Arizona 6th grade reading list

Books with an Arizona citation for 6th grade include New Kid; Bud, Not Buddy and Holes. This list has 750 total books, 53 of them with an Arizona-specific citation. Each book shows its reading level and a cited source. Lexile levels on the list run from 410L to 1120L.

Top Arizona 6th grade pick: New Kid by Jerry Craft — on 1 Arizona list

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Total books750Lexile410L–1120LSourceArizona ELA Standards✓ sources cited per book

Most-assigned on state lists: across every US state’s official reading and award lists, the Middle (6–8) titles appearing in the most states are The Giver (20 states), The Hunger Games (14 states), and Ground Zero (8 states). From our 2026 study of 13,258 source-cited assignments (as of 2026-07-13).

Our pick to start — most-cited for Arizona 6th grade

These are the 30 titles named in Arizona’s own curriculum documents for this grade — everything below is the wider national list. Read against the Common Core Appendix A complexity band; reading level is not thematic maturity, and several sit below the band because they are assigned for discussion.

  1. New Kid

    Jerry Craft

    Cited in 1 Arizona curriculum document and 4 national references, taught from grade 4 to 8. Covers race and identity, code-switching, middle school adjustment.

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  2. Bud, Not Buddy

    Christopher Paul Curtis

    Cited in 1 Arizona curriculum document and 3 national references, taught from grade 4 to 7. Covers family, identity and perseverance. At 950L it falls inside the 925–1185L band for this grade.

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  3. Holes

    Louis Sachar

    Cited in 1 Arizona curriculum document and 3 national references, taught from grade 4 to 7. Covers fate vs choice, friendship and justice. At 660L it reads well below the 925–1185L band for this grade.

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  4. Shiloh

    Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

    Cited in 1 Arizona curriculum document and 2 national references, taught from grade 3 to 6. Covers animal welfare, morality and family. At 890L it sits just under the 925–1185L band for this grade.

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  5. The Giver

    Lois Lowry

    Cited in 1 Arizona curriculum document and 2 national references, taught from grade 6 to 8. Covers conformity vs individuality, memory, utopia and dystopia. At 760L it sits just under the 925–1185L band for this grade.

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  6. The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book 1)

    Rick Riordan

    Cited in 1 Arizona curriculum document and 2 national references, taught from grade 4 to 7. Covers Greek mythology, neurodivergence (dyslexia, ADHD) and friendship. At 740L it sits just under the 925–1185L band for this grade.

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  7. The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane

    Kate DiCamillo

    Cited in 1 Arizona curriculum document and 2 national references, taught from grade 3 to 6. Covers love, loss and journey.

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  8. Wonder

    R.J. Palacio

    Cited in 1 Arizona curriculum document and 2 national references, taught from grade 3 to 7. Covers facial difference, kindness and bullying. At 790L it sits just under the 925–1185L band for this grade.

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  9. Dragon Rider

    Cornelia Funke

    Cited in 1 Arizona curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 3 to 8. Covers animals, mythical.

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  10. Drama

    Raina Telgemeier

    Cited in 1 Arizona curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 5 to 9. Covers theater, friendship and identity.

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  11. Echo

    Pam Muñoz Ryan

    Cited in 1 Arizona curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 5 to 8. Covers music, family and war. At 680L it reads well below the 925–1185L band for this grade.

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  12. Eragon

    Christopher Paolini

    Cited in 1 Arizona curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 6 to 9. Covers dragons, destiny and courage.

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  13. Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library

    Chris Grabenstein

    Cited in 1 Arizona curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 4 to 6.

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  14. Refugee

    Alan Gratz

    Cited in 1 Arizona curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 5 to 9. Covers refugees, survival and family. At 800L it sits just under the 925–1185L band for this grade.

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  15. Schooled

    Gordon Korman

    Cited in 1 Arizona curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 3 to 8. Covers middle school students, teenage boys and home schooling.

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  16. Skeleton Man

    Joseph Bruchac

    Cited in 1 Arizona curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 3 to 8. Covers kidnapping, psychopaths and mohawk indians.

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  17. Superfudge

    Judy Blume

    Cited in 1 Arizona curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 3 to 6.

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  18. The Hunger Games

    Suzanne Collins

    Cited in 1 Arizona curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 6 to 9. Covers authoritarianism, survival, media and spectacle. At 810L it sits just under the 925–1185L band for this grade.

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  19. The Indian in the Cupboard

    Lynne Reid Banks

    Cited in 1 Arizona curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 3 to 6. Covers friendship, responsibility and imagination.

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  20. The Thief Lord

    Cornelia Funke

    Cited in 1 Arizona curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 4 to 6.

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  21. There's a Boy in the Girls' Bathroom

    Louis Sachar

    Cited in 1 Arizona curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 4 to 6.

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  22. A Handful of Stars

    Cynthia Lord

    Cited in 1 Arizona curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 8. Covers grandparent and child, blind dogs, grandparents.

