Grade 7 Recommended Reading
Saxe Middle School Library Literacy Promotion 2021-22
Over a hundred titles make up the Saxe Middle School Recommended Reading list. Students in grade 7 have access to these young adult titles to read as many titles as possible throughout the year. Download the handy bookmark to track titles read and submit the bookmark to Mrs. Biondi at the end of the year for recognition.
I Kill the Mockingbird by Paul Acampora
Posted by John D. Anderson
The Tomb by S.A. Bodeen
Beneath by Roland Smith
Fish in a Tree by Lynda Hunt
ATLANTIA a Novel: by Ally Condie
Generations ago, the underwater city of Atlantia, became the last chance of survival for an increasingly polluted world. Twin sisters Bay and Rio live Below in Atlantia and are about to turn fifteen. This is the age where each teen decides what their future holds--whether they will live Below or go Above. After the untimely death of their mother,the twins are split apart as secrets and political intrigue abound in this dystopic novel.
Shipwreck Island by S.A. Bodeen
Max. Best Friend. Hero. Marine. by Jennifer Li Shotz
An inspiring story of a canine hero. When Justin's older brother, Kyle, is killed in Afghanistan, Justin can't believe that his brother is really gone. Except there's one thing that Kyle left behind. . . .Max, his highly trained military canine who has always protected his fellow soldiers. When Max is traumatized and unable to remain in the service, Justin's family reluctantly takes him in. As the pair starts to unravel the mystery of what really happened to Kyle, they find more excitement—and danger—than they bargained for.
Gone by Michael Grant
The Iron Trial: Magisterium Book One by Holly Black and Cassandra Clare
I Have a Bad Feeling About This by Jeff Strand
Sovay by Celia Rees
Shackleton's Stowaway by Victoria McKernan
The Epic Fail of Arturo Zamora
Liar and Spy by Rebecca Stead
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
Required reading for science fiction fans! A hilarious satire that chronicles the story of a young man who is rescued by an alien friend seconds before Earth is demolished to make room for a galactic freeway.
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
The classic coming of age story of family, unity and love in the midst of difficult times. Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy –sisters growing into women-in nineteenth-century New England around the time of the Civil War.
Home of the Brave by Katherine Applegate
Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austin
Classic love story between two people attracted to one another while seeking to overcome the problems imposed upon them by their families and society.
Seer of Shadows by Avi
Tiger, Tiger by Lynne Reid Banks
From the author of An Indian in the Cupboard, comes this historical fiction thriller set in the times of Ancient Rome. Two tiger cub brothers are taken from the jungle to Ancient Rome, where one becomes the pampered pet of Caesar's daughter and the other becomes a man-eating "entertainment act" at the Colosseum. Find out what happens when a series of fateful events lead the two cubs to meet again.
Seer of Shadows by Avi
This list provides a wide range of choices for all readers!
The Raft by S.A. Bodeen
Robie is an experienced traveler. She's taken the flight from Honolulu to the Midway Atoll, a group of Pacific islands where her parents live, many times. When she has to get to Midway in a hurry after a visit with her aunt in Hawaii, she gets on the next cargo flight at the last minute. All systems are go until a storm hits during the flight. The only passenger, Robie doesn't panic until the engine suddenly cuts out and Max, the pilot, shouts at her to put on a life jacket. They are over miles of Pacific Ocean. Find out what happens in this survival story.
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
Before The Hunger Games, came this original classic of a frightening vision of the future. Where firemen don't put out fires--they start them-- in order to burn books and knowledge! Explore themes of censorship and freedom of information in this dystopian Sci Fic classic.
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
A classic Gothic mystery...Set in the early nineteenth-century England. An orphaned young woman, named Jane accepts employment as a tutor for a rich man's daughter and soon finds herself in love with her employer. Find out what happens when she discovers he has a terrible, dark secret.
Code Talker: A Novel About the Navajo Marines of WWII by Joseph Bruchac
Many titles on this list are part of a series. Getting hooked on a series keeps you reading and watching the plot and characters develop over time!
Ghost by Jason Reynolds
The Face on the Milk Carton by Caroline B. Cooney
A familiar photograph of a missing girl on a milk carton leads Janie on a search for her real identity.
Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend by Matthew Dicks
Max is different from other children. Some people say he has Asperger's, but most just say he's "on the spectrum." None of this matters to Budo, who loves Max unconditionally and is charged with protecting him from the class bully. When Mrs. Patterson does the unthinkable, it is up to Budo and a team of imaginary friends to save Max―and Budo must ultimately decide which is more important: Max's happiness or his own existence.
And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
A classic mystery. Ten strangers--each with a sordid past--are summoned by an absent millionaire to a private island off the coast of Devon and begin to die one by one upon arrival.
Thwonk by Joan Bauer
Genesis Begins Again by Alicia D.Williams
This is a coming of age story. Thirteen-year-old Genesis tries again and again to lighten her black skin, thinking it is the root of her family's troubles, before discovering reasons to love herself as is.
The Adromeda Strain by Michael Crichton
A medical mystery unfolds in five days, as American scientists struggle to identify and control a deadly new form of life that is ravaging mankind.
The Rig by Joe Dulcie
Fifteen-year-old Will Drake has made a career of breaking out from high-security prisons. His talents have landed him at the Rig, a specialist juvenile holding facility in the middle of the Arctic Ocean. No one can escape from the Rig. Can Will break the Rig’s inescapable reputation? Don’t miss this thrilling adventure.
Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper
Phantoms in the Snow by Kathleen Benner Duble
Restart by Gordon Korman
Ransom by Lois Duncan
I Know What You Did Last Summer by Lois Duncan
Four teenagers who have desperately tried to conceal their responsibility for a hit-and-run accident are pursued by a mystery figure seeking revenge.
Michael Vey: The Prisoner of Cell 25 by Richard Paul Evans
Rush for the Gold: Mystery at the Olympics by John Feinstein
Vanishing Act: Mystery at the U.S. Open by John Feinstein
Eighth grade sports reporters Susan Carol and Stevie reunite at the U.S. Open tennis championships where they investigate the mysterious disappearance of a top Russian player.
Took by Mary Downing Hahn
A witch called Old Auntie is lurking near Dan's family's new home. He doesn't believe in her at first,
but is forced to accept that she is real and take action when his little sister, Erica, is 'took' to become
Auntie's slave for the next fifty years.
Ranger's Apprentice: The Ruins of Gorlan by John Flanagan
Book one in a twelve book series! When fifteen-year-old Will is rejected by battle school, he becomes the reluctant apprentice to the mysterious Ranger Halt, and winds up protecting the kingdom from danger. Learn more with the book trailer below.
The Worst Class Trip Ever by Dave Barry
When the eighth grade social studies class of Miami's Culver Middle School goes on a trip to Washington, D.C., Wyatt Palmer finds himself in deep trouble before the plane even lands because his best friend, Matt, has decided the men sitting behind them are terrorists and it is up to the boys to stop them. Don't miss this hilarious adventure from the author of Science Fair!
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
Nobody Owens is a normal boy, except that he has been raised by ghosts and other denizens of the graveyard.
Dead End in Norvelt by Jack Gantos
Among the Hidden by Margaret Peterson Haddix
Imagine hiding in your attic your life and not finding out why until you were six and having to stay inside all day while your whole family is gone? In a future where the Population Police enforce the law limiting a family to only two children, Luke has lived all his twelve years in isolation and fear until another "third" child convinces him that the government is wrong.
Found: The Missing by Margaret Peterson Haddix
Thirteen-year-old Jonah has always known that he was adopted, and he's never thought it was any big deal. Then he and a new friend, Chip, who's also adopted, begin receiving mysterious letters. Find out how this plot unfolds in this thrilling mystery.
The Lab by Jack Heath
Agent Six of Hearts is the strongest, most effective agent in the Deck, a team of agents fighting to uphold justice in a corrupt futuristic world. Mission after mission, Six seems to be invincible. Yet, can his true identity really stop him?
The Six by Mark Alpert
This story explores the future of artificial intelligence. Adam, crippled by muscular dystrophy, and five other terminally ill teenagers sacrifice their bodies and upload their minds into weaponized robots to battle a dangerously advanced artificial intelligence program bent on destroying humanity.
