LibGuides: 8th Grade Book Recommendations: Booktalks

Tornado Brain by Cat Patrick Thirteen-year-old Frankie is neurodivergent: she can't stand to be touched, loud noises bother her, she's easily distracted, and hates changes to her routine. It also means that she doesn't have a lot of friends. When Colette, her one friend, vanishes, Frankie is convinced that she left behind clues that only Frankie can decipher. As Frankie and her twin sister try to find Colette before it's too late, she tries to come to grips with what friendship and forgiveness mean.

New Kid by Jerry Craft Seventh grader Jordan Banks loves nothing more than drawing cartoons about his life. But instead of sending him to the art school of his dreams, his parents enroll him in a prestigious private school known for its academics, where Jordan is one of the few kids of color in his entire grade. As he makes the daily trip from his Washington Heights apartment to the upscale Riverdale Academy Day School, Jordan soon finds himself torn between two worlds. Can Jordan learn to navigate his new school culture while keeping his neighborhood friends and staying true to himself?

Before the Ever After by Jacqueline Woodson ZJ's friends Ollie, Darry and Daniel help him cope when his father, a beloved professional football player, suffers severe headaches and memory loss that spell the end of his career.

When You Trap a Tiger by Tae Keller When Lily and her family move in with her sick grandmother, a magical tiger straight out of her halmoni's Korean folktales arrives, prompting Lily to unravel a secret family history. Long, long ago, Halmoni stole something from the tigers. Now they want it back. And when one of the tigers approaches Lily with a deal--return what her grandmother stole in exchange for Halmoni's health--Lily is tempted to agree.

Yes No Maybe So by Becky Albertalli; Aisha Saeed Childhood friends Maya Rehman, a Pakistani American Muslim, and Jamie Goldberg, a white Jewish boy, both seventeen, are thrust together while canvassing door-to-door for a progressive Senate candidate. As the two realize they may have feelings for each other, they face not only challenges at home but also a political bill that calls for "a partial ban on head and facial coverings while participating in certain public activities."

Shuri: a Black Panther Novel (Marvel) by Nic Stone Shuri is a skilled martial artist, a genius, and a princess. But, she's also a teenager. This story follows Shuri as she sets out on a quest to save her homeland of Wakanda. For centuries, the Black Panther has gained his powers through the juices of the Heart-Shaped Herb. But the plants are dying, and no matter what the people of Wakanda do, they can't save them. It's up to Shuri to discover what is killing the Herb, and how she can save it.

Becoming Muhammad Ali by James Patterson; Kwame Alexander; Dawud Anyabwile Before he was a household name, Cassius Clay was a kid with struggles like any other. Kwame Alexander and James Patterson join forces to vividly depict his life up to age seventeen in both prose and verse, including his childhood friends, struggles in school, the racism he faced, and his discovery of boxing.

We Dream of Space by Erin Entrada Kelly Cash, Fitch, and Bird Nelson Thomas are three siblings in seventh grade together in Park, Delaware. In 1986, as the country waits expectantly for the launch of the space shuttle Challenger, they each struggle with their own personal anxieties. The Nelson Thomas children exist in their own orbits, circling a tense and unpredictable household, with little in common except an enthusiastic science teacher named Ms. Salonga. When the fated day finally arrives, it changes all of their lives.

King and the Dragonflies by Kacen Callender Twelve-year-old Kingston James is sure his brother Khalid has turned into a dragonfly. When Khalid unexpectedly passed away, he shed what was his first skin for another to live down by the bayou in their small Louisiana town. Khalid still visits in dreams, and King must keep these secrets to himself as he watches grief transform his family. It would be easier if King could talk with his best friend, Sandy Sanders. But just days before he died, Khalid told King to end their friendship, after overhearing a secret about Sandy-that he thinks he might be gay. \"You don't want anyone to think you're gay too, do you?\" But when Sandy goes missing, sparking a town-wide search, and King finds his former best friend hiding in a tent in his backyard, he agrees to help Sandy escape from his abusive father, and the two begin an adventure as they build their own private paradise down by the bayou and among the dragonflies. As King's friendship with Sandy is reignited, he's forced to confront questions about himself and the reality of his brother's death.