CurriConnects Book List - Arizona
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Arizona
This carefully organized collection features books about Arizona across three age-appropriate reading levels, complete with Lexile measures to ensure accurate text matching for every learner. Each title includes a brief description of its content, helping educators and families connect readers with engaging stories about Arizona's deserts, cultures, and history.
Preschool and Picture Books
A Picture Book of Cesar Chavez - David Adler, (978-0823440580), Non-fiction
Interest level: PreK-3, Lexile: 880
Learn about Cesar Chavez, an American civil rights leader and labor activist, who was born in Arizona.
Chico - Sandra Day O’Connor, (978-0525474524), Fiction
Interest level: K-3
Based on a true story, young Sandra must face her fears after her horse encounters a rattlesnake.
Coming Home: A Hopi Resistance Story - Mavesta Honyouti, (978-1646144570), Fiction
Interest level: PreK-3
Mavesta’s grandfather was forced to leave his home on the Hopi reservation to go to boarding school. Mavesta wonders what his grandfather was like as a young boy and how that experience shaped him and his legacy.
Coyote School News - Joan Sandin, (080-506558X), Fiction
Interest level: 1-5, Lexile: 650
Fourth-grade students at the Coyote School in Arizona report on their activities in a newspaper they produce themselves.
G is for Grand Canyon: An Arizona Alphabet - Barbara Gowan, (978-1585360680), Non-fiction
Interest level: K-3
This book showcases all the unique aspects of the state of Arizona.
Grand Canyon - Jason Chin, (978-1596439504), Non-fiction
Interest level: PreK-3, Lexile: 1000
This book explores the geography and the biology of the Grand Canyon.
Mule Train Mail - Craig Brown, (978-1580891882), Non-fiction
Interest level: PreK-3
Anthony Paya led a mule train on a three-hour journey into the Grand Canyon to deliver mail to the people of Supai.
Roxaboxen - Alice McLerran, (978-0060526337), Fiction
Interest level: PreK-3, Lexile: 710
Based on the author's mother's childhood in Arizona, this enchanting picture book tells how neighborhood children transformed a rocky, desert hill littered with wooden boxes into an imaginary town complete with stone houses, streets, shops, and stick horses.
The Night Flower: The Blooming of the Saguaro Cactus - Lara Hawthorne, (978-1536232844), Non-fiction
Interest level: PreK-3
The Saguarao Cactus blooms at night, serving as the centerpiece for the Sonoran Desert’s ecosystem.
Middle Grade Books
24 Hours in Nowhere - Dusti Bowling, (978-1454940166), Fiction
Interest level: 3-7, Lexile: 610
Gus lives in Nowhere, Arizona. He has daily run-ins with Bo, the town bully. Rossi comes to his rescue, but has to give up her prized possession.
Across the Desert - Dusti Bowling, (978-0316494762), Fiction
Interest level: 3-7
Jolene loves watching her favorite livestream of a young pilot flying across the desert. One day, she watches as Addie, the pilot, crashes the plane, and the feed goes dark. Jolene sets out to save her hero.
Crossing the Wire - Will Hobbs, (978-0060741402), Fiction
Interest level: 5-6, Lexile: 670
Victor is desperate for work, so he tries to cross into the U.S. from Mexico to find the means to support his family.
Major Impossible - Nathan Hale, (978-1419737084), Fiction
Interest level: 3-7, Lexile: 680
John Wesley Powell embarks on an expedition to float down the Grand Canyon.
Missing on Superstition Mountain - Elise Broach, (978-0805090475), Fiction
Interest level: 2-6, Lexile: 620
Three brothers, new to Arizona, become fascinated with Superstition Mountain despite its rumored danger.
Revenge on Superstition Mountain - Elise Broach, (978-1250056863), Fiction
Interest level: 2-6, Lexile: 730
The Barker brothers climb Supersition Mountain for the last time.
The Hebrew Kid and the Apache Maiden - Robert Avrech, (978-0975438220), Fiction
Interest level: 4-9
In this coming-of-age adventure set in post-Civil War Arizona Territory, twelve-year-old Ariel Isaacson, an observant Jewish boy determined to celebrate his bar mitzvah, forms an unlikely friendship with Lozen, the Apache warrior sister of Chief Victorio, as their families navigate the dangerous Wild West.
The Homework Machine - Dan Gutman, (978-0689876790), Fiction
Interest level: 3-7, Lexile: 680
Read about how a new computer program that does homework for students affects four different members of a fifth-grade class.
Treasure on Superstition Mountain - Elise Broach, (978-1250039903), Fiction
Interest level: 2-6, Lexile: 660
In this sequel to Missing on Superstition Mountain, Henry Barker and his brothers return to the mountain to uncover a treasure.
Weedflower - Cynthia Kadohata, (978-1416975663), Fiction
Interest level: 5-9, Lexile: 750
Sumiko is determined to make the best of life despite her family's relocation to an internment camp on an Indian reservation in Arizona.
Young Adult and Adult Books
Eat Your Heart Out - Kelly deVos, (978-0593204825), Fiction
Interest level: YA, Lexile: 610
Vivan is forced to attend a weight-loss camp. All the campers are unhappy to be there, and their unhappiness intensifies when they learn the camp is infested with zombies.
Everybody Sees the Ants - A.S. King, (978-0316129282), Fiction
Interest level: YA, Lexile: 710
Lucky Linderman, haunted by memories of a grandfather MIA in Vietnam, gains a more mature perspective after he visits his aunt and uncle in Arizona.
Stargirl - Jerry Spinelli, (978-0440416777), Fiction
Interest level: 7-9, Lexile: 590
Set in the fictional town of Mica, Arizona, this novel follows narrator Leo Borlock as he falls in love with the eccentric and free-spirited Stargirl Caraway, whose nonconformist personality initially captivates but eventually threatens the conformist culture of their desert high school, where the barren Arizona landscape mirrors the emotional dryness of the student body.
The Great Cool Ranch Dorito in the Sky - Josh Galarza, (978-1250907714), Fiction
Interest level: YA
Brett just doesn’t fit in. He channels his anxiety and insecurity into his fantasy comic books. His private writings are made public, and he has to face his innermost challenges.
The Host - Stephanie Meyer, (978-0316068055), Fiction
Interest level: YA, Lexile: 640
In this science fiction romance set in the Arizona desert, an alien "Soul" named Wanderer takes over human Melanie Stryder's body, but when Melanie's consciousness refuses to fade, they reluctantly work together to trek across the Arizona wilderness searching for Melanie's brother and boyfriend, hiding in desert caves with other human survivors.
There Will Be Lies - Nick Lake, (978-1619634404), Fiction
Interest level: YA
Shelby and her mother are running, but Shelby does not know what they are running from. Their journey takes them toward the Grand Canyon.
Vengeance Road - Erin Bowman, (978-0544938403), Fiction
Interest level: YA, Lexile: 750
Kate Thompson’s father is killed by a gang that is looking for an old gold mine. To avenge her father, she dresses like a man to find answers.
Where Echos Die - Courtney Gould, (978-1250825797), Fiction
Interest level: YA
Beck and her sister are distraught after losing their investigative reporter mother. After receiving a mysterious letter in her handwriting, they face their grief and pick up their mother’s last case.