# Books about coming of age assigned in US schools

**20** books in the US-school assigned-reading canon explore _coming of age_. Sourced from state ELA standards, AP/IB syllabi, and Common Core exemplar lists.

**Lexile range:** 530L–1300L
**Grade span:** 2–12
**Canonical URL:** https://readinglist.school/theme/coming-of-age
**Wikipedia (entity):** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coming-of-age_story
**License:** [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) — please credit ReadingList.school when citing.

## Authors who explore coming of age

- [Beverly Cleary](https://readinglist.school/author/beverly-cleary)
- [Charles Dickens](https://readinglist.school/author/charles-dickens)
- [Christopher Paul Curtis](https://readinglist.school/author/christopher-paul-curtis)
- [Kwame Alexander](https://readinglist.school/author/kwame-alexander)
- [Lois Lowry](https://readinglist.school/author/lois-lowry)

## coming of age canon

- [American Born Chinese](https://readinglist.school/book/american-born-chinese) by Gene Luen Yang _(530L · Grades 7–12)_
- [Great Expectations](https://readinglist.school/book/great-expectations) by Charles Dickens _(1150L · Grades 9–12)_
- [Little Women](https://readinglist.school/book/little-women) by Louisa May Alcott _(1300L · Grades 7–10)_
- [Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood](https://readinglist.school/book/persepolis) by Marjane Satrapi _(Grades 9–12)_
- [Purple Hibiscus](https://readinglist.school/book/purple-hibiscus) by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie _(920L · Grades 10–12)_
- [Rebound](https://readinglist.school/book/rebound) by Kwame Alexander _(780L · Grades 5–8)_
- [The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian](https://readinglist.school/book/the-absolutely-true-diary-of-a-part-time-indian) by Sherman Alexie _(600L · Grades 7–10)_
- [The Diary of a Young Girl](https://readinglist.school/book/the-diary-of-a-young-girl) by Anne Frank _(1080L · Grades 7–10)_
- [The Fault in Our Stars](https://readinglist.school/book/the-fault-in-our-stars) by John Green _(850L · Grades 9–12)_
- [The Giver](https://readinglist.school/book/the-giver) by Lois Lowry _(760L · Grades 6–8)_
- [The Graveyard Book](https://readinglist.school/book/the-graveyard-book) by Neil Gaiman _(820L · Grades 5–8)_
- [The Mouse and the Motorcycle](https://readinglist.school/book/the-mouse-and-the-motorcycle) by Beverly Cleary _(860L · Grades 2–4)_
- [The Perks of Being a Wallflower](https://readinglist.school/book/the-perks-of-being-a-wallflower) by Stephen Chbosky _(720L · Grades 9–12)_
- [The Poet X](https://readinglist.school/book/the-poet-x) by Elizabeth Acevedo _(800L · Grades 8–12)_
- [The Secret Life of Bees](https://readinglist.school/book/the-secret-life-of-bees) by Sue Monk Kidd _(840L · Grades 9–11)_
- [The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963](https://readinglist.school/book/the-watsons-go-to-birmingham-1963) by Christopher Paul Curtis _(1000L · Grades 5–8)_
- [The Witch of Blackbird Pond](https://readinglist.school/book/the-witch-of-blackbird-pond) by Elizabeth George Speare _(850L · Grades 5–8)_
- [To Kill a Mockingbird](https://readinglist.school/book/to-kill-a-mockingbird) by Harper Lee _(870L · Grades 7–10)_
- [Tuck Everlasting](https://readinglist.school/book/tuck-everlasting) by Natalie Babbitt _(770L · Grades 4–7)_
- [Where the Red Fern Grows](https://readinglist.school/book/where-the-red-fern-grows) by Wilson Rawls _(700L · Grades 4–7)_

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_Generated from primary-source citations indexed on ReadingList.school. JSON API: https://readinglist.school/api/theme/coming-of-age · HTML view: https://readinglist.school/theme/coming-of-age._