Iowa 5th grade reading list

Books with an Iowa citation for 5th grade include New Kid, Smile and Because of Winn-Dixie. This list has 901 total books, 47 of them with an Iowa-specific citation. Each book shows its reading level and a cited source. Lexile levels on the list run from 390L to 1020L.

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

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Total books901Lexile390L–1020LSourceIowa Core✓ 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 Iowa 5th grade

These are the 30 titles named in Iowa’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 Iowa 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. Smile

    Raina Telgemeier

    Cited in 1 Iowa curriculum document and 2 national references, taught from grade 4 to 8. Covers growing up, friendship and self-acceptance. At 410L it reads well below the 740–1010L band for this grade.

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  3. Because of Winn-Dixie

    Kate DiCamillo

    Cited in 1 Iowa 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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  4. Ralph S. Mouse

    Beverly Cleary

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

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  5. Superfudge

    Judy Blume

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

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  6. Swim Team

    Johnnie Christmas

    Cited in 1 Iowa curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 3 to 7. Covers perseverance, friendship and race.

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  7. Terror at the Zoo

    Peg Kehret

    Cited in 1 Iowa curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 3 to 6. Covers zoos in fiction, zoos, mystery and detective stories.

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  8. The Dollhouse Murders

    Betty Ren Wright

    Cited in 1 Iowa curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 4 to 7. Covers mystery, family and ghosts.

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  9. The Invention of Hugo Cabret

    Brian Selznick

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

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

    Louis Sachar

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

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  11. Wait Till Helen Comes

    Mary Downing Hahn

    Cited in 1 Iowa curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 4 to 7. Covers ghosts, family and jealousy.

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  12. A Week in the Woods

    Andrew Clements

    Cited in 1 Iowa curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 6.

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  13. Abduction

    Peg Kehret

    Cited in 1 Iowa curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 6.

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  14. Allergic

    Megan Wagner Lloyd

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

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  15. Among the Hidden

    Margaret Peterson Haddix

    Cited in 1 Iowa curriculum document, taught from grade 5 to 8. Covers freedom, identity and resistance.

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  16. Attaboy, Sam!

    Lois Lowry

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

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  17. Because of Mr. Terupt

    Rob Buyea

    Cited in 1 Iowa curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 5.

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  18. Better with Butter

    Victoria Piontek

    Cited in 1 Iowa curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 6.

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  19. Bunnicula

    Deborah Howe

    Cited in 1 Iowa curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 6.

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  20. Duke

    Kirby Larson

    Cited in 1 Iowa curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 5. Covers german shepherd dog, war use and world war, 1939-1945.

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  21. Ellie's Story

    W. Bruce Cameron

    Cited in 1 Iowa curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 6. Covers working animals, search dogs and human-animal relationships.

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  22. Escaping the Giant Wave

    Peg Kehret

    Cited in 1 Iowa curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 6.

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  23. Fudge

    Charlotte Towner Graeber

    Cited in 1 Iowa curriculum document, taught from grade 4 to 6. Covers responsibility, dogs and pets.

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  24. Fudge-a-Mania

    Judy Blume

    Cited in 1 Iowa curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 6.

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  25. How to Eat Fried Worms

    Thomas Rockwell

    Cited in 1 Iowa curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 6. Covers humor, friendship and school.

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  26. I Survived the Great Chicago Fire, 1871

    Lauren Tarshis

    Cited in 1 Iowa curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 6. Covers great fire, chicago, ill., 1871, adventure and adventurers, fires.

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  27. It Found Us

    Lindsay Currie

    Cited in 1 Iowa curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 6.

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  28. Mick Harte Was Here

    Barbara Park

    Cited in 1 Iowa curriculum document, taught from grade 5 to 8. Covers grief, family and safety.

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  29. Night of the Twisters

    Ivy Ruckman

    Cited in 1 Iowa curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 6. Covers tornadoes, tornadoes -- fiction. and grand island (neb.) -- fiction..

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  30. Nightmare Mountain

    Peg Kehret

    Cited in 1 Iowa curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 6. Covers mystery and detective stories, llamas, ranch life.

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47 books cited for Iowa 5th grade

Assignments tied directly to Iowa’s Iowa Core with a Iowa-specific citation.

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854 additional grade-appropriate books for 5th grade readers

The 901-book total above includes 47 titles with direct Iowa citation; these 854 additional titles cover 5th grade in the broader canon. They don't have an Iowa-specific citation yet but are commonly taught at this level.

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Other Iowa 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 Iowa 5th grade reading list

This list combines books cited in Iowa Core 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 901 titles for 5th grade in Iowa, of which 47 carry a direct Iowa citation and 854 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 59 titles here with a Lexile score 33 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.

Iowa’s English Language Arts requirements are set by Iowa Core (educate.iowa.gov). Most states pair their own standards with the Common Core text-complexity framework. The 5th grade list below blends Iowa-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 Iowa-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 Iowa?
Books with an Iowa-specific citation for 5th grade include New Kid, Smile, Because of Winn-Dixie, Ralph S. Mouse and Superfudge. 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 Iowa?
This list has 901 books for 5th grade students in Iowa. 47 of them have an Iowa-specific citation; the other 854 are grade-appropriate titles from national reading lists and awards.
What's the Lexile range for 5th grade reading in Iowa?
Lexile measures across the 5th grade Iowa 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?
Iowa-specific entries reference Iowa Core (published at educate.iowa.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 educate.iowa.gov. National references cited on each book’s detail page.

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