GRADE 8 ENGLISH SUMMER READING
COHASSET PUBLIC SCHOOLS
All students entering eighth grade at Cohasset Middle-High School are required to read:
The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank (with an introduction by Eleanor
Roosevelt) New York: Bantam Books, 1993. ISBN 0-553-29698-1.
A. Required Reading Response (The Diary of a Young Girl)
Students must answer the following essential questions about the required reading in a
notebook and be ready to discuss their answers in class. Students should include page
references, dates, or sections of the text as evidence to support their responses:
Essential Questions:
1.
How can a person impact others?
2. What is the nature of a life well lived?
3. What is the nature of conflict, and what makes up the forces of good and evil?
4. How do a person’s experiences and attitudes reflect human nature and life?
B. Summer Reading Book Choice
All students entering grade eight must choose one book from the following list. The
book will be the basis for a formal, in-class essay written during the first week of school.
Students can prepare for the essay by keeping notes in their notebook about the following
topics: setting, character development, and conflict.
COHASSET MIDDLE-HIGH SCHOOL SUMMER READING CHOICES – GR. 8
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
Francie Nolan, avid reader, penny-candy connoisseur, and adroit observer of human nature, has much to
ponder in colorful, turn-of-the-century Brooklyn. She grows up with a sweet, tragic father, a severely
realistic mother, and an aunt who gives her love too freely--to men, and to a brother who will always be
the favored child. Like the Tree of Heaven that grows out of cement or through cellar gratings,
resourceful Francie struggles against all odds to survive and thrive. –Amazon.com
Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse
A terrible accident has transformed Billie Jo’s life, scarring her inside and out. Her mother is gone. Her
father can’t talk about it. To make matters worse, dust storms are devastating the family farm, and Billie
Jo is left to find peace in the bleak landscape of Oklahoma-and in the surprising landscape of her own
heart. – Amazon.com
Witness by Karen Hesse
In 1924 a small town in Vermont is falling under the influence of the Ku Klux Klan. Two girls, one black
and the other Jewish, are among those who are no longer welcome. As the potential for violence
increases, heroes and villains are revealed. –Amazon.com
All Creatures Great and Small by James Herriot
This memoir of an English countryside veterinarian is filled with humor, tale-telling and a love of life.
The Pigman and Me by Paul Zindel
In this engaging memoir, Zindel describes one of his teen years growing up on Staten Island, NY and the
man who became the model for the character in Zindel’s book. He tells the tale of how he found his own
pigman, or mentor.
Zlata’s Diary: A Child’s Life in Sarajevo by Zlata Filopovic
The compelling, firsthand account tells of the destruction of a young Croatian girl’s city
in the Yugoslavian war.
Chasing Lincoln’s Killer by James L. Swanson
This fast-paced thriller tells the story of the pursuit and capture of John Wilkes Booth and gives a day-byday account of the wild chase to find this killer and his accomplices. This is an accessible look at the
assassination of a president, and shows readers Abraham Lincoln the man, the father, the husband, the
friend, and how his death impacted those closest to him.
– Amazon.com
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
Set during World War II in Germany, this novel is the story of a foster girl living outside of Munich who
scratches out a meager existence for herself by stealing when she encounters something she can’t resist –
books. With the help of her foster father, she learns to read and shares her stolen books with her
neighbors as well as with the Jewish man hidden in her basement. – Amazon.com
New Boy by Julian Houston
Fifteen-year-old Rob Garrett wants to escape the segregated South and prove himself. But in late 1950s
Virginia, opportunity doesn’t come easily to an African American. So Rob’s parents take the unusual
step of enrolling their son in a Connecticut boarding school. But times are challenging. A movement is
rising back home. In Rob’s hometown, his friends are on the verge of taking action against segregation.
There is even talk about sitting in at a lunch counter that refuses to serve black people. How can Rob
hope to make a difference when he’s a world away? - Amazon.com
The Berlin Boxing Club by Robert Sharenow
“I held my breath as Karl Stern, fierce and thoughtful, fought his way through the Nazi wolf pack and his
own insecurities to save his family and become a boxer and an artist.” – Robert Lipsyte, author of The
Contender and Center Field
Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford
“Ford expertly nails the sweet innocence of first love, the cruelty of racism, the blindness of patriotism,
the astonishing unknowns between parents and their children, and the sadness and satisfaction at the end
of a life well lived. The result is a vivid picture of a confusing and critical time in American history.” –
Library Journal
Tamar by Mal Peet
“When her grandfather dies, Tamar inherits a box containing a series of clues and coded messages. Out of
the past, another Tamar emerges, a man involved in the terrifying world of resistance fighters in Nazioccupied Holland half a century before. His story is one of passionate love, jealousy, and tragedy set
against the daily fear and casual horror of the Second World War -- and unraveling it is about to
transform Tamar’s life forever.” - BookBrowse