Middle School titles in bold have come with various textbook adoptions. Elementary teachers are not to teach these titles. The remaining titles are NOT protected on the elementary list.
Note : Novels taught in the LEAP program will come from the approved list and be taught in accordance with the LEAP curriculum.
Review each book carefully before teaching it to an entire class. Alert parents to controversial points, such as, but not limited to the following issues: language, sex, ethnicity, religion, or violence. Not all books should be taught to the whole class. TEKS require that teachers include works suited to the students various reading levels and interests. Thus students need self-selected books for literature circles, sustained silent reading, and independent book projects. These works must conform to the parents’ values for their children.
Eighth Grade Reading and English Titles |
Notes and Cautions |
A Raisin in the Sun (adapted version only) |
Adapted version only
|
Across Five Aprils (Irene Hunt) McDougal Adoption |
|
Alchemist, The (Paulo Coelho)
|
LEAP |
April Morning (Howard Fast)
|
|
Around the World in 80 Days
|
|
Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman, The (McDougal Adoption)
|
|
Beowulf |
LEAP
Adapted and shortened version in old basal series
The full version is for senior English only |
Beyond the Divide
|
|
Brian’s Song
|
|
Carry On, Mr. Bowditch
(Jean Lee Latham)
|
|
Cheaper by the Dozen (F. Gilbreath and E.G. Carey)
|
|
Changing: Six Stories About Growing Up (Houghton Adoption)
|
|
Children’s Story, The (James Clavell)
|
|
Contender (McDougal Adoption)
|
|
Cowboys Don’t Cry
|
|
Crystal Cave (Mary Stewart) |
Arthurian legend
|
Crystal Cave (Mary Stewart) |
LEAP
|
Dances with Wolves
|
|
Dark is Rising (Houghton Adoption)
|
|
Devil’s Arithmetic (Jane Yolan) |
The title refers to the number branded onto Nazi concentration camp prisoners.
|
Diary of Anne Frank (McDougal Adoption) |
Often paired with Night told from the Holocaust survivor’s perspective
|
Eye and Seeing (Houghton Adoption)
|
|
Family Reunion (Houghton Adoption)
|
|
Farewell to Manzanar (Jeanne Houston)
|
LEAP |
Girl Called Boy, A
(Houghton Adoption) |
|
Guardian of Isis (Houghton Adoption) |
|
Hero and the Crown (Robert McKinley) |
|
Hero and the Crown (Robert McKinley) |
LEAP
|
Holes (Louis Sacher) |
Popular with elementary
|
House of the Scorpion ( Nancy Farmer) |
LEAP
|
Human Comedy, The
|
|
I Heard the Owl Call My Name
|
|
I Heard the Owl Call My Name (Margaret Craven)
|
LEAP |
Ishi (Theodora Kroeber)
|
|
Island of the Angels
|
|
Johnny Tremain (Ester Forbes)
(Houghton and McDougal Adoptions) |
|
Jonathan Livingston Seagull
|
|
Land I Lost, The (Huynh Quang Nhuong)
|
|
Lilies of the Field
|
|
Lincoln, A Photobiography
(Russell Freedman)
|
|
Lisa Dark and Bright (John Neufeld)
|
|
Little Britches
|
|
Little Women (Louisa May Alcott)
|
|
Lord of the Rings (Tolkien)
|
|
Love That Dog (Sharon Creech)
|
|
Man in the Iron Mask, The
|
|
Man Without a Country
|
|
Martian Chronicles (Ray Bradbury)
|
Caution: racial stereotyping in some segments |
Martian Chronicles (Ray Bradbury) |
LEAP
|
Matchmaker ( Thornton Wilder) |
LEAP
|
Mine Eyes Have Seen (Ann Rinaldi)
|
|
Moccasin Trail (Eloise J. McGraw)
|
|
Monkey Faces
|
|
Moon is Down, The (Steinbeck) |
LEAP
|
Night (Elie Wiesel) |
Holocaust survivor’s perspective
|
Nightmare
|
|
Nothing But the Truth
(McDougal Adoption)
|
|
Nothing But the Truth (Avi) |
LEAP
|
Onion John (Joseph Krumgold)
|
|
Optical Illusion Book, The
(Houghton Adoption)
|
|
Other Side of Dark, The
|
|
Out of the Dust (Karen Hess) |
|
Outsiders (S.E. Hinton)
|
|
Pigman, The
|
|
Pigman, The (Paul Zindel) |
LEAP |
Prince and the Pauper, The (Mark Twain)
|
|
Princess Bride, The
|
|
Prisoner of Zenda
|
|
Prophet of Yonwood (Jeanne DuPrau) |
LEAP 7-8
|
Puddin’ Head Wilson (Mark Twain) |
LEAP 7-8
|
Rifles for Waite (Harold Keith)
|
|
Road to the Stars, The (Houghton Library) |
|
Robinson Crusoe
|
|
Robinson Crousoe (Daniel Defoe) |
LEAP
|
Romeo and Juliet (Shakespeare) |
LEAP
|
Sarah Bishop (Houghton Adoption)
|
|
Secret of the Andes
|
|
Shades of Gray
|
|
Shadow of Robber’s Roast, The
(Helen Rushmore)
|
|
Shadow of the Bull
|
|
Shane (Jack Shaefer)
Holt Literature Book Adoption
|
|
Sharks in the North Woods
(Houghton Adoption)
|
|
Sing Down the Moon
|
|
Singularity (Sleator)
|
|
Sixteen: Short Stories by Outstanding Writers for Young Adults
|
|
So Far from the Bamboo Grove
(McDougal Adoption)
|
|
Soujourner Truth, Ain’t I a Woman
|
|
Stepping on the Cracks
|
About Nazi Germany |
Summer of the Monkeys (Wilson Rawls)
|
|
Summer of My German Soldier
|
|
Taming of the Shrew
(William Shakespeare)
|
|
Taming of the Shrew (Shakespeare) |
LEAP
|
Tangerine (Edward Bloor)
|
|
Ten Little Indians
|
|
Three Musketeers
|
|
To Be a Slave
|
|
Treasure Island
|
|
Trojan War (Houghton Adoption)
|
|
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
|
|
Warriors Don’t Cry (Melba Patillo Beals) |
Added October 2005; Non-fiction based on author’s journals during integration of Arkansas public schools. (*N-word used within historical context) |
Warriors Don’t Cry (Melba Patillo Beals) |
LEAP
|
Watership Down (Richard Adams)
|
|
Watership Down (Richard Adams) |
LEAP
|
Watsons Go to Birmingham, The
(Chris Curtis)
|
|
Wave, The
|
|
West Against the Wind (Murrow)
|
|
Westmark (within Houghton textbook)
|
|
White Archer, (Houghton Adoption)
|
|
Winter Hero, The (Collier)
|
|
Witch of Blackbird Pond, The
(Elizabeth G. Speare) McDougal Adoption
|
|
Woodsong (Paulsen)
|
|
