Comparison
Holes vs Refugee
How Holes by Louis Sachar and Refugee by Alan Gratz compare on reading level, grade placement, curriculum overlap, and shared themes — derived from primary-source citations on each book’s ReadingList page.
Holes
Louis Sachar
- Lexile
- 660L
- Grades
- 4–7
- Published
- 1998
- Pages
- 233
- Genre
- Middle Grade Fiction
Refugee
Alan Gratz
- Lexile
- 800L
- Grades
- 5–9
- Published
- 2017
- Pages
- 352
- Genre
- Historical Fiction
At a glance
- Lexile differential
- 140L (Holes: 660L · Refugee: 800L)
- Grade-range overlap
- Grades 5–7
- Year-of-publication gap
- 19 years (1998 vs 2017)
- Page-count gap
- 119 pages (233 vs 352)
- Shared curricula
- 77 of 117
- Shared themes
- 0 of 10
Reading-level difference
The 140-point Lexile gap puts Refugee roughly a notch above Holes. Lexile differences below 50L typically reflect equivalent decoding load (sentence length + word frequency); differences above 200L cross developmental reading-band boundaries. More on how Lexile measures work →
Curriculum overlap
Both books appear in 77 shared curriculum frameworks:
Themes
Only Holes
fate vs choice · friendship · justice · family legacy · racial history
Only Refugee
refugees · survival · family · displacement · empathy
Get these books
Holes
Louis Sachar
Where to find this book
Audible: new members only · many assigned titles are included · a free trial for eligible new members starts listening right away, with no wait for delivery.
Other formats on Amazon: Kindle · Audiobook
As an Amazon Associate, ReadingList earns from qualifying purchases and membership trials at no extra cost to you. Pricing, Prime, and trial terms shown on Amazon.
Refugee
Alan Gratz
Where to find this book
Audible: new members only · many assigned titles are included · a free trial for eligible new members starts listening right away, with no wait for delivery.
Other formats on Amazon: Kindle · Audiobook
As an Amazon Associate, ReadingList earns from qualifying purchases and membership trials at no extra cost to you. Pricing, Prime, and trial terms shown on Amazon.