Heritage,  Literary Pursuits

7th Grade Reading List from 1935

As I’ve been gathering and archiving family documents I came across this list of books my great-aunt Bonnie read when she was in 7th grade in 1935-1936. Aunt Bonnie was Grandmother’s younger sister. This would have been the school year following Grandmother’s high school graduation.

I recognize a number of the titles as books I’ve read–some of them when I was about that age. Some of them I had never heard of.

It seems like a mix of assigned reading and just-for-pleasure titles, but I really don’t know for sure.

I couldn’t resist doing a little research to see how many I could find online. Interestingly I discovered that most of these books are now in the public domain and available for free in digital format. Aunt Bonnie didn’t list the authors so I’ve had to make assumptions in some cases.

Clicking on a book cover below will take you a listing for the print book, when available. As I’ve mentioned before I’m an Amazon affiliate which means I might earn a small commission if you end up making a purchase. I’ve also provided links to free e-books that I’ve found.

The Secret Garden

by Frances Hodgson Burnett

When Mary Lennox was sent to Misselthwaite Manor to live with her uncle everybody said she was the most disagreeable-looking child ever seen. It was true, too. She had a little thin face and a little thin body, thin light hair and a sour expression…

Available in e-book format for free on Kindle or from Project Gutenberg.

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

by Mark Twain

“TOM!” No answer.

“TOM!” No answer.

“What’s gone with that boy, I wonder? You TOM!”

Available in e-book format for free on Kindle or from Project Gutenberg.

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

by Mark Twain

You don’t know about me without you have read a book by the name of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer; but that ain’t no matter. That book was made by Mr. Mark Twain, and he told the truth, mainly. There was things which he stretched, but mainly he told the truth…

Available in e-book format for free on Kindle or from Project Gutenberg.

Mary Cary

by Kate Langley Bosher

My name is Mary Cary. I live in the Yorkburg Female Orphan Asylum. You may think nothing happens in an Orphan Asylum. It does. The orphans are sure enough children, and real much like the kind that have Mothers and Fathers; but though they don’t give parties or wear truly Paris clothes, things happen, and that’s why I am going to write this story…

Available in e-book format for free from Project Gutenberg.

Pollyanna

by Eleanor H. Porter

Miss Polly Harrington entered her kitchen a little hurriedly this June morning. Miss Polly did not usually make hurried movements; she specially prided herself on her repose of manner. But to-day she was hurrying—actually hurrying…

Available in e-book format for free from Project Gutenberg.

Driven from Home

by Horatio Alger Jr.

A boy of sixteen, with a small gripsack in his hand, trudged along the country road. He was of good height for his age, strongly built, and had a frank, attractive face. He was naturally of a cheerful temperament, but at present his face was grave, and not without a shade of anxiety…

Available in e-book format for free from Project Gutenberg.

Ted Marsh and the Enemy

by Elmer Sherwood

I haven’t been able to find an e-book or excerpt for this intriguing-looking book. However, I did come across a rather unfavorable review of the series. Doesn’t make me want to read it.

The Judd Family

by Rev. John Scotford

It was toward the close of a pleasant day in the autumn of 1846, a stranger, apparently jaded and travel-worn, halted in front of Mr. Atkinson’s dwelling. His horse and carriage bore marks of hard service. In the back part of the carriage there was a large trunk, covered with dust, while in front sat an open basket well filled with books.

Available in e-book format for free from Google Books.

How Ethel Hollister Became a Campfire Girl

by Irene Elliott Benson

“No indeed, Kate!” ejaculated Mrs. Hollister emphatically, “Ethel has no time to join any Camp Fire Girls or Girl Scout Societies. She has her home and school duties, while her leisure is fully occupied.  At present I know with whom she associates…”

Available in e-book format for free on Kindle or from Project Gutenberg.

Ethel Hollister’s Second Summer As a Campfire Girl

by Irene Elliott Benson

The morning after Ethel had declared herself her mother came up to her room. She could see that Mrs. Hollister had not slept and her eyes were red from weeping…

Available in e-book format for free from Project Gutenberg.

