New Hampshire 8th grade reading list

Books with a New Hampshire citation for 8th grade include New Kid, Brown Girl Dreaming and A Mango-Shaped Space. This list has 558 total books, 25 of them with a New Hampshire-specific citation. Each book shows its reading level and a cited source. Lexile levels on the list run from 410L to 1300L.

Top New Hampshire 8th grade pick: New Kid by Jerry Craft — on 1 New Hampshire list

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Total books558Lexile410L–1300LSourceNH College & Career Ready 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 New Hampshire 8th grade

These are the 25 titles named in New Hampshire’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. New Kid

    Jerry Craft

    Cited in 1 New Hampshire curriculum document and 3 national references, taught from grade 4 to 8. Covers race and identity, code-switching, middle school adjustment.

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  2. Brown Girl Dreaming

    Jacqueline Woodson

    Cited in 1 New Hampshire curriculum document and 2 national references, taught from grade 5 to 8. Covers identity, family and civil rights. At 990L it falls inside the 925–1185L band for this grade.

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  3. A Mango-Shaped Space

    Wendy Mass

    Cited in 1 New Hampshire curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 5 to 8.

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  4. Before the Ever After

    Jacqueline Woodson

    Cited in 1 New Hampshire curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 5 to 8.

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  5. Ghost

    Jason Reynolds

    Cited in 1 New Hampshire 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. The Giver

    Lois Lowry

    Cited in 1 New Hampshire 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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  7. The Graveyard Book

    Neil Gaiman

    Cited in 1 New Hampshire curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 5 to 8. Covers found family, the supernatural and the living, coming of age. At 820L it sits just under the 925–1185L band for this grade.

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  8. The Lost Year

    Katherine Marsh

    Cited in 1 New Hampshire curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 6 to 8. Covers family, history and perseverance.

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  9. When Stars Are Scattered

    Victoria Jamieson

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

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  10. A Long Walk to Water

    Linda Sue Park

    Cited in 1 New Hampshire curriculum document, taught from grade 5 to 8. Covers survival, perseverance and war. At 720L it reads well below the 925–1185L band for this grade.

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  11. A Night Divided

    Jennifer A. Nielsen

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

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  12. A Work in Progress

    Jarrett Lerner

    Cited in 1 New Hampshire curriculum document, taught from grade 4 to 8. Covers mental health, identity and resilience.

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  13. Allies

    Alan Gratz

    Cited in 1 New Hampshire curriculum document, taught from grade 5 to 9. Covers war, courage and sacrifice.

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  14. Amal Unbound

    Aisha Saeed

    Cited in 1 New Hampshire curriculum document, taught from grade 5 to 8. Covers justice, education and courage.

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  15. Among the Hidden

    Margaret Peterson Haddix

    Cited in 1 New Hampshire curriculum document, taught from grade 5 to 8. Covers freedom, identity and resistance.

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  16. Buddy

    M. H. Herlong

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

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  17. Ground Zero

    Alan Gratz

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

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  18. Heroes

    Alan Gratz

    Cited in 1 New Hampshire curriculum document, taught from grade 6 to 8. Covers courage, friendship and history.

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  19. Impossible Creatures

    Katherine Rundell

    Cited in 1 New Hampshire curriculum document, taught from grade 4 to 8. Covers fantasy, courage and friendship.

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  20. Not Nothing

    Gayle Forman

    Cited in 1 New Hampshire curriculum document, taught from grade 4 to 8. Covers redemption, friendship and history.

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  21. One for the Murphys

    Lynda Mullaly Hunt

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

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  22. Simon Sort of Says

    Erin Bow

    Cited in 1 New Hampshire curriculum document, taught from grade 6 to 8. Covers friendship, humor and courage.

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  23. Surviving the Applewhites

    Stephanie S. Tolan

    Cited in 1 New Hampshire curriculum document, taught from grade 5 to 8. Covers family, art and growth.

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  24. The Honest Truth

    Dan Gemeinhart

    Cited in 1 New Hampshire curriculum document, taught from grade 5 to 8. Covers illness, adventure and hope.

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  25. Ungifted

    Gordon Korman

    Cited in 1 New Hampshire curriculum document, taught from grade 5 to 8. Covers school, giftedness and friendship.

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25 books cited for New Hampshire 8th grade

Assignments tied directly to New Hampshire’s NH College & Career Ready Standards with a New Hampshire-specific citation.

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533 additional grade-appropriate books for 8th grade readers

The 558-book total above includes 25 titles with direct New Hampshire citation; these 533 additional titles cover 8th grade in the broader canon. They don't have a New Hampshire-specific citation yet but are commonly taught at this level.

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Other New Hampshire 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 New Hampshire 8th grade reading list

This list combines books cited in NH College & Career Ready 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 558 titles for 8th grade in New Hampshire, of which 25 carry a direct New Hampshire 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.

New Hampshire’s English Language Arts requirements are set by NH College & Career Ready Standards (education.nh.gov). Most states pair their own standards with the Common Core text-complexity framework. The 8th grade list below blends New Hampshire-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 New Hampshire-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 New Hampshire?
Books with a New Hampshire-specific citation for 8th grade include New Kid, Brown Girl Dreaming, A Mango-Shaped Space, Before the Ever After 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 New Hampshire?
This list has 558 books for 8th grade students in New Hampshire. 25 of them have a New Hampshire-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 New Hampshire?
Lexile measures across the 8th grade New Hampshire 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?
New Hampshire-specific entries reference NH College & Career Ready Standards (published at www.education.nh.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.nh.gov. National references cited on each book’s detail page.

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