How many 1980s books are assigned in 6th grade?

97 books written between 1980 and 1989 appear on 6th grade reading lists tracked by ReadingList. Each one is cited from a state department of education, district list, or AP/IB syllabus.

What Lexile range do these 1980s books cover?

Lexile measures for the 1980s titles assigned in 6th grade run from 550L to 1020L. Poetry, drama, and graphic novels without a published Lexile measure are not counted in that range.

Are these assigned nationally or in a few states?

36 states assign at least one 1980s title at 6th grade in the lists tracked here, so this is a broad pattern rather than a single state's canon. Per-state lists are on each state page.

1980s books assigned in 6th grade

Name: 1980s books assigned in 6th grade
Creator: ReadingList
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

US schools assign 97 books written in the 1980s to 6th grade students, across 36 states, spanning 550L–1020L. Every title below is cited from a state ELA standard, district reading list, or AP/IB syllabus.

Most widely assigned from the 1980s

There's a Boy in the Girls' Bathroom

Louis Sachar · on 16 reading lists

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Titles: 97
Written: 1980–1989
Lexile range: 550L–1020L
States assigning: 36

The list — 1980s, 6th grade

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Show all 97 titles

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Do Bananas Chew Gum? · Jamie Gilson
Don't Look Behind You · Lois Duncan
Everett Anderson's Goodbye · Lucille Clifton
Fallen Angels · Walter Dean Myers
Freak the Mighty · W. R. Philbrick
Fudge · Charlotte Towner Graeber
Ghost in My Soup · Judi Miller
Good Night, Mr. Tom · Michelle Magorian
Hail, Hail, Camp Timberwood · Ellen Conford
Harry's Mad · Dick King-Smith
Hatchet · Gary Paulsen
Jacob Have I Loved · Katherine Paterson
Jelly Belly · Robert Kimmel Smith
Joyful Noise · Paul Fleischman
Justin and the Best Biscuits in the World · Mildred Walter
Karen Kepplewhite is the World's Best Kisser · Eve Bunting
Let the Circle Be Unbroken · Mildred D. Taylor
Lincoln: A Photobiography · Russell Freedman
Matilda · Roald Dahl
Motown and Didi · Walter Dean Myers
My Horrible Secret · Stephen Roos
My Teacher Is an Alien · Bruce Coville
Night of the Twisters · Ivy Ruckman
Nightmare Mountain · Peg Kehret
Nothing's Fair in Fifth Grade · Barthe DeClements
Number the Stars · Lois Lowry
Panama Canal · Judith St. George
Peppermints in the Parlor · Barbara Brooks Wallace
Playing Beatie Bow · Ruth Park
Poverty in America · Milton Meltzer
Sarah, Plain and Tall · Patricia MacLachlan
Shades of Gray · Carolyn Reeder
Sixth Grade Can Really Kill You · Barthe DeClements
Skinnybones · Barbara Park
Something Upstairs · Avi
Stone Fox · John Reynolds Gardiner
Stranger with My Face · Lois Duncan
Streams to the River, River to the Sea · Scott O'Dell
Strider · Beverly Cleary
Sweet Whispers, Brother Rush · Virginia Hamilton
Taking Terri Mueller · Norma Fox Mazer
Tancy · Belinda Hurmence
Ten Kids, No Pets · Ann M. Martin
The BFG · Roald Dahl
The Computer Nut · Betsy Cromer Byars
The Curse of the Blue Figurine · John Bellairs
The Cybil War · Betsy Byars
The Dark and Deadly Pool · Joan Lowery Nixon
The Dollhouse Murders · Betty Ren Wright
The Fighting Ground · Avi
The Friendship · Mildred D. Taylor
The Hero and the Crown · Robin McKinley
The Honorable Prison · Lyll Becerra de Jenkins
The Hot and Cold Summer · Johanna Hurwitz
The Illustrated Dinosaur Dictionary · Helen Roney Sattler
The Indian in the Cupboard · Lynne Reid Banks
The Magic of the Glits · Carole S. Adler
The Moves Make the Man · Bruce Brooks
The Other Side of Dark · Joan Lowery Nixon
The People Could Fly · Virginia Hamilton
The Root Cellar · Janet Lunn
The Sign of the Beaver · Elizabeth George Speare
The Stalker · Joan Lowery Nixon
The Third Eye · Lois Duncan
The Weaver's Gift · Kathryn Lasky
The Whipping Boy · Sid Fleischman
There's a Boy in the Girls' Bathroom · Louis Sachar
Thirteen Ways to Sink a Sub · Jamie Gilson
Wait Till Helen Comes · Mary Downing Hahn
When · Laurie McBain
When the Boys Ran the House · Joan Davenport Carris
Whispers from the Dead · Joan Lowery Nixon
You Shouldn't Have to Say Goodbye · Patricia Hermes

Most-assigned 1980s authors in 6th grade

Joan Lowery Nixon (6) · Virginia Hamilton (3) · Mary Downing Hahn (3) · Lois Duncan (3) · Lois Lowry (2) · Betty Ren Wright (2)

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Common questions

How many 1980s books are assigned in 6th grade?: 97 books written between 1980 and 1989 appear on 6th grade reading lists tracked by ReadingList. Each one is cited from a state department of education, district list, or AP/IB syllabus.
What Lexile range do these 1980s books cover?: Lexile measures for the 1980s titles assigned in 6th grade run from 550L to 1020L. Poetry, drama, and graphic novels without a published Lexile measure are not counted in that range.
Are these assigned nationally or in a few states?: 36 states assign at least one 1980s title at 6th grade in the lists tracked here, so this is a broad pattern rather than a single state's canon. Per-state lists are on each state page.

1980s books assigned in 6th grade

The list — 1980s, 6th grade

Most-assigned 1980s authors in 6th grade

Common questions

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