# Realistic Fiction books about death

**15** realistic fiction books that explore death, drawn from the US-school assigned-reading canon. Sourced from Common Core exemplars, AP, IB, Cambridge, and 50 state ELA curricula.

**Genre:** Realistic Fiction  ·  **Theme:** death
**Canonical URL:** https://readinglist.school/genre/realistic-fiction/theme/death
**License:** [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) — please credit ReadingList.school when citing.
**Primary source — Common Core ELA exemplars:** https://www.nysed.gov/sites/default/files/programs/standards-instruction/appendix-b-text-exemplars-and-sample-performance-tasks.pdf

## Realistic Fiction death reading list

- [A Sudden Silence](https://readinglist.school/book/a-sudden-silence) by Eve Bunting _(Grades 9–12 · pub 1988)_
- [A Summer to Die](https://readinglist.school/book/a-summer-to-die) by Lois Lowry _(Grades 9–12 · pub 1977)_
- [As I Lay Dying](https://readinglist.school/book/as-i-lay-dying) by William Faulkner _(Grades 11–12 · pub 1915)_
- [Blackwater](https://readinglist.school/book/blackwater) by Eve Bunting _(Grades 6–8 · pub 1999)_
- [Clayton Byrd Goes Underground](https://readinglist.school/book/clayton-byrd-goes-underground) by Rita Williams-Garcia _(Grades 3–5 · pub 2017)_
- [Drive-By](https://readinglist.school/book/drive-by) by Lynne Ewing _(Grades 3–8 · pub 1996)_
- [Fig Pudding](https://readinglist.school/book/fig-pudding) by Ralph J. Fletcher _(Grades 3–5 · pub 1995)_
- [Flying Solo](https://readinglist.school/book/flying-solo) by Ralph J. Fletcher _(Grades 4–6 · pub 1998)_
- [Perfect](https://readinglist.school/book/perfect) by Natasha Friend _(Grades 6–9 · pub 2004)_
- [Red Kayak](https://readinglist.school/book/red-kayak) by Priscilla Cummings _(Grades 6–8 · pub 2004)_
- [Say Goodnight, Gracie](https://readinglist.school/book/say-goodnight-gracie) by Julie Reece Deaver _(Grades 9–12 · pub 1988)_
- [Tears of A Tiger](https://readinglist.school/book/tears-of-a-tiger) by Sharon M. Draper _(Grades 9–12 · pub 1994)_
- [The Silver Kiss](https://readinglist.school/book/the-silver-kiss) by Annette Curtis Klause _(Grades 9–12 · pub 1992)_
- [The Truth Trap](https://readinglist.school/book/the-truth-trap) by Frances A. Miller _(Grades 9–12 · pub 1980)_
- [You Shouldn't Have to Say Goodbye](https://readinglist.school/book/you-shouldnt-have-to-say-goodbye) by Patricia Hermes _(Grades 4–6 · pub 1982)_

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_Generated from primary-source citations indexed on ReadingList.school. HTML view: https://readinglist.school/genre/realistic-fiction/theme/death._