Rescue Josh McGuire
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Widely assigned — 3 curriculum lists · 3 states
Grade placement varies by school — the median assigned book spans 4 grade levels (83% span three or more, across 13,258 source-cited assignments).
Rescue Josh McGuire by Ben Mikaelsen is assigned in US schools at grades 3–5. It appears across 3 curriculum references and 3 states, sourced from state DOE pages and AP/IB/Common Core syllabi. Every citation below links to the primary source.
This page shows where Rescue Josh McGuire 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 3–5
- Age range
- Ages 8–10
- Pages
- 266
- Reading time
- about 4h 55m (est.)
- First published
- 1991
- Genre
- Adventure
- ISBN-13
- 9781562820992
New to these terms? Reading levels by grade
More formats & details
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See all books like Rescue Josh McGuire→ — matched on theme + reading level.
Why widely assigned
This Adventure title, typically at grades 3–5. Written in the 1990s; pairs with curriculum units on wildlife rescue and orphaned animals; cited across 3 curriculum frameworks.
Themes
wildlife rescue · orphaned animals · bears · runaways
Where this book is assigned
California Young Reader Medal
- recommended·3rd grade · Californiasource: California Young Reader Medal past winners, 1995 winner (Middle School/Junior High)
- recommended·4th grade · Californiasource: California Young Reader Medal past winners, 1995 winner (Middle School/Junior High)
- recommended·5th grade · Californiasource: California Young Reader Medal past winners, 1995 winner (Middle School/Junior High)
- recommended·6th grade · Californiasource: California Young Reader Medal past winners, 1995 winner (Middle School/Junior High)
- recommended·7th grade · Californiasource: California Young Reader Medal past winners, 1995 winner (Middle School/Junior High)
- recommended·8th grade · Californiasource: California Young Reader Medal past winners, 1995 winner (Middle School/Junior High)
Nebraska Golden Sower Award
- recommended·3rd grade · Nebraskasource: Nebraska Library Association — Golden Sower Award past winners, 1995 winner (Chapter Book)
- recommended·4th grade · Nebraskasource: Nebraska Library Association — Golden Sower Award past winners, 1995 winner (Chapter Book)
- recommended·5th grade · Nebraskasource: Nebraska Library Association — Golden Sower Award past winners, 1995 winner (Chapter Book)
North Dakota Flicker Tale Children's Book Award
- recommended·4th grade · North Dakotasource: North Dakota Library Association — Flicker Tale Children's Book Award past winners — 1998 winner
- recommended·5th grade · North Dakotasource: North Dakota Library Association — Flicker Tale Children's Book Award past winners — 1998 winner
- recommended·6th grade · North Dakotasource: North Dakota Library Association — Flicker Tale Children's Book Award past winners — 1998 winner
- recommended·7th grade · North Dakotasource: North Dakota Library Association — Flicker Tale Children's Book Award past winners — 1998 winner
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Common questions
- What grade level is Rescue Josh McGuire?
- Rescue Josh McGuire is most commonly assigned in US schools in grades 3–5. It appears on 3 school reading lists across 3 states, from grade 3 to grade 8. Exact placement varies by school and district.
- How long does it take to read Rescue Josh McGuire?
- It takes about 4h 55m to read Rescue Josh McGuire (266 pages) at an average adult reading pace of about 250 words per minute — roughly 295 minutes. Faster or slower readers will vary; the estimate is a planning guide for assigning the book.
- What curricula assign Rescue Josh McGuire?
- Rescue Josh McGuire appears on reading lists for California Young Reader Medal, Nebraska Golden Sower Award, North Dakota Flicker Tale Children's Book Award. Each assignment on this site links to its primary-source citation.
- Is Rescue Josh McGuire banned in schools?
- Rescue Josh McGuire does not appear in PEN America's Index of School Book Bans 2022-2024. No documented multi-district removals on record, but individual districts may challenge titles locally.
- What themes does Rescue Josh McGuire explore?
- Central themes in Rescue Josh McGuire include wildlife rescue, orphaned animals, bears, runaways.
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 3–5 — drawn from state ELA frameworks and AP/IB syllabi citing this book.
- Curriculum alignment
- Cited in 3 curricula on this site (see “Where assigned” above for primary-source links).
- State-level evidence
- Cited in 3 states ELA frameworks or DOE list (see citations above).
- Removal / banning records
- No tracked removal or challenge records in cited sources.
- Seasonal / contextual tags
- Tagged for: book-club.