Got Text Complexity?
Selected Literature for Common Core Standards
in English Language Arts (Grades 6-12)

Compiled by Megan Schliesman and Merri V. Lindgren
© 2011 Cooperative Children's Book Center

In the Common Core Standards for English Language Arts, Standard 10 addresses "Range, Quality & Complexity of Texts." Text complexity in the standards is determined by the following:

• Qualitative evaluation of the text: Levels of meaning, structure, language conventionality and clarity, and knowledge demands

• Quantitative evaluation of the text: Readability measures and other scores of text complexity

• Matching reader to text and task: Reader variables (such as motivation, knowledge, and experiences) and task variables (such as purpose and the complexity generated by the task assigned and the questions posed)

This bibliography was developed to highlight some of the outstanding trade books published for older children and teens that can be used for the text complexity component of the CCS in grades 6-12.* All of the books have been selected based on their literary quality and other components of qualitative evaluation. Many of the books offer sophisticated narrative structures and other characteristics factored into quantitative evaluation. And the list as a whole offers a wide variety of books reflecting diversity of subject matter and style, allowing for a range of choices in matching reader to text and task.

The books on this list have been categorized into grade-level groupings as follows:

• Grades 6-8

• Grades 9-10

• Grades 11-12

Within each grade level group, the books are broken down into the following genres:

• Fiction

• Short Stories

• Poetry

• Non-Fiction

In two cases, sophisticated wordless books have been included in the short story categories because of the opportunities these texts offer for interpreting meaning and creating/articulating narrative.

It should be noted that while the books have been placed in a specific grade range, many of the books will have appeal to, and can be used with, students in a range of grades. The age recommendation that is included in the CCBC annotation (available when you click on a title) is the CCBC’s assessment of the book’s audience based on content and potential interest of readers.

In creating this list, we focused on books published in the past six years, although occasionally reached farther back. There are 6-12 books in each category. Many of them are currently available for purchase in paperback. All of them should be available through school or public libraries in either hardcover or paperback.

If you would like additional suggestions, particularly for fiction, contact the CCBC.


*Although this list is being created to address text complexity, these high-quality titles can also be used with other components of the CCS English Language Arts standards for grades 6-12.

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Related CCBC bibliography:

Made for Each Other: Paired Texts for Middle and High School

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Click on underlined book titles to see the CCBC review of the book, and/or the cover image.
Complete list of CCBC bibliographies

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Books for Grades 6-8: Fiction

Abdel-Fattah, Randa. Where the Streets Had a Name. U.S. edition: Scholastic Press, 2010. 320 pages. Ages 12 and older

Bruchac, Joseph. March Toward the Thunder. Dial, 2008. 298 pages. Ages 12 and older

Curtis, Christopher Paul. Elijah of Buxton. Scholastic Press, 2007. 341 pages. Ages 10-14

Dowd, Siobhan. The London Eye Mystery. U.S. edition: David Fickling Books / Random House, 2008. 322 pages. Ages 10-14

Frost, Helen. Hidden. Frances Foster Books / Farrar Straus Giroux, 2011. 147 pages. Ages 11-14

Parker Rhodes, Jewell. Ninth Ward. Little, Brown, 2010. 224 pages. Ages 9 - 13

Resau, Laura. Red Glass. Delacorte, 2007. 275 pages. Ages 11-15

Roy, Jennifer. Yellow Star. Marshall Cavendish, 2006. 227 pages. Ages 10-13

Schmidt, Gary D.. Trouble. Clarion, 2008. 297 pages. Age 13 and older

Stead, Rebecca. When You Reach Me. Wendy Lamb Books / Random House, 2009. 208 pages. Ages 10 - 13

Yang, Gene Luen. Prime Baby. Illustrated by Derek Kirk Kim. Roaring Brook Press, 2010. 64 pages. Age 9 and older

Books for Grades 6-8: Short Stories/Wordless Book

Flake, Sharon G.. Who Am I Without Him? Short Stories about Girls and the Boys in Their Lives. Jump at the Sun / Hyperion, 2004. 168 pages. Ages 11-14

Naidoo, Beverley. Out of Bounds: Seven Stories of Conflict and Hope. U.S. edition: HarperCollins, 2003. 175 pages. Ages 12 - 18

Salisbury, Graham. Island Boyz: Short Stories. Wendy Lamb Books / Random House, 2002. 260 pages. Age 13 and older

