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Book recommendation for 4th-8th grade



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amother
OP


 

Post Wed, Jun 16 2021, 6:49 pm
What novels or short stories did your son read in 4th-8th grade? Or anything you remember reading? Dh is going to be teaching a small literature class to boys in those grades, and there is no official curriculum so he can choose anything.
Also is there an online list of appropriate reading material? I think Torah umesorah has maybe?
Thanks!
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BrisketBoss




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Jun 16 2021, 6:51 pm
The Lottery and The Most Dangerous Game (long) are wonderful creepy short stories for that age range. I studied The Lottery. Written by Shirley Jackson
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GLUE




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Jun 16 2021, 7:50 pm
Andrew Clements wrote books for boys in that age group
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#BestBubby




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Jun 16 2021, 8:09 pm
The Ranson of Red Chief - a short funny story by O. Henry teaches meaning of irony

Home on the Range by BJ Chute - another short funny story about two boys attempting to cook dinner

The Tell Tale Heart - scary story by Edgar Allen Poe

Run, Boy, Run - short story of a famous runner who almost had his legs amputated as a child

Kid at the Stick by Mike Miller - short story about 10 y.o. boy must land a plane after Dad has heart attack

Hatchet - Book about boy surviving in forest after plane crash 8th grade

Old Yeller - Western, post civil war. A dog who helps a family survive while father is away

The Year Down Under - collection of funny stories by Richard Peck

Cheaper by the Dozen - humorous memoir of 12 children growing up early 1900s.

Farmer Boy by Laura Ingalls Wilder Growing up on farm in 1870s

Holes by Lois Sachar

I, Robot by Isaac Asimov short science fiction stories about robots

The Outsiders by SE Hinton

Henry Huggins by Beverly Cleary 4th grade book short stories about boy growing up 1960s

Black and Blue Magic by Zilpha Keatley Snyder 5th grade book Boy who has magic potion to fly

Across Five Aprils - 8th grade book boy growing up during civil war

The Chocolate Touch 4th grade book

Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume 4th grade

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl 4th grade

Frindle by Andrew Clements 5th grade

Charlotte's Web by EB White 4th - 5th grade

The I Survived book series - great historical fiction. short, Easy to read 4-5th grade

The "Who Was.." book series - short biographies 5-6th grade level

The Great Brain by John Fitzgerald short stories about young con-artist early 1900s

The Whipping Boy - historical fiction

By the Great Horn Spoon - historical fiction western

A series of unfortunate events - by lemony snicket funny book

Flowers for Algernon - great 8th grade book about a mentally [crazy] young man who gets treatment that turns him into a genius. But there is one inappropriate scene that could be blacked out.


Last edited by #BestBubby on Wed, Jun 16 2021, 8:49 pm; edited 11 times in total
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BrisketBoss




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Jun 16 2021, 8:11 pm
#BestBubby wrote:


I always love your book recommendations. Are you or have you ever been a teacher?
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#BestBubby




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Jun 16 2021, 8:17 pm
BrisketBoss wrote:
I always love your book recommendations. Are you or have you ever been a teacher?


Thank you.

Life long Book Worm. Teacher and SEIT.
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#BestBubby




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Jun 16 2021, 8:55 pm
There is an online list.

I think it's called KosherBooks.org a list of screened secular books

But every school has different standards on what is appropriate.
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amother
OP


 

Post Thu, Jun 17 2021, 5:29 am
#BestBubby wrote:
The Ranson of Red Chief - a short funny story by O. Henry teaches meaning of irony

Home on the Range by BJ Chute - another short funny story about two boys attempting to cook dinner

The Tell Tale Heart - scary story by Edgar Allen Poe

Run, Boy, Run - short story of a famous runner who almost had his legs amputated as a child

Kid at the Stick by Mike Miller - short story about 10 y.o. boy must land a plane after Dad has heart attack

Hatchet - Book about boy surviving in forest after plane crash 8th grade

Old Yeller - Western, post civil war. A dog who helps a family survive while father is away

The Year Down Under - collection of funny stories by Richard Peck

Cheaper by the Dozen - humorous memoir of 12 children growing up early 1900s.

Farmer Boy by Laura Ingalls Wilder Growing up on farm in 1870s

Holes by Lois Sachar

I, Robot by Isaac Asimov short science fiction stories about robots

The Outsiders by SE Hinton

Henry Huggins by Beverly Cleary 4th grade book short stories about boy growing up 1960s

Black and Blue Magic by Zilpha Keatley Snyder 5th grade book Boy who has magic potion to fly

Across Five Aprils - 8th grade book boy growing up during civil war

The Chocolate Touch 4th grade book

Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume 4th grade

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl 4th grade

Frindle by Andrew Clements 5th grade

Charlotte's Web by EB White 4th - 5th grade

The I Survived book series - great historical fiction. short, Easy to read 4-5th grade

The "Who Was.." book series - short biographies 5-6th grade level

The Great Brain by John Fitzgerald short stories about young con-artist early 1900s

The Whipping Boy - historical fiction

By the Great Horn Spoon - historical fiction western

A series of unfortunate events - by lemony snicket funny book

Flowers for Algernon - great 8th grade book about a mentally [crazy] young man who gets treatment that turns him into a genius. But there is one inappropriate scene that could be blacked out.


