CurriConnects Book List - Idaho
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Idaho
This collection of books is organized by grade level and divided into three reading tiers, making it easy for students and educators to find the right fit. Each title includes a description and reading level, with Lexile scores provided for most selections to support precise reading placement. All books share a connection to Idaho — through setting, author, history, or natural landscape.
Preschool and Picture Books
Baseball Saved Us - Ken Mochizuki, (978-1880000199), Fiction
Interest level: K-3, Lexile: 550
After being released from a Japanese American internment camp where baseball became his lifeline, a young boy carries the game with him into the outside world — finding that the skills and resilience he built behind those fences help him face the prejudice that awaits him.
Mailing May - Michael Tunnell, (978-0064437240), Fiction
Interest level: PreK-3, Lexile: 770
In 1914, a little girl's family couldn't afford a train ticket to visit her grandmother across seventy-five miles of rugged Idaho mountain terrain — so they mailed her instead. This charming true story captures an ingenious and unforgettable solution to a very real problem.
My First Book about Idaho! (The Idaho Experience) - Carole Marsh, (978-0793398829), Non-fiction
Interest level: 2-3
This activity-filled reproducible book introduces young readers to the Gem State through hands-on exploration of Idaho's history, geography, wildlife, landmarks, and the notable people who have shaped it.
P is for Potato: An Idaho Alphabet - Stan Steiner, (978-1585361557), Non-fiction
Interest level: 1-3
From the Appaloosa horse to zinc mines, from towering Mount Borah to the famous potato, this A-to-Z collection of rhymes celebrates the remarkable variety of treasures tucked within Idaho's borders — a delightful read for kids of all ages.
Potato: A Tale from the Great Depression - Kate Lied, (978-0792269465), Fiction
Interest level: 1-3, Lexile: 660L
During the bleakest days of the Great Depression, a single potato held enormous weight for one struggling family. When they find two weeks of work harvesting potatoes in Idaho, the experience becomes not just a means of survival but a source of hope and togetherness.
The Boy Who Invented TV: The Story of Philo Farnsworth - Kathleen Krull, (978-0385755573), Non-fiction
Interest level: 1-4, Lexile: 860L
Growing up on an Idaho farm with a passion for machines and electricity, Philo Farnsworth had an idea that would change the world — and he was only fourteen when it came to him while working in the fields. This inspiring biography reminds readers that groundbreaking innovations can spring from the most unexpected places and people.
The Mystery of the Gem State Gold: An Idaho Adventure - Dr. Zachary Potter, (979-8270520632), Fiction
Interest level: K-2
When the beloved Gem State Gold Potato Trophy goes missing just days before the annual Potato Festival, Max, Caleb, and Uncle Joe launch an investigation that carries them from the bustling markets of Boise to the wide-open farmlands along the Snake River, following muddy footprints and glittering clues through the Idaho countryside.
The Skydiving Beavers: A True Tale - Susan Wood, (978-1585369942), Non-fiction
Interest level: 1-4, Lexile: 750L
In 1948, Idaho Fish and Game officials came up with an unlikely solution to relocating the McCall beaver colony — dropping seventy-six live beavers from the air to a new home. This stranger-than-fiction true story captures one of conservation history's most daring experiment
Middle Grade Books
Animal Tales from the Heart of Idaho - Craig Vroom, (979-8218830854), Fiction
Interest level: 3-6
Soaring eagles, a charming trio of quail, grouse, and skunk, and the rivers, forests, and meadows of Payette Land Trust's protected lands come to life in this beautifully illustrated collection. Each story is rooted in a real conserved place, celebrating the friendship between animals, people, and the natural world they share.
Camille McPhee Fell Under the Bus - Kristen Tracy, (978-0375845468), Fiction
Interest level: 3-7, Lexile: 610L
Fourth grade is already off to a rocky start for Camille McPhee — her best friend has moved to Japan, her mother is ill, and an unfortunate run-in with a school bus hasn't helped matters. Camille navigates friendship, family hardship, and the unpredictability of elementary school life with humor, heart, and a well-stocked snack cooler to keep her blood sugar up.
Colder than Ice - David Patneaude, (978-0807581360), Fiction
Interest level: 3-7, Lexile: 550L
A new school means a fresh start for sixth-grader Josh Showalter, who has spent most of his life feeling invisible and unremarkable. When a popular kid invites him to join a hockey team, Josh sees his chance to finally become someone — and discovers more about himself than he bargained for.
Dust of Eden - Mariko Nagai, (978-0807517383), Fiction
Interest level: 3-7, Lexile: 960L
Told entirely in verse, this moving historical novel follows Mina Masako Tagawa and her family as they are uprooted from their Washington home and confined to a Japanese American internment camp during World War II. Through poetry, the story gives voice to the grief of injustice and the quiet, stubborn resilience of those who refused to let hope die behind barbed wire.
