5 Modern Class Novels Your Students Will Love

Planning a novel study, but tired of the same old same old? I've been there. The classic go-to class novels are amazing - that's why they're classics after all - but sometimes you and your students just want something new. Something more modern. If this sounds like where you're at, you're in the right place. Here are five modern class novels your secondary students will love!

BenBee and the Teacher Griefer by K.A. Holt

In Ben Bee and the Teacher Griefer, four students failed the Language Arts section of their state test and end up in summer school with their teacher, Ms. J.

The story celebrates differences and neurodivergence and is told from each of the four students' perspectives. While the students are very different, they have one thing in common - a love for a video game called Sandbox. Through Sandbox, they connect with each other and Ms. J. in a way that they hadn't been able to before, but not without many ups and downs along the way.

Each student's pages have a unique look, which keeps your students engaged and makes it easy for them to track which character is speaking in each chapter. For example, Javier uses sketches to help tell his part of the story.

As far as ages are concerned, this book is ideal for 5th through 8th-grade students.

Faker by Gordon Korman

Trey and his sister, Arianna, travel the globe with their con-artist father. Trey is now taking a larger role in the "family business," but he begins to question just how harmless robbing the rich actually is. The book is fun but has depth as Trey explores what's right and what's wrong and begins to crave a permanent home more than ever before after meeting his new friends/targets, Kaylee and Logan. The story also delves into family relationship dynamics and what happens when family members who love each other start feeling themselves pulled in different directions.

Most of Gordon Korman's many books are ideal for grades 5 through 7 or 8, and Faker is too!

Last Day on Mars by Kevin Emerson

One of the most common complaints I hear from students when it comes to class novels is that the pace is too slow or there isn't enough action. You certainly will NOT get that feedback from your students while reading Last Day on Mars. In the novel, the sun is about to supernova and already claimed Earth years prior. Humans have been living in communities on Mars. Life on Mars is all that teenagers Liam and his friends have ever known. However, Mars will soon be gone too, something the humans on Mars have known would happen for a long time and have been preparing for. It's the last day on Mars, and Liam and his friends know that it's time to board the Starliner and head to their new home. However, things don't go as planned.

This awesome sci-fi read is part of a trilogy, and it ends on an amazing cliffhanger! It's perfect for 7th - 8th graders all the way up through high school.

The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

The Inheritance Games is a high school read, unless you have a group of mature eighth graders who won't panic over a kiss or two. Ha!

In the Inheritance Games, Avery Grambs unexpectedly inherits the fortune of Tobias Hawthorne - a billionaire she has never met - but there's a catch. She must move into the Hawthorne mansion to be eligible to receive the fortune that has been left to her. Hawthorne House is huge, contains many riddles, and the very unhappy grandsons that Tobias snubbed in his will.

This book will have your drama-loving teens hooked, which makes the fact that it's part of a four-part series a major win!

The Trouble with Heroes by Kate Messner

Finn, a middle schooler who lost his hero father, a firefighter, is struggling to come to terms with his father's passing. In a moment of anger while visiting his father's grave, he damages a nearby headstone, and it's all caught on camera. The daughter of the woman whose headstone he damaged tells Finn that she'll drop all charges and he won't have to pay for the repair if he agrees to climb all 46 Adirondack Peaks, like her famous mountain-climbing mother had, in one summer. Oh, and he has to bring her dog along on his hikes, too.

The novel is written in verse, which makes it more accessible for students who are reluctant readers. Nearly every page is thought-provoking and makes you want to keep reading. Grief, hope, new beginnings, perseverance ... this one has it all. The book may produce a few tears - I confess - I got teared up multiple times while reading, but in that beautiful, heart-warming kind of way.

Amazon says the book is perfect for readers 12 and up. I'd label this an eighth-grade and up book simply because some of the content is heavier in nature, but you know your students best.

I hope these suggestions help you find your next great class novel! Click on the photos below to check out my resource bundles for all five novels.

Until next time!

Lauren