December reads, Grades 7 & 8

1. Does my Head Look Big in This?, Randa Abdel-Fattah. Amal finds that the complicated life of a teen can be even more complicated when she decides to wear the hijab, the Muslim head scarf, full-time as a sign of her faith--without losing her sense of style or identity. This acclaimed book addresses self-identity and courage to be who you are.

2. Shug, Jenny Han. Annemarie Wilcox, or Shug as her family calls her, is beginning to think there's nothing worse than being twelve. She's too tall, too freckled, and way to flat chested. Shug is sure that there's not one good or amazing thing about her. And now she has to start junior high school, where the friends she holds most dear aren't acting so dear anymore, especially Mark.

3. The Wright 3, Blue Balliett. The author of Chasing Vermeer bring back smart teen detectives Petra and Calder. This time, the mystery surrounds a Frank Lloyd Wright building and strange things that are happening inside. This is a great book for smart kids involving riddles, art, and architecture.

4. Gregor the Overlander, Suzanne Collins. When eleven-year-old Gregor and his two-year-old sister are pulled into a strange underground world, they trigger an epic battle involving men, bats, rats, cockroaches, and spiders while on a quest foretold by an ancient prophecy.

5. H.I.V.E.: Higher Institute of Villainous Education, Mark Walden. Thirteen-year-old orphan Otto Malpense, identified as a boy with a special talent for villany, is kidnapped and taken to the remote Higher Institute of Villainous Education, or H.I.V.E., where he is enrolled in a six-year trainging program and immediately begins formulating a plan to escape.