelings of inadequacy and his failure to make the basketball team in his
new school, seventeen-year-old Joe Faust finds himself willing to trade his soul for one
perfect season of basketball.
Fallen Angels (Lexile: 650) by Walter Dean Myers
In a graphic story, 17-year-old Richie Perry, just out of his Harlem high school, enlists in the
Army in the summer of 1967 and spends a devastating year on active duty in Vietnam.
The House of the Scorpion (Lexile: 660) by Nancy Farmer
In a future where humans despise clones, Matt enjoys special status as the young clone of
El Patron, the 142-year-old leader of a corrupt drug empire nestled between Mexico and the
United States.
The Hound of the Baskervilles (Lexile: 1090) by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Sherlock Holmes and his partner Dr. Watson confront one of their most difficult cases ever:
is there truly a curse on the old Baskerville estate? Is there truly a ghostly beast lurking on
the dark, eerie moors? A masterful concoction of plot and mood, this story is guaranteed to
give you the shivers.
It's Not About the Bike: My Journey Back to Life (Lexile: 890) by Lance Armstrong
Armstrong, a four-time Tour de France champion and cancer survivor, covers his early life,
his rise through the sport world and his medical difficulties in this riveting memoir.
Hoop Dreams (Lexile: 800) by Ben Joravsky
A study of the struggles of Arthur Agee and William Gates to win college scholarships and
positions on professional teams follows the stories of their families, relationships, and
personal aspirations.
Speak (Lexile: 680) by Laurie Halse Anderson
Melinda Sordino busted an end-of-summer party by calling the cops. Now her old friends
won't talk to her and people she doesn't even know hate her from a distance. The safest
place to be is alone, inside her own head. But even that's not safe. Because there there's
something she's trying not to think about, something about the night of the party that, if
she let it in, would blow her carefully constructed disguise to smithereens. And then she
would have to speak the truth.
The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (Lexile: 600) by Ann Brashares
Carmen decides to discard an old pair of jeans, but Tibby, Lena, and Bridget think they are
great and decide that whoever the pants fit best will get them. When the jeans fit everyone
perfectly, a sisterhood and a memorable summer begin.
The House on Mango Street (Lexile: 870) by Sandra Cisneros
Sometimes heartbreaking, sometimes deeply joyous, this novel depicts the story of a young
girl growing up in the Hispanic quarter of Chicago in a series of vignettes.
Celine (Lexile: 720) by Brock Cole
A sixteen-year-old artist Celine has to deal with many unbearable facts of life, including her
father marrying someone close to her own age.
After the First Death (Lexile: 740) by Robert Cormier
When a terrorist hijacks a camp bus, everyone becomes a victim, and each is confronted
with unexpected ways to live -- or die.
Jacob’s Rescue: A Holocaust Story (Lexile: 680) by Malka Drucker
In answer to his daughter's questions, a man recalls the terrifying years of his childhood
when a brave Polish couple hid him and other Jewish children from the Nazis. Based on a
true story.
You Don’t Know Me (Lexile: 970) by David Klass
An incredibly clever narrative voice (inside John's head,) tells the trials of a 14-year-old boy
in a very humorous manner, even though some of his trials could prove to be physically
dangerous -- being chased after by a potential girl-friend's father wielding a shotgun, or
confronting his mother's boy-friend who is not only verbally abusive, but also could be
involved in illegal activities.
Spite Fences (Lexile: 800) by Trudy Krisher
Thirteen-year-old Maggie Pugh has lived in Kinship, Georgia. Seeing through her camera,
she is able to focus in on what life in Kinship is really like in the early 60s and helps her to
see the physical abuse she suffers from her mother as being unnatural.
A Step from Heaven (Lexile: 670) by An Na
This story traces the life of Korean-born Young Ju from the age of four through her teenage
years, from Korea to the States. Young Ju's steady growth in language and understanding
of the new culture presents a sharp contrast of her father's inability to adapt to the new
environment. Frustrated, her father becomes abusive. The not-all-happy ending is
convincing and promises an uplifting path for the main character. A 2002 Printz Award
winner for Young Adult Literature.
Kaffir Boy (Lexile: 1040) by Mark Mathabane
Under Apartheid, a young man comes of age in this autobiographical account.
The Silver Kiss (Lexile: 690) by Annette Curtis Klause
17-year-old Zo grieves over her mother's imminent death due to cancer. She meets Simon.
Simon is startlingly handsome and has the darkest secret. Together they have to battle
Simon’s younger brother who is actually a vampire in disguise. Simon’s own journey to
redemption accompanied by his romance with Zo is compellingly moving.
2009 – 2010 Junior Book Award Nomination List
Adam Canfield, Watch Your Back (Lexile: 730) by Michael Winerip
A much-welcomed snow day turns into an embarrassing nightmare for middle-grader Adam
Canfield when, after being mugged by high school bullies for his snow-shoveling money, he
becomes the focus of major media attention just as his co-editors at The Slash are
launching a contest to oust bullies at their school.
