Favorite Authors! Grade 8 Book Talk October 2017

*I Kill the Mockingbird by Paul Acapora Genre: Realistic Fiction Story centers around three friends (Lucy, Elena, & Michael) who are 8th graders on the verge of summer vacation Back in September, their English teacher Mr. Nowak told his classes that their only summer reading book would be To Kill a Mockingbird. (see p.10) Unfortunately when he passes away suddenly, a sub is hired who has different plans for their summer reading (4 books instead of 1)and the friends worry that not everyone will choose Mr. Novak’s title In honor of their teacher, they decide to become literary saboteurs…by hiding every single copy of the book they can get their hands on---the plan? The harder it is to get, the more everyone will want it. But what starts off as a small plan gets much larger than they ever anticipated…

Code Orange by Caroline B. Cooney Genre: Realistic Suspense Our protagonist is Mitchell ‘Mitty’ Blake and he is a high school junior-laid- back and carefree; not really interested in grades or school Motivated to stay in class with his almost-girlfriend Olivia, Mitty decides to put some effort into his research topic on infectious diseases He chooses small pox and lucks out with a few books he finds at home He also finds something else inside the book that may change his fate, the fate of those he loves, and possibly even the world…

Ghost by Jason Reynolds : Realistic Fiction First book in the Track series about a group of kids who have a shot at the Junior Olympics The story centers around a boy named Castle Crenshaw who goes by the self-given nickname “Ghost”-life hasn’t been easy for him (dad is in prison/single mom; little money for clothes and food; trouble at school) The one thing he is good at is running and he proves this when he shows up to a J.O. practice and nearly beats one of their elite athletes The coach wants Ghost on his team…and makes a deal with his mom that he will stay out of trouble at school…which he does for 17 hours and 2 minutes (3 hours of which were spent at school. And that isn’t even the worst thing that happens! Will Ghost make it on the team? Will he be one of those record-breakers? You’ll have to read to find out

Down the Rabbit Hole: Peter Abrahams Genre: Mystery Award-winning author Peter Abrahams lives in Falmouth, MA and this is his first novel for younger readers Stephen King has referred to Abrahams as his “favorite American suspense novelist” He also publishes under the name Spencer Quinn Fan-made book trailer This title is the first in a 3 book series of interconnected novels

Terrible But True: Awful Events in American History by Dinah Williams Genre: Nonfiction Contains some of the “weird, tragic, and altogether awful stories hiding in plain sight in America’s past” (p. 3) Corpse-stealing doctors cause a riot-p. 18 Three-minute amputations (p.71) The filth of the meat-packing industry (p. 88) The Curse of Tippecanoe (p. 105) Tuberculosis and the Last American Vampire (p.115) Worst Diet Pill Ever… (p. 145)