• Every 7th grader should read The Giver because readers need to think hard to understand the story

• The Hunger Games shows the read how great their lives are without needing to fight to the death against strangers

• Hatchet teaches the value of not giving up

Reading is very important for students because it can help them increase their knowledge. But if you read books that are too easy, they won’t help you. Selecting books that are the right difficulty is important, and these four books are perfect for any 7th grader.

1. The Giver

This book takes place in the future where there is no color, pain, fear, or hate. Everyone has a similar life, and they are mostly emotionless. There is a very important ceremony called the “Ceremony of Twelve,” in which everyone in the society gets assigned to a job. Jonas, the main character, becomes the “Receiver of Memories.” The Receiver is the person that stores the memory of the past, such as feelings, emotions, and color. This job is very important because it prevents people from harming each other like the people in the past.

The Giver, who is the current Receiver, gives the memories to Jonas by putting his hands on his back. The Giver shows Jonas good memories, but there were also bad memories such as war, pain, hunger, and death. Even though there are bad memories, they make Jonas feel angry because he thinks society has taken freedom from the citizens. They have never made a choice of their own, and Jonas chooses to let the citizens have their own freedom by releasing his memories.

Every 7th grader should read this book because readers need to think hard to understand the story. This book can also make you learn lessons you won’t learn in real life, such as gratitude for freedom because freedom is hard for other people in the book, or maybe other people in the world, but for you it is normal. I hope every 7th grader can read it because you can learn a lot from it

2. The Hunger Games

This book is about the nation of Panem, which is North America, but it has been destroyed, so Panem is a new America. It hosts an event called “the Hunger Games.” There is a “reaping” before the Hunger Games, when the 12 districts decide who they will send to the games. The districts send 24 “tributes” in total; they are the people that fight in the Hunger Games. They will fight in a arena until one tribute is left. This tribute will go back return to his own district which will be awarded with extra food.

Students should read this book because it shows you that you have a great life without needing to fight to death with strangers. The main character had a poor life, and she still has to fight for it. Even though this book is violent, you will find it interesting because the actions are really well written, and you can learn how to describe things better with more complicated words.

3. Holes

This book is about a boy called Stanley Yelnats. He was arrested because people thought he stole Clyde Livingston’s tennis shoes. He went to Camp Green Lake, which is used for punishing teenage prisoners. He had to stay there for 18 months, and every day, he would have to dig a hole that is five feet wide and five feet deep. He got a new nickname – Caveman – and every prisoner there also has a nickname. Other kids are called wild names like Armpit, Zero, and X-ray. One day, Zero escaped, and Stanley went to find him. He eventually found him, and they went to a mountain. They developed a very deep friendship on the mountain, but as they get closer Stanley discovers the truth as to why he is in Camp Green Lake.

I recommend every 7th grader to read this book because it is so engaging. The plot is very complicated, so you must pay a lot of attention in the book because each sentence you read might be an important detail for the story. This book is also very funny, like the name Stanley gave to his great-grandfather: no-good-dirty-rotten-pig-stealing-great-great-grandfather.

4. Hatchet

Hatchet is about a boy called Brian who has to survive in the wilderness after a plane crash. He learned things that he wouldn’t ever learn in the city, and found out that staying in the wild is harder than he thought. He didn’t know what to do at first, but he survived, and learned how to do things that he would never know if he lived in the city the whole time.

Every 7th grader should read this book because it tells you how every problem that you think cannot be solved can be solved if you try hard enough. Also, this book tells you that not everything happens in the way you think it should, and you need to know how to react quickly to problems. This novel is very exciting because the main character faces many different challenges, but he always figures a way out.

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These are the four books that I recommend that every 7th grader should read, and I hope people can have a good time reading all these books because they are very interesting and fun.