Singer, editor, Marilyn. I Believe in Water: Twelve Brushes with Religion. HarperCollins, 2000. 280 pages. Ages 11 - 15

Tan, Shaun. Tales from Outer Suburbia. U.S. edition: Arthur A. Levine Books / Scholastic, 2009. 92 pages. Ages 12 and older

Tan, Shaun. The Arrival. Arthur A. Levine Books / Scholastic, 2007. 128 pages. Age 11 and older

Books for Grades 6-8: Poetry

Ernest L., Thayer. Casey at the Bat. Illustrated by Joe Morse. KCP Poetry / Kids Can Press, 2006. 48 pages. Ages 9-16

Park, Linda Sue. Tap Dancing on the Roof: Sijo (Poems). Illustrated by Istvan Banyai. Clarion , 2007. 40 pages. Ages 8-11

Schlitz, Laura Amy. Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Voices from a Medieval Village. Illustrated by Robert Byrd. Candlewick Press, 2007. 85 pages. Ages 8-12

Sidman, Joyce. Ubiquitous: Celebrating Nature’s Survivors. Illustrated by Beckie Prange. Houghton Mifflin / Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2010. 32 pages. Ages 9-13

Sidman, Joyce. This Is Just To Say: Poems of Apology and Forgiveness. Illustrated by Pamela Zagarenski. Houghton Mifflin, 2007. 47 pages. Ages 8-11

Smith, Hope Anita. The Way a Door Closes. Illustrated by Shane W. Evans. Henry Holt, 2003. 52 pages. Ages 10 - 14

Weatherford, Carole Boston. Birmingham, 1963. Wordsong / Boyds Mills Press, 2007. 39 pages. Age 10 and older

Woodson, Jacqueline. Locomotion. Putnam, 2003. 128 pages. Ages 9 - 12

Books for Grades 6-8: Non-Fiction

Allen, Tomas B.. George Washington, Spymaster : How America Outspied the British and Won the Revolutionary War . Illustrated by Cheryl Harness. National Geographic, 2004. 184 pages. Ages 8-13

Bledsoe, Lucy Jane. How To Survive in Antarctica. Holiday House, 2006. 101 pages. Ages 9-14

Bolden, Tonya. M.L.K.: Journey of a King. Harry N. Abrams, 2007. 128 pages. Ages 10-15

Crowe, Chris. Getting Away with Murder: The True Story of the Emmett Till Case. Phyllis Fogelman Books / Penguin, 2003. 128 pages. 12 and older

Fleming, Candace. Amelia Lost: The Life and Disappearance of Amelia Earhart. Schwartz & Wade, 2011. 118 pages. Ages 10-14

Krensky, Stephen. Comic Book Century: The History of American Comic Books. (People's History) Twenty-First Century Books, 2008. 112 pages. Age 10 and older

Nelson, Kadir. We Are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball. Jump at the Sun/ Hyperion, 2008. 88 pages. Ages 10 and older

Sís, Peter. The Wall: Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain. Frances Foster Books / Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2007. 48 pages. Age 9 and older

Stone, Tanya Lee. Almost Astronauts: 13 Women Who Dared to Dream. Candlewick Press, 2009. 133 pages. Ages 12 and older

Telgemeier, Raina. Smile. Scholastic, 2010. 213 pages. Ages 10-14

Thimmesh, Catherine. Team Moon: How 400,000 People Landed Apollo 11 on the Moon. Houghton Mifflin, 2006. 80 pages. Ages 10-15

Turner, Pamela S.. The Frog Scientist. Photographed by Andy Comins. Houghton Mifflin / Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2009. 58 pages. Ages 10-15

Books for Grades 9-10: Fiction

Alexie, Sherman. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. Illustrated by Ellen Fourney. Litte, Brown, 2007. 240 pages. Ages 13-16

Donnelly, Jennifer. A Northern Light. Harcourt, 2003. 400 pages. Age 13 -18

Hautman, Pete. Rash. Simon & Schuster, 2006. 249 pages. Age 12 and older

Larbalestier, Justine. Liar. U.S. edition: Bloomsbury, 2009. 376 pages. Ages 14 and older

McCaughrean, Geraldine . The White Darkness. HarperTempest / HarperCollins, 2007. 373 pages. Age 14 and older

