# 8th grade books about friendship

**9** books commonly assigned to 8th grade students in US schools that explore friendship. 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 8 titles here with a Lexile score, 0 are grade-level, 8 more accessible, and 0 a stretch.

**Grade:** 8th grade  ·  **Theme:** friendship
**Canonical URL:** https://readinglist.school/grade/8/friendship
**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 friendship reading list

- [Flowers for Algernon](https://readinglist.school/book/flowers-for-algernon) by Daniel Keyes _(910L · Grades 8–11 · pub 1966)_
- [New Kid](https://readinglist.school/book/new-kid) by Jerry Craft _(Grades 4–8 · pub 2019)_
- [Of Mice and Men](https://readinglist.school/book/of-mice-and-men) by John Steinbeck _(630L · Grades 8–11 · pub 1937)_
- [Smile](https://readinglist.school/book/smile) by Raina Telgemeier _(410L · Grades 4–8 · pub 2010)_
- [The Book Thief](https://readinglist.school/book/the-book-thief) by Markus Zusak _(730L · Grades 8–11 · pub 2005)_
- [The Outsiders](https://readinglist.school/book/the-outsiders) by S.E. Hinton _(750L · Grades 7–9 · pub 1967)_
- [The Parker Inheritance](https://readinglist.school/book/the-parker-inheritance) by Varian Johnson _(610L · Grades 6–8 · pub 2018)_
- [The Witch of Blackbird Pond](https://readinglist.school/book/the-witch-of-blackbird-pond) by Elizabeth George Speare _(850L · Grades 5–8 · pub 1958)_
- [When You Reach Me](https://readinglist.school/book/when-you-reach-me) by Rebecca Stead _(750L · Grades 4–8 · pub 2009)_

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