Leaving Protection by Will Hobbs
Soldier Boys by Dean Hughes
This story alternates chapters between two boys, one German and one American. Both are eager to join their respective armies during World War II, find out how their fates cross paths at the Battle of the Bulge.
One for the Murphys by Lynda Mullaly Hunt
Adrift by Paul Griffin
Code Name Zero by Chris Rylander
The Fourth Stall lovers unite! Author Chris Rylander is at it again in this hilarious adventure!
Carson Fender, a seventh-grader, and a notorious prankster, has lived North Dakota for his entire life, going to the same boring school every day, the same boring movie theater every week, the same boring state fair every year. Nothing ever changes, and nothing ever happens. That is, until today. Because today a desperate man hands him a package with a dire set of instructions. And that package is going to lead Carson to discover that there's a secret government agency operating in his small, quiet North Dakota hometown. And that this agency needs his help.
Unbound by Ann E. Burg
Ungifted by Gordon Korman
Pop by Gordon Korman
Lonely after a midsummer move to a new town, sixteen-year-old high-school quarterback Marcus Jordan becomes friends with a retired professional football linebacker who is great at training him, but whose childish behavior keeps Marcus in hot water.
Rook by Sharon Cameron
In the Sunken City that was once Paris, the guillotine rules again. While Sophia Bellamy from the Commonwealth tries to rescue as many of the revolution's victims as she can, she finds that some prisoners smuggle out, and some prisoners disappear from their cells. What does a red-tipped rook feather mean when left in their place?--Find out who is the mysterious Red Rook in this dystopic thriller!
Call of the Wild by Jack London
Geek Girl by Holly Smale
When she is accidentally discovered by a modeling agent, fifteen-year-old Harriet jumps at the chance to transform herself from a geek to a fashion model.
Mark of a Thief by Jennifer A. Nielsen
When Nic, a slave in the mines outside of Ancient Rome, is forced to enter a sealed cavern containing lost treasures of Julius Caesar, he finds himself in possession of an ancient amulet filled with magic once reserved for the Gods, and becomes the center of a conspiracy to overthrow the emperor and destroy Rome.
The Lie Tree by Francis Hardinge
On an island off the south coast of Victorian England, fourteen-year-old Faith investigates the mysterious death of her father, who was involved in a scandal, and discovers a tree that feeds upon lies and gives those who eat its fruit visions of truth.
Thunder Over Kandahar by Sharon E. McKay
The Apothecary by Maile Meloy
Can a dose of magic save the world? This adventure story involves a fourteen-year-old American girl whose life unexpectedly transforms when she moves to London in 1952 and gets swept up in a race to save the world from nuclear war.
Cleopatra Confesses by Carolyn Meyer
Teenage Princess Cleopatra, the third (and favorite) daughter of King Ptolemy XII, comes of age in ancient Egypt, accumulating power and discovering love.
War Horse by Michael Morpurgo
Joey, the horse, recalls his experiences growing up on an English farm and his amazing struggle for survival as a cavalry horse during World War I.
Hero by Mike Lupica
The Nest by Kenneth Oppel
When wasps come to Steve in a dream offering to fix his sick baby brother, he thinks all he has to do is say yes. But yes may not mean what Steve thinks it means. Fans of Coraline will love this creepy story!
The Smile by Donna Jo Napoli
Who is the woman with the most famous smile? Set in Renaissance Italy, 'Mona Lisa' or Elisabetta longs for romance as a teenager. When a chance meeting with Leonardo da Vinci introduces her to the powerful Guiliano de Medici, her life changes forever. Find out more about the life of this infamous woman.
The Body in the Woods by April Henry
While helping the Portland County Sheriff's Search and Rescue seek a missing man, teens Alexis, Nick and Ruby instead find a body and join forces to find the girls murderer, forming an unlikely friendship in the process.
Witch & Wizard by James Patterson
Soldier's Heart by Gary Paulsen
Eager to enlist, fifteen-year-old Charley has a change of heart, after experiencing the realities of Civil War combat.
In the Shadow of the Sun by Anne O'Brien
Girl in the Blue Coat by Monica Hesse
Set in Amsterdam in 1943 during the German occupation of Holland, 18-year-old Hanneke has begun finding scarce goods like food to sell. But she is taken aback when a customer implores her to find a person instead, a missing Jewish girl in a blue coat . Hanneke s reluctant decision to help sets in motion a chain of events that dramatically changes her life and the lives of others and raises the question, should she find the missing girl, what then?
