Cover of The Girls I've Been

The Girls I've Been

by Tess Sharpe

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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

The Girls I've Been by Tess Sharpe 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 The Girls I've Been 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
370
Reading time
about 6h 45m (est.)
First published
2021
Genre
Realistic Fiction
ISBN-13
9780593353806

New to these terms? Reading levels by grade

More formats & details

Other formats on Amazon: Kindle · Audiobook

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About this book

A New York Times Bestseller * A USA Today Bestseller * In this feminist, suspenseful thriller the daughter of a con artist is taken hostage in a bank heist—and will need to tap into all her skills in order to survive. “If you’re looking for a queer YA contemporary book with complex characters, loads of action to keep you reading WAY past your bedtime — and a story so well written I might have shed a tear over it — you need to read The Girls I’ve Been by Tess Sharpe. It will keep you captivated until the last page.” —Culturess Nora O'Malley's been a lot of girls.

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Why widely assigned

This Realistic Fiction title, typically at grades 9–12. Written in the 2020s; cited across 1 curriculum framework.

Where this book is assigned

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Common questions

What grade level is The Girls I've Been?
The Girls I've Been 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 The Girls I've Been?
It takes about 6h 45m to read The Girls I've Been (370 pages) at an average adult reading pace of about 250 words per minute — roughly 405 minutes. Faster or slower readers will vary; the estimate is a planning guide for assigning the book.
What curricula assign The Girls I've Been?
The Girls I've Been appears on reading lists for Virginia Readers' Choice. Each assignment on this site links to its primary-source citation.
Is The Girls I've Been banned in schools?
The Girls I've Been 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 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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