CurriConnects Book List - Illinois
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Illinois
This thoughtfully curated collection showcases books about Illinois, organized into three age-appropriate reading levels, with Lexile measures included to help match each reader to the right level of challenge. Every title comes with a short summary of its content, making it easy for educators and families to find engaging stories that explore Illinois's cities, prairies, people, and rich history.
Picture Books
123 Chicago - Puck, (978-0979621352), Non-fiction
Interest level: PreK
Little ones learn to count from one to ten alongside some of Chicago's most iconic symbols — from the Sears Tower and the L train to Navy Pier fireworks, Chicago-style hot dogs, and deep dish pizza. A handy location guide at the back, printed in both English and Spanish, helps families plan a real Chicago outing or simply enjoy a fun day exploring the city from home.
Barack Obama: Son of Promise, Child of Hope - Nikki Grimes, (978-1442440920)), Non-fiction
Interest level: K-3, Lexile: 750L
From the shores of Hawaii to the streets of Chicago, from the forests of Indonesia to the vast plains of Kenya, a young Barack Obama carried hope with him everywhere he went. Told by Coretta Scott King Award winner Nikki Grimes and illustrated by fellow award winner Bryan Collier, this moving portrait of America's 44th President captures the journey of a man who believed in the power of every person to transform themselves and the world around them.
Coming on Home Soon - Jacqueline Woodson, (978-0399237485), Fiction
Interest level: PreK-3, Lexile: 550L
With her mother gone to Chicago to fill wartime factory jobs left vacant by men, Ada Ruth and her grandmother settle into a quiet routine of waiting, missing, and holding on. A stray kitten arrives to offer some comfort, but nothing truly fills the space Mama left behind. Tender and timeless, this World War II story captures the particular ache of loving someone who is far away.
L is for Lincoln: An Illinois Alphabet - Kathy-jo Wargin, (978-1585362509), Non-fiction
Interest level: 1-3, Lexile: 1020L
The state that shaped Abraham Lincoln is also the birthplace of the Ferris wheel, Montgomery Ward, and the John Deere tractor. Clever poems, lush illustrations, and a wealth of fascinating detail make this alphabet book a treasure for students, teachers, and anyone proud to call Illinois home.
Mae Jemison - Maria Isabel Sanchez Vegara, (978-0711270954), Non-fiction
Interest level: 1-3, Lexile: 590L
As a little girl watching the Apollo Moon landings, Mae Jemison had one burning question: why weren't any of the astronauts women? Fueled by a love of science, she started college at sixteen, trained as a doctor by twenty, served with the Peace Corps, and was accepted into NASA's astronaut program — ultimately becoming the first Black woman to travel to space in 1992. This inspiring biography includes a timeline and historical photographs celebrating her trailblazing life.
Mr. Ferris and His Wheel - Kathryn Gibbs Davis, (978-0547959221), Non-fiction
Interest level: PreK-3, Lexile: AD900L
George Ferris was an engineer with an audacious vision and an obsession with detail — and he refused to let gravity or skeptics stand in his way. This richly illustrated picture book biography transports readers to the 1893 World's Fair, where Ferris unveiled the towering rotating wheel that would become the most recognizable amusement ride in history. Try out the TeachersFirst Reading Trek for this book.
Stella and the Mystery of the Missing Tooth - Clothilde Ewing, (978-1534487871), Fiction
Interest level: PreK-3, Lexile: 510L
A planned trip to see Sue the T. Rex at the Field Museum takes an unexpected detour when Owen loses a tooth and has to leave early. Determined Stella launches a full investigation — was it stolen? Did the tooth fairy swoop in early? Could Owen secretly be a dinosaur boy? The more clues she uncovers, the more Stella starts to wonder if this mystery might be simpler than she thinks.
The House That Jane Built: A Story About Jane Addams - Tanya Lee Stone, (978-0805090499), Non-fiction
Interest level: PreK-3, Lexile: 810L
Jane Addams had dreamed since childhood of living among those who needed help most. In 1889, she turned that dream into reality when she purchased a rundown Chicago house and transformed it into Hull House — a gathering place that eventually grew to thirteen buildings, welcoming more than nine thousand visitors a week, and a legacy that continues to inspire generations of changemakers.