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  23. Aliens Ate My Homework

    Bruce Coville

    Cited in 1 Arizona curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 8. Covers science fiction, life on other planets and extraterrestrial beings.

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  24. Backlash

    Sarah Darer Littman

    Cited in 1 Arizona curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 8. Covers neighbors, suicide and family life.

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  25. Becoming Muhammad Ali

    James Patterson

    Cited in 1 Arizona curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 8.

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  26. Closed for the Season

    Mary Downing Hahn

    Cited in 1 Arizona curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 8. Covers neighbors, murder and friendship.

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  27. Deep and Dark and Dangerous

    Mary Downing Hahn

    Cited in 1 Arizona curriculum document, taught from grade 4 to 6.

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  28. Drive-By

    Lynne Ewing

    Cited in 1 Arizona curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 8. Covers gangs, death, brothers and sisters.

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  29. Drums, Girls & Dangerous Pie

    Jordan Sonnenblick

    Cited in 1 Arizona curriculum document, taught from grade 6 to 9. Covers family, illness and music.

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  30. Ella Enchanted

    Gail Carson Levine

    Cited in 1 Arizona curriculum document, taught from grade 4 to 7. Covers courage, fairy-tale and independence.

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53 books cited for Arizona 6th grade

Assignments tied directly to Arizona’s Arizona ELA Standards with a Arizona-specific citation.

Show all 53 titles

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697 additional grade-appropriate books for 6th grade readers

The 750-book total above includes 53 titles with direct Arizona citation; these 697 additional titles cover 6th grade in the broader canon. They don't have an Arizona-specific citation yet but are commonly taught at this level.

Show all 697 titles

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Other Arizona grades

5th grade · 7th grade · 4th grade · 8th grade

Reading lists by grade (all states)

5th grade · 7th grade · 4th grade · 8th grade

Same 6th grade in other states

California · Texas · Florida · New York · Pennsylvania · Illinois

Browse 6th grade reading by theme

About the Arizona 6th grade reading list

This list combines books cited in Arizona ELA Standards with books from national sources that list titles for 6th grade: the Common Core State Standards (ELA), plus awards such as the Andre Norton Award for Middle Grade & Young Adult Fiction, the Golden Kite Award and the Newbery Medal. ReadingList currently tracks 750 titles for 6th grade in Arizona, of which 53 carry a direct Arizona citation and 697 are grade-appropriate titles whose reading level overlaps 6th grade. Across the list, Lexile measures span 410L–1120L.

6th grade sits in the 6-8 grade band, where students are middle-grade readers. At this stage the emphasis is on analyzing theme, character, and author's craft across full-length novels and their first classics. Assigned reading skews toward full-length novels, plays, memoir, and frequently-challenged contemporary titles, with text complexity that, per Common Core’s Appendix A reading bands, typically falls around roughly 700L to 1010L. Measured against that 925–1185L range, of the 57 titles here with a Lexile score 8 are grade-level, 49 are more accessible (often assigned for theme over challenge), and 0 are stretch texts that may need scaffolding. Because readers in a single 6th grade classroom can span several hundred Lexile points, this list is best read as a starting point rather than a fixed requirement.

Arizona’s English Language Arts requirements are set by Arizona ELA Standards (azed.gov). Most states pair their own standards with the Common Core text-complexity framework. The 6th grade list below blends Arizona-specific assignments with widely taught national titles. Every title links to its primary source on the book’s detail page, so you can confirm exactly where and why it is assigned.

How to use this list:match a title to your child’s most recent Lexile or guided-reading level rather than to the grade alone. Teachers building a 6th grade unit can pair a Arizona-cited core text with a grade-appropriate companion novel; parents previewing summer or supplemental reading can check each book’s content notes and challenge history before assigning it.

Common questions

What books do 6th grade students read in Arizona?
Books with an Arizona-specific citation for 6th grade include New Kid; Bud, Not Buddy; Holes; Shiloh and The Giver. Individual schools and districts choose their own titles, so check with your child's teacher for the exact list.
How many books are assigned to 6th grade students in Arizona?
This list has 750 books for 6th grade students in Arizona. 53 of them have an Arizona-specific citation; the other 697 are grade-appropriate titles from national reading lists and awards.
What's the Lexile range for 6th grade reading in Arizona?
Lexile measures across the 6th grade Arizona reading list range from 410L to 1120L. Books without a published Lexile (poetry, drama, picture books) are not included in this range.
Where does this reading list come from?
Arizona-specific entries reference Arizona ELA Standards (published at www.azed.gov). The other books come from national sources that list books for 6th grade: the Common Core State Standards (ELA), plus awards such as the Andre Norton Award for Middle Grade & Young Adult Fiction, the Golden Kite Award and the Newbery Medal. Each book's page links the primary source for every listing.

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State-specific entries sourced from www.azed.gov. National references cited on each book’s detail page.

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