CLA Greater Boston Cooperative Library Association: reading list--grades 7 and 8.

The Greater Boston Cooperative Library Association has grown considerably in the last couple of years and is now comprised of 53 independent school librarians who gather together for the purpose of professional sharing and problem solving. At their meetings, they have developed innovative library programs, activities and materials as well as several successful adventures in resource sharing.

For the past several years, the group has produced annotated summer reading lists for grades 5 and 6, grades 7 and 8, grades 9 and 10, and grades 11 and 12. Several librarians on a committee read, discuss and approve each book selected. One list is revised each year, thus guaranteeing that no list is more than three years old. At the time of production, every book is in print and many are available as paperbacks. Some schools use it as their own summer reading list, while others use it more informally for readers' advisory or as an ordering tool.

Attractive, copyrighted pamphlets printed on quality paper in two colors are available for purchase. There is an order form and more information at the end of this article.

ALL IN THE FAMILY

Myers, Walter Dean. 145th Street: Short Stories. 145th Street is teeming with life. Among those who live there are BigJoe, who plans and attends his own funeral, and Angela, who sees the future in her mysterious dreams.

Woodson, Jacqueline. Hush. After entering the Witness Protection Program, Toswiah Green's family has to change its name, secretly move, and leave behind all that is precious.

Taylor, Mildred D. The land. The son of a white landowner and his former slave, Paul Logan grows up torn between two worlds. This is the powerful prequel to Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry.

Naidoo, Beverley. The other side of truth. After witnessing the murder of their mother in Nigeria, two children are exiled to what they hope will be a bright and safe future in London. By the author of Journey to Jo'burg.

Harrar, George. Parents wanted. Abused and discarded, Andy has one last chance to have a family to love. Will his constant misbehavior, distrust, and manipulation drive his new parents to give up on him too?

Na, An. A step from heaven. Young Ju's immigrant life is complicated further as she watches her father descend into alcoholism. Young Ju endures years of abuse, and her strength of spirit is inspiring.

Gordon, Amy. When JFK was my father. Cast adrift by the separation of her parents, a sudden move back to the U.S. from Brazil, and her new life at boarding school in Connecticut, 13-year-old Georgia seeks guidance from two people she has never met--JFK, whom she imagines to be her father, and the ghost of the school's former headmistress.

LIGHTER SIDE

Rennison, Louise. Angus, thongs and full-frontal snogging: confessions of Georgia Nicolson. The hilarious diary of a 14-year-old English girl; prequel to On the Bright Side, I'm Now the Girlfriend of a Sex God.

Van Draanen, Wendelin. Flipped. A he-said/she-said story of life and love.

Friedman, Robin. How I survived my summer vacation: and lived to write the story. Jackie wants to write the great American novel before he starts high school in the fall; trouble is, he can't get past the first sentence.

Brashares, Ann. The sisterhood of the traveling pants. Four best friends experience heartache, adventure, and the most important summer of their lives, all brought together by a pair of magical pants.

Sones, Sonya. What my mother doesn't know. A hilarious search for Mr. Right leads to mishaps and other things mothers shouldn't know.

NOT OF THIS WORLD

Pullman, Philip. The amber spyglass. What you have been waiting for. Read the final installment of the His Dark Materials series.

Calhoun, Dia. Aria of the sea. On the death of her mother, Cerinth's father brings her to the Royal School of Dancing where she is chosen to be a fledgling dancer.

Clement-Davies, David. Fire bringer. It is prophesied that the stag Rannoch will one day be a great hero. Will he survive to fulfill his destiny?

Pierce, Tamora. First test. Keladry is the first female to be allowed to enter knighthood training, but first she must prove to everyone that she is as capable as her male classmates.

Cooney, Caroline B. For all time. Annie didn't intend to be buried alive in an ancient Egyptian crypt; all she wanted was to time travel to 1899 to be with her true love. Lowry, Lois. Gathering blue. Kira was born with a deformed leg and should have been left to die in the Field of Leaving. Why has the Council selected her to preserve their history?

Almond, David. Kit's wilderness. Are there more than ancestral ghosts that draw Kit to the abandoned coal mines of Stoneygate, England?

Philbrick, Rodman. The last book in the universe. In a world in which books are unknown and mind probes shoot images into the brain, Spaz comes under the spell of an old man who gives him the most remarkable gift.

Murphy, Rita. Night flying. Have you ever imagined that you could fly? Well, Georgia can, and this isn't the most mysterious thing about her family.

