CurriConnects Book List - Connecticut
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Connecticut
This thoughtfully curated collection organizes books about Connecticut into three distinct reading levels, with many books including Lexile measures to help educators match texts to individual students' needs. Every title includes a brief content summary, making it easy for teachers and librarians to guide students toward engaging narratives about Connecticut's communities, geography, history, and culture.
Picture Books
N is for Nutmeg: A Connecticut Alphabet - Elissa Grodin, (978-1585361243), Non-fiction
Interest level: PreK-3, Lexile: 1040L
This book showcases the unique aspects of Connecticut.
Noah Webster and His Words - Jeri Chase Ferris, (978-0544582422), Non-fiction
Interest level: 1-4, Lexile: 820
Noah Webster grew up obsessed with words. He spent 20 years compiling the first English-language dictionary.
Rachel's Home on Bear Mountain: a Story About Connecticut - Mary Elizabeth Salzmann, (978-1617146831), Fiction
Interest level: 1-4
Rachel is an American robin, Connecticut's state bird. She takes readers on a journey across the state.
Testing the Ice: A True Story About Jackie Robinson - Sharon Robinson, (978-0545052511), Non-fiction
Interest level: PreK-3, Lexile: 800
Legendary baseball player, Jackie Robinson, retires from his baseball career and moves his family to a lake house in Connecticut. His children quickly make friends with the neighborhood children and love playing in the lake. Sharon, Robinson’s daughter, realizes that he father never joins them in the water. Each winter, he tests the ice to ensure it is safe for his children, and Sharon realizes that her father cannot swim.
The Legend of Hobbomoch: The Sleeping Giant - Jason Marchi, (978-0983094517), Fiction
Interest level: PreK-3
A Quinnipiac brave faces an angry stone giant and saves his village, explaining why the hills in Hamden, Connecticut, look like a sleeping man.
The Magical Christmas Horse - Mary Higgins Clark, (978-1416994787), Fiction
Interest level: PreK-3, Lexile: 910
Johnny is overjoyed to get to spend Christmas at his grandfather's farm in Connecticut.
Wilhelmina Goes Wandering - John-Manuel Andriote, (978-1628902587), Fiction
Interest level: PreK-3
Based on real-life events, Wilhelmina the cow escapes her farm. She lives with a herd of deer for five months before she is captured and relocated to an animal sanctuary.
Middle Grade Books
26 Fairmount Avenue - Tomie dePaola, (978-0698118645), Non-fiction
Interest level: 2-5, Lexile: 640
Famed author Tomie dePaola tells the story of his childhood in Connecticut.
365 Days to Alaska - Cathay Carr, (978-1419743818), Fiction
Interest level: 3-6
Rigel Harmon loves Alaska. She loves the wildlife. She loves the time she spends with her family. She loves living off the grid. When her parents divorce, she must move to the suburbs of Connecticut to live with her mother and a grandmother she has never met. Her father promises she must stay for a year before she can move back to Alaska with him. She tries to find her way during the year, navigating middle school and missing the wilderness.
Because of Mr. Terupt - Rob Buyea, (978-0375858246), Fiction
Interest level: 3-6, Lexile: 560
Although Mr Terupt is a new teacher, students find their lives improved when they have contact with him.
Junebug - Alice Mead, (978-0312561260), Fiction
Interest level: 3-7, Lexile: 570
Although a young boy is happy to be close to his tenth birthday, his life in inner-city housing adds stress to his excitement.
Strawberry Hill - Mary Ann Hoberman, (978-0316041362), Fiction
Interest level: 3-7, Lexile: 610
Allie and her family move from their home in New Haven to a place in the country. She struggles to make friends and learns the importance of finding a good, true friend.
Through the Lock - Carol Otis Hurst, (978-0618030361), Fiction
Interest level: 4-8, Lexile: 610
Two orphans embark on adventures as they search for their families in 19th-century Connecticut.
Young Adult and Adult Books
A Study in Charlotte - Brittany Cavallaro, (978-0062398918), Fiction
Interest level: 6-12, Lexile: 750
Sherlock Holmes and Watson were a crime-solving duo! A hundred years later, their great-great-great-great-granddaughters find themselves at the same Connecticut boarding school. Jamie Watson is fascinated by Charlotte Holmes, but Charlotte is not overly friendly and is not looking to find a partner in crime-solving. When a suspicious death occurs at school, the two descendants must team up to solve the mystery.
An Acceptable Time - Madeleine L'Engle, (978-0312368586), Fiction
Interest level: 6-12, Lexile: 710
Polly Of'Keefe has a lot of surprises during a normal trip to her grandparents when she time-travels and meets soldiers, druids, and prehistoric creatures.
Burning Up - Caroline Cooney, (978-0440226871), Fiction
Interest level: 6-12, Lexile: 720
Macey is surprised to find prejudice in her urban community after an acquaintance is murdered.
Fat Chance, Charlie Vega - Crystal Maldonado, (978-0823451319), Fiction
Interest level: 9-12
Charlie Vega is smart, funny, artistic, and fat. She wants to be comfortable in her own skin, but it is hard when her mother is always trying to make her thinner. Her best friend seems to understand her, but Charlie is confused when a guy who asks her out asks out her friend first.
My Life Next Door - Huntley Fitzpatrick, (978-0142426043), Fiction
Interest level: 9-12, Lexile: 850
Samantha Reed longs to be a Garrett. When Jace Garrett sneaks onto her roof, and they start to fall in love, she has to keep him a secret from her family until their worlds collide.
The Witch of Blackbird Pond - Elizabeth George Speare, (978-0547550299), Fiction
Interest level: 8-12, Lexile: 850
Kit Tyler is troubled with her relatives in her new home in Connecticut after having grown up in Barbados, and she makes friends with a woman accused of being a witch.