10th grade reading list
10th grade students in US schools are commonly assigned 178 books across Common Core Appendix B, AP, IB, Cambridge, and state ELA curricula. Each title links to its grade citations.
Reading difficulty: the typical 10th grade text-complexity band is 1050–1335L (Common Core Appendix A). Of the 56 titles here with a Lexile score, 17 are grade-level, 38 are more accessible (often chosen for theme over reading challenge), and 1 is a stretch text. Match a book to your reader’s measured Lexile rather than to the grade alone.
178 books with a 10th grade citation
Titles whose grade range covers 10th grade in a state ELA curriculum or a national reference (Common Core Appendix B, AP, IB).
1919 The Year That Changed AmericaMartin W. Sandler
1984George Orwell · 1090L
A Fate So ColdAmanda Foody
A Few Red DropsClaire Hartfield
A Lesson Before DyingErnest J. Gaines · 750L
A Midsummer Night's DreamWilliam Shakespeare
A Raisin in the SunLorraine Hansberry
A Separate PeaceJohn Knowles · 1110L
A Tale of Two CitiesCharles Dickens · 1170L- African TownIrene Latham
All My RageSabaa Tahir
All Quiet on the Western FrontErich Maria Remarque · 830L
American Born ChineseGene Luen Yang · 530L- An American PlagueJim Murphy
- Anger Is a GiftMark Oshiro
Animal FarmGeorge Orwell · 1170L
AnthemAyn Rand · 880L
AntigoneSophocles- Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the UniverseBenjamin Alire Sáenz
Black BoyRichard Wright · 950L- Black PotatoesSusan Campbell Bartoletti
Bone GapLaura Ruby
BrownstoneSamuel Teer- Burn Down, Rise UpVincent Tirado
- Butterfly YellowThanhhà Lại
Challenger DeepNeal Shusterman- Chronically DoloresMaya Van Wagenen
Claudette ColvinPhillip Hoose
Copper SunSharon Draper- CursedKarol Ruth Silverstein
Day of TearsJulius Lester
DigA. S. King
DivergentVeronica Roth
Divine RivalsRebecca Ross- Enchanted AirMargarita Engle
Ender's GameOrson Scott Card · 780L
Everything Sad Is UntrueDaniel Nayeri
Everything We Never HadRandy Ribay
Fahrenheit 451Ray Bradbury · 890L
Far From The TreeRobin Benway
FencesAugust Wilson
Firekeeper's DaughterAngeline Boulley- Five Flavors of DumbAntony John
Flowers for AlgernonDaniel Keyes · 910L- Forever Is NowMariama J. Lockington
- Forged by FireSharon M. DraperForged by FireSharon M. Draper
Four for the RoadK.J. Reilly
FrankensteinMary Shelley · 1170L- FuriaYamile Saied Méndez
- Girls Like UsGail Giles
Going BovineLibba Bray
Great ExpectationsCharles Dickens · 1150L
How I Live NowMeg Rosoff- How Moon Fuentez Fell in Love with the UniverseRaquel Vasquez Gilliland
How to Survive Your MurderDanielle Valentine- Hurt Go HappyGinny Rorby
I Am Malala (Young Readers Edition)Malala Yousafzai · 830L
I Know Why the Caged Bird SingsMaya Angelou · 1070L
I'll Give You the SunJandy Nelson
In DarknessNick Lake
Jane EyreCharlotte Brontë · 890L
Jellicoe RoadMelina Marchetta
Julius CaesarWilliam Shakespeare
Just Mercy (Adapted for Young Adults)Bryan Stevenson · 1130L
Last Night at the Telegraph ClubMalinda Lo
Life of PiYann Martel · 830L
Little WomenLouisa May Alcott · 1300L
Long Way DownJason Reynolds · 720L
Looking for AlaskaJohn Green
Lord of the FliesWilliam Golding · 770L
Louder Than HungerJohn Schu
MacbethWilliam Shakespeare- Marcelo in the Real WorldFrancisco X. Stork
March Book ThreeJohn Lewis
Maus: A Survivor's TaleArt Spiegelman
MidwinterbloodMarcus Sedgwick
MonsterWalter Dean Myers · 670L
Much Ado About NothingWilliam Shakespeare
Murder Among FriendsCandace Fleming- My ÁntoniaWilla CatherMy ÁntoniaWilla Cather · 1010L
- Mystery FishSally M. Walker
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American SlaveFrederick Douglass · 1080L
Never Thought I'd End Up HereAnn Liang
Nigeria JonesIbi Zoboi
NightElie Wiesel · 590L
Not Quite Dead YetHolly Jackson
Now Let Me Fly: A Portrait of Eugene BullardRonald Wimberly
Oedipus RexSophocles
Of Mice and MenJohn Steinbeck · 630L
Orbiting JupiterGary D. Schmidt
OthelloWilliam Shakespeare
Our TownThornton Wilder
Persepolis: The Story of a ChildhoodMarjane Satrapi
Piecing Me TogetherRenée Watson
Pride and PrejudiceJane Austen · 1100L
Purple HibiscusChimamanda Ngozi Adichie · 920L
PygmalionGeorge Bernard Shaw
Romeo and JulietWilliam Shakespeare
Romiette and JulioSharon M. Draper- Rose Under FireElizabeth Wein
- Saints of the HouseholdAri Tison