McNeal, Laura. Dark Water. Alfred A. Knopf, 2010. 287 pages. Age 14 and older

Na, An. A Step From Heaven. Front Street, 2001. 156 pages. Age 13 and older

Rosoff, Meg. how i live now. Wendy Lamb Books / Random House, 2004. 194 pages. Ages 14-18

Shusterman, Neal. Bruiser. HarperCollins, 2010. 328 pages. Age 14 and older

St. James, James. Freak Show. Dutton, 2007. 298 pages. Age 13 and older

Woodson, Jacqueline. Beneath a Meth Moon. Nancy Paulsen Books / Penguin, 2012. 192 pages. Age 12 and older

Yang, Gene Luen. American Born Chinese. First Second, 2006. 233 pages. Age 13 and older

Zusak, Markus. The Book Thief. U.S. edition: Alfred A. Knopf, 2006. 552 pages. Age 15 and older

Books for Grades 9-10: Short Stories

. Up All Night: A Short Story Collection. Laura Geringer Books / HarperTeen / HarperCollins, 2008. 227 pages. Age 13 and older

Ellis, Deborah. Lunch with Lenin and Other Stories. Fitzhenry & Whiteside, 2008. 169 pages. Age 13 and older

Hautman (editor), Pete. Full House: 10 Stories about Poker. Putnam, 2007. 161 pages. Ages 12-16

Lester, Julius. This Strange New Feeling: Three Love Stories from Black History. Dial, 2007. 193 pages. Age 14 and older

Levithan, David. How They Met and Other Stories. Knopf, 2008. 244 pages. Age 13 and older

Nye, Naomi Shihab. Honeybee: Poems and Short Prose. Greenwillow Books / HarperCollins, 2008. 164 pages. Age 13 and older

Yang, Gene Yuen. The Eternal Smile. Illustrated by Derek Kirk Kim. First Second, 2009. 170 pages. Ages 13 and older

Books for Grades 9-10: Poetry

Engle, Margarita. The Poet Slave of Cuba: A Biography of Juan Francisco Manzano. Illustrated by Sean Qualls. Henry Holt, 2006. 183 pages. Age 12 and older

Frost, Helen. Crossing Stones. Frances Foster Books / Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 2009. 184 pages. Ages 13 and older

Greenberg, Jan. Side by Side: New Poems Inspired by Art from Around the World. Abrams Books for Young Readers, 2008. 88 pages. Age 12 and older

Myers, Walter Dean. Jazz. Illustrated by Christopher Myers. Holiday House, 2006. 44 pages. Age 10 and older

Nye, Naomi Shihab, selector. What Have You Lost?. Photographed by Michael Nye. Greenwillow, 1999. 205 pages. Age 12 and older

Poe, Edgar Allan. The Raven. Illustrated by Ryan Price. KCP Poetry / Kids Can Press, 2006. 48 pages. Age 11 and older

Shange, Ntozake. We Troubled the Waters. Illustrated by Rod Brown. Amistad / Collins / HarperCollins, 2009. 32 pages. Age 13 and older

Books for Grades 9-10: Non-Fiction

Alsenas, Linas . Gay America: Struggle for Equality. Amulet, 2008. 160 pages. Age 12 and older

Bartoletti, Susan Campbell. Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler's Shadow. Scholastic, 2005. 176 pages. Ages 13-18

Bausum, Ann. Denied, Detained, Deported: Stories from the Dark Side of American Immigration. National Geographic, 2009. 111 pages. Ages 12 and older

Freedman, Russell. Who Was First? Discovering the Americas. Clarion, 2007. 88 pages. Ages 11-15

Giblin, James Cross. Good Brother, Bad Brother: The Story of Edwin Booth and John Wilkes Booth. Clarion, 2005. 256 pages. Ages 12-17

Hoose, Phillip. Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice. Melanie Kroupa Books / Farrar Straus Giroux, 2009. 133 pages. Ages 13 and older

Madden, Kerry. Up Close: Harper Lee. Viking, 2009. 223 pages. Ages 13 and older

Marrin, Albert. Flesh & Blood So Cheap: The Triangle Fire and Its Legacy. Alfred A. Knopf, 2011. 182 pages. Age 12 and older

Martin, Russell and Lydia Nibley . The Mysteries of Beethoven's Hair. Charlesbridge, 2009. 120 pages. Ages 12 and older

