# The Pearl

**Author:** John Steinbeck
**Lexile:** 1010L
**Grade range:** Grades 6–9
**Age range:** 11–15
**First published:** 1947
**Page count:** 96
**Genre:** Literary Fiction
**ISBN-13:** `9780140177374`
**ISBN-10:** `0140177376`
**Canonical URL:** https://readinglist.school/book/the-pearl
**License:** [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) — please credit ReadingList.school when citing.

## About this book

A Mexican pearl diver, Kino, finds a pearl that promises a better life for his family but whose discovery invites theft and violence. Steinbeck's novella is a common 7th- or 8th-grade introduction to literary symbolism and a Common Core grade 6-8 exemplar.

## Themes

- greed
- colonial exploitation
- family
- fate and desire
- class and race
- nature

## Content notes

- death of a child
- violence
- theft

Common Sense Media age recommendation: 11+

## Where this book is assigned

### Common Core State Standards (ELA)

- **recommended** · 7th grade — [source: CCSS ELA Appendix B, grades 6-8 exemplar](https://www.nysed.gov/sites/default/files/programs/standards-instruction/appendix-b-text-exemplars-and-sample-performance-tasks.pdf)
- **recommended** · 8th grade · California — [source: CA CCSS ELA grade 8 novella introduction](https://www.cde.ca.gov/)

### Summer reading lists

- **required** · 11th grade · Massachusetts — [source: Medway High School (MA) — Summer Reading 2025, assigned book by grade](https://www.medwaylib.org/wp-content/uploads/mhs-summer-reading-2025.pdf)

## Banned / challenged record

Documented removals or formal challenges in at least one school district in 1 state: TX. 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/the-pearl._