Novel for 7th Grader

[piglet too]

There is a DISer who writes some pretty awesome books. Her name is Heather Brewer and the first three books in the series (The Chronicles of Vladimir Tod) are: Eight Grade Bites, Ninth Grade Slays, and Tenth Grade Bleeds. My DS15 loves them and my DS10 has read the first one and loved it as well. (I also read all three and liked them a lot)

 

[piglet too]

Another series of books that my whole family likes is by Cinda Chima. They are The Warrior Heir, The Wizard Heir, and The Dragon Heir.

 

[Carriemel]

The books I'm going to list are ones I've read. They are all Newberry medal award winners for either best childrens' book of the year or runner up. Cynthia Voigt is an incredible young adult author, Madeleine L'Engle is phenomenal, and Paula Fox has written some great stuff too.


Lily's Crossing by Patricia Reilly Giff
Catherine, Called Birdy by Karen Cushman
The Whipping Boy by Sid Fleischman
Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan
One-Eyed Cat by Paula Fox
Dicey's Song by Cynthia Voigt
A Solitary Blue by Cynthia Voigt
Jacob Have I Loved by Katherine Paterson
A Ring of Endless Light by Madeleine L'Engle
The Westing Game by Ellen Rankin
The Slave Dancer by Paula Fox
From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E. L. Konigsburg
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle
The Wheel on the School by Meindert DeJong (my own personal favorite)
King of the Wind by Marguerite Henry
Misty of Chincoteague by Marguerite Henry
These Happy Golden Years by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Roller Skates by Ruth Sawyer

 

[Pixiedust34]

The books I'm going to list are ones I've read. They are all Newberry medal award winners for either best childrens' book of the year or runner up. Cynthia Voigt is an incredible young adult author, Madeleine L'Engle is phenomenal, and Paula Fox has written some great stuff too.


Lily's Crossing by Patricia Reilly Giff
Catherine, Called Birdy by Karen Cushman
The Whipping Boy by Sid Fleischman
Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan
One-Eyed Cat by Paula Fox
Dicey's Song by Cynthia Voigt
A Solitary Blue by Cynthia Voigt
Jacob Have I Loved by Katherine Paterson
A Ring of Endless Light by Madeleine L'Engle
The Westing Game by Ellen Rankin
The Slave Dancer by Paula Fox
From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E. L. Konigsburg
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle
The Wheel on the School by Meindert DeJong (my own personal favorite)
King of the Wind by Marguerite Henry
Misty of Chincoteague by Marguerite Henry
These Happy Golden Years by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Roller Skates by Ruth Sawyer

This is an excellent list! I was signing back onto this thread to recommend Cynthia Voight. Does Homecoming come before Dicey's Song? I can't remember, but they are both good books.

 

[mchames]

My DD11 (12 in Nov) has recently discovered Lauren Myracle who is kind of like a modern day Judy Blume. She's read Eleven, Twelve and Thirteen which are teen/tween coming of age stories dealing with middle school social issues and puberty. She also has several critically acclaimed books geared towards older students that deal with more serious social issues. DD11 has not read these yet.

Here are some recent favorites:
The Mysterious Bennedict Society- Trenton Lee Stewart (currently three books in the series)
The Name of this Book is Secret and If You're Reading This, It's Too Late-Pseudonymous Bosch She LOVED these!
Philippa Fisher's Fairy Godsister- Liz Kessler (also the Emily Windsnap series)
Bras & Broomsticks- Sarah Mlynowski (part of the Magic in Manhattan Series)

These are all fairly recent so I don't think any of these have been made into movies... yet.

 

[coliebird]

OMG- i just remembered, when i was in 7th grade the absolute MUST READ BOOK and it's still considered a must read (and reread and reread) by many kids that grade-'the outsiders' by s.e. hinton. it's a great read and the fact the author was 15 when she started it, 16 when it was published just makes it even more appealing to that age group.

This is what I was going to suggest. It was my favorite book at that age, and I agree with the pp that most kids now haven't seen the movie as it is almost 30 years old.

 

[Hazzard101]

I am not sure if these will be required reading for her. I work in a middle school and have read The Giver, Gathering Blue, and The Messenger. I really thought they were great books that keep your interest. They all go together but not your typical part one and part two books. They tell the stories of different situations and connect them with other books by using descriptions of characters from previous books. I also enjoyed the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy series, this may be too old for her but I loved it. There are 5 books in the series and only one has been made into a movie.

 

[minniebeth]

Many good suggestions made here!
I strongly agree with the other posters that recommend The Book Thief.
It is an awesome book and I know many adults who have loved it as much as the kids have.

I also think The Giver and sequals are great too, it seems that many kids read this younger than 7th grade, but I think 7th grade is a good maturity level to relly appreciate the depth of them.

What about City of Ember, or Lionboy? Those are great contemporary stories that many enjoy as well. Oh, nevermind about City of Ember, it was made into a movie...

 

[damo]

I'm surprised I haven't seen Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech recommended. It is an excellent book for young girls and a Newberry Medal Winner in 1995. One of my and my daughter's favourite books.

