Our Town
by Thornton Wilder
Our Town by Thornton Wilder is assigned in US schools at grades 9–12. Every citation below links to the primary source.
This page shows where Our Town is assigned in US schools — curricula, states, grades, and the primary-source citations behind each placement. Not a summary or study guide.
Where to find this book
Other formats on Amazon: Kindle · Audiobook
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About this book
Thornton Wilder's Pulitzer Prize-winning play uses a bare stage and a guiding Stage Manager to follow ordinary life, love, and death in the small town of Grover's Corners. Its third act, viewed from the cemetery, presses the audience to notice how little of everyday life people truly perceive. A frequent grades 9-12 text for studying American theater and theme of mortality.
Why widely assigned
This Drama title, typically at grades 9–12. Written in the 1930s; pairs with curriculum units on everyday life and mortality.
Themes
everyday life · mortality · memory · community
Where this book is assigned
No curriculum assignments on file yet.
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 Our Town→ — matched on theme + reading level.
Common questions
- What grade level is Our Town?
- Our Town is most commonly assigned in US schools in grades 9–12. Specific grade placement varies by curriculum — AP Literature and IB English Literature typically use it in grades 11-12.
- How long does it take to read Our Town?
- It takes about 3h 50m to read Our Town (208 pages) at an average adult reading pace of about 250 words per minute — roughly 230 minutes. Faster or slower readers will vary; the estimate is a planning guide for assigning the book.
- Is Our Town banned in schools?
- Our Town 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 Our Town explore?
- Central themes in Our Town include everyday life, mortality, memory, community. 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 9–12 — drawn from state ELA frameworks and AP/IB syllabi citing this book.
- Curriculum alignment
- Not yet documented in any tracked curriculum.
- State-level evidence
- Not yet documented in a state-level framework on this site.
- Removal / banning records
- No tracked removal or challenge records in cited sources.
- Seasonal / contextual tags
- No seasonal or program-specific tags on this book.