Mr. Senger's Junior High Reading Lists
The following reading lists represents many years of research and experience with novels for junior
high students. Here you will find over three hundred quality
titles, divided by genre, that are appropriate for students in
the seventh and eighth grades. These novels cover a wide range of
interest and ability, so there should be something for everyone here. My
hope is that students, parents and other teachers will find these titles
helpful. Use these lists to find something for yourself or as a gift for
someone else, for summer reading or for school reading. And be sure to
come back frequently as more recommendations and titles are added.
Science Fiction - Fantasy/Horror
- Mystery/Detective - Western
Fiction - Historical Fiction - General
Fiction - Religious Thought - Baseball
Books - Non Fiction
Here is a brief key to the symbols used in the lists:
Click on the 
next to an author's name to read student recommendations for books written
by that author. All of these recommendations have been written by
seventh- and eighth-graders in my classes since 1991. You will find
more than 800 recommendations for well over one hundred authors, all of them
written by seventh- and eighth-graders.
Click the 
next to a book title to read Mr. Senger's recommendation for this
book. You can find the main recommendation page here.
Hot authors are marked 
and
have been read by 10 or more students over the years. These authors have
proven to be extremely popular with junior high students.
Titles that are marked with a 
are books that have received an average rating of four stars or higher from
three or more student reviewers. These books are the cream of the crop!
I am working on adding links to Amazon.com for each title to
make it easier for you to find out more about these books and order them.
Since 1991 I have delved deeply
into each of the major types of popular fiction: Science Fiction,
Heroic Fantasy, Mystery, Western Fiction, and so on. In creating
this list I consulted many bibliographies, the most significant
of which are listed at the bottom of this page. No doubt there
are some fine books missing. I will continue adding to the list as my own personal
reading allows, and as I get recommendations from my students and
others. Feel free to e-mail me with your
recommendations.
In the meantime, there is no lack of good
reading material here! Enjoy! And, please, write and tell me what
you think of this list, good or bad. Thanks!
Adults: if you're looking for great books to read, try my
summary of great books.
Sources:
Anatomy of Wonder: An Historical Survey and
Critical Guide to the Best of Science Fiction - Neil Barron,
ed.
A Catalogue of Crime - Jacques Barzun
and Wendell Hertig Taylor
Fantasy: The Best 100 Books - James
Cawthorn and Michael Moorcock
Genre Favorites for Young Adults - Sally Estes, ed.
Great Books for Young Adults - Betty Carter
The Lifetime Reading Plan - Clifton Fadiman
The Mammoth Book of the Western - Jon Lewis, ed.
Outstanding Books for the College Bound - Mary Ann
Paulin and Susan Berlin
Reading List for College Bound Students - Estell,
Satchwell and Wright
The
Recommended Fantasy Author List - Amy Sheldon
