# 8th grade books about family

**57** books commonly assigned to 8th grade students in US schools that explore family. Every title's grade range covers 8th grade, so each is grade-appropriate by curriculum placement. Sourced from Common Core exemplars, AP, IB, Cambridge, and 50 state ELA curricula.

**Reading difficulty:** the typical 8th grade band is 925–1185L (Common Core Appendix A). Of the 15 titles here with a Lexile score, 4 are grade-level, 10 more accessible, and 1 a stretch.

**Grade:** 8th grade  ·  **Theme:** family
**Canonical URL:** https://readinglist.school/grade/8/family
**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://achievethecore.org/page/2699

## 8th grade family reading list

- [A Corner of the Universe](https://readinglist.school/book/a-corner-of-the-universe) by Ann M. Martin _(Grades 5–8 · pub 2013)_
- [A Night Divided](https://readinglist.school/book/a-night-divided) by Jennifer A. Nielsen _(Grades 5–8 · pub 2015)_
- [All the Lovely Bad Ones](https://readinglist.school/book/all-the-lovely-bad-ones) by Mary Downing Hahn _(Grades 5–8 · pub 2009)_
- [Amir and the Jinn Princess](https://readinglist.school/book/amir-and-the-jinn-princess) by M. T. Khan _(Grades 4–8 · pub 2024)_
- [Between Two Brothers](https://readinglist.school/book/between-two-brothers) by Crystal Allen _(Grades 4–8 · pub 2024)_
- [Booked](https://readinglist.school/book/booked) by Kwame Alexander _(Grades 5–8 · pub 2022)_
- [Boy 2.0](https://readinglist.school/book/boy-2-0) by Tracey Baptiste _(Grades 4–8 · pub 2024)_
- [Brick Dust and Bones](https://readinglist.school/book/brick-dust-and-bones) by M.R. Fournet _(Grades 6–8 · pub 2023)_
- [Brown Girl Dreaming](https://readinglist.school/book/brown-girl-dreaming) by Jacqueline Woodson _(990L · Grades 5–8 · pub 2014)_
- [Code Name Kingfisher](https://readinglist.school/book/code-name-kingfisher) by Liz Kessler _(Grades 4–8 · pub 2024)_
- [Cryptid Hunters](https://readinglist.school/book/cryptid-hunters) by Roland Smith _(Grades 5–8 · pub 2005)_
- [Dragonwings](https://readinglist.school/book/dragonwings) by Laurence Yep _(870L · Grades 6–8 · pub 1975)_
- [Drums, Girls & Dangerous Pie](https://readinglist.school/book/drums-girls-and-dangerous-pie) by Jordan Sonnenblick _(Grades 6–9 · pub 2010)_
- [Duel](https://readinglist.school/book/duel) by Jessixa Bagley _(Grades 4–8 · pub 2023)_
- [Echo](https://readinglist.school/book/echo) by Pam Muñoz Ryan _(680L · Grades 5–8 · pub 2015)_
- [Everything We Never Had](https://readinglist.school/book/everything-we-never-had) by Randy Ribay _(Grades 7–12 · pub 2024)_
- [Forged by Fire](https://readinglist.school/book/forged-by-fire) by Sharon M. Draper _(Grades 7–10 · pub 2009)_
- [Ida B. and Her Plans to Maximize Fun, Avoid Disaster, and (Possibly) Save the World](https://readinglist.school/book/ida-b-and-her-plans-to-maximize-fun-avoid-disaster-and-save-the-world) by Katherine Hannigan _(Grades 2–8 · pub 2004)_
- [Inside Out & Back Again](https://readinglist.school/book/inside-out-and-back-again) by Thanhha Lai _(800L · Grades 4–8 · pub 2011)_
- [Just a Pinch of Magic](https://readinglist.school/book/just-a-pinch-of-magic) by Alechia Dow _(Grades 4–8 · pub 2023)_
- [Little Women](https://readinglist.school/book/little-women) by Louisa May Alcott _(1300L · Grades 7–10 · pub 1868)_
- [Long Way Down](https://readinglist.school/book/long-way-down) by Jason Reynolds _(720L · Grades 7–12 · pub 2017)_
- [Mick Harte Was Here](https://readinglist.school/book/mick-harte-was-here) by Barbara Park _(Grades 5–8 · pub 2011)_
- [Never Thought I'd End Up Here](https://readinglist.school/book/never-thought-id-end-up-here) by Ann Liang _(Grades 7–12 · pub 2025)_
- [Not Quite Dead Yet](https://readinglist.school/book/not-quite-dead-yet) by Holly Jackson _(Grades 7–12 · pub 2025)_
- [Old Yeller](https://readinglist.school/book/old-yeller) by Fred Gipson _(Grades 5–8 · pub 1956)_
- [One Crazy Summer](https://readinglist.school/book/one-crazy-summer) by Rita Williams-Garcia _(750L · Grades 5–8 · pub 2010)_
