Arkansas 7th grade reading list

Books with an Arkansas citation for 7th grade include New Kid, The Crossover and The War That Saved My Life. This list has 723 total books, 14 of them with an Arkansas-specific citation. Each book shows its reading level and a cited source. Lexile levels on the list run from 410L to 1300L.

Top Arkansas 7th grade pick: New Kid by Jerry Craft — on 1 Arkansas list

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Total books723Lexile410L–1300LSourceArkansas 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 Arkansas 7th grade

These are the 14 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 3 national references, taught from grade 4 to 8. Covers race and identity, code-switching, middle school adjustment.

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  2. 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 sits just under the 925–1185L band for this grade.

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  3. 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 reads well below the 925–1185L band for this grade.

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  4. 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 sits just under the 925–1185L band for this grade.

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  5. Lifeboat 12

    Susan Hood

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

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  6. Number the Stars

    Lois Lowry

    Cited in 1 Arkansas curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 4 to 7. Covers courage, friendship and Holocaust. At 670L it reads well below the 925–1185L band for this grade.

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  7. 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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  8. Wonder

    R.J. Palacio

    Cited in 1 Arkansas curriculum document and 1 national reference, 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. Four Eyes: A Graphic Novel

    Rex Ogle

    Cited in 1 Arkansas curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 7. Covers self-image, middle school and family.

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  10. No Talking

    Andrew Clements

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

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  11. Restart

    Gordon Korman

    Cited in 1 Arkansas curriculum document, taught from grade 5 to 8. Covers identity, bullying and memory. At 730L it sits just under the 925–1185L band for this grade.

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  12. Saving Shiloh

    Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

    Cited in 1 Arkansas curriculum document, taught from grade 4 to 7. Covers loyalty, forgiveness and community.

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  13. Skeleton Man

    Joseph Bruchac

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

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  14. Swindle

    Gordon Korman

    Cited in 1 Arkansas curriculum document, taught from grade 4 to 7. Covers friendship, justice and heist.

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14 books cited for Arkansas 7th grade

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

709 additional grade-appropriate books for 7th grade readers

The 723-book total above includes 14 titles with direct Arkansas citation; these 709 additional titles cover 7th grade in the broader canon. They don't have an Arkansas-specific citation yet but are commonly taught at this level.

Show all 709 titles

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Other Arkansas grades

6th grade · 8th grade · 5th grade · 9th grade

Reading lists by grade (all states)

6th grade · 8th grade · 5th grade · 9th grade

Same 7th grade in other states

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

Browse 7th grade reading by theme

About the Arkansas 7th grade reading list

This list combines books cited in Arkansas ELA Standards with books from national sources that list titles for 7th grade: the Common Core State Standards (ELA), plus awards such as the Andre Norton Award for Middle Grade & Young Adult Fiction, the Newbery Medal and the Golden Kite Award. ReadingList currently tracks 723 titles for 7th grade in Arkansas, of which 14 carry a direct Arkansas citation and 709 are grade-appropriate titles whose reading level overlaps 7th grade. Across the list, Lexile measures span 410L–1300L.

7th 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 62 titles here with a Lexile score 10 are grade-level, 51 are more accessible (often assigned for theme over challenge), and 1 is a stretch text that may need scaffolding. Because readers in a single 7th 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 7th 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 7th 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 7th grade students read in Arkansas?
Books with an Arkansas-specific citation for 7th grade include New Kid, The Crossover, The War That Saved My Life, Frindle and Lifeboat 12. 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 7th grade students in Arkansas?
This list has 723 books for 7th grade students in Arkansas. 14 of them have an Arkansas-specific citation; the other 709 are grade-appropriate titles from national reading lists and awards.
What's the Lexile range for 7th grade reading in Arkansas?
Lexile measures across the 7th grade Arkansas reading list range from 410L to 1300L. 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 7th grade: the Common Core State Standards (ELA), plus awards such as the Andre Norton Award for Middle Grade & Young Adult Fiction, the Newbery Medal and the Golden Kite Award. 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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