Middle Grade Books
A Long Way from Chicago - Richard Peck, (978-0142401101), Fiction
Interest level: 4-8, Lexile: 750L
Joey and his sister Mary Alice expect a sleepy summer when they're sent to visit their grandmother in the Illinois countryside. What they get instead is nine summers of breathtaking surprises, irresistible mischief, and life lessons delivered with a wink and a sly smile by a grandmother who is tougher than she looks and far wiser than anyone gives her credit for. Try out the TeachersFirst Reading Trek for this book.
Chasing Vermeer - Blue Balliett, (978-0439372978 ), Fiction
Interest level: 4-7, Lexile: 550
When a mysterious book of unexplained phenomena brings Petra and Calder into each other's orbit, coincidences begin multiplying, and a priceless Vermeer painting vanishes without a trace. Suddenly the two friends find themselves tangled in an international art scandal where everyone is a suspect. Set in Hyde Park, with Frank Lloyd Wright's iconic Robie House at its center. (series)
Children of the Fire - Harriette Gillem Robinet, (978-0689839689), Fiction
Interest level: 3-7, Lexile: 590L
Eleven-year-old Hallelujah is mesmerized by the fires spreading across Chicago — until the flames consume everything she knows. It is 1871, and what history will call the Great Chicago Fire is reshaping the city and her life forever. Amid the destruction, Hallelujah finds an unlikely friendship with a girl named Elizabeth, as different from her as possible, yet bound to her by shared loss and the slow work of rebuilding.
Extra Credit - Andrew Clements, (978-1416949312), Fiction
Interest level: 3-7, Lexile: 830L
Sixth-grader Abby Carson is facing a painful consequence for avoiding her schoolwork: repeat the grade, or complete an extra credit project — find a penpal in another country. What begins as a reluctant obligation becomes something far more complicated when her letter lands at a small school in Afghanistan, where the village elders insist a girl cannot correspond with a boy, setting off a creative workaround and an unlikely exchange across continents, cultures, and everything that divides them.
Fair Weather - Richard Peck, (978-0142500347), Fiction
Interest level: 3-7, Lexile: 730L
Thirteen-year-old Rosie Beckett has never traveled farther than a horse can carry her — until an invitation from Aunt Euterpe changes everything. It's 1893, and the Chicago World's Fair is the marvel of the age. With vivid, funny, and thoroughly alive writing, Richard Peck whisks Rosie and her family off the farm and straight into one of history's most spectacular events.
Hollow Fires - Samira Ahmed, (978-0316282741), Fiction
Interest level: 7-12, Lexile: 700L
As editor of her school newspaper, aspiring journalist Safiya Mirza has always prided herself on keeping personal feelings out of her reporting. That resolve is shaken when she discovers the body of a murdered boy — fourteen-year-old Jawad Ali, whose homemade cosplay jetpack was mistaken for a weapon, leading to his arrest, his labeling as a terrorist, and ultimately his death. Guided by Jawad's voice throughout her investigation, Safiya refuses to let him be reduced to a headline.
Missing from Haymarket Square - Harriette Gillem Robinet, (978-0689854903), Fiction
Interest level: 4-7, Lexile: 630L
Twelve-year-old Dinah Bell spends her days laboring in Chicago's factories and mills in 1886 — but workers like her father are pushing back, organizing a march to demand an eight-hour workday. When her father is arrested for his role in planning the rally, Dinah is desperate to free him as the march erupts into a terrifying riot, placing her family's fate entirely in her hands.
Montgomery and the Case of the Golden Key - Tracy Occomy Crowder, (978-1643795171), Fiction
Interest level: 4-8, Lexile: 660L
Montgomery "Monty" Carver has big plans for the best summer of his life — but things go sideways fast. When he discovers a golden key hidden among Old Lady Jenkins's sunflowers, he takes on the mystery solo, determined to prove his independence. The trail leads him deep into the vibrant history of his South Side Chicago neighborhood, just as Barack Obama's presidential campaign and the possibility of the 2016 Olympics are stirring something new in the community around him.