- [Operation Final Notice](https://readinglist.school/book/operation-final-notice) by Matthew Landis _(Grades 4–8 · pub 2022)_
- [Puzzleheart](https://readinglist.school/book/puzzleheart) by Jenn Reese _(Grades 4–8 · pub 2024)_
- [Rascal](https://readinglist.school/book/rascal) by Sterling North _(Grades 5–8 · pub 1963)_
- [Rebound](https://readinglist.school/book/rebound) by Kwame Alexander _(780L · Grades 5–8 · pub 2018)_
- [Refugee](https://readinglist.school/book/refugee) by Alan Gratz _(800L · Grades 5–9 · pub 2017)_
- [Rewind](https://readinglist.school/book/rewind-graff) by Lisa Graff _(Grades 4–8 · pub 2023)_
- [Roll for Initiative](https://readinglist.school/book/roll-for-initiative) by Jaime Formato _(Grades 4–8 · pub 2022)_
- [Ruby Lost and Found](https://readinglist.school/book/ruby-lost-and-found) by Christina Li _(Grades 6–9 · pub 2023)_
- [So B. It](https://readinglist.school/book/so-b-it) by Sarah Weeks _(Grades 5–8 · pub 2009)_
- [Something Like Home](https://readinglist.school/book/something-like-home) by Andrea Beatriz Arango _(Grades 6–8 · pub 2023)_
- [Stuck in Neutral](https://readinglist.school/book/stuck-in-neutral) by Terry Trueman _(Grades 7–10 · pub 2014)_
- [Surviving the Applewhites](https://readinglist.school/book/surviving-the-applewhites) by Stephanie S. Tolan _(Grades 5–8 · pub 2009)_
- [The Crossover](https://readinglist.school/book/the-crossover) by Kwame Alexander _(750L · Grades 5–8 · pub 2014)_
- [The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time](https://readinglist.school/book/the-curious-incident-of-the-dog-in-the-night-time) by Mark Haddon _(1090L · Grades 8–12 · pub 2003)_
- [The Last Hope in Hopetown](https://readinglist.school/book/the-last-hope-in-hopetown) by Maria Tureaud _(Grades 6–8 · pub 2024)_
- [The Lost Year](https://readinglist.school/book/the-lost-year) by Katherine Marsh _(Grades 6–8 · pub 2023)_
- [The Outsiders](https://readinglist.school/book/the-outsiders) by S.E. Hinton _(750L · Grades 7–9 · pub 1967)_
- [The Partition Project](https://readinglist.school/book/the-partition-project) by Saadia Faruqi _(Grades 4–8 · pub 2024)_
- [The Pearl](https://readinglist.school/book/the-pearl) by John Steinbeck _(1010L · Grades 6–9 · pub 1947)_
- [The Poet X](https://readinglist.school/book/the-poet-x) by Elizabeth Acevedo _(800L · Grades 8–12 · pub 2018)_
- [The Reappearance of Rachel Price](https://readinglist.school/book/the-reappearance-of-rachel-price) by Holly Jackson _(Grades 7–12 · pub 2024)_
- [The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise](https://readinglist.school/book/the-remarkable-journey-of-coyote-sunrise) by Dan Gemeinhart _(Grades 5–8 · pub 2019)_
- [The Sherlock Society](https://readinglist.school/book/the-sherlock-society) by James Ponti _(Grades 4–8 · pub 2025)_
- [The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants](https://readinglist.school/book/the-sisterhood-of-the-traveling-pants) by Ann Brashares _(Grades 7–10 · pub 2001)_
- [The Tenth Mistake of Hank Hooperman](https://readinglist.school/book/the-tenth-mistake-of-hank-hooperman) by Gennifer Choldenko _(Grades 6–9 · pub 2024)_
- [The War I Finally Won](https://readinglist.school/book/the-war-i-finally-won) by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley _(Grades 5–8 · pub 2021)_
- [The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963](https://readinglist.school/book/the-watsons-go-to-birmingham-1963) by Christopher Paul Curtis _(1000L · Grades 5–8 · pub 1995)_
- [The Wrong Way Home](https://readinglist.school/book/the-wrong-way-home) by Kate O'Shaughnessy _(Grades 4–8 · pub 2024)_
- [When Stars Are Scattered](https://readinglist.school/book/when-stars-are-scattered) by Victoria Jamieson _(Grades 5–8 · pub 2020)_
- [Wildful](https://readinglist.school/book/wildful) by Kengo Kurimoto _(Grades 4–8 · pub 2025)_

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_Generated from primary-source citations indexed on ReadingList.school. HTML view: https://readinglist.school/grade/8/family._