# Of Mice and Men

**Author:** John Steinbeck
**Lexile:** 630L
**Grade range:** Grades 8–11
**Age range:** 13–17
**First published:** 1937
**Page count:** 112
**Genre:** Literary Fiction
**ISBN-13:** `9780140177398`
**ISBN-10:** `0140177396`
**Canonical URL:** https://readinglist.school/book/of-mice-and-men
**License:** [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) — please credit ReadingList.school when citing.

## About this book

Two migrant ranch workers in Depression-era California — George, small and quick-witted, and Lennie, a physically powerful man with an intellectual disability — chase a modest dream of owning their own land. Their bond collides with the hostility of the ranch and Lennie's inability to control his strength. The novella is assigned widely for its compact tragic structure and themes of loneliness and dignity.

## Themes

- friendship
- loneliness
- American Dream
- disability
- Great Depression
- migrant labor

## Content notes

- racial slurs (historical context)
- violence
- euthanasia of an animal and of a character
- misogynistic language

Common Sense Media age recommendation: 13+

## Where this book is assigned

### Common Core State Standards (ELA)

- **recommended** · 9th grade — [source: CCSS ELA Appendix B, grades 9-10 exemplar](https://achievethecore.org/page/2699)
- **recommended** · 9th grade · California — [source: CA CCSS ELA aligned reading](https://www.cde.ca.gov/)
- **recommended** · 9th grade · California — [source: CA common summer-reading list — rising 9th grade](https://www.cde.ca.gov/)
- **recommended** · 9th grade · California — [source: LAUSD English 9 core text adoption](https://achieve.lausd.net/)
- **recommended** · 9th grade · Texas — [source: TEKS English I/II frequently taught text](https://tea.texas.gov/)
- **recommended** · 10th grade · Ohio — [source: Ohio Learning Standards aligned reading](https://education.ohio.gov/)

## Banned / challenged record

Documented removals or formal challenges in at least one school district in 5 states: TX, FL, MO, VA, UT. Source: [PEN America's Index of School Book Bans](https://pen.org/banned-book-list/) 2022-2024.

---

_Generated from primary-source citations indexed on ReadingList.school. For the full HTML view with reading-list cross-references, see https://readinglist.school/book/of-mice-and-men._