Robinson Crusoe

by Daniel Defoe

I was born in the year 1632, in the city of York, of a good family, though not of that country, my father being a foreigner of Bremen, who settled first at Hull.  He got a good estate by merchandise, and leaving off his trade, lived afterwards at York…

Available in e-book format for free on Kindle and from Project Gutenberg.

After the Rain

by Grace T. Hallock

The only book I found with this title that was published before 1936 was subtitled “Cleanliness Customs of Children of Many Lands” and was apparently a health textbook. I’m not sure if this is the book Aunt Bonnie read or not, but it might have been. I did not find an e-book or excerpt for it.

Will Rogers

by P.J. O’Brien

This one doesn’t seem to be in the public domain as I didn’t find a free e-book. However, it is available on Kindle.

Just David

by Eleanor H. Porter

Far up on the mountain-side the little shack stood alone in the clearing. It was roughly yet warmly built. Behind it jagged cliffs broke the north wind, and towered gray-white in the sunshine. Before it a tiny expanse of green sloped gently away…

Available in e-book format for free on Kindle and from Google Books.

Only a Farm Boy

by Frank W. Webster

“Hey there, Dan Hardy, what ye doin’ now?”

“I’m oiling the corn sheller, Mr. Savage. It needed it.”

“Huh! Guess ye wanted t’ take a rest, an’ that was your excuse fer it Git t’ work now, an’ don’t let me see you loafin’ agin…”

Available in e-book format for free at Hathitrust Digital Library.

Shifting for Himself

by Horatio Alger Jr.

Dr. Burton’s boarding-school was in a ferment of hope and expectation. To-morrow was the end of the term, and vacation, so dear to the heart of every school-boy, was close at hand…

Available in e-book format for free at Project Gutenberg.

The Covered Wagon

by Emerson Hough

“Look at ’em come, Jesse! More and more! Must be forty or fifty families.”

Molly Wingate, middle-aged, portly, dark browed, and strong, stood at the door of the rude tent which for the time made her home…

Available in e-book format for free on Kindle and at Project Gutenberg.

The Meadow-Brook Girls

by Janet Aldridge

“Tommy, what are you doing?” demanded Margery Brown, shaking back a lock of unruly hair from her flushed face.

“Conthulting the Oracle,” lisped Grace Thompson, more familiarly known among her friends as Tommy.

Available in e-book format for free on Kindle and at Project Gutenberg.

A Life of General Robert E. Lee

by John Esten Cooke

The name of Lee is beloved and respected throughout the world. Men of all parties and opinions unite in this sentiment, not only those who thought and fought with him, but those violently opposed to his political views and career…

Available in e-book format for free at Project Gutenberg.

The Mead0w-Brook Girls Across Country

by Janet Aldridge

“Oh, where can Crazy Jane be!” wailed Margery Brown.

“It isn’t so much a question of where Jane may be as where we ourselves are, Buster,” answered Harriet Burrell, laughingly…

Available in e-book format for free on Kindle and at Project Gutenberg.

The Story of a Bad Boy

by Thomas Bailey Aldrich

This is the story of a bad boy. Well, not such a very bad, but a pretty bad boy; and I ought to know, for I am, or rather I was, that boy myself.

Lest the title should mislead the reader, I hasten to assure him here that I have no dark confessions to make…

Available in e-book format for free on Kindle and at Project Gutenberg.

Treasure Island

by Robert Louis Stevenson

Squire Trelawney, Dr. Livesey, and the rest of these gentlemen having asked me to write down the whole particulars about Treasure Island, from the beginning to the end, keeping nothing back but the bearings of the island…

Available in e-book format for free on Kindle and at Project Gutenberg.

I’ve read The Secret Garden, Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn, Pollyanna, Robinson Crusoe, Just David, and Treasure Island. Which of these titles have you read? 

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