Maryland 10th grade reading list

Books with a Maryland citation for 10th grade include The Fault in Our Stars; Divergent and Hey, Kiddo: A Graphic Novel. This list has 534 total books, 29 of them with a Maryland-specific citation. Each book shows its reading level and a cited source. Lexile levels on the list run from 530L to 1170L.

Top Maryland 10th grade pick: The Fault in Our Stars by John Green — on 1 Maryland list

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Total books534Lexile530L–1170LSourceMaryland College & Career Ready Standards✓ sources cited per book

Most-assigned on state lists: across every US state’s official reading and award lists, the High (9–12) titles appearing in the most states are The Hate U Give (4 states), Their Eyes Were Watching God (3 states), and The Great Gatsby (2 states). From our 2026 study of 13,258 source-cited assignments (as of 2026-07-13).

Full curriculum guides: Common Core State Standards (ELA) · IB Diploma Programme — English A: Literature · Cambridge IGCSE English Literature (0475) · AP English Language & Composition · AP English Literature & Composition · AP European History · AP Psychology

Our pick to start — most-cited for Maryland 10th grade

These are the 29 titles named in Maryland’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. The Fault in Our Stars

    John Green

    Cited in 1 Maryland curriculum document and 2 national references, taught from grade 9 to 12. Covers mortality, grief and love. At 850L it sits just under the 1050–1335L band for this grade.

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  2. Divergent

    Veronica Roth

    Cited in 1 Maryland curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 8 to 12. Covers identity, choice and courage.

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  3. Hey, Kiddo: A Graphic Novel

    Jarrett J. Krosoczka

    Cited in 1 Maryland curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 3 to 10.

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  4. Life as We Knew It

    Susan Beth Pfeffer

    Cited in 1 Maryland curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 5 to 12.

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  5. Promise Boys

    Nick Brooks

    Cited in 1 Maryland curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 3 to 10.

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  6. The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants

    Ann Brashares

    Cited in 1 Maryland curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 7 to 10. Covers friendship, growing up and family.

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  7. Breathing Underwater

    Alex Flinn

    Cited in 1 Maryland curriculum document, taught from grade 9 to 12. Covers child abuse, diaries and anger.

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  8. Danger Zone

    David Klass

    Cited in 1 Maryland curriculum document, taught from grade 6 to 9.

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  9. Eat Your Heart Out

    Kelly deVos

    Cited in 1 Maryland curriculum document, taught from grade 9 to 12. Covers horror, zombies and paranormal.

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  10. Eleanor & Park

    Rainbow Rowell

    Cited in 1 Maryland curriculum document, taught from grade 4 to 9.

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  11. Everything, Everything

    Nicola Yoon

    Cited in 1 Maryland curriculum document, taught from grade 9 to 12. Covers chronically ill children, parent and teenager, love.

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  12. Full Tilt

    Neal Shusterman

    Cited in 1 Maryland curriculum document, taught from grade 9 to 12. Covers brothers, carnivals in fiction and carnivals.

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  13. Girl, Stolen

    April Henry

    Cited in 1 Maryland curriculum document, taught from grade 9 to 12. Covers blind, kidnapping and teenagers.

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  14. Good Girl's Guide to Murder

    Holly Jackson

    Cited in 1 Maryland curriculum document, taught from grade 9 to 12. Covers murder--fiction., mystery and detective stories., murder, fiction.

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  15. Hanging on to Max

    Margaret Bechard

    Cited in 1 Maryland curriculum document, taught from grade 9 to 12. Covers teenage parents, teenage fathers, fathers and sons.

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  16. I Must Betray You

    Ruta Sepetys

    Cited in 1 Maryland curriculum document, taught from grade 9 to 12.

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  17. If You Come Softly

    Jacqueline Woodson

    Cited in 1 Maryland curriculum document, taught from grade 9 to 12. Covers african americans, family life and interracial dating.

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  18. Lore

    Alexandra Bracken

    Cited in 1 Maryland curriculum document, taught from grade 9 to 12. Covers new york times bestseller.

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  19. My Sister's Keeper

    Jodi Picoult

    Cited in 1 Maryland curriculum document, taught from grade 9 to 12. Covers jodi picoult, movie tie-in and adult.

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  20. One of Us Is Lying

    Karen M. McManus

    Cited in 1 Maryland curriculum document, taught from grade 9 to 12. Covers mystery and detective stories, murder, fiction, schools, fiction.

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  21. Someone Like You

    Sarah Dessen

    Cited in 1 Maryland curriculum document, taught from grade 9 to 12. Covers pregnancy, unmarried mothers and friendship.

