Arkansas 5th grade reading list

Books with an Arkansas citation for 5th grade include New Kid; Sarah, Plain and Tall and The Tale of Despereaux. This list has 904 total books, 56 of them with an Arkansas-specific citation. Each book shows its reading level and a cited source. Lexile levels on the list run from 390L to 1020L.

Top Arkansas 5th grade pick: New Kid by Jerry Craft — on 1 Arkansas list

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Total books904Lexile390L–1020LSourceArkansas ELA Standards✓ sources cited per book

Most-assigned on state lists: across every US state’s official reading and award lists, the Elementary (K–5) titles appearing in the most states are Wonder (29 states), Because of Winn-Dixie (26 states), and Shiloh (25 states). From our 2026 study of 13,258 source-cited assignments (as of 2026-07-13).

Our pick to start — most-cited for Arkansas 5th grade

These are the 30 titles named in Arkansas’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 Arkansas 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. Sarah, Plain and Tall

    Patricia MacLachlan

    Cited in 1 Arkansas curriculum document and 3 national references, taught from grade 3 to 5. Covers family, loss and new beginnings. At 660L it sits just under the 740–1010L band for this grade.

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  3. The Tale of Despereaux

    Kate DiCamillo

    Cited in 1 Arkansas curriculum document and 3 national references, taught from grade 3 to 6. Covers courage, forgiveness and light vs dark. At 670L it sits just under the 740–1010L band for this grade.

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  4. Number the Stars

    Lois Lowry

    Cited in 1 Arkansas curriculum document and 2 national references, taught from grade 4 to 7. Covers courage, friendship and Holocaust. At 670L it sits just under the 740–1010L band for this grade.

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  5. Shiloh

    Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

    Cited in 1 Arkansas curriculum document and 2 national references, taught from grade 3 to 6. Covers animal welfare, morality and family. At 890L it falls inside the 740–1010L band for this grade.

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  6. The Crossover

    Kwame Alexander

    Cited in 1 Arkansas curriculum document and 2 national references, taught from grade 5 to 8. Covers family, brotherhood and basketball. At 750L it falls inside the 740–1010L band for this grade.

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  7. The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane

    Kate DiCamillo

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

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  8. The War That Saved My Life

    Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

    Cited in 1 Arkansas curriculum document and 2 national references, taught from grade 4 to 7. Covers war, resilience and disability. At 580L it sits just under the 740–1010L band for this grade.

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  9. Wonder

    R.J. Palacio

    Cited in 1 Arkansas curriculum document and 2 national references, taught from grade 3 to 7. Covers facial difference, kindness and bullying. At 790L it falls inside the 740–1010L band for this grade.

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  10. A Dog's Life

    Ann M. Martin

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

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  11. Because of Winn-Dixie

    Kate DiCamillo

    Cited in 1 Arkansas curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 3 to 5. Covers loss, friendship and mother absence. At 610L it sits just under the 740–1010L band for this grade.

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  12. Frindle

    Andrew Clements

    Cited in 1 Arkansas curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 3 to 7. Covers creativity, language and thought, intelligence. At 830L it falls inside the 740–1010L band for this grade.

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  13. Lifeboat 12

    Susan Hood

    Cited in 1 Arkansas curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 3 to 7.

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  14. Skeleton Man

    Joseph Bruchac

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

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  15. Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing

    Judy Blume

    Cited in 1 Arkansas curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 2 to 5. Covers siblings, family and everyday life. At 470L it reads well below the 740–1010L band for this grade.

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  16. The Whipping Boy

    Sid Fleischman

    Cited in 1 Arkansas curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 3 to 7. Covers friendship, adventure and courage.

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

    Louis Sachar

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

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  18. All About Sam

    Lois Lowry

    Cited in 1 Arkansas curriculum document, taught from grade 4 to 6. Covers brothers and sisters, family, family life.

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  19. All the Money in the World

    Bill Brittain

    Cited in 1 Arkansas curriculum document, taught from grade 4 to 6. Covers motion pictures, leprechauns and television.

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  20. Allergic

    Megan Wagner Lloyd

    Cited in 1 Arkansas curriculum document, taught from grade 4 to 6. Covers new york times reviewed and comic books, strips, etc..

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  21. Alvin's Swap Shop

    Clifford B. Hicks

    Cited in 1 Arkansas curriculum document, taught from grade 4 to 6. Covers mystery and detective stories, swap shops.

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  22. Attaboy, Sam!

