Belmont Middle School Grades 7 and 8 Summer 2025
REQUIRED READING
Entering seventh and eighth graders are to read the required book for their grade and one book they choose. Near the bottom of the doc are some suggestions for books students in both grades may want to try.
Entering seventh graders - choose ONE of the four choices for required reading listed below.
Entering eighth graders - All students will read The Giver by Lois Lowry. This required text will be used in the fall to begin the school year. Students may want to purchase their own copies to mark up.
SEVENTH GRADE CHOICES FOR REQUIRED READING
SUGGESTED READING FOR BOTH GRADES
The following list includes fiction and non-fiction (*) which may appeal to a wide variety of readers. This list is meant to encourage students to read during summer vacation. Children should consult parents, friends, and librarians about these and other books when looking for suggestions. This list is distributed to students entering grades seven and eight in the fall of 2023. This list is also posted on the district’s website and the Belmont Public Library’s teen page, belmontpubliclibrary.net/teens-at-the-library/.
Abdel-Fattah, Randa | Does My Head Look Big in This? |
Adams, Douglas | Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy |
Adeyemi, Toni | Children of Blood and Bone |
Alcott, Mary Louisa | Little Women |
Angleberger, Tom | The Strange Case of Origami Yoda |
Balliett, Blue | Chasing Vermeer; Hold Fast |
Bieschke, Marke | Into the Streets |
Bloor, Edward | Tangerine |
Bradley, James with Ron Powers | Flags of Our Fathers: The Story of Iwo Jima* |
Braff, Joshua | The Unthinkable Thoughts of Jacob Green |
Callahan, Steven | Adrift * |
Cartaya, Pablo | The Epic Fail of Arturo Zamora |
Colbert, Brandy | The Voting Booth |
Colfer, Eoin | The Reluctant Assassin (series) |
Cooper, Susan | Dark Is Rising (series) |
Crane, Stephen | The Red Badge of Courage |
Creech, Sharon | Absolutely Normal Chaos, Ruby Holler |
Curtis, Christopher Paul | Bucking the Sarge |
Dickens, Charles | Oliver Twist; David Copperfield (adapted versions available) |
Dowd, Siobhan | London Eye Mystery |
Doyle, Arthur Conan | Adventures of Sherlock Holmes |
DuPrau, Jeanne | City of Ember |
Ende, Michael | The Neverending Story |
Farmer, Nancy | The Lord of Opium (sequel to House of the Scorpion) |
The Sea of Trolls trilogy | |
Ferris, Jean | Love Among the Walnuts |
Gantos, Jack | Hole in My Life* Norvelt series |
Hickam, Homer | Rocket Boys: A Memoir* |
Hobbs, Will | Bearstone; Downriver; Far North |
Holt, K.A. | House Arrest |
Holt, Kimberly Willis | When Zachary Beaver Came to Town |
Houston, Julian | New Boy |
Hughes, Dean | Soldier Boys |
Jenn Bigelow, Lisa | Drum Roll Please |
Johnson, Angela | Toning the Sweep |
Johnson, Leah | You Should See Me in a Crown |
Jones, Diana Wynne | Howl's Moving Castle Dark Lord of Derkholm, Chrestomanci series |
Katz, Jon | Geeks: How Two Lost Boys Rode the Internet out of Idaho* |
Key, Watt | Alabama Moon |
Kherdian, David | The Road Home: The Story of an Armenian Girl* |
Konigsburg, E.L. | Silent to the Bone |
Knowles, Jo | See You at Harry’s |
Krakauer, Jon | Into Thin Air* |
Lee, Stacey | Outrun the Moon |
LeGuin, Ursula | The Wizard of Earthsea (series) |
Lobel, Anita | No Pretty Pictures: A Child of War* |
Lord, Cynthia | Rules |
Maetani, Valynne E. | Ink and Ashes |
Magoon, Kekla | The Rock and the River; How It Went Down |
Mah, Adeline Yen | Chinese Cinderella: True Story of an Unwanted Daughter* |
McCall, Guadalupe Garcia | Summer of the Mariposas |
McCormick, Patricia | Never Fall Down: A Boy Soldier’s Story of Survival |
Meyer, Marissa | Cinder |
Mikaelsen, Ben | Tree Girl |
Myers, Walter Dean | The Greatest: Muhammed Ali*; Bad Boy* |
Naidoo, Beverley | The Other Side of Truth |
Nye, Naomi Shihab | Tree is Older than You Are; Habibi |
O’Reilly, Bill | Hitler's Last Days* |
Paolini, Christopher | Eragon; Eldest (Inheritance series) |
Parks, Rosa | Rosa Parks: My Story * |
Paterson, Katherine | The Same Stuff |
Perkins, Lynne Rae | Criss Cross |
Perkins, Mitali | You Bring the Distant Near |
Pierce, Tamora | Protector of the Small (series) |
Philbrick, Rodman | Freak the Mighty; The Last Book of the Universe |
Pullman, Philip | His Dark Materials trilogy; Sally Lockhart trilogy |
Reeve, Philip | Mortal Engines (series) |
Rinaldi, Ann | The Fifth of March; Hang a Thousand Trees with Ribbons |
Salisbury, Graham | Prisoners of the Empire series |
Sanderson, Brandon | Steelheart |
Senzai, N.H. | Shooting Kabul |
Sheinkin, Steve | Bomb: The Race to Build—and Steal—the World’s Most Dangerous Weapon* |
Smith, Betty | A Tree Grows in Brooklyn |
Smith, Roland | Edge (sequel to Peak) Beneath |
Sonnenblick, Jordan | Drums Girls & Dangerous Pie; Zen and the Art of Faking It |
Spinelli, Jerry | Crash |
Staples, Suzanne Fisher | Under the Persimmon Tree |
Stone, Nic | Clean Getaway |
Tolkien, J.R.R. | The Hobbit |
Van Draanen, Wendelin | Running Dream |
Volponi, Paul | The Final Four |
Williams, Michael | Now Is the Time for Running |
Yang, Gene Luen | The Shadow Hero |
Yolen, Jane | Briar Rose; Sword of the Rightful King |
This list was compiled by English teachers and reviewed by librarians at Belmont Middle School and Belmont Public Library, These and other books are available from the school library, the public library, and bookstores. Hoopla is a digital library platform linked to the public library that is also helpful.