Grade: 8

On a long, grueling journey from England to Rhode Island in 1802, a 12 year old changes from a prim and proper girl to a swashbuckling mate of a mutinous crew and is accused of murder by the captain. Awash with shipboard activity, intense feelings, and a keen sense of time and place, the story is a throwback to good old-fashioned adventure yarns on the high seas.

This tale of an Atlantic voyage from Connecticut to England is told through the journals of Sophie and her cousin Cody. Sophie joins her uncles and cousins on the trip, and their unseaworthy sailboat takes them on a journey full of unplanned stops, extended stays, and hasty departures. Packed with family secrets and allusions to Sophie’s past, this novel combines moments of anticipation and foreboding to create an intriguing plot.

Enter the hilarious world of 10-year-old Kenny and his family, the Weird Watsons of Flint, Michigan. There’s Momma, Dad, little sister Joetta, and brother Byron, who’s 13 and an “official juvenile delinquent.” When Momma and Dad decide it’s time for a visit to Grandma, Dad comes home with the amazing Ultra-Glide, and the Watsons set out on a trip like no other. They’re heading South. They’re going to Birmingham, Alabama, toward one of the darkest moments in America’s history.

If you like stretching your students’ vocabulary, making up stories, or booing at bad puns, read this refreshing book — it’s one of my favorites! The authors have come up with 27 stories representing challenging words — from abasement to zealot — each ending in a word-defining pun. You and your students may roll your eyes, but you won’t forget the words’ meanings.

Cole has been getting into trouble most of his life. But when he viciously beats and injures a classmate, he chooses “Circle Justice,” an alternative sentencing program based on Native American tradition, to determine his punishment. Sent to a remote Alaskan island where he must spend a year alone, Cole eats worms and rodents and is seriously injured by a bear. He survives, but in the process he learns about controlling anger and the fact that he can change both physically and spiritually.

Through intimate photographs, poetry, and interviews, children of migrant farmworkers tell their stories. A nine-year-old boy talks about the long hours in the fields. A ten-year-old describes living in crowded migrant housing. Nine different voices tell about gangs, discrimination, language barriers, and strong family ties.