Illinois 8th grade reading list

Books with an Illinois citation for 8th grade include Smile, The Crossover and The Hunger Games. This list has 556 total books, 23 of them with an Illinois-specific citation. Each book shows its reading level and a cited source. Lexile levels on the list run from 410L to 1300L.

Top Illinois 8th grade pick: Smile by Raina Telgemeier — on 1 Illinois list

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Total books556Lexile410L–1300LSourceIllinois Learning Standards✓ sources cited per book

Most-assigned on state lists: across every US state’s official reading and award lists, the Middle (6–8) titles appearing in the most states are The Giver (20 states), The Hunger Games (14 states), and Ground Zero (8 states). From our 2026 study of 13,258 source-cited assignments (as of 2026-07-13).

Our pick to start — most-cited for Illinois 8th grade

These are the 23 titles named in Illinois’s own curriculum documents for this grade — everything below is the wider national list. Read against the Common Core Appendix A complexity band; reading level is not thematic maturity, and several sit below the band because they are assigned for discussion.

  1. Smile

    Raina Telgemeier

    Cited in 1 Illinois curriculum document and 2 national references, taught from grade 4 to 8. Covers growing up, friendship and self-acceptance. At 410L it reads well below the 925–1185L band for this grade.

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  2. The Crossover

    Kwame Alexander

    Cited in 1 Illinois curriculum document and 2 national references, taught from grade 5 to 8. Covers family, brotherhood and basketball. At 750L it sits just under the 925–1185L band for this grade.

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  3. The Hunger Games

    Suzanne Collins

    Cited in 1 Illinois curriculum document and 2 national references, taught from grade 6 to 9. Covers authoritarianism, survival, media and spectacle. At 810L it sits just under the 925–1185L band for this grade.

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  4. Eragon

    Christopher Paolini

    Cited in 1 Illinois curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 6 to 9. Covers dragons, destiny and courage.

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  5. Ghost

    Jason Reynolds

    Cited in 1 Illinois curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 5 to 8. Covers running, family violence and mentorship. At 730L it sits just under the 925–1185L band for this grade.

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  6. Refugee

    Alan Gratz

    Cited in 1 Illinois curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 5 to 9. Covers refugees, survival and family. At 800L it sits just under the 925–1185L band for this grade.

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  7. The Giver

    Lois Lowry

    Cited in 1 Illinois curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 6 to 8. Covers conformity vs individuality, memory, utopia and dystopia. At 760L it sits just under the 925–1185L band for this grade.

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  8. The House on Mango Street

    Sandra Cisneros

    Cited in 1 Illinois curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 7 to 10. Covers identity, poverty and Chicano/Latina experience. At 870L it sits just under the 925–1185L band for this grade.

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  9. When Stars Are Scattered

    Victoria Jamieson

    Cited in 1 Illinois curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 5 to 8. Covers refugees, family and hope.

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  10. A Night Divided

    Jennifer A. Nielsen

    Cited in 1 Illinois curriculum document, taught from grade 5 to 8. Covers courage, freedom and family.

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  11. All the Lovely Bad Ones

    Mary Downing Hahn

    Cited in 1 Illinois curriculum document, taught from grade 5 to 8. Covers ghosts, family and mystery.

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  12. Alone

    Megan E. Freeman

    Cited in 1 Illinois curriculum document, taught from grade 4 to 6.

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  13. Drums, Girls & Dangerous Pie

    Jordan Sonnenblick

    Cited in 1 Illinois curriculum document, taught from grade 6 to 9. Covers family, illness and music.

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  14. Fever 1793

    Laurie Halse Anderson

    Cited in 1 Illinois curriculum document, taught from grade 2 to 8. Covers yellow fever, epidemics and survival.

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  15. Flight #116 Is Down!

    Caroline B. Cooney

    Cited in 1 Illinois curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 8. Covers aeronautics, fiction, airplanes, juvenile literature and airplanes, fiction.

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  16. Legend

    Marie Lu

    Cited in 1 Illinois curriculum document, taught from grade 6 to 9. Covers dystopia, justice and loyalty.

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  17. Michael Vey: The Prisoner of Cell 25

    Richard Paul Evans

    Cited in 1 Illinois curriculum document, taught from grade 6 to 9. Covers powers, friendship and courage.

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  18. Mick Harte Was Here

    Barbara Park

    Cited in 1 Illinois curriculum document, taught from grade 5 to 8. Covers grief, family and safety.

