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Product Description More is expected of middle schoolers—more reading, more writing, more independent learning. Achieving success in this more challenging world requires knowing many more words. 100 Words Every Middle Schooler Should Know helps students in grades 6 to 8 (ages 11-14) to express themselves with distinction and get the most out of school. The 100 words are varied and interesting, ranging from verbs like muster and replenish to nouns like havoc and restitution to adjectives like apprehensive and imperious. Knowing these words enables students to express themselves with greater clarity and subtlety. Each word has a definition and a pronunciation and appears with at least one quotation—a moving or dramatic passage—taken from a book that middle schoolers are assigned in the classroom or enjoy reading on their own. Both classic and contemporary works of fiction and nonfiction are represented. Among the authors are young adult favorites and award-winners such as Kate Di Camillo, Russell Freedman, Neil Gaiman, E.L. Konigsberg, Lois Lowry, Walter Dean Myers, Katherine Paterson, J. K. Rowling, and Gary Soto. Readers can see for themselves that the words are used by the very best writers in the very best books. It stands to reason that they will see them again and again in higher grades and throughout their lives. 100 Words Every Middle Schooler Should Know helps students to gain useful knowledge and prepares them to step into a broader world. From Booklist Though aimed at a younger audience than other books in the series, this handbook uses the same tall, slender format to showcase 100 words. Since the level of the vocabulary words selected is reasonable (with words such as versatile, vigilant, vulnerable, and waft), the title claim seems valid. Each entry offers a word’s pronunciation, definition, and origin as well as an example or two of its use in a sentence, often within the context of a short paragraph. Fittingly, these examples are chosen from the writings of children’s and young adult novelists, such as Alexie, Creech, Crutcher, Erdrich, Gaiman, George, Hamilton, Juster, Lowry, Pullman, Park, Raskin, Rowling, Sachar, and Soto. Nonfiction writers are also represented, with quotes from books by Freedman, Fritz, Macaulay, Murphy, and the Fradins, among others. A book that will appeal to word lovers as well as parents hoping to boost their kids’ verbal test scores. Grades 5-8. --Carolyn Phelan About the Author THE EDITORS OF THE AMERICAN HERITAGE DICTIONARIES are a team of professional lexicographers with advanced degrees in various scholarly fields. The editors familiarize themselves with the vocabulary in specific subject areas, collect materials on new developments and usage, and work with expert consultants to ensure that their publications are accurate and up-to-date.