# Lord of the Flies

**Author:** William Golding
**Lexile:** 770L
**Grade range:** Grades 9–12
**Age range:** 14–18
**First published:** 1954
**Page count:** 224
**Genre:** Allegory
**ISBN-13:** `9780399501487`
**ISBN-10:** `0399501487`
**Canonical URL:** https://readinglist.school/book/lord-of-the-flies
**License:** [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) — please credit ReadingList.school when citing.

## About this book

A group of British boys stranded on an uninhabited island attempt to govern themselves with disastrous results. Nobel laureate William Golding's 1954 allegory is a foundational text of 9th-10th grade English curricula across the United States and is cited in Common Core Appendix B as a grade 9-10 exemplar.

## Themes

- civilization vs savagery
- loss of innocence
- power
- human nature

## Content notes

- violence
- death of children
- mob psychology

Common Sense Media age recommendation: 13+

## Where this book is assigned

### AP English Literature & Composition

- **recommended** · 11th grade — [source: AP Lit representative text list](https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/courses/ap-english-literature-and-composition)

### AQA GCSE English Literature (8702)

- **required** · 9th grade — [source: Set text in the AQA GCSE English Literature (8702) specification, component: Modern prose. Specification for first teaching in 2015. Read 2026-10-03.](https://www.aqa.org.uk/subjects/english/gcse/english-8702/specification/subject-content/shakespeare-and-the-19th-century-novel)
- **required** · 10th grade — [source: Set text in the AQA GCSE English Literature (8702) specification, component: Modern prose. Specification for first teaching in 2015. Read 2026-10-03.](https://www.aqa.org.uk/subjects/english/gcse/english-8702/specification/subject-content/shakespeare-and-the-19th-century-novel)

### Common Core State Standards (ELA)

- **recommended** · 9th grade — [source: CCSS ELA Appendix B, grades 9-10 exemplar](https://www.nysed.gov/sites/default/files/programs/standards-instruction/appendix-b-text-exemplars-and-sample-performance-tasks.pdf)
- **recommended** · 9th grade · Texas — [source: TEKS English I frequently taught text](https://tea.texas.gov/)

### Pearson Edexcel GCSE English Literature (1ET0)

- **required** · 9th grade — [source: Set text in the Pearson Edexcel GCSE English Literature (1ET0) specification, component: Post-1914 British play or novel. Specification Issue 2, June 2019. Read 2026-10-03.](https://qualifications.pearson.com/content/dam/pdf/GCSE/English%20Literature/2015/specification-and-sample-assesment/9781446914359_GCSE_2015_L12_Englit.pdf)
- **required** · 10th grade — [source: Set text in the Pearson Edexcel GCSE English Literature (1ET0) specification, component: Post-1914 British play or novel. Specification Issue 2, June 2019. Read 2026-10-03.](https://qualifications.pearson.com/content/dam/pdf/GCSE/English%20Literature/2015/specification-and-sample-assesment/9781446914359_GCSE_2015_L12_Englit.pdf)

### Summer reading lists

- **recommended** · 9th grade · Massachusetts — [source: Middleborough High School (MA) — Summer Reading 2025, choose one per incoming grade](https://www.midlib.org/sites/midlib.org/files/images/MHS%20Summer%20Reading%202025.pdf)
- **required** · 9th grade · Massachusetts — [source: Medway High School (MA) — Summer Reading 2025, assigned book by grade](https://www.medwaylib.org/wp-content/uploads/mhs-summer-reading-2025.pdf)
- **required** · 12th grade · North Carolina — [source: Wesleyan Christian Academy (NC) — Summer Reading List 2025-2026, rising 9th-12th](https://www.wcatrojans.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Summer-Reading2025-26.pdf)

### Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) — ELA

- **recommended** · 9th grade · Texas — [source: TEKS English I frequently taught text](https://tea.texas.gov/)

### Virginia Standards of Learning (SOL) — English

- **recommended** · 9th grade · Virginia — [source: FCPS English 9 core text adoption](https://www.fcps.edu/academics)

## Banned / challenged record

Documented removals or formal challenges in at least one school district in 4 states: FL, OK, TX, WI. Source: [PEN America's Index of School Book Bans](https://pen.org/banned-book-list/) 2022-2024.

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