I asked the students to brainstorm the books that we read at during readaloud time. I read to the class for about 25 minutes per day, and it’s not often skipped. Below you will find their honest reviews about our Grade 7 Read Alouds. Since there is no point in asking for feedback unless I plan to take action, I will only be reading aloud those books that received good student reviews.
I love to read to my class. It doesn’t matter that they are in Grade 7, the science is with me on this one! I love it, and they love it. So it’s coming to the end of June for this crew of students. They graduate from Elementary School and move on to High School, something they are ready for, particularly from their own point of view!
“Review This Year’s Read Alouds”
At the end of the year, I often ask my classes to reflect back on their time in my class and to give me some sort of feedback. Sometimes I’ll do this as a direct question, others I’ll have them create a “User Guide to Grade 7” for the upcoming Grade 6s. Regardless of how I do it, I want to know how to make each year just that little bit better.
Which books were the best read alouds for Grade 7? That depends on the kids.
My primary goal for my reading curriculum, above all other skills and elements of stories and conducting research, is to build a love of reading into my students. I really feel that a student who enjoys reading is already ahead in their chances of success at school and life, and, at the very least, has an entertaining and never-ending source of entertainment.
So, without further ado, here are the best Grade 7 read alouds of this year, plus some others, as reviewed by the students.
Ok, full disclosure…I am reading through the reviews of my students and there is a fair variety on most of the list. The top-ranking books are pretty consistent and I will point those out, but I’m going to list these in no particular order.
Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus by Dusti Bowling
Aven Green is a girl who was born with no arms. She was adopted as a young toddler by a loving family and has grown up learning how to do everything herself. Her adoptive family has raised an independent, strong-willed girl. When her parents are hired to run a ranch theme park in Arizona, she has to change to a new school, facing a whole new group of people as a girl with no arms. Aven is such an appealing character and she is portrayed as cheeky and full of spark as she becomes close friends with two other students at her school, while trying to solve the mystery of the missing theme park owner.
The class really enjoyed listening to this. Because the story is so out of the ordinary and the character’s sense of humour is a little spicy, a little sarcastic and very relatable, this one was a hit. Students said:
” It was good and interesting to listen to.”
“I loved the accurate representation of Tourette’s Syndrome!”
“Not many books have a storyline like this, but I just really enjoyed it.”
“I liked the characters.”
“It was funny, interesting, and different.”
Note: this book was middle of the list for many of my students.
Variant by Robison Wells
The main character, Benson Fisher, earns a scholarship to an exclusive school and accepts, hoping that it will help get him out of an otherwise dead-end existence. Upon his arrival, he is greeted by two students running away and a student guide who won’t talk about it. The mysteries pile up from there.
This is a really good story that keeps the students guessing. My class was obsessed with this one. My students said, in their own words:
“It had a lot of twists and turns and it was interesting”.
“There were so many cliffhangers!”
“It was very exciting and engaging”.
“I think you should do it again because it was very good, had a lot of little details, and was full of events and plot twists.”
Alone by Megan Freeman
A girl lies to her mom that she is staying with her dad, and tells her dad that she is staying with her mom. In reality, she is planning a sleepover with some friends at her Grandma’s while her Grandma is away. Her friends have to cancel, and she is left alone at her Grandma’s. Not in itself a problem. She has a lovely cozy evening in peace and quiet. When she wakes up, no one is there. Anywhere. She doesn’t know why or what happened. This is the story of what happens after.
What’s really cool about this book is that it’s all written in poetry. Many in my class have labelled this as their favourite book all year. Their reviews included:
“I think you should read it again because it had a very good story line and had a good description of the plot.”
“I liked the way it was written and the plot in general.”
“I liked this one a lot.”
Note about this book…even the kids who swore they hated reading, liked this one. A weird plug for a book, but if you’re a teacher with reluctant readers? This one rocked it.
The Girl and the Ghost by Hanna Alkaf
One night a witch dies, and the ghost who was her familiar finds and binds itself to her granddaughter. As she grows, the witch’s granddaughter because close friends with the ghost but the friendship becomes…complicated. This book was funny, creepy, relatable, sad…it had everything. Full disclosure: I really liked the story, but it doesn’t seem to have been for everyone. Highly recommend trying it with your class though…the story is worth it.
