North Carolina 9th grade reading list

The 534 books most commonly assigned to North Carolina 9th grade students in US schools — each with its reading level and a cited source.

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Books534Lexile530L–1170LSourceNC Standard Course of Study✓ sources cited per book

Most-assigned nationally: across every US state’s official reading and award lists, the High (9–12) titles appearing in the most states are The Hate U Give (4 states), Their Eyes Were Watching God (3 states), and The Great Gatsby (2 states). From our 2026 study of 13,258 source-cited assignments (as of 2026-07-13).

Full curriculum guides: Common Core State Standards (ELA) · IB Diploma Programme — English A: Literature · Cambridge IGCSE English Literature (0475) · AP English Language & Composition · AP English Literature & Composition · AP European History · AP Psychology

Start here — most-cited for North Carolina 9th grade

These are the 28 titles named in North Carolina’s own curriculum documents for this grade — everything below is the wider national list. Read against the Common Core Appendix A complexity band; reading level is not thematic maturity, and several sit below the band because they are assigned for discussion.

  1. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

    Sherman Alexie

    Cited in 1 North Carolina curriculum document and 5 national references, taught from grade 7 to 10. Covers Native American identity, poverty and racism. At 600L it reads well below the 1050–1335L band for this grade.

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  2. All My Rage

    Sabaa Tahir

    Cited in 1 North Carolina curriculum document and 3 national references, taught from grade 9 to 12.

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  3. The Hate U Give

    Angie Thomas

    Cited in 1 North Carolina curriculum document and 3 national references, taught from grade 9 to 12. Covers police violence, race and code-switching. At 590L it reads well below the 1050–1335L band for this grade.

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  4. Children of Blood and Bone

    Tomi Adeyemi

    Cited in 1 North Carolina curriculum document and 2 national references, taught from grade 5 to 12.

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  5. Firekeeper's Daughter

    Angeline Boulley

    Cited in 1 North Carolina curriculum document and 2 national references, taught from grade 9 to 12.

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  6. A Snake Falls to Earth

    Darcie Little Badger

    Cited in 1 North Carolina curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 5 to 12.

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  7. Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe

    Benjamin Alire Sáenz

    Cited in 1 North Carolina curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 9 to 12.

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  8. Brownstone

    Samuel Teer

    Cited in 1 North Carolina curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 9 to 12.

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  9. Burn Down, Rise Up

    Vincent Tirado

    Cited in 1 North Carolina curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 9 to 12.

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  10. Darius the Great Is Not Okay

    Adib Khorram

    Cited in 1 North Carolina curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 9 to 12.

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  11. Death in the Jungle

    Candace Fleming

    Cited in 1 North Carolina curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 4 to 10.

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  12. Dread Nation

    Justina Ireland

    Cited in 1 North Carolina curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 5 to 12.

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  13. Everything We Never Had

    Randy Ribay

    Cited in 1 North Carolina curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 7 to 12. Covers family, identity and immigration.

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  14. Far From The Tree

    Robin Benway

    Cited in 1 North Carolina curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 9 to 12.

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  15. Furia

    Yamile Saied Méndez

    Cited in 1 North Carolina curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 9 to 12.

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  16. I'll Give You the Sun

    Jandy Nelson

    Cited in 1 North Carolina curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 9 to 12.

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  17. Last Night at the Telegraph Club

    Malinda Lo

    Cited in 1 North Carolina curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 9 to 12.

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  18. Most Dangerous

    Steve Sheinkin

    Cited in 1 North Carolina curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 4 to 10.

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  19. Promise Boys

    Nick Brooks

    Cited in 1 North Carolina curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 3 to 10.

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  20. Raybearer

    Jordan Ifueko

    Cited in 1 North Carolina curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 5 to 12.

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  21. Saints and Misfits

    S. K. Ali

    Cited in 1 North Carolina curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 9 to 12.

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  22. The Field Guide to the North American Teenager

    Ben Philippe

    Cited in 1 North Carolina curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 9 to 12.

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  23. The Serpent King

    Jeff Zentner

    Cited in 1 North Carolina curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 9 to 12.

