2012 Summer Reading List: Eighth Grade

The Hobbit, or There and Back Again
By J.R.R. Tolkien

This title was first published 1937. Bilbo Baggins, a respectable, well-to-do hobbit, lives comfortably in his hobbit-hole until the day the wandering wizard Gandalf chooses him to take part in an adventure from which he may never return.

The Jungle Book
By Rudyard Kipling

First published in magazines from 1893-1895, this is a collection of stories which center on Mowgli, a “man-cub” raised by wolves. His journey to adulthood is aided by Baloo the bear and Bagheera the black panther. Also included is the story of a mongoose, Rikki-Tikki-Tavi.

Beastly
By Alex Flinn

After Ever After
By Jordan Sonnenblick

A Spy in the House
By Y.S. Lee

Rescued from the gallows in 1850s London, young orphan and thief Mary Quinn is offered a place at Miss Scrimshaw's Academy for Girls, where she is trained to be part of an all-female investigative unit called The Agency. At age 17, she infiltrates a rich merchant's home in hopes of tracing his missing cargo ships.

The Red Pyramid
By Rick Riordan

Siblings Carter and Sadie Kane, who have been living apart the six years since their mother’s death, are reunited with their Egyptologist father. He takes them to the British Museum, where he disappears in a fiery explosion. Carter and Sadie try to save their father by embarking on a dangerous pursuit, which leads them to the source of a secret order that goes back to the time of the pharaohs.

Trouble
By Gary Schmidt

Fourteen-year-old Henry, wanting to honor his brother Franklin's dying wishes, sets out to hike Maine's Mount Katahdin with his best friend and dog. However, fate adds another companion -- the Cambodian refugee accused of fatally injuring Franklin.

Dark Water Rising
By Marian Hale