You Are Here: Connecting Flights - Ellen Oh, (978-0063239098), Fiction
Interest level: 3-7, Lexile: 670L
A single disrupted moment at a TSA checkpoint sets off a cascade of chaos in a bustling Chicago airport, pulling twelve young Asian American travelers into an unexpected web of intersecting stories. Navigating unhelpful strangers, surprising allies, and the unplanned power of a blue electric guitar, each of them discovers something essential about courage, connection, and the words that matter most.
Young Adult and Adult Books
A Few Red Drops: The Chicago Race Riot of 1919 - Claire Hartfield, (978-0358667995), Non-fiction
Interest level: 7-9, Lexile: 1120L
On a sweltering July day in 1919, five Black teenagers drifted too close to the "white" section of Lake Michigan's shoreline — and a white man's thrown stones killed one of them. What followed were days of devastating urban violence that shook Chicago to its core. Drawing on archival photographs, documents, newspaper clippings, and firsthand accounts, this meticulously researched work brings one of American history's most tragic flashpoints into unflinching focus.
Dandelion Wine - Ray Bradbury, (978-0553277531), Fiction
Interest level: 7-12, Lexile: 880L
The summer of 1928 stretches out before twelve-year-old Douglas Spaulding like something inexhaustible and golden — full of apple trees, dandelions, and a boy named John Huff who seems too alive to be ordinary. But the summer holds shadows alongside its wonders, and Douglas gradually senses something true about joy and loss and the way time slips away before you can hold it. A luminous, quietly aching portrait of childhood set in the small-town heart of Illinois.
If I Could Go Back - Briana Johnson, (978-1682637753), Fiction
Interest level: 9-12
Aaliyah Campbell has built her world around the family that raised her — her best friend and track teammate Ivy, and the grandfather who has been her rock since toddlerhood. But the question of her absent parents won't quiet down, and when she secretly reaches out to her mother, old wounds and buried secrets begin breaking to the surface. Her father's unexpected warmth only complicates things further, as Aaliyah searches for answers to questions she has never been allowed to ask.
The Davenports - Krystal Marquis, (978-0593463338), Fiction
Interest level: 8-10, Lexile: 720L
Chicago, 1910. The Davenport family moves through a world of crystal chandeliers, house servants, and lavish parties — an extraordinary life built by William Davenport, a formerly enslaved man whose carriage company made his family one of the wealthiest Black households in a changing America. This novel offers a rich and intimate look at a family navigating wealth, society, and love in a world that wasn't designed for them.
The House on Mango Street - Sandra Cisneros, (978-0679734772), Fiction
Interest level: 8-12, Lexile: 870L
Through a series of vignettes — some heartbreaking, some luminous with joy — Cisneros tells the story of a young girl's childhood and her gradual understanding of herself and the world around her. A timeless masterpiece and one of the most celebrated portraits of Chicago neighborhood life ever written.
Will Grayson, Will Grayson - John Green & David Levithan, (978-0142418475), Fiction
Interest level: 9-12, Lexile: 930L
On an unlikely winter night in Chicago, two teenagers who happen to share the same name stumble into each other's lives — and nothing is the same afterward. Told in alternating voices by two beloved YA authors, this story of surprise, self-discovery, and the most unforgettable high school musical ever staged is packed with equal measures of humor and genuine feeling.
Yummy: The Last Days of a Southside Shorty - G. Neri, (978-1584302674), Non-fiction
Interest level: 9-12, Lexile: 510L
Eleven-year-old Roger is trying to understand how his classmate Robert "Yummy" Sandifer — a kid who could be fierce one moment and warmhearted the next — ended up dead, killed by the very gang he belonged to. As Roger searches for answers, his questions keep circling back to his own older brother. A graphic novel based on a real Chicago boy whose short life raised painful questions that no one could easily answer.