Book Club › Books by level › Level 15

Books for level 15 readers

Past the school grades: strong teen and grown-up readers. 120 to 175 words on a page, sentences up to about 62 words long.

Peabody's level 15 stories, free to read now

18 stories, each one free, read aloud on request and logged in a reading challenge with a tap. The library's own page for this level: level 15 in the library.

From Peabody's kids' book lists

Summer reading for rising 9th graders

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee · ages 13-17. Scout Finch watches her father defend a Black man falsely accused in 1930s Alabama. A fixture of 8th-9th grade. Bookshop.org · Amazon
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck · ages 13-17. Two migrant workers in California dream of a farm of their own. A short novel with a hard ending. Bookshop.org · Amazon
Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare · ages 13-17. The play of two feuding families and their children. Try a version with side-by-side modern text. Bookshop.org · Amazon
Lord of the Flies by William Golding · ages 13-17. British schoolboys stranded on an island build their own society and lose it. Often read in 8th-9th grade. Bookshop.org · Amazon
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury · ages 12-17. In a future where firemen burn books, Montag starts to read. Short, poetic, and a good discussion of screens and censorship. Bookshop.org · Amazon

All 15 on the list ▸

Books for kids who read above grade level but need age-appropriate themes

The Wild Robot by Peter Brown · ages 7-11. Short chapters and a plain style that carry a story about survival and belonging. Bookshop.org · Amazon
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle · ages 9-13. Meg looks for her father across the universe. Heavy on ideas, light on romance and gore. Bookshop.org · Amazon
The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster · ages 8-12. Puns and puzzles that reward a strong vocabulary. Bookshop.org · Amazon
Hatchet by Gary Paulsen · ages 10-14. A thirteen-year-old survives alone in the Canadian wilderness after a plane crash. Spare and gripping. Bookshop.org · Amazon
The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate · ages 8-12. A gorilla in a mall zoo narrates in short free-verse chapters. Newbery Medal 2013. Bookshop.org · Amazon

All 13 on the list ▸

12 nonfiction and memoir books for middle schoolers

Hidden Figures Young Readers' Edition by Margot Lee Shetterly · ages 10-14. The true story of the Black women mathematicians who helped win the space race at NASA. A shortened edition of the adult bestseller. Bookshop.org · Amazon
I Am Malala (Young Readers Edition) by Malala Yousafzai · ages 10-14. Malala's own account of speaking up for girls' education in Pakistan and surviving a Taliban attack at 15. Bookshop.org · Amazon
Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood (Adapted for Young Readers) by Trevor Noah · ages 12-16. The comedian's memoir of growing up mixed-race under apartheid, trimmed for younger readers. Funny and hard at once. Bookshop.org · Amazon
The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind (Young Readers Edition) by William Kamkwamba · ages 10-14. A Malawian teenager builds a working windmill from scrap to bring power to his family during a famine. A true story about science and stubbornness. Bookshop.org · Amazon
Unbroken (Young Adult Adaptation) by Laura Hillenbrand · ages 12-16. The true story of Louis Zamperini, Olympic runner turned WWII bombardier, who survives a raft and a prison camp. A page-turner. Bookshop.org · Amazon

All 12 on the list ▸

Buy links are plain searches with no affiliate tag: nobody is paid when you use them. A library has most of these free: 📚 shows where to borrow each one.

Series at this age

None of Peabody's series pages fits this level; the lists above have books in series. All series in order.

For grown-ups: what level 15 reading looks like, by grade. Is this the right level? Three questions to check.

Checked 30 October 2026 · Lists from Peabody's kids' lists, series from the series pages · Free, no account, nothing you do here leaves this device · v0.4.0