The Big Field (Lexile: 970) by Mike Lupica
When fourteen-year-old baseball player Hutch feels threatened by the arrival of a new
teammate named Darryl, he tries to work through his insecurities about both Darryl and his
remote and silent father, who was once a great ballplayer too.
Blue Lipstick: Concrete Poems (Lexile: NA) by John Grandits
Concrete poems about a girl named Jessie who mocks the school which she attends.
Book of a Thousand Days (Lexile: 850) by Shannon Hale
Fifteen-year-old Dashti, sworn to obey her sixteen-year-old mistress, the Lady Saren,
shares Saren's years of punishment locked in a tower, then brings her safely to the lands of
her true love, where both must hide who they are as they work as kitchen maids.
The Boy Who Dared (Lexile: 760) by Susan Campbell Bartoletti
In October, 1942, seventeen-year-old Helmuth Hübener, imprisoned for distributing antiNazi leaflets, recalls his past life and how he came to dedicate himself to bring the truth
about Hitler and the war to the German people.
Cover-up (Lexile: 780) by John Feinstein
Two teenagers learn that every player on a professional football team--which is supposed to
play in the Super Bowl--has failed their drug test and the owner has covered up the results,
and now they must find a way to prove it.
Elephant Run (Lexile: 750) by Roland Smith
Nick's father and others are taken prisoner when his plantation in Burma is invaded by the
Japanese in 1941, leaving Nick and his friend Mya to risk their lives in order to free them
from the POW camp.
Fire From the Rock (Lexile: 830) by Sharon Draper
In 1957, Sylvia Patterson's life--that of a normal African American teenager--is disrupted by
the impending integration of Little Rock's Central High when she is selected to be one of the
first black students to attend the previously all white school.
Go Big or Go Home (Lexile: 700) by Will Hobbs
Fourteen-year-old Brady and his cousin Quinn love extreme sports, but nothing could
prepare them for the aftermath of Brady's close encounter with a meteorite after it crashes
into his Black Hills, South Dakota, bedroom.
If a Tree Falls at Lunch Period (Lexile: 530) by Gennifer Choldenko
Kirsten and Walk, seventh-graders at an elite private school, describe how race, wealth,
weight, and other issues shape their relationships as they and other misfits stand up to a
mean but influential classmate.
Leepike Ridge (Lexile: 780) by N.D. Wilson
Eleven-year-old Tom finds himself trapped in a series of underground caves and pursued by
murderous treasure-hunters.
Middle School is Worse than Meatloaf: A Year told Through Stuff (Lexile: NA) by
Jennifer L. Holm
Ginny makes a to do list for her seventh grade year, which includes landing a role in the
school play, trying to make friends, ignoring her horoscope, and going to see her grandpa
Joe in Florida; but she always seems to come up short in accomplishing any of it.
Miss Spitfire: Reaching Helen Keller (Lexile: 890) by Sarah Miller
At age twenty-one, partially-blind, lonely but spirited Annie Sullivan travels from
Massachusetts to Alabama to try and teach six-year-old Helen Keller, deaf and blind since
age two, self-discipline and communication skills.
Night of the Howling Dogs (Lexile: 530) by Graham Salisbury
Eleven Boy Scouts, their leaders, and some new friends camping at Halape, Hawaii, in 1975,
find their survival skills put to the test when a massive earthquake strikes, followed by a
tsunami.
The Redheaded Princess: A Novel (Lexile: 750) by Ann Rinaldi
In 1542, nine-year-old Lady Elizabeth lives on an estate near London, striving to get back
into the good graces of her father, King Henry VIII, and as the years pass she faces his
death and those of other close relatives until she finds herself next in line to ascend the
throne of England in 1558.
Schooled (Lexile: 740) by Gordon Korman
Cap lives in isolation with his grandmother, a former hippie; but when she falls from a tree
and breaks her hip, Cap is sent to a foster home where he has his first experience in a
public school.
Seer of Shadows (Lexile: 720) by Avi
Photographer Horace Carpetine is commissioned to do a portrait for society matron Mrs.
Frederick Von Macht; however, the photos evoke both the image and the ghost of the Von
Macht's dead daughter, Eleanora, who has returned to seek vengence on those who killed
her.
Taken (Lexile: 640) by Edward Bloor
In 2036 kidnapping rich children has become an industry, but when thirteen-year-old
Charity Meyers is taken and held for ransom, she soon discovers that this particular
kidnapping is not what it seems.
Toby Wheeler: Eighth Grade Bench Warmer (Lexile: 680) by Thatcher Heldring
When Toby finally decides to join the middle school basketball team, he does not anticipate
the changes that will occur in his relationship with his best friend JJ, who is the team's star
player, as well as in other areas of his life.
When I Crossed No-Bob (Lexile: 870) by Margaret McMullan
Ten years after the Civil War's end, twelve-year-old Addy, abandoned by her parents, is
taken from the horrid town of No-Bob by schoolteacher Frank Russell and his bride, but
when her father returns to claim her she must find another way to leave her O'Donnell past
behind.