Summer Reading Instructions: Grade 8
Instructions: Students should read a minimum of five books. These books may include selections from the
provided grade level book list or other appropriate favorites. Additional books can be selected in two ways:
 Refer to your student’s ZPD range or GE level on their Star Reading report attached to this packet.
You can access www.arbookfind.com to find a book’s level.
 Refer to their Lexile Level. Please use the comparison chart below. You can access www.lexile.com/fab/
to search for a list of books within your student’s Lexile range.
AR Reading Level
Lexile Reading Level
1.0
1.5
2.0
2.5
3.0
3.5
4.0
4.5
5.0
5.5
6.0
6.5
7.0
7.5
8.0
8.5
300
350
400
475
520
570
640
725
800
875
925
975
1015
1075
1125
1150
Lexile Reading Level
Range
250-325
325-400
375-450
450-500
475-525
525-600
600-700
650-800
800-850
850-900
875-950
950-1000
975-1050
1000-1100
1050-1125
1075-1150
Please list the titles of the books your student reads, on the Reading Log or Summary provided in the packet. Next
year’s teacher will collect the Reading Log or Summary on Friday, August 16th.
The required book(s) listed below is to be read by the beginning of the school year. In the weeks that follow the
start of the school year, next year’s teacher will use this book(s) as the first literature unit. In order to be able to
properly participate in the assignments or projects given, students must complete the required reading. This book
can also be logged into the summer Reading Log.
* Required Reading *
The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
The Great Fire by Jim Murphy
(Please have a copy of the book to bring
to class the first week of school)
Recommended Reading List
on the back!!!
Students are required to read and write a summary of at least 3 additional books.
One book must be fiction. One book must be nonfiction. Additional books are student’s choice.
Recommended Reading List for 8th Grade
Title
Author
AR/Lexile
Fiction:
Ender’s Game (also a series)
by Orson Scott Card
5.5/780
The Shadow Thieves
by Anne Ursu
5.1/850
The Watsons Go to Birmingham
by C.P.Curtis
5.0/1000
Hurt Go Happy
by Ginny Rorby
5.2/870
The Book Thief
by Markus Zusak
5.1/730
Do the Math: Secrets, Lies & Algebra
by W. Lichtman
5.9/710
The Declaration (bk 1)
by Gemma Malley
6.2/930
The Resistance (bk2)
by Gemma Malley
6.0/910
The Girl of Fire and Thorns
by Rae Carson
5.0/730
Leverage
by Joshua Cohen
5.2/870
Foundation (series)
by Isaac Asimov
6.4/830
Jurassic Park
by Michael Crichton
7.3/710
The Graveyard Book
by Neil Gaiman
5.1/820
Mortal Instrument Series (City of…)
by Cassandra Clare
5.0/720
Scorpia, Skeleton Key, etc.
by Anthony Horowitz
5.6/680
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
by C.S. Lewis
5.7/940
That was Then, This is Now
by S. E. Hinton
5.5/780
Eragon
by Christopher Paolini
5.6/710
The Hobbit
by J.R.R. Tolkien
6.6/1000
Fahrenheit 451
by Ray Bradbury
5.2/890
Heat
by Mike Lupica
5.3/940
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas
by John Boyne
5.8/980
***Students are able to select books that are not on the list but must have a Lexile score of at least 900.
(check on www.lexile.com)
Nonfiction:
How to Live Forever
by Nick Arnold
6.8/960
Navajo Code Talkers
by Nathan Aaseng
9.5/1170
You Are the Juror
by Nathan Aaseng
10.2/1200
Hidden Children of the Holocaust
by Esther Kustanowitz
5.7/810
Holocaust
by Valerie Bodden
8.4 /1350
Into Thin Air
by Jon Krakauer
8.9/1320
An American Plague
by Jim Murphy
9.0/1130
***Students are able to select books that are not on the list but must have a Lexile score of at least 950.
(check on www.lexile.com)
“By the fourth grade, according to the Common Core, students should be reading
equal amounts from “literary” and “informational” texts. In the eighth grade, 45
percent should be literary and 55 percent informational. And by 12th grade, the
split should be 30/70.”
--Kathleen Krull