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  24. 1984

    George Orwell

    Cited in 1 North Carolina curriculum document, taught from grade 9 to 12. Covers totalitarianism, surveillance, language and thought. At 1090L it falls inside the 1050–1335L band for this grade.

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  25. Murder Among Friends

    Candace Fleming

    Cited in 1 North Carolina curriculum document, taught from grade 9 to 12. Covers crime, justice and history.

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  26. Scythe

    Neal Shusterman

    Cited in 1 North Carolina curriculum document, taught from grade 7 to 12. Covers mortality, power and ethics.

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  27. The Reappearance of Rachel Price

    Holly Jackson

    Cited in 1 North Carolina curriculum document, taught from grade 7 to 12. Covers mystery, family and identity.

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  28. The Silence That Binds Us

    Joanna Ho

    Cited in 1 North Carolina curriculum document, taught from grade 9 to 12. Covers grief, identity and justice.

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534 books cited for North Carolina 9th grade

Assignments tied directly to North Carolina’s NC Standard Course of Study or national curricula with a North Carolina-specific citation.

Show all 534 titles

Reading the whole North Carolina 9th grade reading list? Kids who struggle with the print versions often finish the assigned books by listening.

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Other North Carolina grades

8th grade · 10th grade · 7th grade · 11th grade

Reading lists by grade (all states)

8th grade · 10th grade · 7th grade · 11th grade

Same 9th grade in other states

California · Texas · Florida · New York · Pennsylvania · Illinois

Browse 9th grade reading by theme

About the North Carolina 9th grade reading list

In North Carolina schools, 9th grade students are most often assigned books drawn from NC Standard Course of Studyalongside the national curricula that apply nationwide — Common Core State Standards Appendix B, AP English, and the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme. ReadingList currently tracks 534 titles for 9th grade in North Carolina, each tied to a North Carolina-specific curriculum citation. Across the list, Lexile measures span 530L–1170L.

9th grade sits in the 9-12 grade band, where students are high-school readers. At this stage the emphasis is on close reading, literary analysis, rhetoric, and preparing for AP, IB, and college coursework. Assigned reading skews toward canonical literature, drama, poetry, and AP/IB set texts, with text complexity that, per Common Core’s Appendix A reading bands, typically falls around roughly 900L to 1300L. Measured against that 1050–1335L range, of the 21 titles here with a Lexile score 3 are grade-level, 18 are more accessible (often assigned for theme over challenge), and 0 are stretch texts that may need scaffolding. Because readers in a single 9th grade classroom can span several hundred Lexile points, this list is best read as a starting point rather than a fixed requirement.

North Carolina’s English Language Arts requirements are set by NC Standard Course of Study (dpi.nc.gov). Most states pair their own standards with the Common Core text-complexity framework, so the 9th grade list below blends North Carolina-specific assignments with the widely-taught national canon. Every title links to its primary source on the book’s detail page, so you can confirm exactly where and why it is assigned.

How to use this list:match a title to your child’s most recent Lexile or guided-reading level rather than to the grade alone. Teachers building a 9th grade unit can pair a North Carolina-cited core text with a grade-appropriate companion novel; parents previewing summer or supplemental reading can check each book’s content notes and challenge history before assigning it.

Common questions

How many books are assigned to 9th grade students in North Carolina?
534 books appear on ReadingList for 9th grade students in North Carolina, sourced from NC Standard Course of Study and national curricula (Common Core, AP, IB) with applicable grade citations.
What's the Lexile range for 9th grade reading in North Carolina?
Lexile measures across the 9th grade North Carolina reading list range from 530L to 1170L. Books without a published Lexile (poetry, drama, picture books) are not included in this range.
Where does this reading list come from?
Entries reference NC Standard Course of Study (published at www.dpi.nc.gov) plus national curricula that apply to North Carolina schools: Common Core State Standards Appendix B, AP English Literature and Language, IB Diploma Programme, and Cambridge Assessment International. Every assignment row on each book's detail page links its primary source.

Reading guides for parents

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State-specific entries sourced from www.dpi.nc.gov. National references cited on each book’s detail page.