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I am going to be an 8th-grade teacher in the fall, and even though I am not an English teacher, I would like to have a shelf of books in the classroom for my students to borrow and read!

What book would you recommend to middle schoolers? What book did you read in middle school that changed your life? I am especially looking for books with diverse characters. Thanks for your recommendations!

Inkheart trilogy by Cornelia Funke has been a favourite of mine from the first time I read it until now, but I was a little older than 11-13 when I read it the first time. The main character, Meggie, is 12 in the first book.

I think some great reads for that age group are Little Women and Greenglass House.
Little Women because it is so beautiful and heartwarming as well as just being such a good example of how it can be hard, but possible to overcome our faults.
Greenglass House is a mystery and a fun read because it has a diverse set of characters and is super engaging because you keep wanting to know what is going to happen next. I think the two main characters are in their young teenage years.I read this when I was a little older than thirteen but my younger sister read it at that age and really liked it! (Plus, it's fun to try and puzzle out the answer before the mystery is revealed!)

I absolutely recommend the Alex Rider series by Anthony Horowitz. Alex Rider is basically like James Bond, only he's fourteen years old. I remember how difficult it was for me to put those books down, I really enjoyed them. I also used to love the Adventure Island Mysteries by Helen Moss, also a great series for Middle School Students.

Percy Jackson series!! A lot of adventure and the characters were in the same age bracket as them.

I found a book in my school library, and everytime I want to disappear from everyone, I would hide between the shelves and sit in the floor reading this book. It's called Calling on Dragons by Patricia Wrede. It used to be a great getaway for me.

Some great books I enjoyed at the age you specified included the Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan, the Viking Quest series by Lois Walfrid Johnson and the Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis. I also liked the Little House on the Prairie books by Laura Ingalls Wilder.

• Any of Jacqueline Wilson's books.

• The Artemis Fowl series by Eoin Colfer.

• Bridge to Terebithia by Katherine Paterson.

• George by Alex Gino.

• The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling.

• The Lord of the Rings Series by J.R.R. Tolkien.

FRONT DESK by Kelly Yang
(about a first-generation Chinese girl in the USA, helps to motivate students to learn a foreign language)

DEAR MR. HENSHAW by Beverly Cleary
(helps kids express more about themselves in writing)

I read them as an adult and they're the books my younger self would love!

It's been a long time since I read children's books! I would agree that the Narnia and Little House on the Prairie would be good. I read a lot of James Herriot books in Middle School. I think Judy Blume wrote a lot of books intended for children that age. S.E. Hinton. I think I only read a few of them - Rumble Fish and The Outsiders. Encyclopedia Brown books, maybe? A Series of Unfortunate Events. I would recommend Harry Potter, but I actually haven't read those! A nice collection of short stories would be nice as would a book of poetry. Robert Frost, of course, comes to mind. Selected stories by Poe. I don't know of any of the top of my head though! Aesop's Fables and some Kipling. Maybe a little Jack London? Call of the Wild and White Fang. Robinson Crusoe"Bartleby the Scrivener" by Melville is a good short story, "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" by Coleridge, "The Grand Inquisitor" is a part of Dostoevsky's The Brother's Karamazov and has a religious theme. The Red Pony and Of Mice and Men, To Kill a Mockingbird. The Pearl. My Antonia by Cather. Books providing an introduction to different things in life: mathematics, physics, computer, inventors, politicians, philosophers, explorers, sports, cars, etc. One book I really enjoyed was From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. Black Beauty. An age appropriate cookbook? Good luck!

I read Brian Jakes. Although there are a lot of children's books and most of them are wonderful.

Space Case by Stuart Gibbs. It is a really interesting book with a big fat plot twist, and the language is suitable for middle schoolers. The protagonist in the book is still a teenager.

VivianLove wrote: ↑25 May 2020, 20:27 I am going to be an 8th-grade teacher in the fall, and even though I am not an English teacher, I would like to have a shelf of books in the classroom for my students to borrow and read!

What book would you recommend to middle schoolers? What book did you read in middle school that changed your life? I am especially looking for books with diverse characters. Thanks for your recommendations!

Books by Tamora Pierce. She has strong female protagonists. I read her Song of the Lioness quartet when I was 12 and fell in love with it.

1984 was the most amazing book I had ever read in middle school! I actually enjoyed going to class while we were focused on that particular book. Kids at that age need to have something so intriguing and mind-boggling to work their imaginations.

It's difficult to say as my taste in books was different from my peers. The books that I read that interested me were

• The House of Dies Drear

• Tom Clancy's NetForce Explorers series

• R.L. Stein's Fear Street series

• Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

• The Amber Brown series

• The Bionicle series (Lego Bionicle brand about the Toa warriors)

• Tongues of Jade by Lawrence Yep

• Books about animals and different places around the globe

The Babysitters Club and Nancy Drew could be nice additions as well.