    Lois Lowry

    Cited in 1 Arkansas curriculum document, taught from grade 4 to 6. Covers gifts, birthdays and family life.

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  23. Banana Twist

    Florence Parry Heide

    Cited in 1 Arkansas curriculum document, taught from grade 4 to 6. Covers humorous stories.

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  24. Be a Perfect Person in Just Three Days

    Stephen Manes

    Cited in 1 Arkansas curriculum document, taught from grade 4 to 6. Covers humorous stories, behavior and boys, fiction.

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  25. Big Ben

    David Harry Walker

    Cited in 1 Arkansas curriculum document, taught from grade 4 to 6. Covers saint bernard dog and dogs, fiction.

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  26. Bigfoot

    Hal George Evarts

    Cited in 1 Arkansas curriculum document, taught from grade 4 to 6. Covers sasquatch, detective and mystery stories.

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  27. City Spies

    James Ponti

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

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  28. Do Bananas Chew Gum?

    Jamie Gilson

    Cited in 1 Arkansas curriculum document, taught from grade 4 to 6. Covers bananas.

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  29. Eight Keys

    Suzanne M. LaFleur

    Cited in 1 Arkansas curriculum document, taught from grade 4 to 6. Covers middle schools, schools and orphans.

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  30. Flying Solo

    Ralph J. Fletcher

    Cited in 1 Arkansas curriculum document, taught from grade 4 to 6. Covers death, elective mutism and schools.

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56 books cited for Arkansas 5th grade

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

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848 additional grade-appropriate books for 5th grade readers

The 904-book total above includes 56 titles with direct Arkansas citation; these 848 additional titles cover 5th grade in the broader canon. They don't have an Arkansas-specific citation yet but are commonly taught at this level.

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Other Arkansas grades

4th grade · 6th grade · 3rd grade · 7th grade

Reading lists by grade (all states)

4th grade · 6th grade · 3rd grade · 7th grade

Same 5th grade in other states

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

Browse 5th grade reading by theme

About the Arkansas 5th grade reading list

This list combines books cited in Arkansas ELA Standards with books from national sources that list titles for 5th grade: the Common Core State Standards (ELA), plus awards such as the Golden Kite Award, the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award and the Andre Norton Award for Middle Grade & Young Adult Fiction. ReadingList currently tracks 904 titles for 5th grade in Arkansas, of which 56 carry a direct Arkansas citation and 848 are grade-appropriate titles whose reading level overlaps 5th grade. Across the list, Lexile measures span 390L–1020L.

5th grade sits in the 3-5 grade band, where students are transitional readers. At this stage the emphasis is on shifting from learning-to-read to reading-to-learn and sustaining attention across longer chapter books. Assigned reading skews toward early novels, narrative non-fiction, and a student's first assigned full-length stories, with text complexity that, per Common Core’s Appendix A reading bands, typically falls around roughly 400L to 800L. Measured against that 740–1010L range, of the 60 titles here with a Lexile score 34 are grade-level, 25 are more accessible (often assigned for theme over challenge), and 1 is a stretch text that may need scaffolding. Because readers in a single 5th grade classroom can span several hundred Lexile points, this list is best read as a starting point rather than a fixed requirement.

Arkansas’s English Language Arts requirements are set by Arkansas ELA Standards (dese.ade.arkansas.gov). Most states pair their own standards with the Common Core text-complexity framework. The 5th grade list below blends Arkansas-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 5th grade unit can pair a Arkansas-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 5th grade students read in Arkansas?
Books with an Arkansas-specific citation for 5th grade include New Kid; Sarah, Plain and Tall; The Tale of Despereaux; Number the Stars and Shiloh. 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 5th grade students in Arkansas?
This list has 904 books for 5th grade students in Arkansas. 56 of them have an Arkansas-specific citation; the other 848 are grade-appropriate titles from national reading lists and awards.
What's the Lexile range for 5th grade reading in Arkansas?
Lexile measures across the 5th grade Arkansas reading list range from 390L to 1020L. Books without a published Lexile (poetry, drama, picture books) are not included in this range.
Where does this reading list come from?
Arkansas-specific entries reference Arkansas ELA Standards (published at dese.ade.arkansas.gov). The other books come from national sources that list books for 5th grade: the Common Core State Standards (ELA), plus awards such as the Golden Kite Award, the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award and the Andre Norton Award for Middle Grade & Young Adult Fiction. Each book's page links the primary source for every listing.

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State-specific entries sourced from dese.ade.arkansas.gov. National references cited on each book’s detail page.

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