CurriConnects Book List - Georgia
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Georgia
This curated book list celebrates Georgia's rich history, diverse landscapes, and vibrant culture through titles organized into three reading levels for easy classroom integration. Each book comes with a description and reading level to support differentiated instruction, with Lexile scores included for most titles to help match students to texts with precision.
Picture Books
A Haunted Ghost Tour in Georgia: A Not-So-Scary Halloween Adventure for Kids - Louise Martin, (978-1728267005), Fiction
Interest level: K-2
Little Ghost and his family zip across Georgia in a rhyming adventure, stopping at beloved spots from Augusta to Athens, including the St. Simons Lighthouse Museum and the Georgia Aquarium. Halloween mischief and famous landmarks make every page a playful mix of laughs, learning, and a few well-timed "BOOs!"
All Aboard, Georgia! - Rosalind and Maggie Bunn, (978-1455626144), Fiction
Interest level: K-3
A curious young boy climbs onto a special train and sets off on an unforgettable trip through Georgia's most iconic landmarks and historic sites. Perfect for winding down at bedtime or sparking curiosity in the classroom.
And the Tide Comes In...: Exploring a Coastal Salt Marsh - Merryl Alber, (978-1630763022), Non-fiction
Interest level: PreK-3
A young girl guides her cousin through a coastal salt marsh over four days, slowly revealing the wonders of the ecosystem with each visit. Told from a child's perspective, this narrative nonfiction builds environmental awareness in an accessible, story-driven way.
Deep in the Swamp - Donna M. Bateman, (978-1570915970), Non-fiction
Interest level: K-3, Lexile: 890L
Set to the familiar tune of "Over in the Meadow," this counting book brings the creatures of the Okefenokee Swamp to life in song. Bonus material in the back offers detailed facts about the swamp's rich plant and animal life for readers ready to dig deeper.
Kibby and Olive Move to Georgia - Andrea Cassell, (978-1645433422), Fiction
Interest level: K-2
When Kibby's family uproots their life and leaves behind familiar faces, he stumbles into a surprising new world — one filled with sprawling peach orchards and the distinctive red soil of Georgia. A warm story about transitions, friendship, and finding your footing somewhere new.
P is for Peach: A Georgia Alphabet - Carol Crane, (978-1585360468), Non-fiction
Interest level: PreK-2, Lexile: 970L
From A to Z, this alphabet book celebrates everything that makes Georgia one of a kind — its people, places, foods, and traditions — in a format young readers can enjoy again and again.
Pink and Say - Patricia Polacco, (978-0399226717), Fiction
Interest level: 2-12, Lexile: 590L
Based on a true story, this fictionalized account follows the unlikely bond between African American soldier Pinkus Aylee and a Union soldier he encounters. Their friendship is tested when Confederate forces capture them both, in a moving story that spans race, loyalty, and survival.
Sewing Stories: Harriet Powers' Journey from Slave to Artist - Barbara Herkert, (978-0385754620), Non-fiction
Interest level: PreK-3, Lexile: 850L
Harriet Powers learned the art of quilting during her years in slavery on a Georgia plantation. Surviving the Civil War and Reconstruction, she channeled her experiences into stunning pictorial quilts that are now celebrated as masterworks of African American folk art — all without ever leaving the state of Georgia.
Middle Grade Books
Football Genius - Tim Green, (978-0061122736), Fiction
Interest level: 5-9, Lexile: 800L
Troy White has an extraordinary ability — he can anticipate football plays before they unfold. When his mother lands a job with the Atlanta Falcons, Troy convinces his friends to help him get noticed by the team's star linebacker, Seth Halloway. What's at stake: the Falcons' shot at a championship and his mom's career.
James Edward Oglethorpe - Joyce Blackburn, (978-1577363323), Non-fiction
Interest level: 3-6
Turning away from privilege and prestige, James Oglethorpe chose a path of public service — championing the rights of debtors in Parliament before volunteering to establish a new American colony. Under his leadership, Georgia took root, alliances with the Creek Nation were forged, and a vision for the colony became reality.
Lunch-Box Dream - Tony Abbott, (978-0374346737), Fiction
Interest level: 5-9, Lexile: 800L
A family road trip through Civil War battlefields turns into something more when tensions — both inside their car and in the countryside around them — come to a head. After an accident sends them home by bus, they witness a confrontation that reveals the desperate journey of another family searching for a missing child.
