OK y'all, I need some help to spend the $900 dollars I have been allotted from our English department for new books in my classroom. I currently teach 7th grade and have students with reading levels from 4th to 12th grade. They are in love with the Bluford High series, anything paranormal/scary, zombies, and dystopian novels. What suggestions do you have for me?
Eragorn series (it's about dragons) Lord of the Rings if I think of more that fit with what you're describing I'll let you know
Fantasy/paranormal: -Fablehaven series by Brandon Mull (or anything else by him) -Xanth series by Piers Anthony -Harry Potter Dystopian: -1984 -The Giver by Lois Lowry (and the companion novels) -The Hunger Games -Gulliver's Travels -Fahrenheit 451 -Lord of the Flies -Ender's Game -Among the Hidden series by Margaret Haddix -Feed by Anderson -Uglies by Westerfield -Wuthering Heights is a classic that does include paranormal-type elements. -World War Z by Max Brooks (zombies) -War of the Worlds -The Forest of Hands and Teeth (zombies) -anything by Stephen King might be good for scary and paranormal
Nice list, Ms B. I don't have too many specific titles to add at the moment, Ms C, but just a suggestion to include any books that you will read aloud, or that you will require to be read, and any reference books that could be useful. Also, consider that trends may change and you want your library to last for a long, long time. I might not choose to go too heavy on the vampire trend, personally. Of Mice and Men To Kill a Mockingbird Here is a list of 50 Best YA Novels of all time: http://www.dbrl.org/files/readers/50_Best_YA.pdf
I'm so jealous! I teach reading and here are some books my kids love: The Mortal Instruments series (5 books and 2 prequels so far I believe) The Maze Runner trilogy and its prequel It's a bit mature for that age group but Crank,Glass & Fallout are always very popular. The Maximum Ride series One of my "urban youth" is hooked on Paulo's Wall and asked me to get more books from Summit: http://www.perfectionlearning.com/summit-books-contemp-issues There are other companies who make books similar to the Bluford's but of course I just recycled a catalog from one company with like 6 different series. I'm sure doing a search online for books similar to Bluford's could be lucrative.
The Divergent series and the Legend series are popular right now. I second Ender's Game. You may also want to get Ender's Shadow, which is a parallel novel written from a different's character's perspective. There are many books in the Ender universe, and none are really inappropriate for middle school, but the topics are really deep and may not interest middle schoolers as much. What about the Witch and Wizard series for some of your lower readers? Or Artemis Fowl for your lower readers? Edited to add the City of Ember series.
