Book List
To the Teachers Who Want More for Their Kids,
I've compiled a book list of books that worked in my Reading Intervention class at Mansfeld Middle School in Tucson, AZ. I placed the books into tiers for reference. This is NOT an attempt at placing Lexile scores, but a way to zero in on what actually 'worked' successfully in a real-life room with real kids who wanted more than class sets...kids who DESERVED more than to be told what to read and when to read it and how to read it. I'm including a list of the order of books a student read from last year who was in 8th grade. This list is typical of one of the 'lowest' readers in the school who was in my class after coming in having read nothing except maybe Diary of a Wimpy Kid. The only other 'independent' reading they did was class sets of Hatchet and Esperanza Rising...sigh....class sets do not work...Feel free to pass the list onto others, add in books you know to work in your room with kids reporting back they liked the book. This list is absolutely not a list that 'adults' have suggested as being 'good' books.
Also, just so you know, I would give a child a stack of books from each tier with instructions that they had to do two things when reading.
1. Read all of the words, no skipping, sounding out, faking, skimming...
2. They had to make connections to the words.
If a child could not answer questions about their book or they said they didn't like it, I would ask which of the two things was the problem. If they said number 1 then we'd find an easier book. If they said number 2 then I'd do a little 'connections' lesson with them and then let them reassess the situation to see if they still wanted a different book or if they could go back and try again.
I hope this list helps.
First Tier
Stone Fox by John Reynolds Gardiner
Drive By by Lynne Ewing
The Jacket by Andrew Clements
Second Tier
Bluford High Series
Some of students’ favorites: Survivor, The Test, Shattered, The Bully, Promises to Keep, Lost and Found, The Gun, Brothers in Arms, Until We Meet Again, The Fallen, No Way Out, Pretty Ugly
Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret by Judy Blume
Joey Pigza by Jack Gantos
Locomotion by Jacqueline Woodson
Third Tier
I Hadn’t Meant to Tell You This by Jacqueline Woodson
Lena by Jacqueline Woodson
The Skin I’m In by Sharon Flake
Bronx Masquerade by Nikki Grimes
Tears of the Tiger by Sharon Draper
Forged By Fire by Sharon Draper
Darkness Before the Dawn by Sharon Draper
Kinda Like Brothers by Coe Booth
Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds
Patina by Jason Reynolds
Sunny by Jason Reynolds
Mike Morales by Jason Reynolds
Ghost by Jason Reynolds
*The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
Rebound by Kwame Alexander
Booked by Kwame Alexander
The Crossover by Kwame Alexander
Who Am I Without Him by Sharon Flake
Dear Martin by Nic Stone
Hip Hop High School by Alan Sitomer
Boy in the Black Suit by Jason Reynolds
Ghost Boys by Jewel Parker Rhodes
Fourth Tier (*consider parent permission)
Boy 21 by Matthew Quick
The Battle of Jericho by Sharon Draper
November Blues by Sharon Draper
All American Boys by Jason Reynolds
*Perfect Chemistry Series by Simone Elkeles
*Rules of Attraction by Simone Elkeles
*Chain Reaction by Simone Elkeles
*Tyrell by Coe Booth
*Bronxwood by Coe Booth
Fifth Tier
*Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
*Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo
The Hate You Give by Angie Thomas
*Looking for Alaska by John Green
*Sonia Rodriguez by Alan Sitomer
*Homeboyz by Alan Sitomer
Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi
*I am the Messenger by Markus Zusak
*Allegedly by Tiffany Jackson
*Dante and Aristotle Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz
The 57 Bus by Dashka Slater
*The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
How It Went Down by Kekla Magoon
*The Education of Margot Sanchez by Lilliam Rivera
*Monday’s Not Coming by Tiffany Jackson
*Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper
*Tyler Johnson Wasn’t Here by Jay Coates
An 8th grader from last year:
DRIVE BY LYNNE EWING, 83 PAGES
SURVIVOR BY PAUL LANGAN, 131 PAGES
SOMEONE TO LOVE ME BY ANNE SCHRAFF, 168 PAGES
PERFECT CHEMISTRY BY SIMONE ELKELES, 384 PAGES
RULES OF ATTRACTION BY SIMONE ELKELES, 352 PAGES
CHAIN REACTION BY SIMONE ELKELES, 336 PAGES
THE HATE U GIVE BY ANGIE THOMAS, 512 PAGES
13 REASONS WHY BY JAY ASHER, 288 PAGES
SONIA RODRIGUEZ BY ALAN SITOMER, 320 PAGES
LOOKING FOR ALASKA BY JOHN GREENE, 221 PAGES
BOY IN THE BLACK SUIT BY JASON REYNOLDS, 304 PAGES
