Cover of Down Sand Mountain

Down Sand Mountain

by Steve Watkins · Grades 4–9 · Children's

Down Sand Mountain by Steve Watkins is on US reading lists at grades 4–9. It appears on 1 list: the Golden Kite Award. Every citation below links to the primary source.

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Before you buy: Grades 4–9 · 334 pages. The button opens the hardcover edition (ISBN 9780763654313). If the class uses a set edition or translation, match its ISBN first.

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Assigned across 1 curriculum list

Grade placement varies by school — the median assigned book spans 4 grade levels (83% span three or more, across 13,258 source-cited assignments).

On reading-award lists:Golden Kite Award

This page shows where Down Sand Mountain is assigned in US schools — curricula, states, grades, and the primary-source citations behind each placement. Not a summary or study guide.

Reading level at a glance

Grade range
Grades 4–9
Pages
334
Reading time
about 6h 5m (est.)
First published
2011
Genre
Children's
ISBN-13
9780763654313

Sources: grade range from the cited lists below, last checked 2026-06-20; pages and year from our catalog record (sources); reading time is an estimate at 250 words a minute.

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Why it is assigned

This children's title is typically read at grades 4–9. Written in the 2010s; cited on the Golden Kite Award.

Where this book is recommended

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Common questions

What grade level is Down Sand Mountain?
Down Sand Mountain is listed for grades 4–9. It appears on 1 book-award list. Exact placement varies by school and district.
How long does it take to read Down Sand Mountain?
It takes about 6h 5m to read Down Sand Mountain (334 pages) at an average adult reading pace of about 250 words per minute — roughly 365 minutes. Faster or slower readers will vary; the estimate is a planning guide for assigning the book.
What curricula assign Down Sand Mountain?
Down Sand Mountain appears on reading lists for Golden Kite Award. Each assignment on this site links to its primary-source citation.
Is Down Sand Mountain banned in schools?
Down Sand Mountain does not appear in PEN America's Index of School Book Bans 2022-2024. No documented multi-district removals on record, but individual districts may challenge titles locally.

Why this book is on this list

How we classify

Each dimension below is sourced from a public reference. The full framework is documented on the classification standard page.

Lexile measure
Not classified — this book has no published Lexile measure.
Grade band
Grades 4–9 — drawn from the book-award lists citing this book.
Curriculum alignment
Cited in 1 curriculum on this site (see “Where recommended” above for primary-source links).
State-level evidence
Not yet documented in a state-level framework on this site.
Removal / banning records
No tracked removal or challenge records in cited sources.
Seasonal / contextual tags
Tagged for: read-aloud.

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