An American Plague
by Jim Murphy
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Assigned across 1 curriculum list
Grade placement varies by school — the median assigned book spans 4 grade levels (83% span three or more, across 13,258 source-cited assignments).
An American Plague by Jim Murphy is assigned in US schools at grades 4–10. It appears across 1 curriculum reference, sourced from state DOE pages and AP/IB/Common Core syllabi. Every citation below links to the primary source.
This page shows where An American Plague is assigned in US schools — curricula, states, grades, and the primary-source citations behind each placement. Not a summary or study guide.
- Grade range
- Grades 4–10
- Pages
- 165
- Reading time
- about 3 hours (est.)
- First published
- 2003
- Genre
- Children's
- ISBN-13
- 9780395776087
New to these terms? Reading levels by grade
More formats & details
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Why widely assigned
This Children's title, typically at grades 4–10. Written in the 2000s; cited across 1 curriculum framework.
Where this book is assigned
Boston Globe–Horn Book Award
- recommended·4th gradesource: Boston Globe–Horn Book Award winners, via Wikipedia — 2004 Winner
- recommended·5th gradesource: Boston Globe–Horn Book Award winners, via Wikipedia — 2004 Winner
- recommended·6th gradesource: Boston Globe–Horn Book Award winners, via Wikipedia — 2004 Winner
- recommended·7th gradesource: Boston Globe–Horn Book Award winners, via Wikipedia — 2004 Winner
- recommended·8th gradesource: Boston Globe–Horn Book Award winners, via Wikipedia — 2004 Winner
- recommended·9th gradesource: Boston Globe–Horn Book Award winners, via Wikipedia — 2004 Winner
- recommended·10th gradesource: Boston Globe–Horn Book Award winners, via Wikipedia — 2004 Winner
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Common questions
- What grade level is An American Plague?
- An American Plague is most commonly assigned in US schools in grades 4–10. It appears on 1 school reading list. Exact placement varies by school and district.
- How long does it take to read An American Plague?
- It takes about 3 hours to read An American Plague (165 pages) at an average adult reading pace of about 250 words per minute — roughly 180 minutes. Faster or slower readers will vary; the estimate is a planning guide for assigning the book.
- What curricula assign An American Plague?
- An American Plague appears on reading lists for Boston Globe–Horn Book Award. Each assignment on this site links to its primary-source citation.
- Is An American Plague banned in schools?
- An American Plague has documented removals from at least one public-school district in 1 state (TX) per PEN America's Index of School Book Bans 2022-2024. Policies vary by district.
Why this book is on this list
How we classifyHide
Each dimension below is sourced from a public reference. The full framework is documented on the classification standard page.
- Lexile measure
- Not classified — this book has no published Lexile measure.
- Grade band
- Grades 4–10 — drawn from state ELA frameworks and AP/IB syllabi citing this book.
- Curriculum alignment
- Cited in 1 curriculum on this site (see “Where assigned” above for primary-source links).
- State-level evidence
- Not yet documented in a state-level framework on this site.
- Removal / banning records
- Documented as challenged or removed in 1 state per PEN America’s Index of School Book Bans — see the full banned & challenged books list.
- Seasonal / contextual tags
- Tagged for: read-aloud.