My Darlin' Clementine - Kristiana Gregory, (978-0823421985), Fiction
Interest level: 4-9, Lexile: 800
In the rough-and-tumble mining towns of 1866 Idaho Territory, sixteen-year-old Clementine Kidd is chasing a dream that few women of her era could imagine — becoming a doctor. When danger closes in on her family, she must find depths of courage she didn't know she had and decide just how much she's willing to sacrifice for the people she loves and the future she envisions.
Silent Days, Silent Dreams - Allen Say, (978-0545927611), Non-fiction
Interest level: 3-7, Lexile: 790L
Born on a farm in Garden Valley, Idaho, James Castle faced profound challenges from the start — he was deaf, mute, autistic, and likely dyslexic. And yet his artwork now hangs in major museums around the world, a testament to the power of creative vision that defies every expectation.
The Fences between Us - Kirby Larson, (978-0545224185), Fiction
Interest level: 4-8, Lexile: 730L
Piper Davis's world is turned upside down by World War II — her brother enlists in the Navy, and her father makes the remarkable decision to follow his Japanese American congregation to an internment camp in Idaho. This story navigates the painful intersection of prejudice, family devotion, and the strength it takes to hold a community together.
The Marble Queen - Stephanie J. Blake, (978-1477810316), Fiction
Interest level: 4-6, Lexile: 630L
Freedom Jane McKenzie lives by her own rules — especially when it comes to marbles. But getting her mother's approval to compete in the neighborhood marble tournament at the Autumn Jubilee is a taller order than usual, with a new baby on the way, a father struggling to keep it together, and a little brother causing constant chaos. Freedom learns that family is messier than any game — and that love and loyalty don't come with a rulebook.
Middle School to Young Adult Books
Deadline - Chris Crutcher, (978-0060850890), Fiction
Interest level: 9-12, Lexile: 880
After receiving a terminal leukemia diagnosis, Ben faces the most urgent question of his life: with only a year remaining, what truly matters? A raw and honest exploration of mortality, purpose, and what it means to really live.
Emory's Gift: A Novel - W. Bruce Cameron,, (978-0765327819), Fiction
Interest level: 7-12, Lexile: 890L
Set in northern Idaho in the 1970s, this coming-of-age novel follows thirteen-year-old Charlie Hall, still raw with grief over his mother's death and his father's emotional withdrawal. Everything shifts when a grizzly bear — a species long believed vanished from the region — saves Charlie from a mountain lion, and an unlikely bond forms between the boy and the bear he names Emory.
How to Speak Boy - Tiana Smith, (978-1250242211), Fiction
Interest level: 7-9, Lexile: 780L
Grayson and Quinn have been speech and debate rivals for years, and they have never been shy about their mutual dislike. When a mix-up in their AP Government class sends their assignments to the wrong cubbies, they begin exchanging anonymous notes — and slowly, unexpectedly, find themselves falling for a person they don't yet realize they already know.
Jenny of the Tetons - Kristiana Gregory, (978-0152167707), Fiction
Interest level: 3-7, Lexile: 740L
After an Indian raid claims her family during a westward wagon journey, fifteen-year-old Carrie Hill is taken in by English trapper Beaver Dick and welcomed into the home of his Indian wife, Jenny, and their six children. Drawing on Beaver Dick Leigh's actual journal entries to open each chapter, this novel breathes life into a vivid, vanishing world.
Lost It - Kristen Tracy, (978-1416934752), Fiction
Interest level: 9-12, Lexile: 700
Sixteen-year-old Tess Whistle's life in Idaho is veering toward full-blown absurdity — her parents have decamped to a survivalist camp, her best friend is obsessed with a neighborhood poodle, and her first serious relationship is adding a whole new layer of pressure. Through the chaos, Tess searches for her footing in a world that refuses to offer any guarantees, in a story that balances laughs with genuine heart.
The Girls of No Return - Erin Saldin, (978-0545310260), Fiction
Interest level: 9-12, Lexile: 770
Sent to the remote Alice Marshall School deep in the Idaho wilderness, a teenage girl finds herself drawn into the wrong circle of friends among the fifty troubled teens who have come there hoping to outrun their pasts. In the end, some histories can't be escaped.
The Sledding Hill - Chris Crutcher, (978-0060502430), Fiction
Interest level: 7-9, Lexile: 1010L
Fourteen-year-old Billy has died in a freak accident — but he's not quite gone. Lingering as a ghost, he watches over his grieving best friend Eddie, who has gone mute in the wake of losing both Billy and his father. When the community moves to ban a controversial book, Eddie must find his voice again to fight back.
What Beauty There Is - Cory Anderson, (978-1250821188), Fiction
Interest level: 9-12, Lexile: 430HL
In the brutal cold of rural Idaho winter, Jack Dahl is on a desperate hunt for the drug money that put his father behind bars — the only thing standing between his little brother and the foster care system. His path crosses with Ava Bardem, a girl trapped in her own dangerous silence under the control of a ruthless father. Together, they must weigh loyalty against survival in this visceral and bone-chilling thriller.