Night
by Elie Wiesel
Night by Elie Wiesel is assigned in US schools at grades 9–12, with a Lexile measure of 590L. It appears across 2 curriculum references and 2 states, sourced from state DOE pages and AP/IB/Common Core syllabi. Every citation below links to the primary source.
This page shows where Night is assigned in US schools — curricula, states, grades, and the primary-source citations behind each placement. Not a summary or study guide.
- Lexile
- 590L
- Grade range
- Grades 9–12
- Difficulty for grade
- Below the grade 9–10 band (1050–1335L)
- Age range
- Ages 14–18
- Pages
- 120
- Reading time
- about 2h 10m (est.)
- First published
- 1960
- Genre
- Memoir
- ISBN-13
- 9780374500016
Reading difficulty: At 590L, Night reads below the typical 1050–1335L text-complexity range for 9th grade (Common Core Appendix A). It is an accessible read for the grade — often assigned for its themes and discussion value rather than for reading challenge.
Where to find this book
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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.
Why widely assigned
This Memoir title, reads at early-reader complexity, typically at grades 9–12. Written in the 1960s; pairs with curriculum units on Holocaust and faith and doubt; cited across 2 curriculum frameworks.
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
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: NYC DOE grade 10 Holocaust unit required text
- required·10th grade · New Yorksource: NY Holocaust education mandate (Education Law §801)
Similar grade-level books
The OutsidersS.E. Hinton · 750L
Lord of the FliesWilliam Golding · 770L
The Great GatsbyF. Scott Fitzgerald · 1070L
1984George Orwell · 1090L
See all books like Night→ — matched on theme + reading level.
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.
- How long does it take to read Night?
- It takes about 2h 10m to read Night (120 pages) at an average adult reading pace of about 250 words per minute — roughly 130 minutes. Faster or slower readers will vary; the estimate is a planning guide for assigning the book.
- Is Night hard to read for 9th grade?
- At 590L, Night reads below the typical 1050–1335L text-complexity range for 9th grade (Common Core Appendix A). It is an accessible read for the grade — often assigned for its themes and discussion value rather than for reading challenge. Lexile measures text complexity, not thematic maturity — check the content notes for age-appropriateness separately.
- 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.
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
- 590L — sourced from MetaMetrics’ Lexile Hub.
- Grade band
- Grades 9–12 — 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 2 states ELA frameworks or DOE list (see citations above).
- Removal / banning records
- No tracked removal or challenge records in cited sources.
- Seasonal / contextual tags
- No seasonal or program-specific tags on this book.