The Book Thief
by Markus Zusak
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Assigned across 1 curriculum list · 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).
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak is assigned in US schools at grades 8–11, with a Lexile measure of 730L. It appears across 1 curriculum reference 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 The Book Thief is assigned in US schools — curricula, states, grades, and the primary-source citations behind each placement. Not a summary or study guide.
- Lexile
- 730L
- Grade range
- Grades 8–11
- Difficulty for grade
- Below the grade 6–8 band (925–1185L)
- Age range
- Ages 13–17
- Pages
- 552
- Reading time
- about 10h 5m (est.)
- First published
- 2005
- Genre
- Historical Fiction
- ISBN-13
- 9780375842207
Reading difficulty: At 730L, The Book Thief reads below the typical 925–1185L text-complexity range for 8th grade (Common Core Appendix A). It is an accessible read for the grade — often assigned for its themes and discussion value rather than for reading challenge.
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New to these terms? What is a Lexile level? · Reading levels by grade
More formats & details
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About this book
Narrated by Death, the novel follows Liesel, a young German girl in a foster family in Nazi Germany, who steals books, learns to read, and hides a Jewish man in her basement. Zusak's novel appears on middle-school and high-school Holocaust-study reading lists across multiple state DOE frameworks.
Similar grade-level books
To Kill a MockingbirdHarper Lee · 870L
The Great GatsbyF. Scott Fitzgerald · 1070L
Of Mice and MenJohn Steinbeck · 630L
Lord of the FliesWilliam Golding · 770L
See all books like The Book Thief→ — matched on theme + reading level.
Why widely assigned
This Historical Fiction title, reads at middle-grade prose complexity, typically at grades 8–11. Written in the 2000s; pairs with curriculum units on Holocaust and courage; cited across 1 curriculum framework.
Themes
Holocaust · courage · the power of words · friendship · loss
Content notes
war violence · death · Holocaust depictions
Common Sense Media recommends age 13+.
Where this book is assigned
Common Core State Standards (ELA)
Summer reading lists
- recommended·9th grade · Massachusettssource: Middleborough High School (MA) — Summer Reading 2025, choose one per incoming grade
- recommended·9th grade · MichiganMichigan ELA Standards — Holocaust cross-curricular
The Book Thief by the numbers: pages, reading time and where it is listed, on Book Statistics.
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Common questions
- What grade level is The Book Thief?
- The Book Thief is most commonly assigned in US schools in grades 8–11, with a Lexile measure of 730L. It appears on 2 school reading lists across 3 states, from grade 8 to grade 9. Exact placement varies by school and district.
- What is the Lexile level of The Book Thief?
- The Book Thief has a Lexile measure of 730L according to MetaMetrics. Lexile measures text complexity, not content maturity — check the grade range and content notes separately for age-appropriateness.
- How long does it take to read The Book Thief?
- It takes about 10h 5m to read The Book Thief (552 pages) at an average adult reading pace of about 250 words per minute — roughly 605 minutes. Faster or slower readers will vary; the estimate is a planning guide for assigning the book.
- Is The Book Thief hard to read for 8th grade?
- At 730L, The Book Thief reads below the typical 925–1185L text-complexity range for 8th grade (Common Core Appendix A). It is an accessible read for the grade — often assigned for its themes and discussion value rather than for reading challenge. Lexile measures text complexity, not thematic maturity — check the content notes for age-appropriateness separately.
- What curricula assign The Book Thief?
- The Book Thief appears on reading lists for Common Core State Standards (ELA). Each assignment on this site links to its primary-source citation.
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
- 730L — sourced from MetaMetrics’ Lexile Hub.
- Grade band
- Grades 8–11 — drawn from state ELA frameworks and AP/IB syllabi citing this book.
- Curriculum alignment
- Cited in 2 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: summer.