Wow thank you! That’s an amazing list!
And thanks to everyone else who gave ideas!
Keep them coming if you have more!
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OOTforlife




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Jun 17 2021, 5:50 am
There is a list of books available at chinuch.org with notes on the issues of concern, if any, with each book, so your husband can decide which he considers a problem.
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#BestBubby




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Jun 17 2021, 7:34 am
amother [ OP ] wrote:
What novels or short stories did your son read in 4th-8th grade? Or anything you remember reading? Dh is going to be teaching a small literature class to boys in those grades, and there is no official curriculum so he can choose anything.
Also is there an online list of appropriate reading material? I think Torah umesorah has maybe?
Thanks!


Is it ONE class of 4 - 8th grade?

Because that is a HUGE range.

What is reading level for 8th grader, is waaay too hard for 4th grader!
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Crookshanks




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Jun 17 2021, 7:36 am
Best Bubby, I wouldn't give a young teen the Outsiders. It's so so sad, I could barely finish it in my late teens. Same with flowers for Algernon-I'd wait til late HS for that.
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PinkFridge




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Jun 17 2021, 7:39 am
BrisketBoss wrote:
The Lottery and The Most Dangerous Game (long) are wonderful creepy short stories for that age range. I studied The Lottery. Written by Shirley Jackson


The Lottery? In elementary???
Besides the incredible creepiness, it's an anti mindless ritual/religion screed. At least it reads that way.
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PinkFridge




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Jun 17 2021, 7:39 am
OOTforlife wrote:
There is a list of books available at chinuch.org with notes on the issues of concern, if any, with each book, so your husband can decide which he considers a problem.


The chinuch.org list is now kosherbooks.org, afaik.
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BrisketBoss




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Jun 17 2021, 8:14 am
PinkFridge wrote:
The Lottery? In elementary???
Besides the incredible creepiness, it's an anti mindless ritual/religion screed. At least it reads that way.


Yep, my teacher read that to us in sixth grade in a Jewish school. Aren't we against mindless ritual and unexamined religion? I hope so.

I disagree with Crookshanks too, I studied those books at a young age. They were mature topics and that's why we read them with guidance from teachers. I was always assigned books that were above our level, and I reread them when I was older if I had liked them, and I liked them even more. Is that not normal?

But, I've always liked creepy/dark/sad.
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amother
OP


 

Post Thu, Jun 17 2021, 9:00 am
#BestBubby wrote:
Is it ONE class of 4 - 8th grade?

Because that is a HUGE range.

What is reading level for 8th grader, is waaay too hard for 4th grader!


No, he’s teaching a small class from each of those grades separately.
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#BestBubby




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Jun 17 2021, 8:07 pm
Some more good books:

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L'Engle - 7th grade Space travel adventure

View from the Cherry Tree by Willow Davis Robers - boy witnesses a murder but no one believes him. 6th grade

Mystery of The Witches Bridge by Barbee Oliver Carleton - Exciting mystery 7th grade

Earthquake Terror by Peg Kehret 12 y.o. boy must help 6 y.o. sister survive an earthquake

The Big Wave by Pearl S Buck 64 pages A boy in Japan is orphaned in a Tsunami 5th grade

Snow Treasure by Marie McSwigan Children smuggle gold out of Norway so Nazis don't get it

The Bravest Dog Ever: The True Story of Balto by Natalie Standiford 4th grade

The "You wouldn't want to be series..." Fun History 4th grade

"If you lived in the times of... series" Fun History 4th grade

Among the Hidden by Haddix An illegal third child must remain in hiding in a futuristic story 7th grade

Animal Farm by George Orwell Communism explained by tale of animals overthrowing the farmers.
But the Pigs become the leaders and they become just as cruel and oppressive as the farmers. 8 Gr

The White Mountains by Christopher Science Fiction Boys rebel against Tyrannical Government

8th grade

Encyclopedia Brown - short stories about a boy detective. Can you solve the mystery? Grade 5

Follow My Leader - a boy becomes blind; gets a seeing-eye dog 6th grade

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Some books like The Outsiders and Flowers for Algernon are sad,

but kids are exposed to tragedy (Meron) and discussing "heavy" topics in a group discussion
led by a teacher can be very helpful.


Last edited by #BestBubby on Thu, Jun 17 2021, 8:56 pm; edited 4 times in total
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amother
Rainbow


 

Post Thu, Jun 17 2021, 8:16 pm
Crookshanks wrote:
Best Bubby, I wouldn't give a young teen the Outsiders. It's so so sad, I could barely finish it in my late teens. Same with flowers for Algernon-I'd wait til late HS for that.


We did Flowers for Algernon in 8th grade and unfortunately most kids didn't get it and made fun of it. I still don't think it's above grade level, though - it has to be properly framed by a teacher who loves it and can point them to what's great about it.
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#BestBubby




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Jun 17 2021, 8:18 pm
amother [ OP ] wrote:
No, he’s teaching a small class from each of those grades separately.


A tip for finding good books.

Look up a book you love on Amazon. You will find 20 - 30 other books that are similar
recommended. You can read reviews and book description.
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