Nebraska 8th grade reading list

Books with a Nebraska citation for 8th grade include The Hunger Games, The Giver and The Running Dream. This list has 571 total books, 32 of them with a Nebraska-specific citation. Each book shows its reading level and a cited source. Lexile levels on the list run from 410L to 1300L.

Top Nebraska 8th grade pick: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins — on 1 Nebraska list

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Total books571Lexile410L–1300LSourceNebraska ELA 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 Nebraska 8th grade

These are the 30 titles named in Nebraska’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. The Hunger Games

    Suzanne Collins

    Cited in 1 Nebraska 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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  2. The Giver

    Lois Lowry

    Cited in 1 Nebraska 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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  3. The Running Dream

    Wendelin Van Draanen

    Cited in 1 Nebraska curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 7 to 12.

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  4. Alone

    Megan E. Freeman

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

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  5. Cracker The Best Dog in Vietnam

    Cynthia Kadohata

    Cited in 1 Nebraska curriculum document, taught from grade 6 to 8.

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  6. Danger Zone

    David Klass

    Cited in 1 Nebraska curriculum document, taught from grade 6 to 9.

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  7. Don’t You Dare Read This, Mrs. Dunphrey

    Margaret Peterson Haddix

    Cited in 1 Nebraska curriculum document, taught from grade 6 to 9. Covers child abuse, diaries, fathers and daughters.

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  8. Flight #116 Is Down!

    Caroline B. Cooney

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

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  9. Freak the Mighty

    W. R. Philbrick

    Cited in 1 Nebraska curriculum document, taught from grade 6 to 9. Covers learning disabilities, people with disabilities and friendship.

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  10. Heart of a Champion

    Carl Deuker

    Cited in 1 Nebraska curriculum document, taught from grade 6 to 8. Covers baseball, friendship and baseball, fiction.

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  11. High Heat

    Carl Deuker

    Cited in 1 Nebraska curriculum document, taught from grade 6 to 9. Covers baseball, family problems and fathers.

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  12. House Arrest

    K. A. Holt

    Cited in 1 Nebraska curriculum document, taught from grade 6 to 9. Covers stories in rhyme and family, fiction.

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  13. Legend

    Marie Lu

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

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  14. Mississippi Trial, 1955

    Chris Crowe

    Cited in 1 Nebraska curriculum document, taught from grade 6 to 9. Covers race relations, fathers and sons, racism.

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  15. Night Hoops

    Carl Deuker

    Cited in 1 Nebraska curriculum document, taught from grade 6 to 9. Covers basketball, divorce and interpersonal relations.

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  16. Perfect

    Natasha Friend

    Cited in 1 Nebraska curriculum document, taught from grade 6 to 9. Covers grief, death and bulimia.

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  17. Prisoner B-3087

    Alan Gratz

    Cited in 1 Nebraska curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 8. Covers jews, history and holocaust, jewish (1939-1945).

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  18. Red Queen

    Victoria Aveyard

    Cited in 1 Nebraska curriculum document, taught from grade 9 to 12.

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  19. Restart

    Gordon Korman

    Cited in 1 Nebraska curriculum document, taught from grade 5 to 8. Covers identity, bullying and memory. At 730L it sits just under the 925–1185L band for this grade.

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  20. Run, Hide, Fight Back

    April Henry

    Cited in 1 Nebraska curriculum document, taught from grade 6 to 9. Covers survival, fiction, teenagers and shootout.

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  21. Scythe

    Neal Shusterman

    Cited in 1 Nebraska curriculum document, taught from grade 7 to 12. Covers mortality, power and ethics.

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  22. Stung

    Bethany Wiggins

    Cited in 1 Nebraska curriculum document, taught from grade 6 to 9.

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  23. The Compound

    S. A. Bodeen

    Cited in 1 Nebraska curriculum document, taught from grade 6 to 9.

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  24. The False Prince

    Jennifer A. Nielsen

    Cited in 1 Nebraska curriculum document, taught from grade 5 to 9. Covers identity, adventure and power.

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  25. The Haunting

    Joan Lowery Nixon

    Cited in 1 Nebraska curriculum document, taught from grade 6 to 9. Covers haunted houses, ghosts and mystery.

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  26. The Inheritance Games

    Jennifer Lynn Barnes

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

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  27. The Transall Saga

    Gary Paulsen

    Cited in 1 Nebraska curriculum document, taught from grade 6 to 9. Covers science fiction, survival and time travel.

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  28. The True Colors of Caitlynne Jackson

    Carol Lynch Williams

    Cited in 1 Nebraska curriculum document, taught from grade 6 to 9. Covers abandoned children, child abuse, mothers and daughters.

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  29. Touching Spirit Bear

    Ben Mikaelsen

    Cited in 1 Nebraska curriculum document, taught from grade 6 to 9. Covers survival, nature and courage.

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  30. Twilight

    Stephenie Meyer

    Cited in 1 Nebraska curriculum document, taught from grade 9 to 12. Covers series:luz_e_escuridão, series:twilight and new york times bestseller.

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32 books cited for Nebraska 8th grade

Assignments tied directly to Nebraska’s Nebraska ELA Standards with a Nebraska-specific citation.

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539 additional grade-appropriate books for 8th grade readers

The 571-book total above includes 32 titles with direct Nebraska citation; these 539 additional titles cover 8th grade in the broader canon. They don't have a Nebraska-specific citation yet but are commonly taught at this level.

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Other Nebraska 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 · Illinois

Browse 8th grade reading by theme

About the Nebraska 8th grade reading list

This list combines books cited in Nebraska ELA 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 571 titles for 8th grade in Nebraska, of which 32 carry a direct Nebraska citation and 539 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.

Nebraska’s English Language Arts requirements are set by Nebraska ELA Standards (education.ne.gov). Most states pair their own standards with the Common Core text-complexity framework. The 8th grade list below blends Nebraska-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 Nebraska-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 Nebraska?
Books with a Nebraska-specific citation for 8th grade include The Hunger Games, The Giver, The Running Dream, Alone and Cracker The Best Dog in Vietnam. 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 Nebraska?
This list has 571 books for 8th grade students in Nebraska. 32 of them have a Nebraska-specific citation; the other 539 are grade-appropriate titles from national reading lists and awards.
What's the Lexile range for 8th grade reading in Nebraska?
Lexile measures across the 8th grade Nebraska 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?
Nebraska-specific entries reference Nebraska ELA Standards (published at www.education.ne.gov). 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.education.ne.gov. National references cited on each book’s detail page.

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