My class generally thought I should read this one to a future class. They thought that:
“Girl and the Ghost was a really good book. I recommend it for next year’s people.”
“It was interesting.”
“It was funny, realistic, interesting, and relatable.”
Hamish X and the Cheese Pirates by Sean Cullin
This is a funny book (I thought) about three orphans who escape from a cheese factory that employs slave labour. There are pirates who steal cheese, and cheese masters. There are daring escapes. There are wild inventions, flying pirate ships, and a lot of porridge. Quite honestly, I think it’s really funny.
However, on this one my class seems to disagree with me. One or two students liked it but, on the whole, it was not enjoyed by this group. I think perhaps the humour was too silly, or too dry, or too ridiculous…I’m not sure, but they were not fans. One student wrote:
“To me, it wasn’t that interesting. I didn’t feel like it was so good that I wanted to hear more.”
That pretty much sums up the response. Perhaps try it with your class, but I think I will leave this one alone next year.
24 Hours in Nowhere by Dusti Bowling
Our second Dusti Bowling novel this year, 24 Hours in Nowhere was a completely different sort of story. This one involved four students, thrown together in a misguided mission to find gold in an abandoned mine in the small town of Nowhere. It takes place over 24 hours, during which they have a number of dangerous adventures. The story involves dirt bikes, eccentric shopkeepers, desert prawns, and races, and those are only the elements outside of the mine!
This one received mixed reviews from my class, I think because of the structure, but those who loved it, loved it. It would appeal to a group that was really into the outdoors and typical adventure novels. In the words of some students:
“I liked the plot, there were surprises but it stayed with similar ideas with a theme that made sense.”
“It was good and cool.”
“Good book to listen to.”
Maybe He Just Likes You by Barbara Dee
This book was so relatable and uncomfortable, particularly for the Grade 7s in my class. That is precisely why I read it to them and why I had such mixed reviews of the book. It tells the story of a girl who is experiencing harassment from several boys in her grade, but harassment that is hard to pinpoint. She does not know what to do or even if there is a problem. She questions herself, and then when she realizes that she is right, then finds everyone else questioning her responses.
It’s an uncomfortable read and it was uncomfortable for the students to listen to. But! I think there are certain classes, and years of students, who really need to hear about these types of interactions to avoid accidentally going ahead and perpetrating them or being the victims of them, so read it we did. You can see from their responses that they got the big deal but definitely felt the discomfort.
“Awkward book but it was good to listen to.”
“Do read Maybe He Just Likes You again. It was not what I’d call enjoyable but Grade 7s need to hear it.”
The Extraordinary Adventures of Alfred Kropp by Rick Yancey
Wow, this book. I have read this book to 4 Grade 7s classes in a row over the last 4 years and every time it is a hit. This is a bit on the edge in terms of action but it’s a great introduction to the delight of how fun reading can be for those reluctant readers who might be in the class. This is the story of Alfred, a boy without parents whose uncle is raising him. He finds himself, through a series of unfortunate decisions, thoroughly mixed up in a modern tale of King Arthur, Excalibur, Knights of the Round Table and the battle between good and evil. It’s just great, and this year, as before, it was a favourite. I read it at the beginning of the year, and they were still talking about it at the end.
Students said:
“I really liked this book. It had tons of interesting events and was very adventurous.”
“Good book, funny.”
“Definitely read Alfred Kropp again. It was really fun and everyone liked it.”
“I think you should read Alfred Kropp next year because there was lots of action and the overall story was cool.”
So, there you have it, the read alouds we did this year, as reviewed by the teacher (that’s me!) and the students. Given that my intent with reading aloud to 12 and 13 year olds is to get them interested in reading, I really find this activity useful, since there is no point in trying to get kids excited about books if the only person who is excited is the teacher!
Hope you find this useful, friends! If you have any great suggestions for read alouds, please comment below. I am always looking for new ideas!
And, if you’re interested in some Grade 7 curriculum ideas, check out that page here.
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