
Everything We Never Had
by Randy Ribay
Everything We Never Had by Randy Ribay is assigned in US schools at grades 7–12. It appears across 1 curriculum reference 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.
- Grade range
- Grades 7–12
- Age range
- Ages 13–18
- First published
- 2024
- Genre
- Young Adult Fiction
- ISBN-13
- 9780593461419
Where to find this book
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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).
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 1 curriculum framework.
Themes
Where this book is assigned
Colorado Blue Spruce Young Adult Book Award
- recommended·7th grade · Coloradosource: Colorado Blue Spruce Young Adult Book Award 2025-2026 Nominee List (Grades 7-12)
- recommended·8th grade · Coloradosource: Colorado Blue Spruce Young Adult Book Award 2025-2026 Nominee List (Grades 7-12)
- recommended·9th grade · Coloradosource: Colorado Blue Spruce Young Adult Book Award 2025-2026 Nominee List (Grades 7-12)
- recommended·10th grade · Coloradosource: Colorado Blue Spruce Young Adult Book Award 2025-2026 Nominee List (Grades 7-12)
- recommended·11th grade · Coloradosource: Colorado Blue Spruce Young Adult Book Award 2025-2026 Nominee List (Grades 7-12)
- recommended·12th grade · Coloradosource: Colorado Blue Spruce Young Adult Book Award 2025-2026 Nominee List (Grades 7-12)
Similar grade-level books
The Great GatsbyF. Scott Fitzgerald · 1070L
1984George Orwell · 1090L
The GiverLois Lowry · 760L
The Diary of a Young GirlAnne Frank · 1080L
See all books like Everything We Never Had→ — matched on theme + reading level.
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 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
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 1 curriculum 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.