# Books about identity assigned in US schools

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

**Lexile range:** 530L–1080L
**Grade span:** 3–12
**Canonical URL:** https://readinglist.school/theme/identity
**Wikipedia (entity):** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Identity_(social_science)
**License:** [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) — please credit ReadingList.school when citing.

## Authors who explore identity

- [Christopher Paul Curtis](https://readinglist.school/author/christopher-paul-curtis)
- [Jason Reynolds](https://readinglist.school/author/jason-reynolds)
- [Kwame Alexander](https://readinglist.school/author/kwame-alexander)
- [Laurie Halse Anderson](https://readinglist.school/author/laurie-halse-anderson)
- [Sharon M. Draper](https://readinglist.school/author/sharon-m-draper)
- [Sophocles](https://readinglist.school/author/sophocles)
- [Toni Morrison](https://readinglist.school/author/toni-morrison)
- [William Shakespeare](https://readinglist.school/author/william-shakespeare)

## identity canon

- [A Doll's House](https://readinglist.school/book/a-dolls-house) by Henrik Ibsen _(Grades 11–12)_
- [American Born Chinese](https://readinglist.school/book/american-born-chinese) by Gene Luen Yang _(530L · Grades 7–12)_
- [Anthem](https://readinglist.school/book/anthem) by Ayn Rand _(880L · Grades 8–12)_
- [Beloved](https://readinglist.school/book/beloved) by Toni Morrison _(870L · Grades 11–12)_
- [Black Boy](https://readinglist.school/book/black-boy) by Richard Wright _(950L · Grades 9–12)_
- [Blended](https://readinglist.school/book/blended) by Sharon M. Draper _(610L · Grades 3–7)_
- [Brown Girl Dreaming](https://readinglist.school/book/brown-girl-dreaming) by Jacqueline Woodson _(990L · Grades 5–8)_
- [Bud, Not Buddy](https://readinglist.school/book/bud-not-buddy) by Christopher Paul Curtis _(950L · Grades 4–7)_
- [Ender's Game](https://readinglist.school/book/enders-game) by Orson Scott Card _(780L · Grades 6–10)_
- [Flowers for Algernon](https://readinglist.school/book/flowers-for-algernon) by Daniel Keyes _(910L · Grades 8–11)_
- [Ghost](https://readinglist.school/book/ghost) by Jason Reynolds _(730L · Grades 5–8)_
- [I Am Malala (Young Readers Edition)](https://readinglist.school/book/i-am-malala-young-readers) by Malala Yousafzai _(830L · Grades 6–10)_
- [I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings](https://readinglist.school/book/i-know-why-the-caged-bird-sings) by Maya Angelou _(1070L · Grades 10–12)_
- [Invisible Man](https://readinglist.school/book/invisible-man) by Ralph Ellison _(950L · Grades 11–12)_
- [Life of Pi](https://readinglist.school/book/life-of-pi) by Yann Martel _(830L · Grades 9–12)_
- [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)_
- [Oedipus Rex](https://readinglist.school/book/oedipus-rex) by Sophocles _(Grades 9–12)_
- [Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood](https://readinglist.school/book/persepolis) by Marjane Satrapi _(Grades 9–12)_
- [Pygmalion](https://readinglist.school/book/pygmalion) by George Bernard Shaw _(Grades 9–12)_
- [Speak](https://readinglist.school/book/speak) by Laurie Halse Anderson _(690L · Grades 8–10)_
- [The Awakening](https://readinglist.school/book/the-awakening) by Kate Chopin _(960L · Grades 11–12)_
- [The Catcher in the Rye](https://readinglist.school/book/the-catcher-in-the-rye) by J.D. Salinger _(790L · Grades 9–12)_
- [The Color Purple](https://readinglist.school/book/the-color-purple) by Alice Walker _(670L · Grades 9–12)_
- [The Crossover](https://readinglist.school/book/the-crossover) by Kwame Alexander _(750L · Grades 5–8)_
- [The Graveyard Book](https://readinglist.school/book/the-graveyard-book) by Neil Gaiman _(820L · Grades 5–8)_
- [The Handmaid's Tale](https://readinglist.school/book/the-handmaids-tale) by Margaret Atwood _(750L · Grades 11–12)_
- [The House on Mango Street](https://readinglist.school/book/the-house-on-mango-street) by Sandra Cisneros _(870L · Grades 7–10)_
- [The Joy Luck Club](https://readinglist.school/book/the-joy-luck-club) by Amy Tan _(930L · Grades 9–12)_
- [The Outsiders](https://readinglist.school/book/the-outsiders) by S.E. Hinton _(750L · Grades 7–9)_
- [The Poet X](https://readinglist.school/book/the-poet-x) by Elizabeth Acevedo _(800L · Grades 8–12)_
- [The Westing Game](https://readinglist.school/book/the-westing-game) by Ellen Raskin _(750L · Grades 5–7)_
- [Twelfth Night](https://readinglist.school/book/twelfth-night) by William Shakespeare _(Grades 9–12)_
- [Walk Two Moons](https://readinglist.school/book/walk-two-moons) by Sharon Creech _(770L · Grades 5–7)_

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