My Name is Sally Little Song - Brenda Woods, (978-0399243127), Fiction
Interest level: 4-7, Lexile: 780
Sally Harrison and her family are enslaved on a Georgia plantation. Faced with the threat of being separated and sold, the family makes a daring escape toward a Seminole tribe known for welcoming those who flee bondage.
Only the Names Remain: The Cherokees and The Trail of Tears - Alex W. Bealer, (978-0316085199), Fiction
Interest level: 3-7, Lexile: 1050L
This account chronicles the forced removal of the Cherokee people from their homeland, a tragedy known as the Trail of Tears. Marching from Georgia to Arkansas, the Cherokee Nation endured devastating losses, with one in four perishing along the way.
Shai & Emmie Star in Break an Egg! - Quvenzhané Wallis, (978-1481458849), Fiction
Interest level: 2-5, Lexile: 640L
At a performing arts elementary school in Atlanta, best friends Shai and Emmie are gearing up for their third-grade musical audition when a self-assured new student from Los Angeles arrives. Shai must navigate jealousy and generosity as she helps the newcomer feel at home — even when it costs her the role she wanted.
The Ever-After Bird - Ann Rinaldi, (978-0152026202), Fiction
Interest level: 4-6, Lexile: 630L
CeCe agrees to accompany her ornithologist uncle to Georgia on a search for the elusive scarlet ibis — only to discover their expedition carries a hidden purpose. As they travel, her uncle quietly directs enslaved people northward along the Underground Railroad.
Walking with Miss Millie - Tamara Lyn Bundy, (979-8218782153), Fiction
Interest level: 4-6, Lexile: 790L
Alice resents every bit of her new life in Rainbow, Georgia — until a stubborn dog and his elderly owner pull her into an unlikely friendship. Set in the 1960s South, this debut middle-grade novel tenderly explores connection across lines of age, race, and circumstance.
Young Adult Books (ages 12-18; Grades 7 and up)
47 - Walter Mosley, (978-0316016353), Fiction
Interest level: 7-10, Lexile: 860L
A young enslaved boy named 47 endures a brutal existence until a mysterious runaway named Tall John enters his life. Drawn into a fierce struggle, 47 begins to imagine — and fight for — a future defined by freedom rather than chains.
Crossing Ebenezer Creek - Tonya Bolden, (978-1681196992), Fiction
Interest level: 7-11, Lexile: 680L
Newly freed from slavery, Mariah and her brother Zeke fall in step with Sherman's march through Georgia. The promise of a new life flickers before them, but the road ahead is still lined with hardship and uncertainty.
Dear Martin - Nic Stone, (978-1101939529), Fiction
Interest level: 9-12, Lexile: 720L
Honor student Justyce McAllister is doing everything right — until a police encounter ends in handcuffs and shakes his sense of the world. Turning to the writings of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. for guidance, Justyce wrestles with what those lessons mean in the aftermath of police violence and in shaping his future.
I'm Not Dying with You Tonight - Kimberly Jones, (978-1728240237), Fiction
Interest level: 9-12, Lexile: 740L
Lena is self-assured and ambitious; Campbell is simply trying to blend in. Two girls who barely know each other are thrown together when a high school football game erupts into a violent race riot — and suddenly, all they have is each other.
Monarch Rising - Harper Glenn, (978-1338741452), Fiction
Interest level: 9-12, Lexile: 800L
In a bleak near-future version of Georgia, Jo Monarch enters a high-stakes competition hoping to trade her poverty-stricken life in the "Ashes" for something better. This debut dystopian novel imagines what ambition and survival look like when the odds are stacked by design.
The Downstairs Girl - Stacey Lee, (978-1524740979), Fiction
Interest level: 7-9, Lexile: 810L
By day, seventeen-year-old Jo Kuan endures her role as a lady's maid to an entitled heiress in Atlanta. By night, she secretly authors a newspaper advice column that boldly challenges the era's assumptions about race and womanhood — all under an assumed name.
The Magnolia League - Katie Crouch, (978-0399243127), Fiction
Interest level: 10-12
Sixteen-year-old Alexandria Lee is swept into a secretive Savannah debutante society and begins unraveling its dangerous past — including a shadowy agreement with a legendary hoodoo family. Nothing in this Southern city is quite what it seems.
We Deserve Monuments - Jas Hammonds, (978-1250327932), Fiction
Interest level: 10-12, Lexile: 730L
Avery Anderson's senior year derails when she's relocated from Washington, D.C., to live with her dying grandmother in a small Georgia town. Unexpected friendships — including a romance with her neighbor Simone — gradually expose the deeply buried racist history of Bardell, Georgia, and its tangled connection to Avery's own family.