8th grade book recomendations

[Hav0k99]

My little bro is a little behind on his reading skills and I'd like to get him reading a new book once every 2 weeks. Has anyone just had their kids complete the eighth grade and can recommend any books that their child read in school?

 

[Lola]

i would think any of the harry potter books would be on par for an 8th level.
i would go to borders and check out what other kids/parents are buying and if worse comes to worse, ask an employee to suggest a popular title!

 

[xenocyd3]

da vinci code

 

[waggy]

depends on the 8th grader.

for some the harry potter books will be fine. others way to hard.

it really depends on what books he has been reading before.

 

[CVSiN]

Third vote for Harry P. good books for adults too.

 

[MacBaine]

Ayn Rynd

 

[Pepsei]

Lady Chatterly's Lover.

 

[Hav0k99]

I'm looking for more stuff commonly read at school like Lord of the Flies.

 

[Taggart]

I think 'To Kill A Mockingbird' is good for an 8th grader

 

[Drakkon]

Red Badge of Courage, Tom Sawyer, War of the Worlds, 20K leages under the Sea

http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&q=8th+grade+reading+list

 

[JDub02]

I read The Hobbit and LOTR Trilogy when I was in Jr. High.

Much more interesting than the "required" reading.

Tom Clancy is great and not very hard to read.

 

[Hav0k99]

Originally posted by: Taggart
I think 'To Kill A Mockingbird' is good for an 8th grader

are you kidding? There's words in there an 8th grader wouldn't know what they mean.

http://www.lausd.k12.ca.us/Belmont_HS/tkm/

 

[Kyteland]

David Eddings - The Belgariad & The Malloreon series

It's 12 books total so it should keep him occupied for a while and I remember loving those books when I was in the 8th grade.

The Belgariad
Pawn of Prophecy
Queen of Sorcery
Magician's Gambit
Castle of Wizardry
Enchanters' End Game
The Malloreon
Guardians of the West
Demon Lord of Karanda
King of the Murgos
Sorceress of Darshiva
The Seeress of Kell
Other
Belgarath the Sorcerer
Polgara the Sorceress

 

[Ameesh]

i would think harry potter would be way too easy for an 8th grader to develop his reading skills, maybe east of eden or an easier shakespere like macbeth or romeo and juliet, enders game would probably be a good one too and if he likes it there is a whole series behind it.

 

[Hav0k99]

well I think war would be appealing to him so maybe I'll start him off on Red Badge of Courage.

 

[mobobuff]

Originally posted by: Ameesh
i would think harry potter would be way too easy for an 8th grader to develop his reading skills, maybe east of eden or an easier shakespere like macbeth or romeo and juliet, enders game would probably be a good one too and if he likes it there is a whole series behind it.

Nah, I think he'd need to develop Modern English reading skills before he attemps the beginnings of New English.

Harry Potter would be a good start. Maybe some 1984.

 

[Stojakapimp]

The Gas We Pass: The Story of Farts (My Body Science)

It's kind of a tough read, but well worth it if you can make it all the way through

 

[Kelvrick]

What about that one book, the one where the pigs become like people... Animal Farm, I think.

Otherwise, I remember enjoying like White Fang and such books when I was a kid. The choose your own adventures and like Hardy Boys were cool too.

 

[compfreak999]

erm
1. Harry potter. ss/cs/poa/gof/oof
2. A series of unfortunate events
3. A Walk to Remember (this may not be fit, but its a good book)

 

[Kishan]

For enjoyment, The Outsiders by SE Hinton was pretty good. For skill, Great Expectations will get him really prepared as it will be like all the books he will start reading-a good story, but long and drawn out. If he can read that, he'll be gold, and set for freshman year in HS.

 

[godmare]

I had to read 'The Once and Future King' by T.H White over the summer before ninth grade.
That's probably a little mre advanced for someone that's slipping, though.
'A Clockwork Orange', maybe?

 

[godmare]

On second thought, why don't you or your parents ask his english teacher, or the school librarian for some recommendations?

 

[sciencewhiz]

What has he already read?

 

[jagec]

Originally posted by: KPSHAH316
For skill, Great Expectations will get him really prepared as it will be like all the books he will start reading-a good story, but long and drawn out. If he can read that, he'll be gold, and set for freshman year in HS.

Holy crap, no. I read it...and it's just not worth reading the whole thing. "Long and drawn out" doesn't begin to describe it.

And mind you, this is coming from someone who reads most average books in a few hours.

Some other good books are the Pern series by Anne McCaffrey, the Earthsea series by Ursula K. Le Guin, The Mote in God's Eye and the sequel (I forget the author), and a lot of C.J. Cherryh books.

Oh yeah...and get him a library card and offer to take him whenever he likes. Sitting in the library reading for a few hours is a good thing.

 

[Kibbo]

I vote for Harry Potter.

The first one is easy, and they grow harder. But if he gets hooked, he'll puch himself.

Often boys prefer non-fiction. Try the national geographic books, if he is at all interested in science. My Grandmother taught remedial high school english, and she caused quite a bit of controversy back in the day 'cause she taught all the motorheads to read with popular mechanics. If he likes cars, get him reading about them. If he likes music, get him Rolling Stone and Spin. If he likes comedy, get him Gordan Korman or something. If he likes computers, get him on these forums.

The most important thing is to get him in the habit of reading what interests him. Once he gets the habit, he will push himself.