Salt to the SeaRuta Sepetys · 560L
ScytheNeal Shusterman
Ship BreakerPaolo Bacigalupi
Shut Up, This Is SeriousCarolina Ixta
Sky's EndMarc J. Gregson
SpeakLaurie Halse Anderson · 690L
Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and YouJason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi · 1000L
SteelheartBrandon Sanderson
Stuck in NeutralTerry Trueman
Sunrise on the ReapingSuzanne Collins
That's Not My NameMegan Lally
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time IndianSherman Alexie · 600L
The Adventures of Huckleberry FinnMark Twain · 980L
The AgathasKathleen Glasgow
The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume IM. T. Anderson- The BombTheodore Taylor
The Book ThiefMarkus Zusak · 730L
The Call of the WildJack London · 1120L
The Catcher in the RyeJ.D. Salinger · 790L
The Collectors StoriesA. S. King
The Color PurpleAlice Walker · 670L- The Color of a LieKim Johnson
The CrucibleArthur Miller
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-TimeMark Haddon · 1090L
The Diary of a Young GirlAnne Frank · 1080L
The Fault in Our StarsJohn Green · 850L
The Forbidden BookSacha Lamb
The Grapes of WrathJohn Steinbeck · 680L
The Great GatsbyF. Scott Fitzgerald · 1070L
The Hate U GiveAngie Thomas · 590L- The Hired GirlLaura Amy Schlitz
The House of the ScorpionNancy Farmer
The House on Mango StreetSandra Cisneros · 870L
The Importance of Being EarnestOscar Wilde
The Joy Luck ClubAmy Tan · 930L
The Kite RunnerKhaled Hosseini · 840L- The LandMildred D. Taylor
- The Life and Death of Adolf HitlerJames Cross Giblin
The Maze RunnerJames Dashner
The OdysseyHomer · 1130L
The Old Man and the SeaErnest Hemingway · 940L
The Perks of Being a WallflowerStephen Chbosky · 720L- The Poet Slave of CubaMargarita Engle
The Poet XElizabeth Acevedo · 800L
The Reappearance of Rachel PriceHolly Jackson- The River Between UsRichard Peck
- The Running DreamWendelin Van Draanen
The Scarlet LetterNathaniel Hawthorne · 1420L
The Secret Life of BeesSue Monk Kidd · 840L
The SelectionKiera Cass
The Silence That Binds UsJoanna Ho
The Sisterhood of the Traveling PantsAnn Brashares- The Surrender Tree / El ábol de la rendiciónMargarita Engle
The TempestWilliam Shakespeare- The Tequila WormViola Canales
- The Unlikely Hero of Room 13BTeresa Toten
- The Voice That Challenged a NationRussell Freedman
The White DarknessGeraldine McCaughrean- The Words We KeepErin Stewart
- The Words in My HandsAsphyxia
Their Eyes Were Watching GodZora Neale Hurston · 1080L
Things Fall ApartChinua Achebe · 890L- This Is My Brain in LoveI. W. Gregorio
To Kill a MockingbirdHarper Lee · 870L
TorchLyn Miller-Lachmann
Twelfth NightWilliam Shakespeare
Twelve Angry MenReginald Rose
Twenty-Four Seconds from Now . . .Jason Reynolds- Under the MesquiteGuadalupe Garcia McCall
Under the SurfaceDiana Urban
UnwindNeal Shusterman
We Are OkayNina LaCour
What I Saw and How I LiedJudy Blundell- When We CollidedEmery Lord
Where Things Come BackJohn Corey Whaley- Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass: The Graphic NovelMeg Medina
- You're Welcome, UniverseWhitney Gardner
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Frequently asked questions
What books do 10th grade students read in US schools?
178 books are commonly assigned to 10th grade students across US schools — sourced from Common Core exemplars, AP, IB, Cambridge, and 50 state curricula. Each title on this page links to its full curriculum citations.
How many books are on the 10th grade reading list?
This page lists 178 10th grade titles, of which 178 have a verified state or national curriculum citation at the 10th grade level.
Are these 10th grade books in Common Core?
Many 10th grade books on this list appear in the Common Core State Standards Appendix B exemplar texts. Each book card links to its full citation history including which states + curricula reference it. Look for the "Common Core" tag on individual book pages.
How do I pick a 10th grade book for my student?
Filter by curriculum using the pivots above (Common Core, AP, IB, Cambridge, state-specific). Each book page shows its grade range, themes, and which curricula list it. For homeschool or differentiation, books with overlapping grade ranges (±2 grades) work for 10th grade students.
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