Gr 7 to Gr 8

1.  Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli 

I expect that every student in grade seven and eight indulges in some confidence-bashing statements in front of the mirror from time to time. “I know my friends like me, but why do I feel like I’m so different from them … How did those kids end up so popular … Why can’t I be that popular… Why does everyone think he’s so cool … I wish I were taller … What is that little freckle doing on the end of my nose…
Stargirl is a story about ‘the new girl’ at school. But where most new girls would kill to fit in, Stargirl really doesn’t seem to care about fitting in. In fact, this new student is so self-assured that she dares to be herself.  Read the rest of the review

2.  Daniel’s Story by Carol Matas

Given the creature-comforts that most grade seven and eight students enjoy in the western world today, it is a disquieting feeling to be taken back into another era, a war-time era, to the hardships endured by a 14 year old Jewish boy in an all too well-known, concentration camp – Auschwitz. How Daniel ended up there, what his life was like beforehand, and how his existence became no more than a test of will to survive, day after agonizing day, is a story that every young person of privilege should read. Why? If for no other reason, than to truly reflect on their own lives, and to gain an understanding of what IS important, and what may be, perhaps, of lesser consequence. Read the rest of the review