Middle school · 11 book-specific guides
Homeschool literature guides
for Grades 6–8.
Literature studies for grades 6–8, with evidence-based questions, literary elements, historical context, and short writing or discussion projects.
Literary elements
Evidence-based questions
Figurative language
Short essays and debate
Why this level
Students work with longer arcs, literary craft, historical context, competing interpretations, and evidence they can defend in discussion or writing.
Suggested rhythm
Studies typically take 6–8 weeks. Read the assigned chapters across the week, then use the focus question and activity for one unhurried conversation.
Placement note
Grade placement reflects the guide’s prompts, pacing, content, and expected independence. Parents can move up or down based on the child in front of them. Reviewed September 8, 2026.
The middle school shelf
Choose a book to begin.
Each guide maps reading by chapter or named section so it works across common editions.
Showing 11 of 11 books.
Middle school
The Hobbit
J. R. R. Tolkien
Bilbo Baggins leaves the safety of his hobbit-hole to join Thorin's company on a quest to reclaim a mountain kingdom from a dragon.
6–8 · 8 weeks · Adventure literature
Middle school
The Giver
Lois Lowry
Jonas lives in a community built on sameness until he is chosen to receive the memories that everyone else has been protected from.
6–8 · 7 weeks · Classic literature
Middle school
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
Mildred D. Taylor
Cassie Logan grows up in 1930s Mississippi, learning how her family's land, loyalty, and courage meet the realities of racial injustice.
6–8 · 8 weeks · Historical fiction
Middle school
The Outsiders
S. E. Hinton
Ponyboy Curtis sees his world of Greasers and Socs shift after one night forces him to confront loyalty, violence, and what people share.
7–8 · 6 weeks · Classic literature
Middle school
The Westing Game
Ellen Raskin
Sixteen very different heirs move into Sunset Towers and become pieces in a puzzle that tests how well they read one another.
6–8 · 6 weeks · Classic literature
Middle school
The Bronze Bow
Elizabeth George Speare
In Roman-occupied Galilee, Daniel bar Jamin joins a resistance movement while struggling to decide what kind of freedom can heal a people.
6–8 · 6 weeks · Historical fiction
Middle school
Little Women
Louisa May Alcott
The four March sisters grow up during the Civil War, each learning how ambition, family, work, and love can shape a life.
6–8 · 8 weeks · Classic literature
Middle school
The Hound of the Baskervilles
Arthur Conan Doyle
Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson investigate a legend, a lonely moor, and a family inheritance that may be tied to a supernatural hound.
7–8 · 6 weeks · Adventure literature
Middle school
The Witch of Blackbird Pond
Elizabeth George Speare
Kit Tyler arrives in Puritan Connecticut and must decide what it means to belong when the community fears anyone who seems different.
6–8 · 6 weeks · Historical fiction
Middle school
Treasure Island
Robert Louis Stevenson
Jim Hawkins leaves the Admiral Benbow for a treasure hunt that tests his courage and brings him into the orbit of the persuasive Long John Silver.
6–8 · 7 weeks · Adventure literature
Middle school
The Pearl
John Steinbeck
Kino finds a great pearl and imagines a new future, but the systems around him turn hope into a test of what he values most.
7–8 · 4 weeks · Classic literature