 

[ElizK]

There are a lot of great suggestions here! I had a really hard time getting into The Book Thief, because it is very different, but it is truly one of the best books I've read.

The Giver series is great, and anything by Madeline L'Engle. Many Waters is the 4th in the A Wrinkle in Time series by her, and it's my favorite. It can be read without having read the others, though I can recommend all of them.

LM Montgomery wrote another series, besides Anne of Green Gables. It's the Emily of New Moon series, and I liked them way more, as did my DDs.

Catherine Marshall wrote Christy, which was made into a movie, but she also wrote Julie. It's a great book!

 

[clutter]

my dd (7th grade) hates books that are to 'literary.' Nothing historical, she likes contemporary fiction that she can relate to. When she reads (which isn't often enough for this bookaholic mom), it has to be something that's fairly fun.

She read "Flipped" for her book report this summer, and enjoyed it. (It was on the county's middle school suggested reading list.) She recently read Flush (Flushed?) by Carl Hiassan. Currently she's reading (and enjoying because she's an animal nut) "Born Free" at school and "Eclipse" at home. I recently read "dead Girl Walking." Fun book. I have the one someone recommended on the what are you reading thread about the Wicked Queen from Snow White. Haven't read it yet, but it is a young adult book.

Good luck!

eta: thanks for a lot of the other suggestions, I'm checking some of them out! I read the Book Theif, and it was hard to get in to, I thought.

 

[pansmermaidzlagoon]

this is a great thread for getting Xmas ideas!!!!

 

[2cats1kid]

DD is 12, so not sure what that is in grades, but probably similar.

She has read and loved The Hunger Games recently. She also liked Airman by Eoin Colfer.

 

[Cindy B]

The Book Thief is just beautiful. It is about the friendship between a young German girl and a Jewish man and is written from the Death's POV. They are making it into a mvoie, but it won't be out for another year or so. To Kill a Mockingbird is good, but she will read that. What My Mother Doesn't Know is good. It is about a 15 year old girl falling in love with the "dork" and is written in verse, which makes it different. It is a very cute story.

The book thief is an Excellent book and I would recommend that to a 7th grader. In fact it is an 8th grade required reading book in our district.

Brave New World, The Giver, Fahrenheit 451 are good sci fi utopian books.

If they want a nice girly book, try A tree grows in Brooklyn. Yes, it is a movie but from the 1930s. It is an excellent book with a great immigrant perspective. This is one of my most favorite books in the world!

Jerry Spinelli does some great teenage books, Love Stargirl and the 2nd Stargirl book is good. Milkweed is also great.

Carl Hiassen's adolescent books are great-- they are used in the 4th and 5th grade classrooms around here though. Do NOT pick up Carl Hiassens adult books-- they are a bit graphic in either violence and sex.

I was 12 when I read Judy Blumes Forever.. I wouldn't recommend that.

 

[NMAmy]

Another vote for The Giver books or any of Lois Lawry's books. I enjoyed Number the Stars, as well.

DD has always been a big reader. Other books she enjoyed at that age are Island of the Aunts by Eva Ibbotson, Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin and The Witch of Blackbird Pond.

 

[suzannen]

"The Book Thief" was the most amazing book - Liesl Memminger will stay with me for a long time. I've recommended it to everyone I know.

 

[pperfectmom]

If she wants something more Contemporary I've read all these recently and thought they were pretty good.
-----
The Book Thief, Markus Zusak
http://www.amazon.com/Book-Thief-Ma...=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1256128736&sr=8-1

The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins
http://www.amazon.com/Hunger-Games-...=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1256128805&sr=1-1

Graceling - Kristin Cashore
http://www.amazon.com/Graceling-Kri...=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1256128863&sr=1-1

All the women in my book club loved "The Book Thief" even though it is a book for younger readers. It provides a lot of material to talk about as well.

 

[pansmermaidzlagoon]

I have the one someone recommended on the what are you reading thread about the Wicked Queen from Snow White. Haven't read it yet, but it is a young adult book

that might have been me - I thought to recommend "Fairest of All" by Valentino. It is a quick, good read - especially for those of us into Disney. I just wasn't sure it fit with what the OP was looking for.

If DD like fantasy lit with Unicorns and all that, then "The Unicorn Chronicles" series by Coville are really good books. DD and I couldn't wait for the third book!

 

[Tosie]

This is our list for Battle of the Books - 7th and 8th grade level this year:

Airborn Kenneth Oppel
Chasing Vermeer Blue Balliett
Fever 1793 Laurie Halse Anderson
Hidden Talents David Lubar
Stargirl Jerry Spinelli
Tangerine Edward Bloor
The City of Ember Jeanne DuPrau
The Giver Lois Lowry
The Lightning Thief Rick Riordan
Uglies Scott Westerfeld

Good luck, hope it helps!

 

[NotUrsula]

The Hunger Games and the sequel, Catching Fire are HUGELY hot right now with DS' 7th grade class. Their teacher brought in copies and they were all essentially lining up to read them, though she's not actually teaching the books in class. The series has been optioned for film, but is not in production yet.

DS likes them so much that he insisted on buying them both in hardcover, and is badgering his Dad and I to read them. I've promised to read Hunger Games over the weekend.