7th Grade Booktalks
2017-2018
March 14, 2018: series to start
Floors by Patrick Carman
- F CAR, mystery/adventure
- 1st in a three part series, HMS has the first two
- Patrick Carman explains the book
Found by Margaret Peterson Haddix
- F HAD (on the 1st turning cart), mystery/adventure
- 1st in an 8 part series, HMS has them all!
- 13 year old Jonah is adopted, and he's always been just fine with that. But when he and his new friend Chip, who was also adopted, get letters that say "You are one of the missing." and "Beware! They're coming back to get you." he starts to wonder what's going on. The two become involved with a mystery that involves the FBI, a smuggling operation, an airplane that appears out of nowhere, and people that appear and disappear for no apparent reason. The more they learn the more they wonder who they really are.
Savvy by Ingrid Law
- F LAW, fantasy/adventure
- 1st in a trilogy, HMS has all 3!
- Each member of the Beaumont family has a "savvy"--a special supernatural power they realize when they turn 13. Two days before Mibs turns 13, though, her dad has a terrible accident miles away from home. Mibs quest becomes getting to her dad and proving that her savvy will help him recover. Along the way she meets some interesting characters and starts to realize that maybe she doesn't know quite as much as she thought she did.
York: The Shadow Cipher by Laura Ruby
- F RUB, historical fiction/fantasy/adventure
- 1st in a planned trilogy (This just came out last summer; the others aren't published yet. But maybe the 2nd will be published in late May?)
- A pair of genius twins in the late 1800s in New York City remade their city according to their code, in the streets of the city, and left a treasure to be found. But no one ever found it. Now, in the present day, another pair of twins receives a mysterious letter that tells them about this code. If they can use their brains, their feet, and their bravery, they may be able to solve the code and save their home. As they start to work towards a solution, though, they realize the code is solving them as well.
Audio Books from the public library!
Directions to download an app for audiobooks
You'll need:
- an iOS or Android device
- an HPL library card and PIN
January 24, 2018: historical fiction
Fever, 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson
- (F AND) setting: Philadelphia, post Revolutionary War
- Mattie Cook's grandfather and mother own a coffeehouse in busy Philadelphia.
- They hear about a sickness that is affecting people, but they don't really think about it until Mattie's mother also becomes ill.
- Suddenly, more important than keeping the coffeehouse going is protecting their lives.
Caminar by Skila Brown
- (F BRO) setting: Guatemala, 1981
- novel in verse
- Guatemala was going through a terrible 36 year civil war. This story focuses on Carlos, a boy living in a small village, coping during the war.
- One minute Guatemalan soldiers are going through the village looking for rebels, and the next minute, the rebels are going through the village looking for anything they can that will help them.
- When Carlos and his mother are separated, Carlos has to figure out how to survive on his own while also trying to make his way back to her.
A Tugging String by David Greenberg
- (F GRE) setting: the South during the Civil Rights movement
- Duvy Greenberg is an ordinary twelve year old trying to fit in, even while his father Jack is a prominent civil rights lawyer.
- When Dorothy Milton seeks out Martin Luther King Jr.'s help in order to become a registered voter in Selma, Alabama, it sets in motion events that open Duvy's eyes to to the realities of the world he lives in.
The Green Glass Sea by Ellen Klages
- (F KLA) setting: Los Alamos, New Mexico, 1943
- Dewey Kerrigan and her father are traveling west. He won't tell her where they're going until they get there, and once they arrive she understands why. He is working on a top secret government program.
- Over the next few years she gets to know scientists, works on her own small experiments, and makes a friend, without realizing how the Manhattan Project will change the entire world.
- book trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4iW5G8AMKvo
Riot by Walter Dean Myers
- (F MYE) setting: New York City, 1863
- written in screenplay format
- In the summer of 1863, President Lincoln was desperate for more Union soldiers, so he instituted a draft that allowed the wealthiest to escape joining. What followed were race riots between black Americans and Irish the country had not seen.
- Claire, the fifteen year old daughter of a black father and Irish mother, is caught between the two sides and has to figure out how to live in this new world.
October 18, 2017: mystery, suspense, and drama
Nothing But the Truth by Avi
This book is definitely an oldie but goodie... Published a LONG time ago, there may be parts that still ring true today. Philip is a ninth grader and mad at his English teacher because he is failing and therefore doesn't get to join the track team. Because of that, he comes up with a plan he thinks will allow him to get out of her classes. Instead of just standing silently during the playing of the national anthem he hums along. What starts out as a small plan to switch classes ends up being a national crisis. Avi calls this book a "documentary novel."
Gym Candy by Carl Dueker
Mick Johnson has dreams of playing football, and does everything he can to achieve the dream. But even that isn't enough, because football takes speed, agility, and power and strength. When Mick's dad offers to get him a personal trainer, he can't refuse, but the personal trainer offers ways of achieving the dream Mick isn't sure he wants to take. This book is called intense and a page turner.
Wait Till Helen Comes by Mary Downing Hahn
Another oldie but goodie...if you like ghost stories! Molly is not impressed when she, her brother, and mother have to move into a house with her mother's new husband and his daughter, Heather. Very soon Molly realizes her step-sister has something going on--Heather says she is talking to her new friend Helen. But Helen is a ghost who died a long time ago. Molly also realizes that Heather is in trouble, because Helen is trying to lure Heather into the same pond where two other children have drowned. This book is called chilling and spooky. (Eeek!)
Cinder by Marissa Meyer
Cinder is a romantic story with a science fiction twist.
Book trailer here
September 20, 2017: action!
Peter and the Starcatchers by Dave Barry
This is the story of Peter Pan and Captain Hook, but not the story we know. It's the story of how they meet. And it's also the story that answers the questions we have about Peter Pan. How did he learn to fly? How did he and Tinkerbell meet? What's with Captain Hook's hook? And what's so great about the pixie dust? For fans of fairy tales, pirates, and short chapters.
Some Kind of Courage by Dan Gemeinhart
Confession: I didn't think I would like this one very much. Kind of a Western, with a boy on a mission to find his horse, set in 1890s Washington. I was wrong! It is a Western, it is about a boy on a mission to find his horse, and it is set in 1890s Washington, but it's also a great adventure.
Take Me to the River by Will Hobbs
Here's Will Hobbs to tell you about it...
Alabama Moon by Watt Key
Moon has grown up with his father, Pap, in the Alabama wilderness. Before Pap died, he told Moon to make his way to Alaska where there are other people "like them," so Moon decides to head there. It doesn't take him long, however, to get mixed up with people who don't intend to let him keep going on his journey. Moon has to decide what he's going to believe and what kind of life he's going to make for himself.
Red Midnight by Ben Mikaelsen
Santiago and his four year old sister are the only survivors in his family after guerrilla soldiers attack his village in Guatemala. As Santiago's uncle dies, he tells Santiago to take the kayak he made for escape and sail to the United States, the only place he can be safe. So with only a map, a machete, and a little food, Santiago and his sister set out on a voyage they are unlikely to survive.