Course Description
Junior High Literature
Junior High Literature is a flexible literature course for grades 7–8, offering a wide range of classic novels, saint biographies, short stories, and poetry. Rather than requiring every included work, the course plan helps families choose an appropriate year of study based on the student’s reading level, maturity, interests, and broader coursework.
Students develop stronger habits of literary analysis through book reports, written assignments, study questions, exams, and work with fiction, literary devices, poetry, theme, character, plot, mood, tone, and point of view. The course is designed to support thoughtful reading and a Christian approach to literature.
This course plan helps organize the course with clear structure and pacing. Exact contents may vary by selected works; please refer to the sample for course-specific details.
Course Plan Details
Grade Level
Junior High, Grades 7–8
Subject
Literature
Product Type
Course Plan
Includes
Course plan, exams, keys, and supplemental material where applicable
- Daily or weekly course plans for selected works
- Assignment schedules and pacing support
- Written assignments and book-report guidance
- Final exams and keys where applicable
- Supplemental material for short story and poetry units
Course Formats and Book Lists
This course plan is used for Kolbe Academy’s traditional homeschool Junior High Literature course. Please use the matching book list when purchasing course materials.
Choosing a Year’s Course of Study
Junior High Literature provides more material than most students are expected to complete in a single year. Families should choose an appropriate set of works for the student, taking into account reading difficulty, maturity level, themes, history and religion connections, and the student’s overall interests.
A balanced year may include novels and lives of saints for part of the year, along with either the short story course or the poetry course for one quarter. The book options below show the range of works available in the course plan.
Novel Options
Use this list to see available novel selections, suggested course-plan pacing, AR reading level where available, and Kolbe’s recommended reading level.
| Book | Author | Weeks | AR Level | Kolbe Rec. Level |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adventures of Tom Sawyer | Mark Twain | 5 weeks | 8.1 | 7 |
| Animal Farm | George Orwell | 4 weeks | 7.3 | 8 |
| Anne of Green Gables | L.M. Montgomery | 4 weeks | 7.3 | 7 |
| The Black Arrow | Robert Louis Stevenson | 3 weeks | 9.0 | 7 |
| Dandelion Wine | Ray Bradbury | 4 weeks | 6.0 | 7 |
| Fellowship of the Ring | J. R. R. Tolkien | 5 weeks | 6.1 | 7 |
| Little Women | Louisa May Alcott | 5 weeks | 7.9 | 7 |
| Merchant of Venice | William Shakespeare | 5 weeks | 9.4 | 8 |
| Oliver Twist | Charles Dickens | 6 weeks | 10.1 | 8 |
| Out of the Silent Planet | C.S. Lewis | 3 weeks | 7.4 | 8 |
| Pride and Prejudice | Jane Austen | 4 weeks | 12.0 | 8 |
| The Red Badge of Courage | Stephen Crane | 3 weeks | 7.6 | 7 |
| Robinson Crusoe | Daniel Defoe | 4 weeks | 12.3 | 7 |
| The Screwtape Letters | C.S. Lewis | 4 weeks | 8.8 | 8 |
| A Tale of Two Cities | Charles Dickens | 7 weeks | 9.7 | 8 |
| Treasure Island | Robert Louis Stevenson | 4 weeks | 8.3 | 7 |
| Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea | Jules Verne | 6 weeks | 10.0 | 7 |
| Uncle Tom’s Cabin | Harriet Beecher Stowe | 6 weeks | 8.2 | 8 |
| Where the Lilies Bloom | Vera and Bill Cleaver | 4 weeks | 7.0 | 7 |
| The Yearling | Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings | 4 weeks | 7.3 | 7 |
Saint Book Options
Families may include lives of saints along with classic literature selections for a well-rounded junior high course of study.
| Book | Author | Weeks | Kolbe Rec. Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| Saint Athanasius | Mother Frances Forbes | 2 weeks | 8 |
| St. Benedict | Mary Fabyan Windeatt | 3 weeks | 7 |
| St. Edmund Campion | Harold C. Gardiner | 3 weeks | 7 |
| St. Ignatius | August Derleth | 3 weeks | 8 |
| St. Maria Goretti | Fr. Godfrey Poage | 3 weeks | 8 |
| St. Maximilian Kolbe | Fr. Jeremiah J. Smith | 3 weeks | 7 |
| Miguel Pro | Ann Ball | 3 weeks | 7 |
| St. Paul | Mary Fabyan Windeatt | 3 weeks | 8 |
| St. Teresa of Avila | Mother Frances Forbes | 3 weeks | 8 |
Short Story Course
The short story course is designed as a one-quarter literature course. It includes classic short fiction and may be especially suitable for a quarter near Christmas because several selections are Christmas-themed.
| Short Story | Author | AR Level |
|---|---|---|
| The Ransom of Red Chief | O. Henry | 6.3 |
| The Last Leaf | O. Henry | 6.1 |
| The Gift of the Magi | O. Henry | 6.2 |
| The Story of the Other Wise Man | Henry Van Dyke | 5.2 |
| The Old Man and the Sea | Ernest Hemingway | 8.9 |
| The Legend of Sleepy Hollow | Washington Irving | 9.2 |
| The Red-Headed League | Sir Arthur Conan Doyle | 7.8 |
| A Christmas Carol | Charles Dickens | 6.7 |
Poetry Course
The poetry course is designed as a one-quarter course and is recommended for 8th grade. Students read and study classic poems while working with poetic forms, literary devices, and written comparison assignments.
| Poem | Author |
|---|---|
| The Highwayman | Alfred Noyes |
| Lochinvar | Sir Walter Scott |
| The Wreck of the Hesperus | Henry Wadsworth Longfellow |
| The Rime of the Ancient Mariner | Samuel T. Coleridge |
| O Captain! My Captain! | Walt Whitman |
| Sea Fever | John Masefield |
| Crossing the Bar | Alfred Lord Tennyson |
| The Lonely Street | William Carlos Williams |
| School’s Out | William Henry Davies |
| I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud | William Wordsworth |
| The Raven | Edgar Allan Poe |
| If | Rudyard Kipling |
| Jabberwocky | Lewis Carroll |
| God’s Grandeur | Gerard Hopkins |
| An Irish Airman Foresees His Death | W.B. Yeats |
| Anthem for Doomed Youth | Wilfred Owen |
| Charge of the Light Brigade | Alfred Lord Tennyson |
| The Song of Hiawatha | Henry Wadsworth Longfellow |
Course Plan Sample
Use the course plan sample to review selected works, pacing, assignments, assessments, and course-specific details before purchasing additional materials.
View Course Plan SampleAdditional Materials Needed
Additional books and instructional materials are sold separately. Materials used with this course may include:
- Junior High Literature Study Guide Student Book
- Junior High Literature Teacher Book
- Classic Poems Across the Ages
- Classic Short Stories
- Selected novels and saint books chosen for the student’s course of study
Course Plan Note
Enrollment with Kolbe Academy is not required to purchase or use this course plan. For enrolled students, digital course plans are included through the Kolbe Portal, and printed course plans are available for an additional fee during course registration. Enrolled families do not need to purchase course plans separately through the bookstore.
Refund Policy
All Kolbe paper course plans are non-refundable. All Kolbe digital course plans are delivered via SendOwl and are non-refundable.