Nelson, Scott Reynolds and Marc Aronson . Ain't Nothing But a Man: My Quest to Find the Real John Henry . National Geographic, 2008. 64 pages. Age 10 and older

Stone, Tanya Lee. The Good, the Bad, and the Barbie: A Doll’s History and Her Impact on Us. Viking, 2010. 130 pages. Age 11 and older

Books for Grades 11-12: Fiction

Anderson, M.T.. The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume I: The Pox Party. Candlewick Press, 2006. 351 pages. Age 15 and older

Chambers, Aidan. Postcards from No Man's Land. U.S edition: Dutton, 2002. 312 pages. Ages 16 and older

Hartnett, Sonya. Stripes of the Sidestep Wolf. Candlewick, 2005. 208 pages. Ages 14 and older

Stassen, Jean-Philippe. Déogratias: A Tale of Rwanda. U.S. First Second, 2006. 79 pages. Age 14 and older

Stork, Francisco X.. Marcelo in the Real World. Arthur A. Levine Books / Scholastic, 2009. 312 pages. Ages 14 and older

Stork, Francisco X.. The Last Summer of the Death Warriors. Arthur A. Levine Books/Scholastic, Inc., 2010. 344 pages. Ages 14 and older

Whaley, John Corey. Where Things Come Back. Atheneum, 2011. 228 pages. Age 14 and older

White, Tracy. How I Made It to Eighteen: A Mostly True Story. Roaring Brook Press, 2010. 151 pages. Ages 14 and older

Wolf, Allan. The Watch That Ends the Night: Voices from the Titanic. Candlewick Press, 2011. 466 pages. Age 13 and older

Zusak, Markus. I am the Messenger. U.S. edition: Alfred A. Knopf, 2005. 368 pages. Ages 14 and older

Books for Grades 11-12: Short Stories/Wordless Book

Lanagan, Margo. Red Spikes. U.S. edition: Alfred A. Knopf, 2007. 167 pages. Age 15 and older

Lanagan, Margo. Black Juice. U.S. edition: Eos / HarperCollins, 2005. 208 pages. Ages 14 - 17

Lanagan, Margo. White Time. HarperCollins, 2006. 216 pages. Age 14 and older

Myers, Walter Dean. What They Found: Love on 145th Street. Wendy Lamb Books, 2007. 243 pages. Ages 13-16

Myers, Walter Dean . 145th Street: Short Stories. Delacorte Press, 200. 151 pages. Age 13 and older

Books for Grades 11-12: Poetry

Hemphill, Stephanie. Your Own, Sylvia: A Verse Portrait of Sylvia Plath. Alfred A. Knopf, 2007. 261 pages. Age 15 and older

Nelson, Marilyn. A Wreath for Emmett Till. Illustrated by Philippe Lardy. Houghton Mifflin, 2005. 40 pages. Age 14 and older

Nye, Naomi Shihab, selector. Time You Let Me In: 25 Poets Under 25. Greenwillow Books / HarperCollins, 2010. 236 pages. Age 14 and older

Vecchione, Patrice. Faith and Doubt: An Anthology of Poems. Henry Holt, 2007. 138 pages. Age 12 and older

Books for Grades 11-12: Non-Fiction

Angel, Ann. Janis Joplin: Rise Up Singing. Amulet Books, 2010. 120 pages. Age 14 and older

Aronson, Marc. Art Attack: A Short Cultural History of the Avant-Garde. Clarion, 1998. 192 pages. Age 13 and older

Barakat, Ibtisam. Tasting the Sky: A Palestinian Childhood. Melanie Kroupa Books / Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2007. 176 pages. Age 13 and older

Giblin, James Cross. The Rise and Fall of Senator Joe McCarthy. Clarion / Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2009. 304 pages. Ages 14 and older

Heiligman, Deborah. Charles and Emma: The Darwins' Leap of Faith. Henry Holt, 2009. 268 pages. Ages 14 and older

Kuklin, Susan. No Choirboy: Murder, Violence, and Teenagers on Death Row. Henry Holt, 2008. 212 pages. Age 14 and older

Partridge, Elizabeth. John Lennon: All I Want Is the Truth. Viking, 2005. 256 pages. Ages 13-17

This list may be reproduced and distributed by educational and/or nonprofit organizations so long as credit is given to the Cooperative Children's Book Center, School of Education, University of Wisconsin-Madison.