Dickinson, Peter. The ropemaker. When their enchanted valley starts to lose its protective magic, four citizens embark on a dangerous journey to find the ancient magician who cast the original spell.

McKillip, Patricia. Song for the basilisk. Surviving the massacre of his entire family, Rook attempts to face the violence of his past.

Pierce, Meredith Ann. Treasure at the heart of the Tanglewood. Hannah is a healer who has medicinal plants growing in her hair. As she defies an unheralded magician, she discovers the strength of her own powers.

ON THE EDGE

Werlin, Nancy. Black mirror. What does the local community service group have to do with the death of Frances' older brother?

Berry, Liz. The china garden. How can Clare Meredith guard the "Benison" when she doesn't even know what it is, and why didn't her mother want her to come to this old English estate in the first place?

Holmes, Barbara Ware. Following fake man. Is "fake man" linked to Homer Winthrop's family secrets and to the mysterious death of Homer's father?

Naylor, Phyllis Reynolds. Jade green: a ghost story. Everything is falling into place for orphan Judith--a job, a new family, and maybe a boyfriend--until she comes across that hand on the back stairs.

Werlin, Nancy. The killer's cousin. Accused of murder, David must move in with his uncle, aunt and peculiar cousin. There, his life takes a more ominous turn.

Cormier, Robert. The rag and bone shop. When his seven-year-old neighbor is found murdered, Jason, 12, is questioned by a police investigator renowned for getting a confession.

McDonald, Joyce. Shadow people. A chilling tale of four teens united in anger who become the Lords of Destruction.

Konigsburg, E. L. Silent to the bone. Why has Branwell lost his voice just when he needs it the most?

Trueman, Terry. Stuck in neutral. Paralyzed and mute, Shawn is convinced that his father wants to kill him. Is this true, or is this just another creation of his vivid imagination?

Haddix, Margaret Peterson. Turnabout. All old people would like to "grow" younger if they could, wouldn't they? Melly and Anny Beth, having "unaged" to their teens, are in a fight for their lives as they scramble to find someone to take care of them before they grow too young to care for themselves.

PROBLEMS, PROBLEMS

Appelt, Kathi. Kissing Tennessee, and other stories from the Stardust Dance. The stage is the Stardust Dance at Dogwood Junior High, and the stories are from the hearts and souls of students as they face their hidden desires and fears.

Marsden, John. Checkers. A teenage girl in a mental institution feels she has lost everything in her life except her dog Checkers.

Sheldon, Dyan. Confessions of a teenage drama queen. Mary Elizabeth Cep takes her family's move from New York City to suburban New Jersey as the prime opportunity to fully establish herself as "Lola," Dellwood High's deserving stage queen.

Cummings, Priscilla. A face first. Twelve-year-old Kelley is like everyone else until an automobile accident horribly scars her face and arms. How can she resume her former life when everyone sees a person's face first?

Whelan, Gloria. Homeless bird. After being married and widowed at 13, Koly courageously defies India's rigid gender roles.

Deuker, Carl. Night hoops. His friend is troubled, his parents are getting a divorce, but Nick stays centered on the basketball court.

Wolff, Virginia Euwer. True believer. LaVaughn is full of common sense, grit, and determination. This urban girl's knowing voice chronicles her everyday life: the violence, the metal detectors and the unwanted pregnancies.

Baskin, Nora Raleigh. What every girl (except me) knows. Motherless since age three, teenage Gabby now longs for the companionship and wisdom mothers bring as she grapples with cliques at school, her changing body, the pathological lies of a friend, and her father's recent breakup with Cleo, who would have been an ideal stepmom.

Woodson, Jacqueline. Miracle's boys. Lafayette tells us the story of his family, the death of his parents, and his brother Ty'ree, who was accepted to MIT but had to stay home to keep the family together.

ROYAL READS

Meyer, Carolyn. Beware, Princess Elizabeth; trust no one. On her way to the throne, Princess Elizabeth Tudor must outwit spies and death threats from her sister, Queen Mary, to get what she wants most in the world--to be Queen of England.

Meyer, Carolyn. Mary, bloody Mary. Read the tale of King Henry VIII's eldest daughter, Mary, and find out how the hatred for one of her many stepmothers provoked one of the bloodiest reigns in England's history.

Lester, Julius. Pharaoh's daughter: a novel of ancient Egypt. Rescued by an Egyptian princess who raises him as royalty, Moses is torn between rejecting his Hebrew heritage and adopting the ways of the Pharaoh.

