1980s books assigned in 4th grade
US schools assign 105 books written in the 1980s to 4th grade students, across 40 states, spanning 550L–1020L. Every title below is cited from a state ELA standard, district reading list, or AP/IB syllabus.
Most widely assigned from the 1980s
There's a Boy in the Girls' Bathroom
Louis Sachar · on 16 reading lists
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- Titles
- 105
- Written
- 1980–1989
- Lexile range
- 550L–1020L
- States assigning
- 40
The list — 1980s, 4th grade
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A Chair for My MotherVera B. Williams
A Dog Called KittyWallace, Bill
A Light in the AtticShel Silverstein
A Little FearPatricia Wrightson
A Long Hard JourneyPat McKissack
A Visit to William Blake's InnNancy Willard
After the Dancing DaysMargaret Rostkowski
Aliens for BreakfastJonathan Etra- All About SamLois LowryAll About SamLois Lowry
AlphabaticsSuse MacDonald
Anthony BurnsVirginia Hamilton
Auks, Rocks, and the Odd DinosaurPeggy Thomson
Baby-Sitting Is a Dangerous JobWillo Davis Roberts
Be a Perfect Person in Just Three DaysStephen Manes
Beat the Story-Drum, Pum-PumAshley Bryan
Behind Barbed WireDaniel S. Davis
C.L.O.U.D.S.Pat Cummings
Chimney SweepsJames Cross Giblin
Christina's GhostBetty Ren Wright
Class ClownJohanna Hurwitz
Conrad's WarAndrew Davies
Cracker JacksonBetsy Cromer Byars
Daphne's BookMary Downing Hahn
Dear Mr. HenshawBeverly Cleary
Show all 105 titles
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- December Stillness · Mary Downing Hahn
- Dicey's Song · Cynthia Voigt
- Do Bananas Chew Gum? · Jamie Gilson
- Everett Anderson's Goodbye · Lucille Clifton
- Exploring the Titanic · Robert D. Ballard
- Fallen Angels · Walter Dean Myers
- Ferret in the Bedroom, Lizards in the Fridge · Bill Wallace
- Freak the Mighty · W. R. Philbrick
- Fudge · Charlotte Towner Graeber
- Hail, Hail, Camp Timberwood · Ellen Conford
- Half a Moon and One Whole Star · Crescent Dragonwagon
- Harry's Mad · Dick King-Smith
- Hatchet · Gary Paulsen
- Is Anybody There? · Eve Bunting
- Jacob Have I Loved · Katherine Paterson
- Jelly Belly · Robert Kimmel Smith
- Joyful Noise · Paul Fleischman
- Justin and the Best Biscuits in the World · Mildred Walter
- Karen Kepplewhite is the World's Best Kisser · Eve Bunting
- Let the Circle Be Unbroken · Mildred D. Taylor
- Lincoln: A Photobiography · Russell Freedman
- Lon Po Po · Ed Young
- Mama Don't Allow 25th Anniversary Edition · Thacher Hurd
- Matilda · Roald Dahl
- Mirandy and Brother Wind · Pat McKissack
- Motown and Didi · Walter Dean Myers
- Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters · John Steptoe
- My Friend the Vampire · Angela Sommer-Bodenburg
- My Horrible Secret · Stephen Roos
- My Teacher Is an Alien · Bruce Coville
- Night of the Twisters · Ivy Ruckman
- Nightmare Mountain · Peg Kehret
- Nothing's Fair in Fifth Grade · Barthe DeClements
- Number the Stars · Lois Lowry
- Outside Over There · Maurice Sendak
- Panama Canal · Judith St. George
- Peppermints in the Parlor · Barbara Brooks Wallace
- Playing Beatie Bow · Ruth Park
- Poverty in America · Milton Meltzer
- Ramona Quimby, Age 8 · Beverly Cleary
- Sarah, Plain and Tall · Patricia MacLachlan
- Shades of Gray · Carolyn Reeder
- Shy Charles · Rosemary Wells
- Sixth Grade Can Really Kill You · Barthe DeClements
- Skinnybones · Barbara Park
- Something Upstairs · Avi
- Stone Fox · John Reynolds Gardiner
- Sweet Whispers, Brother Rush · Virginia Hamilton
- Taking Terri Mueller · Norma Fox Mazer
- Tancy · Belinda Hurmence
- Ten Kids, No Pets · Ann M. Martin
- The BFG · Roald Dahl
- The Butterfly Jar · Jeffrey Moss
- The Computer Nut · Betsy Cromer Byars
- The Cybil War · Betsy Byars
- The Devil and Mother Crump · Valerie Scho Carey
- The Dollhouse Murders · Betty Ren Wright
- The Fighting Ground · Avi
- The Friendship · Mildred D. Taylor
- The Hero and the Crown · Robin McKinley
- The Hot and Cold Summer · Johanna Hurwitz
- The Illustrated Dinosaur Dictionary · Helen Roney Sattler
- The Indian in the Cupboard · Lynne Reid Banks
- The Magic of the Glits · Carole S. Adler
- The Moves Make the Man · Bruce Brooks
- The Other Side of Dark · Joan Lowery Nixon
- The Patchwork Quilt · Valerie Flournoy
- The People Could Fly · Virginia Hamilton
- The Root Cellar · Janet Lunn
- The Sign of the Beaver · Elizabeth George Speare
- The Stalker · Joan Lowery Nixon
- The Stranger · Chris Van Allsburg
- The Weaver's Gift · Kathryn Lasky
- The Whipping Boy · Sid Fleischman
- There's a Boy in the Girls' Bathroom · Louis Sachar
- Thirteen Ways to Sink a Sub · Jamie Gilson
- Wait Till Helen Comes · Mary Downing Hahn
- Wayside School Is Falling Down · Louis Sachar
- When the Boys Ran the House · Joan Davenport Carris
- Who Needs a Bratty Brother? · Linda Gondosch
- You Shouldn't Have to Say Goodbye · Patricia Hermes
Most-assigned 1980s authors in 4th grade
Virginia Hamilton (3) · Mary Downing Hahn (3) · Pat McKissack (2) · Lois Lowry (2) · Betty Ren Wright (2) · Johanna Hurwitz (2)
Common questions
- How many 1980s books are assigned in 4th grade?
- 105 books written between 1980 and 1989 appear on 4th grade reading lists tracked by ReadingList. Each one is cited from a state department of education, district list, or AP/IB syllabus.
- What Lexile range do these 1980s books cover?
- Lexile measures for the 1980s titles assigned in 4th grade run from 550L to 1020L. Poetry, drama, and graphic novels without a published Lexile measure are not counted in that range.
- Are these assigned nationally or in a few states?
- 40 states assign at least one 1980s title at 4th grade in the lists tracked here, so this is a broad pattern rather than a single state's canon. Per-state lists are on each state page.