Boylston - Eighth Grade Summer Reading Program

"For as long as Ryanna Stuart can remember, her summers have been spent with her father and his new wife. Just the three of them, structured, planned, quiet. But this summer is different. This summer, she's received a letter from her grandparents-grandparents neither she nor her dad have spoken to since her mom's death-inviting her to stay with them at an old summer camp in the Poconos. Ryanna accepts. She wants to learn about her mom. She wants to...

"Drew was never much of a runner -- until his dad's unexpected diagnosis. Mia has nothing better to do -- until she realizes entering Half Moon Bay's half-marathon could solve her family's housing problems. And just like that they decide to spend their entire summer training to run 13.1 miles. Along the way, they both discover it takes a lot more than a good pair of shoes. Drew and Mia may have very different reasons for running, but these two twelve-year-olds...

From award-winning author Gary D. Schmidt, a warm and witty novel in the tradition of The Wednesday Wars, in which a seventh grader has to figure out how to fulfill an assignment to perform the Twelve Labors of Hercules in real life--and makes discoveries about friendship, community, and himself along the way. Herc Beal knows who he's named after--a mythical hero--but he's no superhero. He's the smallest kid in his class. So when his homeroom teacher...

"From award-winning author Daniel Nayeri comes a mesmerizing adventure set along the enchanting silk road, where caravans of merchants carried spices, perfumes, furs, and in the case of one swindler named Samir, nothing but dreams. The story begins with a young orphan running for his life. Lucky for him he runs into Samir, a portly huckster whose silver tongue saves the boy. Samir names him Monkey, and claims him as his new servant. But Monkey, a...

"Natalia De La Cruz Rivera y Santiago, also known as Nat, was swimming neighborhood kids out of their money at the local Inglewood pool when her life changed. The LA Mermaids performed, emerging out of the water with matching sequined swimsuits, and it was then that synchronized swimming stole her heart. The problem? Her activist mom and professor dad think it's a sport with too much emphasis on looks-on being thin and white. Nat grew up the youngest...

"On a hot August day in Paris, just over a century ago, a desperate guard burst into the office of the director of the Louvre and shouted, La Joconde, c'est partie! The Mona Lisa, she's gone! No one knew who was behind the heist. Was it an international gang of thieves? Was it an art-hungry American millionaire? Was it the young Spanish painter Pablo Picasso, who was about to remake the very art of painting? Travel back to an extraordinary period...

"It seems like Sage's whole world is on fire the summer before she starts seventh grade. As house after house burns down, her Bushwick neighborhood gets referred to as "The Matchbox" in the local newspaper. And while Sage prefers to spend her time shooting hoops with the guys, she's also still trying to figure out her place inside the circle of girls she's known since childhood. A group that each day, feels further and further away from her. But it's...

"Simon O'Keeffe's biggest claim to fame should be the time his dad accidentally gave a squirrel a holy sacrament. Or maybe the alpaca disaster that went viral on YouTube. But the story the whole world wants to tell about Simon is the one he'd do anything to forget: the story in which he's the only kid in his class who survived a school shooting. Two years after the infamous event, twelve-year-old Simon and his family move to the National Quiet Zone...

"Before Tegan and Sara took the music world by storm, the Quins were just two identical twins trying to find their place in a new home and new school. From first crushes to the perils of puberty, surviving junior high is something the sisters plan to face side by side, just like they've always faced things. But growing up also means growing apart, as Tegan and Sara make different friends and take separate paths to understanding their queerness. For...

"Eleven-year-old Ava's mom is about to have twins, and the pregnancy isn't going well. All Ava wants to do is stay by her mother's side, but instead, she is sent away to stay with her grandparents. Normally, spending time at the lake with Nonna and Nonno is wonderful. But everything is different now. While her mom's hospital visits are getting serious back home, Ava grapples with anxiety. As summer storms rock the island, electricity goes out at the...