As you all know, I am a strong believer that if you are to become an accomplished writer, you MUST read good literature. I recently returned from a BER seminar entitled “The Best Young Adult Books of the Decade and How to Use Them in Your Program (Grades 6-12)”. I learned about so many great books that I wanted to share some of them with you. Dr. Scates gave book talks on over 75 books during the day, so the list here does not do justice to the great literature out there for young adults. First, I will post Denni Kay Scates’s (the presenter) list of the:
Top Ten Young Adult Books for Grades 6-8.
1) Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis
2) The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick (Adventure)
3) Cirque Du Freak (series) by Darren Shan (Fantasy; Horror)
4) To Dance by Sienna Cherson Siegel (Science Fiction; Graphic Novel)
5) Death by Eggplant by Susan O’Keefe (Humor)
6) Click Here and Find Out How I Survived 7th Grade by Denise Vega (Humor)
7) Waiting for Normal by Leslie Conner (Realistic Fiction)
8) Guys Write for Guys Read by Jon Scieszka (Short Stories)
9) Dairy Queen by Catherine Gilbert Murdock (Realistic Fiction)
10) A Baseball Card Adventure Series (ie. Babe and Me) by Dan Gutman (Fantasy; Series)
Besides Dr. Scates’s Top Ten, I made a list of :
“Top Ten Books I Want to Read”
1) Point Blank: an Alex Rider Adventure by Anthony Horowitz (Adventure)
2) From Baghdad With Love: a Marine, the War, and a Dog Named Lava by Jay Kopelman (Memoir)
3) How to Be Popular by Meg Cabot (“Chick” Lit)
4) The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova (Fantasy; Horror)
5) Code Talker by Joseph Bruchac (Historical Fiction)
6) Fire From the Rock by Sharon Draper (Historical Fiction)
7) 24 Girls in 7 Days by Alex Bradley (Humor)
8) Dead Girls Don’t Write Letters by Gail Giles (Mystery)
9) Dairy Queen by Catherine Gilbert Murdock (Realistic Fiction)
10) Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life by Wendy Mass (Mystery)
You knew I would want to give my two-cents, so here it is:
Mrs. C-P’s Top Ten List of Young Adult Books
1) Touching Spirit Bear by Ben Michaelsen (Adventure)
2) Running Out of Time by Margaret Petterson Haddix (Historical Fiction/Adventure)
3) Flying Solo by Ralph Fletcher (Realistic Fiction)
4) Jack on the Tracks by Jack Gantos (Humor)
5) Swimming Upstream: Middle School Poems by Kristine O’Connell George
6) Sideways Stories From Wayside School by Louis Sachar: (Humor)This book is below the middle school level reading-wise; however, is rich in language and lends itself to impromptu plays
7) Guts by Gary Paulsen (Biography)
8) Stormbreaker by Anthony Horowitz (Adventure)
9) Silent to the Bone by E.L. Konigsburg (Realistic Fiction a bit more mature topic than the rest)
10) Writing Magic by Gail Carson Levine (Non Fiction): One of the best books to encourage young writers.
If you are interested I have a catalog of ALL of the books BER recommends for students 6-12. It is lengthy, but it gives a brief description of the books. As readers of this blog your assignment is to add to the list through “comments”. What books have your read that should DEFINTELY be on the TOP TEN LIST OF YOUNG ADULT BOOKS GRADES 6-8? Leave a comment with the title of the book, author and why you think it should be on the list. Happy reading and writing…












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