The Door of No Return
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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).
The Door of No Return by Kwame Alexander is assigned in US schools at grades 6–8. 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 The Door of No Return 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 6–8
- Pages
- 382
- Reading time
- about 7 hours (est.)
- First published
- 2022
- ISBN-13
- 9780316442060
New to these terms? Reading levels by grade
More formats & details
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Where this book is assigned
Georgia Children's Book Award
- recommended·6th grade · Georgiasource: Georgia Children's Book Award 2025 Nominees (Grades 6-8), University of Georgia Libraries
- recommended·7th grade · Georgiasource: Georgia Children's Book Award 2025 Nominees (Grades 6-8), University of Georgia Libraries
- recommended·8th grade · Georgiasource: Georgia Children's Book Award 2025 Nominees (Grades 6-8), University of Georgia Libraries
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Common questions
- What grade level is The Door of No Return?
- The Door of No Return is most commonly assigned in US schools in grades 6–8. 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 The Door of No Return?
- It takes about 7 hours to read The Door of No Return (382 pages) at an average adult reading pace of about 250 words per minute — roughly 420 minutes. Faster or slower readers will vary; the estimate is a planning guide for assigning the book.
- What curricula assign The Door of No Return?
- The Door of No Return appears on reading lists for Georgia Children's Book Award. Each assignment on this site links to its primary-source citation.
- Is The Door of No Return banned in schools?
- The Door of No Return 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.
Why this book is on this list
How we classifyHide
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 6–8 — 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.