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  19. Monster

    Walter Dean Myers

    Cited in 1 Illinois curriculum document, taught from grade 8 to 11. Covers criminal justice, race and adolescence, identity and reputation. At 670L it reads well below the 925–1185L band for this grade.

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  20. So B. It

    Sarah Weeks

    Cited in 1 Illinois curriculum document, taught from grade 5 to 8. Covers family, identity and journey.

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  21. Stormbreaker

    Anthony Horowitz

    Cited in 1 Illinois curriculum document, taught from grade 5 to 8. Covers spies, adventure and courage.

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  22. The Inheritance Games

    Jennifer Lynn Barnes

    Cited in 1 Illinois curriculum document, taught from grade 9 to 12. Covers new york times bestseller.

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  23. The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise

    Dan Gemeinhart

    Cited in 1 Illinois curriculum document, taught from grade 5 to 8. Covers grief, family and journey.

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23 books cited for Illinois 8th grade

Assignments tied directly to Illinois’s Illinois Learning Standards with a Illinois-specific citation.

533 additional grade-appropriate books for 8th grade readers

The 556-book total above includes 23 titles with direct Illinois citation; these 533 additional titles cover 8th grade in the broader canon. They don't have an Illinois-specific citation yet but are commonly taught at this level.

Show all 533 titles

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Other Illinois grades

7th grade · 9th grade · 6th grade · 10th grade

Reading lists by grade (all states)

7th grade · 9th grade · 6th grade · 10th grade

Same 8th grade in other states

California · Texas · Florida · New York · Pennsylvania · Ohio

Browse 8th grade reading by theme

About the Illinois 8th grade reading list

This list combines books cited in Illinois Learning Standards with books from national sources that list titles for 8th grade: the Common Core State Standards (ELA), plus awards such as the Andre Norton Award for Middle Grade & Young Adult Fiction, the Golden Kite Award and the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award. ReadingList currently tracks 556 titles for 8th grade in Illinois, of which 23 carry a direct Illinois citation and 533 are grade-appropriate titles whose reading level overlaps 8th grade. Across the list, Lexile measures span 410L–1300L.

8th grade sits in the 6-8 grade band, where students are middle-grade readers. At this stage the emphasis is on analyzing theme, character, and author's craft across full-length novels and their first classics. Assigned reading skews toward full-length novels, plays, memoir, and frequently-challenged contemporary titles, with text complexity that, per Common Core’s Appendix A reading bands, typically falls around roughly 700L to 1010L. Measured against that 925–1185L range, of the 34 titles here with a Lexile score 8 are grade-level, 25 are more accessible (often assigned for theme over challenge), and 1 is a stretch text that may need scaffolding. Because readers in a single 8th grade classroom can span several hundred Lexile points, this list is best read as a starting point rather than a fixed requirement.

Illinois’s English Language Arts requirements are set by Illinois Learning Standards (isbe.net). Most states pair their own standards with the Common Core text-complexity framework. The 8th grade list below blends Illinois-specific assignments with widely taught national titles. Every title links to its primary source on the book’s detail page, so you can confirm exactly where and why it is assigned.

How to use this list:match a title to your child’s most recent Lexile or guided-reading level rather than to the grade alone. Teachers building a 8th grade unit can pair a Illinois-cited core text with a grade-appropriate companion novel; parents previewing summer or supplemental reading can check each book’s content notes and challenge history before assigning it.

Common questions

What books do 8th grade students read in Illinois?
Books with an Illinois-specific citation for 8th grade include Smile, The Crossover, The Hunger Games, Eragon and Ghost. Individual schools and districts choose their own titles, so check with your child's teacher for the exact list.
How many books are assigned to 8th grade students in Illinois?
This list has 556 books for 8th grade students in Illinois. 23 of them have an Illinois-specific citation; the other 533 are grade-appropriate titles from national reading lists and awards.
What's the Lexile range for 8th grade reading in Illinois?
Lexile measures across the 8th grade Illinois reading list range from 410L to 1300L. Books without a published Lexile (poetry, drama, picture books) are not included in this range.
Where does this reading list come from?
Illinois-specific entries reference Illinois Learning Standards (published at www.isbe.net). The other books come from national sources that list books for 8th grade: the Common Core State Standards (ELA), plus awards such as the Andre Norton Award for Middle Grade & Young Adult Fiction, the Golden Kite Award and the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award. Each book's page links the primary source for every listing.

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State-specific entries sourced from www.isbe.net. National references cited on each book’s detail page.

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