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  22. The Hunger Games

    Suzanne Collins

    Cited in 1 Maryland curriculum document, taught from grade 6 to 9. Covers authoritarianism, survival, media and spectacle. At 810L it reads well below the 1050–1335L band for this grade.

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  23. The Inheritance Games

    Jennifer Lynn Barnes

    Cited in 1 Maryland curriculum document, taught from grade 9 to 12. Covers new york times bestseller.

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  24. The Killer's Cousin

    Nancy Werlin

    Cited in 1 Maryland curriculum document, taught from grade 9 to 12.

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  25. The Naturals

    Jennifer Lynn Barnes

    Cited in 1 Maryland curriculum document, taught from grade 9 to 12. Covers mystery and detective stories, united states, criminal profilers.

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  26. The Sun is Also a Star

    Nicola Yoon

    Cited in 1 Maryland curriculum document, taught from grade 9 to 12. Covers deportation, social issues and immigrants.

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  27. Twilight

    Stephenie Meyer

    Cited in 1 Maryland curriculum document, taught from grade 9 to 12. Covers series:luz_e_escuridão, series:twilight and new york times bestseller.

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  28. Unwind

    Neal Shusterman

    Cited in 1 Maryland curriculum document, taught from grade 8 to 12. Covers justice, survival and identity.

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  29. What If It's Us

    Becky Albertalli

    Cited in 1 Maryland curriculum document, taught from grade 9 to 12. Covers gays, fate and fatalism, dating (social customs).

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29 books cited for Maryland 10th grade

Assignments tied directly to Maryland’s Maryland College & Career Ready Standards with a Maryland-specific citation.

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505 additional grade-appropriate books for 10th grade readers

The 534-book total above includes 29 titles with direct Maryland citation; these 505 additional titles cover 10th grade in the broader canon. They don't have a Maryland-specific citation yet but are commonly taught at this level.

Show all 505 titles

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Other Maryland grades

9th grade · 11th grade · 8th grade · 12th grade

Reading lists by grade (all states)

9th grade · 11th grade · 8th grade · 12th grade

Same 10th grade in other states

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

Browse 10th grade reading by theme

About the Maryland 10th grade reading list

This list combines books cited in Maryland College & Career Ready Standards with books from national sources that list titles for 10th grade: Cambridge IGCSE English Literature (0475) and the Common Core State Standards (ELA), plus awards such as the Andre Norton Award for Middle Grade & Young Adult Fiction, the William C. Morris YA Debut Award and the Odyssey Award (Best Audiobook). ReadingList currently tracks 534 titles for 10th grade in Maryland, of which 29 carry a direct Maryland citation and 505 are grade-appropriate titles whose reading level overlaps 10th grade. Across the list, Lexile measures span 530L–1170L.

10th grade sits in the 9-12 grade band, where students are high-school readers. At this stage the emphasis is on close reading, literary analysis, rhetoric, and preparing for AP, IB, and college coursework. Assigned reading skews toward canonical literature, drama, poetry, and AP/IB set texts, with text complexity that, per Common Core’s Appendix A reading bands, typically falls around roughly 900L to 1300L. Measured against that 1050–1335L range, of the 25 titles here with a Lexile score 6 are grade-level, 19 are more accessible (often assigned for theme over challenge), and 0 are stretch texts that may need scaffolding. Because readers in a single 10th grade classroom can span several hundred Lexile points, this list is best read as a starting point rather than a fixed requirement.

Maryland’s English Language Arts requirements are set by Maryland College & Career Ready Standards (marylandpublicschools.org). Most states pair their own standards with the Common Core text-complexity framework. The 10th grade list below blends Maryland-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 10th grade unit can pair a Maryland-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 10th grade students read in Maryland?
Books with a Maryland-specific citation for 10th grade include The Fault in Our Stars; Divergent; Hey, Kiddo: A Graphic Novel; Life as We Knew It and Promise Boys. 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 10th grade students in Maryland?
This list has 534 books for 10th grade students in Maryland. 29 of them have a Maryland-specific citation; the other 505 are grade-appropriate titles from national reading lists and awards.
What's the Lexile range for 10th grade reading in Maryland?
Lexile measures across the 10th grade Maryland reading list range from 530L to 1170L. Books without a published Lexile (poetry, drama, picture books) are not included in this range.
Where does this reading list come from?
Maryland-specific entries reference Maryland College & Career Ready Standards (published at marylandpublicschools.org). The other books come from national sources that list books for 10th grade: Cambridge IGCSE English Literature (0475) and the Common Core State Standards (ELA), plus awards such as the Andre Norton Award for Middle Grade & Young Adult Fiction, the William C. Morris YA Debut Award and the Odyssey Award (Best Audiobook). Each book's page links the primary source for every listing.

Reading guides for parents

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