Night
by Elie Wiesel
- Lexile
- 590L
- Grade range
- Grades 9–12
- Age range
- Ages 14–18
- Pages
- 120
- First published
- 1960
- Genre
- Memoir
- ISBN-13
- 9780374500016
About this book
Elie Wiesel's first-person account of his deportation as a teenager from Sighet, Hungary, to Auschwitz and then Buchenwald. The short memoir focuses on his relationship with his father and the erosion of faith under the camps. It is one of the most widely assigned Holocaust texts in US high schools.
Themes
- Holocaust
- faith and doubt
- father-son relationships
- survival
- witness and memory
Content notes
- graphic Holocaust violence
- death of family members
- starvation
- execution of a child
Common Sense Media recommends age 14+.
Where this book is assigned
AP English Literature & Composition
- supplementary· 11th gradesource: AP Lit — memoir study representative text
Common Core State Standards (ELA)
- recommended· 10th gradesource: CCSS ELA Appendix B, grades 9-10 informational text exemplar
- required· 10th grade · Floridasource: Florida Holocaust education mandate (§1003.42, F.S.)
- required· 10th grade · New Yorksource: NY Holocaust education mandate (Education Law §801)
- required· 10th grade · New Yorksource: NYC DOE grade 10 Holocaust unit required text
Similar grade-level books
Common questions
- What grade level is Night?
- Night is most commonly assigned in US schools in grades 9–12, with a Lexile measure of 590L. Specific grade placement varies by curriculum — AP Literature and IB English Literature typically use it in grades 11-12.
- What is the Lexile level of Night?
- Night has a Lexile measure of 590L according to MetaMetrics. Lexile measures text complexity, not content maturity — check the grade range and content notes separately for age-appropriateness.
- What curricula assign Night?
- Night appears on reading lists for AP English Literature & Composition, Common Core State Standards (ELA). Each assignment on this site links to its primary-source citation.
- Is Night banned in schools?
- Night 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 Night explore?
- Central themes in Night include Holocaust, faith and doubt, father-son relationships, survival, witness and memory. These themes match how the book is discussed in most curriculum guides and AP Literature prompts.