Cabot, Meg. Princess in the spotlight. In the continuing adventures of Mia, the NYC teenager is trying to lead a normal life while being an heir to the throne of a small European principality.

Konigsburg, E.L. A proud taste for Scarlet and Miniver. Eleanor of Aquitaine, queen of England and France, is a spirited woman who survives court politics, the Crusades, and imprisonment by being an expert manipulator.

Yolen, Jane & Robert J. Harris. The queen's own fool: a novel of Mary, Queen of Scots. The adventurous story of Mary, Queen of Scots, as told by her trusted confidant, the court jester.

SHIPWRECKED

Jacques, Brian. Castaways of the Flying Dutchman. In 1620 a mute boy and his dog are mysteriously rescued from the ill-fated ship the Flying Dutchman. Now they must travel the world for eternity to help save others.

Lawrence, Iain. The smugglers. John Spencer is excited about the new ship his merchant father is about to buy--The Dragon, a schooner named for its enormous figurehead. Should they heed the warnings of a man who advises them to "stay clear of that ship"?

Garcia Marquez, Gabriel. The story of a shipwrecked sailor. The ultimate shipwrecked story. The true tale of ten days on a raft without food and water.

Hesse, Karen. Stowaway. Captain James Cook's voyage around the world in 1768 is vividly brought to life through the eyes of a stowaway.

Creech, Sharon. The wanderer. Sophie's adventurous transatlantic voyage on her uncle's sailboat is alternately chronicled by Sophie and her cousin Cody.

THAT WAS THEN

Whelan, Gloria. Angel on the square. The turbulent pre-Revolution events unfolding in her native Russia soon shake 12-year-old Katya's idyllic world.

Levine, Ellen. Darkness over Denmark: the Danish Resistance and the rescue of the Jews. Why was Denmark able to do what other countries were not--protect their Jews from the Nazis?

Tingle, Rebecca. The edge on the sword. In the late 800s, Flaed defies the traditional role for women and emerges as the greatest heroine in Old English military history.

Anderson, Laurie Halse. Fever, 1793. Mattie Cook, 14, has to rally all of her courage as she faces the ravaging yellow fever epidemic in post-Revolution Philadelphia.

Bradley, James. Flags of our fathers: heroes of Iwo Jima. A fascinating account of the U.S. military invasion of the Japanese island of Iwo Jima during World War II.

Rees, Celia. Witch child. Mary watches as her wise grandmother is executed for being a witch. Sent to the New World, she must decide if she can reveal her true nature and survive.

Hesse, Karen. Witness. Based on a true story, a chorus of eleven voices tells of the arrival of the Ku Klux Klan in a rural Vermont town in the 1920s.

Bachrach, Susan D. The Nazi Olympics: Berlin 1936. In 1936, the Olympic Games in Berlin became infected by the Nazi movement and Hitler's rise to power.

TOO GOOD TO MISS

Philbrick, Rodman. Freak the mighty. Kevin is tiny with the brain of an Einstein. Maxwell is timid and gentle but stuck in the body of a giant. Both have the hearts of heroes.

Alcott, Louisa May. Little women. The lives of the five March girls are irrevocably changed as they meet the challenges of growing up in Massachusetts during the Civil War.

Nye, Naomi Shihab. Habibi. This timely story of Arab-Israeli conflict is seen through the eyes of a transplanted American girl.

Smith, Dodie. I capture the castle. Through her journal, Cassandra shares her quirky family and rollicking romances.

Dumas, Alexandre. The Three Musketeers. D'Artagnan and the three musketeers, Athos, Porthos, and Aramis, have death-defying experiences as they defend the honor of Anne of Austria against the evil doings of Cardinal Richelieu.

London, Jack. White fang. Can wolf-dog White Fang save the life of the man who rescued him from a cruel owner?

TWIST IN THE TALE

Richardson, Bill. After Hamelin. Forget the rats, forget the music. Listen to the story as told by Penelope on her 101st birthday.

Springer, Nancy. I am Morgan le Fay; a tale from Camelot. Was Morgan le Fey a powerful witch responsible for the fall of Camelot, or a woman torn by a great love?

McLaren, Clemence. Waiting for Odysseus: a novel. The story of Odysseus, hero of the Trojan War, as told by four women--his wife Penelope, the sorceress Circe, his patron goddess Athena, and his loyal nurse Eurycleia.

WEIRD SCIENCE

Fridell, Ron. DNA fingerprinting: the ultimate identity. Without a witness, how can DNA prove the guilt or innocence of a person accused of a crime?

