Cover of Everything We Never Had

Everything We Never Had

by Randy Ribay

Assigned across 2 curriculum lists · 1 state

On reading-award lists:Boston Globe–Horn Book AwardColorado Blue Spruce Young Adult Book Award

Everything We Never Had by Randy Ribay is assigned in US schools at grades 7–12. It appears across 2 curriculum references and 1 state, sourced from state DOE pages and AP/IB/Common Core syllabi. Every citation below links to the primary source.

This page shows where Everything We Never Had is assigned in US schools — curricula, states, grades, and the primary-source citations behind each placement. Not a summary or study guide.

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Grade range
Grades 7–12
Age range
Ages 13–18
First published
2024
Genre
Young Adult Fiction
ISBN-13
9780593461419

New to these terms? Reading levels by grade

More formats & details

Other formats on Amazon: Kindle · Audiobook

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About this book

Spanning four generations of Filipino American men — from Francisco, a farmworker in 1930s California, through his descendants in 1965, 1983, and 2020 — this novel traces inherited silence, masculinity, and fraught father-son relationships across nearly a century. From Randy Ribay, author of the National Book Award finalist Patron Saints of Nothing; a 2025-2026 Colorado Blue Spruce Young Adult Book Award nominee (grades 7-12).

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Why widely assigned

This Young Adult Fiction title, typically at grades 7–12. Written in the 2020s; pairs with curriculum units on family and identity; cited across 2 curriculum frameworks.

Themes

family · identity · immigration

Where this book is assigned

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Common questions

What grade level is Everything We Never Had?
Everything We Never Had is most commonly assigned in US schools in grades 7–12. Specific grade placement varies by curriculum — AP Literature and IB English Literature typically use it in grades 11-12.
What curricula assign Everything We Never Had?
Everything We Never Had appears on reading lists for Boston Globe–Horn Book Award, Colorado Blue Spruce Young Adult Book Award. Each assignment on this site links to its primary-source citation.
Is Everything We Never Had banned in schools?
Everything We Never Had 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.
What themes does Everything We Never Had explore?
Central themes in Everything We Never Had include family, identity, immigration. These themes match how the book is discussed in most curriculum guides and AP Literature prompts.

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 7–12 — drawn from state ELA frameworks and AP/IB syllabi citing this book.
Curriculum alignment
Cited in 2 curricula on this site (see “Where assigned” above for primary-source links).
State-level evidence
Cited in 1 state ELA framework or DOE list (see citations above).
Removal / banning records
No tracked removal or challenge records in cited sources.
Seasonal / contextual tags
Tagged for: book-club, read-aloud.

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