Cover of Plague Year

Plague Year

by Stephanie S. Tolan

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Assigned across 1 curriculum list · 1 state

Grade placement varies by school — the median assigned book spans 4 grade levels (83% span three or more, across 13,258 source-cited assignments).

On reading-award lists:Virginia Readers' Choice

Plague Year by Stephanie S. Tolan is assigned in US schools at grades 9–12. It appears across 1 curriculum reference and 1 state, sourced from state DOE pages and AP/IB/Common Core syllabi. Every citation below links to the primary source.

This page shows where Plague Year is assigned in US schools — curricula, states, grades, and the primary-source citations behind each placement. Not a summary or study guide.

Grade range
Grades 9–12
Age range
Ages 14–17
Pages
203
Reading time
about 3h 45m (est.)
First published
1990
Genre
Mystery
ISBN-13
9780606217583

New to these terms? Reading levels by grade

More formats & details

Other formats on Amazon: Kindle · Audiobook

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About this book

Sixteen-year-old David becomes intimately involved when a scandal is discovered about the strange new boy in his high school and everyone else turns against him.

Similar grade-level books

See all books like Plague Year→ — matched on theme + reading level.

Why widely assigned

This Mystery title, typically at grades 9–12. Written in the 1990s; pairs with curriculum units on high schools and prejudices; cited across 1 curriculum framework.

Themes

high schools · prejudices · schools · mystery and detective stories

Where this book is assigned

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Common questions

What grade level is Plague Year?
Plague Year 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 Plague Year?
It takes about 3h 45m to read Plague Year (203 pages) at an average adult reading pace of about 250 words per minute — roughly 225 minutes. Faster or slower readers will vary; the estimate is a planning guide for assigning the book.
What curricula assign Plague Year?
Plague Year appears on reading lists for Virginia Readers' Choice. Each assignment on this site links to its primary-source citation.
Is Plague Year banned in schools?
Plague Year 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 Plague Year explore?
Central themes in Plague Year include high schools, prejudices, schools, mystery and detective stories. These themes match how the book is discussed in most curriculum guides and AP Literature prompts.

Why this book is on this list

How we classify

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
Cited in 1 curriculum on this site (see “Where assigned” above for primary-source links).
State-level evidence
Cited in 1 state ELA framework or DOE list (see citations above).
Removal / banning records
No tracked removal or challenge records in cited sources.
Seasonal / contextual tags
Tagged for: book-club.

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