CurriConnects Book List - Alaska
Other lists
Ideas for using this list
More on Lexiles
Alaska
This thoughtfully organized collection presents books about Alaska across three age-appropriate reading levels, complete with Lexile measures to support the selection of books that are accurate for diverse learners. Each title features a concise description of its content, helping teachers, librarians, and families connect readers with compelling stories about Alaska's unique landscapes, wildlife, and communities.
Picture Books
Benny’s Flag - Phyllis Krasilovsky, (978-1570983207), Fiction
Interest level: K-3
Benny, a young Aleut, thinks about what he loves best about Alaska - the sky, the Big Dipper, and the North Star. His vision becomes the state flag for Alaska.
Charlie and the Blanket Toss - Tricia Brown, (978-1941821312), Fiction
Interest level: PreK-2
Each year, Charlie watches his friends and family participate in the Inupiat Blanket Toss, but he is afraid to participate himself. After the annual Whaling Festival, he is ready to face his fears and participate.
L is for Last Frontier: An Alaska Alphabet - Carol Crane, (978-1585360208), Non-fiction
Interest level: K-2, Lexile: 910
This book showcases all the unique aspects of the state of Alaska.
Larry Gets Lost in Alaska - John Skewes, (978-1570618598), Fiction
Interest level: PreK-2, Lexile: 110
Larry the dog and his owner, Pete, are on a cruise to Alaska. They get separated when Larry goes in search of a treat and must reunite in the Alaskan wilderness.
Salmon Princess: An Alaska Cinderella Story - Mindy Dwyer, (978-1448753666), Fiction
Interest level: K-3
This is an adaptation of Cinderella, set in Alaska. The fairy godmother is the spirit of the eagle, and the glass slipper is a work boot for fishing, but the story of Cinder is still very familiar.
The Giant Cabbage: An Alaska Folktale - Cheri Stilhler, (978-1570613579), Fiction
Interest level: PreK-3, Lexile: 490
Vegetables grow bigger under the Midnight Sun in Alaska. A group of friends must dig up a giant cabbage from the ground and transport it to the fair.
The Great Serum Race: Blazing the Iditarod Trail - Debbie Miller, (978-0802777232), Non-fiction
Interest level: 2-13, Lexile: 910
This book recounts the thrilling true story of the husky Togo, who played a crucial role in delivering diphtheria antitoxin to a remote location in Alaska during an outbreak of the disease.
The Hungry Giant of the Tundra - Teri Sloat, (978-0882405360), Fiction
Interest level: 1-5, Lexile: 580
A ravenous giant loses his right to eat dinner in this modern version of a classic Yupik folk story.
Middle Grade Books
Black Star, Bright Dawn - Scott O’Dell, (978-0547053196), Fiction
Interest level: 5-7, Lexile: 670
A young Inuit girl cannot rely on her injured father to help her when she enters the famed Iditarod sled race in Alaska.
Dancing at the Odinochka - Kirkpatrick Hill, (978-1442413528), Fiction
Interest level: 5-9, Lexile: 970
Of Russian descent, Erinia finds her life at an Alaskan trading post changes when the area becomes part of the United States.
Ice Dogs - Terry Lynn Johnson,, (978-0544663879), Fiction
Interest level: 5-7, Lexile: 690
Victoria loses her way during a dog sled race. She worries about her survival until she meets a mysterious boy in the woods.
Julie - Jean Craighead George, (978-0064405737), Fiction
Interest level: 3-7, Lexile: 700
Julie returns to her family's home village as she attempts to save her beloved wolves, despite the environmental changes taking place.
Sweet Home Alaska - Carol Estby Dagg, (978-0147514202), Fiction
Interest level: 5-6, Lexile: 870
When eleven-year-old Terpsichore and her family join President Roosevelt's 1935 Palmer Colony project and move from Wisconsin to Alaska, she uses her pioneer spirit and determination—inspired by Laura Ingalls Wilder—to help her family adjust to frontier life and convince her reluctant mother that Alaska can be their home.
The Year of Miss Agnes - Kirkpatrick Hill, (978-0689851247), Fiction
Interest level: 3-7, Lexile: 790
When Miss Agnes arrives in a small Alaskan town to teach young Athapascans, the children find the experience enjoyable and beneficial.
Water Sky - Jean Craighead George, (978-0064402026), Fiction
Interest level: 3-5, Lexile: 730
A young boy learns about the Inupiat culture and its reliance on the whaling industry during his visit to Alaska.
Whispering Alaska - Brendan Jones, (978-0593303535), Fiction
Interest level: 5-7, Lexile: 770
Nicky and Josie move to Alaska with their father after their mother dies of COVID-19. They become involved in a community fight to save the trees in their area.
Wild Man Island - Will Hobbs, (978-0380733101), Fiction
Interest level: 4-10, Lexile: 690
Andy is stranded on a wilderness island in Alaska; his survival attempts yield encounters with surprising animals, strange humans, and even the remains of ancient humans.
Young Adult and Adult Books
Fighter in Velvet Gloves: Alaska Civil Rights Hero Elizabeth Peratrovich - Annie Boochever, (978-1602233706), Non-fiction
Interest level: YA
Elizabeth Peratrovich fought for equal rights for native people in Alaska in the mid-1900s.
I Know You Remember - Jennifer Donaldson, (978-1595148544), Fiction
Interest level: YA
Ruthie comes home to Anchorage to find her best friend missing. As she tries to find her missing friend, she learns that Zahra had a life that nobody understood.
My Name is Not Easy - Debby Dahl Edwardson, (978-1477816295), Fiction
Interest level: YA, Lexile: 830
Luke and his brothers are sent to Sacred Heart School, far away from their village. Luke’s Iñupiaq name is hard to pronounce, so he adopts a name that is easier to pronounce when he arrives at Sacred Heart. Each of the students has a story to tell in a community that wants to keep all of the stories separate.
Right Behind You - Gail Giles, (978-0316166379), Fiction
Interest level: YA, Lexile: 590
Through Kip's painful journey toward self-forgiveness and acceptance in Alaska, the book raises profound questions about justice, second chances, and whether true redemption is possible after committing an unforgivable act.
Strange Stories of Alaska and the Yukon - Ed Ferrell, (978-0945397519), Non-fiction
Interest level: YA, Lexile: 1230
Read about the extraordinary and unexplained in Alaska.
The Call of the Wild - Jack London, (978-1613822081), Fiction
Interest level: YA, Lexile: 1120
Buck, a mixed-breed part German Shepherd, must adapt to his new life in the Alaskan wilderness after being kidnapped in this classic adventure novel for children.
The Great Alone - Kristin Hannah, (978-1250229533), Fiction
Interest level: YA, Lexile: 720
The Allbright family lives off the grid in remote Alaska. Leni and her mother find themselves living alone in the wilderness.
The Smell of Other People’s Houses - Bonnie-Sue Hitchcock, (978-0553497816), Fiction
Interest level: YA, Lexile: 960
Set in 1970s Alaska, this William C. Morris Award finalist follows four teenagers whose lives become unexpectedly intertwined as they each face difficult circumstances—Ruth hiding a pregnancy from her strict grandmother, Dora escaping an abusive father, Alyce torn between dance and fishing with her father, and Hank running away with his brothers to protect them from danger.