March 19, 2004
Novels for Seventh Grade Students
To prevent overlap in the use of novels that are studied in depth at each grade level, lists have been created. Novels have been chosen for each list because they have a connection to a specific subject at that grade level (i.e., social studies, science, etc), they are included in a grade level anthology or they are considered age appropriate for a particular grade level.
The novels on these lists should not be used at other grade levels. Although students may choose to read a novel independently, the novels listed should not be used as novel sets, read alouds or used in literature circles.
WHERE THE RED FERN GROWS (Anthology)
Prentice Hall Literature Series – Bronze
BOSTON JANE
Author: Holm, Jennifer L
Annotation: Motherless Jane Peck has grown up as a tomboy with her father in 1850s Philadelphia. At the urging of her father's apprentice, William, on whom Jane develops a crush, she begins attending Miss Hepplewhite's Young Ladies Academy, where she studies etiquette, embroidery, and the management of servants. Later, despite her father's protests, she travels halfway around the world to marry William. Unfortunately, her betrothed is nowhere to be found, forcing Jane to bunk with a motley assortment of traders and adventurers. She quickly learns that her finishing-school skills are useless on the frontier.
CRISPIN: THE CROSS OF LEAD
Author: Avi
Annotation: Falsely accused of theft and murder, an orphaned peasant boy in fourteenth-century England flees his village and meets a larger-than-life juggler who holds a dangerous secret.
OUTSIDERS
Author: Hinton, S. E.
Annotation: The struggle of three brothers to stay together after their parent's death and their quest for identity among the conflicting values of their adolescent society.
STREAMS TO THE RIVER, RIVER TO THE SEA: A NOVEL OF SACAGAWEA
Author: O'Dell, Scott
Annotation: A young Indian woman, accompanied by her infant and cruel husband, experiences joy and heartbreak when she joins the Lewis and Clark Expedition seeking a way to the Pacific.
TOUCHING SPIRIT BEAR
Author: Mikaelsen, Ben
Annotation: After his anger erupts into violence, Cole, in order to avoid going to prison, agrees to participate in a sentencing alternative based on the native American Circle Justice, and he is sent to a remote Alaskan Island where an encounter with a huge Spirit Bear changes his life.
WHITE MOUNTAINS
Author: Christopher, John
Annotation: Giant Tripods control men's minds and rule the future world.
Z FOR ZACHARIAH
Author: O'Brien, Robert C.
Annotation: Seemingly the only person left alive after a nuclear war, a sixteen-year-old girl is relieved to see a man arrive into her valley until she realizes that he is a tyrant and she must somehow escape.
CATHERINE, CALLED BIRDY
Author: Cushman, Karen
Annotation: The 13-year-old daughter of an English knight keeps a journal in which she records the events of her life.
REM WORLD
Author: Philbrick, Rodman
Annotation: Eleven-year-old Arthur Woodbury's attempt to lose weight fast and escape his nickname of Biscuit Butt takes him to an endangered dream world where he faces fantastic adventures and learns the true meaning of courage.
SHABANU: DAUGHTER OF THE WIND
Author: Staples, Suzanne Fisher
Annotation: When 11-year old Shabanu, the daughter of a nomad in Pakistan, is pledged in marriage to an older man, she must either accept the decision or defy her father's wishes.
THE BREADWINNER
Author: Ellis, Deborah
Annotation: After her father is arrested for the crime of having a foreign education, Parvana must transform herself into a boy and earn money for her family in Afghanistan.
STARGIRL
Author: Spinelli, Jerry
Annotation: In this story about the perils of popularity, the courage of nonconformity, and the thrill of first love, an eccentric student named Stargirl changes Mica High School forever.
ESPERANZA RISING
Author: Ryan, Pam Munoz
Annotation: Esperanza and her mother are forced to leave their life of wealth and privilege in Mexico to go work in the labor camps of Southern California, where they must adapt to the harsh circumstances facing Mexican farm workers on the eve of the Great Depression.
CHINESE CINDERELLA: THE TRUE STORY OF AN UNWANTED DAUGHTER
Author: Mah, Adeline Yen
Annotation: The autobiography of a young girl growing up with her stern step-mother and her spoiled siblings in China.
FEVER 1793
Author: Anderson, Laurie Halse
Annotation: In 1793 Philadelphia, sixteen-year-old Matilda Cook, separated from her sick mother, learns about perseverance and self-reliance when she is forced to cope with the horrors of a yellow fever epidemic.