Zane and the Hurricane: A Story of Katrina by Rodman Philbrick
Between the Lines by Jodi Picoult
Outrun the Moon by Stacey Lee
On the eve of the San Francisco Earthquake of 1906, Mercy Wong--daughter of Chinese
immigrants--is struggling to hold her own among the spoiled heiresses at prestigious St. Clare's
School. When tragedy strikes, everyone must band together to survive.
Witch Child by Celia Rees
Set in 1659, fourteen-year-old Mary Newbury keeps a journal of her voyage from England to the New World and her experiences living as an outsider in a community of Puritans near Salem, Massachusetts.
The Encyclopedia of Me by Karen Rivers
Notorious by Gordon Korman
Keenan has lived all over the world but nowhere quite as strange as Centerlight Island, which is split between the United States and Canada. The only thing weirder than Centerlight itself is his neighbor Zarabeth, aka ZeeBee. ZeeBee is obsessed with the island’s history as a Prohibition-era smuggling route. When ZeeBee convinces Keenan to go on a hilarious adventure-things will never be the same.
The Benefits of Being an Octopus by Ann Braden
Seventh-grader Zoey Albro focuses on caring for three younger siblings and avoiding rich classmates at school until her fascination with octopuses gets her on the debate team and she begins to speak out.
I'll Be There by Holly Goldberg Sloan
It Wasn't Me by Dan Alison Levy
The Geography of You and Me by Jennifer Smith
Peak by Roland Smith
A fourteen-year-old boy attempts to be the youngest person to reach the top of Mount Everest.
Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli
Stargirl, a teen who animates quiet Mica High with her colorful personality, soon finds herself shunned for her refusal to conform.
Defy the Stars by Claudia Gray
A teen soldier teams up with an enemy android to end an interplanetary war. Noemi and an enemy robot, Abel, who is programmed to obey her commands, set out on an interstellar quest to save her home planet, Earth colony Genesis.
The Water Wars by Cameron Stracher
In a dystopic world, where water has become a precious resource, Vera and her brother befriend a boy who seems to have unlimited access to water and who suspiciously disappears, prompting a dangerous search challenged by pirates, a paramilitary group, and corporations.
Heroes of the Valley by Jonathan Stroud
Bored with everyday chores and dreaming of long-ago heroes, teenaged Halli devotes himself to practical jokes until a trick he plays on a rival sets off a chain of events that change the course of his life forever.
Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys
World War II is nearly over but thousands of refugees have nowhere to go. Alternating voices from four perspectives tells their converging stories. When their paths cross as they trek through eastern Prussia toward the Wilhelm Gustloff, a ship that might take them to freedom. Each of the narrators has something to hide. Don't miss this powerful tale.
Charlie Thorne and the Last Equation by Stuart Gibbs
The CIA forces twelve-year-old Charlotte "Charlie" Thorne, a rebellious genius, to use her code-breaking skills on an epic global chase to locate Einstein's last equation before dangerous agents discover it and unlock the solution to harnessing energy.
Goodbye Stranger by Rebecca Stead
The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
This story starts the adventures of hobbit Bilbo Baggins in a land inhabited by dwarfs, elves, goblins, dragons, and humans. His quest begins when he sets off to recover a stolen treasure stolen from the great dragon Smaug.
Bat Boy by Mike Lupica
Homecoming by Cynthia Voigt
Thirteen-year-old Dicey takes care of her three siblings over the course of a summer in New England and tries to find a new home for all of them after they are abandoned by their mother.
All We Have Left by Wendy Mills
Sword of the Rightful King: A Novel of King Arthur by Jane Yolen
Merlin, the magician devises, a way for King Arthur to prove himself the rightful king of England-pulling a sword from a stone-but trouble arises when someone else removes the sword first!
Brave New Girl by Rachel Vincent
Silver by Chris Wooding
When the students at Mortingham Boarding Academy find a group of strange, silvery beetles on
school grounds they are excited, but when the beetles attack them and a mysterious virus starts
spreading, a group of mismatched students must work together to survive.