8th Grade Booktalks
2020-2021
January 28, 2021: Books to try if you liked The Giver...
September 17, 2020: new(ish) books you shouldn't miss!
Up For Air by Laurie Morrison
- F MOR. Realistic Fiction.
- Annabelle is thrilled when she is put on the high school swim team, even though she's just going into 8th grade. School is not where Annabelle feels most comfortable--that place is definitely the pool.
- And Annabelle is even more thrilled when she started to wonder if maybe Conner, the very cute high school boy, actually likes *her.* She starts to wonder if maybe she's figuring things out and finding her place.
- But when a prank goes terribly wrong, Conner blows her off *and* she can't swim at the invitational. Who is she when she can't do the one thing where she feels most like herself?
Black Brother, Black Brother by Jewell Parker Rhodes
- F RHO. Realistic/Sports Fiction.
- Brothers Donte' and Trey go to the same elite private school, but they have very different experiences there. Even though they have the same parents, one Black and one white, Trey has much lighter skin and basically passes for white while Donte's skin is much darker. And that makes all the difference.
- When Donte' has a run-in with bully Alan and is arrested and suspended, Donte' realizes he has to beat Alan at his own game--fencing. The problem is, Donte' doesn't really know much about fencing. So he convinces a former Olympian in fencing to teach him the ropes so that he can finally beat Alan fair and square.
Give Us the Vote!: Over Two Hundred Years of Fighting for the Ballot by Susan Goldman Rubin
- 324.6 RUB. Historical Nonfiction.
- For over 200 years, people in the United States have marched, gone to jail, risked their lives, and died trying to be allowed to vote. Others have done all sorts of things (legal and not legal) to prevent those people from getting what they want.
- This book explains suffrage, all the way from the Founding Fathers to the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s to voter suppression controversies today.
- During this year when the 100th year of women's voting rights is being celebrated, this book tells the story of voting, both being able to and the barriers to being able to, in this country.
Nazi Saboteurs:Hitler's Secret Attack on America by Samantha Seiple
- 940.54 SEI. Historical Nonfiction.
- In 1942, eight Nazi agents infiltrated the United States with a plan of destroying American manufacturing, transportation, and other locations Germany thought were important.
- However (*spoiler alert), one thing after another went wrong, and the plans were a failure. The leader of the group, George Dasch, even decided to eventually turn on his partners.
- This book tells the story of the eight men and the attacks that never happened.