# 8th grade books about slavery

**3** books commonly assigned to 8th grade students in US schools that explore slavery. 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 2 titles here with a Lexile score, 1 is grade-level, 1 more accessible, and 0 a stretch.

**Grade:** 8th grade  ·  **Theme:** slavery
**Canonical URL:** https://readinglist.school/grade/8/slavery
**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

## 8th grade slavery reading list

- [Chains](https://readinglist.school/book/chains) by Laurie Halse Anderson _(780L · Grades 5–9 · pub 2008)_
- [Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave](https://readinglist.school/book/narrative-of-the-life-of-frederick-douglass) by Frederick Douglass _(1080L · Grades 8–12 · pub 1845)_
- [Nightjohn](https://readinglist.school/book/nightjohn) by Gary Paulsen _(Grades 6–8 · pub 1993)_

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