Thimmesh, Catherine. Girls think of everything: stories of ingenious inventions by women. What do White-Out, chocolate chip cookies, and the windshield wiper have in common?

Raymo, Chet. An intimate look at the night sky. From the Big Dipper to galaxies far, far away ... lie on your back and enjoy the night sky.

Hampton, Wilborn. Meltdown: a race against nuclear disaster at Three Mile Island. Dangerously close to a Chernobyl-like meltdown, the 1979 incident at Three Mile Island taught the U.S. about the power and danger of nuclear energy.

Friedlander, Mark P., Jr. Outbreak: disease detectives at work. The battle of the microbes-scientists and doctors fight the epidemics that have killed more people than all the wars combined.

Thomas, Peggy. Talking bones: the science of forensic anthropology. Every skeleton tells a story. Read this en"gross"ing story of the science of bodies and bones.

WHAT A LIFE

Myers, Walter Dean. Bad boy: a memoir. How a self-described "bad boy" grows up to become a well-known author.

Myers, Walter Dean. The greatest: Muhammad Ali. From a skinny boy to the World Heavyweight title and an Olympic gold medal, Muhammad Ali's life is one of complexity and controversy.

Lawlor, Laurie. Helen Keller, rebellious spirit. Deprived of her sight and hearing, the indomitable Helen Keller fought the conventions of her day to become an outspoken advocate for the disabled and the poor.

Marston, Elsa. Muhammad of Mecca: prophet of Islam. More than a billion people follow the teachings of Muhammad, the founder of Islam. Trace the footsteps of this inspirational religious leader.

Glover, Savion. Savion! My life in tap. Feel like dancin'? Jump on in and "Bring on da music, bring on da funk" with this spirited biography of the renowned tap dancer, Savion Glover.

Weihenmayer, Erik. Touch the top of the world: a blind man's journey to climb farther than the eye can see. The author, who lost his sight gradually during his teenage years, tells his inspirational story with humor and drama. Having climbed four of the Seven Summits--the continents' highest mountains--his dream is to climb them all.

WILL TO SURVIVE

Bauer, Joan. Backwater. Sixteen-year-old Ivy treks into the mountain wilds to meet her reclusive aunt and finds more than she bargains for.

Murphy, Jim. Blizzard: the storm that changed America. A riveting account of the Killer Storm of 1888 which brought the entire East Coast to a standstill, leaving stories of heroism and desperation in its wake.

Cooney, Caroline B. The ransom of Mercy Carter. Forced to march 300 miles from Massachusetts to Canada during the French and Indian War, Mercy and her family struggle to maintain their Puritan identity.

Mikaelsen, Ben. Touching Spirit Bear. Banished to a remote Alaskan island for almost killing a boy, Cole survives a savage mauling by a mysterious white bear.

THIS SUMMER READING LIST was prepared for the Cooperative Library Association by the following librarians: Lucia Corwin, Meadowbrook School; Marge Farquharson, Dedham Country Day School; Sandy Horowitz, Beaver Country Day School; Rebecca Kinney, Newton Country Day School; Marybeth Oas, Dana Hall School; Jennifer Polshek, Shady Hill School; Cindy Shenette, Walnut Hill School; Karen Starr, Thayer Academy; Erika Tarlin, Buckingham Browne & Nichols School.

MEMBER SCHOOLS: Bancroft School; Beaver Country Day; Belmont Hill School; Boston College High School; Brimmer and May School; Brooks School; Buckingham Browne & Nichols School; Cambridge School of Weston; Cape Cod Academy; Carroll School; Chapel Hill-Chauncy Hall School; Charles River School; Concord Academy; Cushing Academy; Dana Hall School; Dedham Country Day School; Derby Academy; Fay School; The Fenn School; Fontbonne Academy; Governor Dummer Academy; Groton School; Landmark School; Lawrence Academy; Maimnoides School; Meadowbrook School; Middlesex School; Milton Academy; Mt. Alvernia High School; New Jewish High School; Newman School; Newton Country Day School; Noble and Greenough School; Notre Dame Academy; The Park School; Phillips Academy Andover; Pingree School; The Rivers School; Roxbury Latin School; St. John's High School; St. John's Preparatory School; St. Mark's School; St. Sebastian's School; Shady Hill School; Shore Country Day; Tabor Academy; Thayer Academy; Ursuline Academy; Walnut Hill School; Winsor School; Woodward School; Worcester Academy; Xaverian Brothers High School.