Nebraska 5th grade reading list

Books with a Nebraska citation for 5th grade include The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book 1); The War That Saved My Life and Wonder. This list has 900 total books, 47 of them with a Nebraska-specific citation. Each book shows its reading level and a cited source. Lexile levels on the list run from 360L to 1020L.

Top Nebraska 5th grade pick: The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book 1) by Rick Riordan — on 1 Nebraska list

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Total books900Lexile360L–1020LSourceNebraska 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 Nebraska 5th grade

These are the 30 titles named in Nebraska’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 Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book 1)

    Rick Riordan

    Cited in 1 Nebraska curriculum document and 2 national references, taught from grade 4 to 7. Covers Greek mythology, neurodivergence (dyslexia, ADHD) and friendship. At 740L it falls inside the 740–1010L band for this grade.

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  2. The War That Saved My Life

    Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

    Cited in 1 Nebraska 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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  3. Wonder

    R.J. Palacio

    Cited in 1 Nebraska 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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  4. Because of Winn-Dixie

    Kate DiCamillo

    Cited in 1 Nebraska 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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  5. Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library

    Chris Grabenstein

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

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  6. Sixth Grade Can Really Kill You

    Barthe DeClements

    Cited in 1 Nebraska curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 3 to 8. Covers dyslexia, teacher-student relationships and schools.

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  7. Skeleton Man

    Joseph Bruchac

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

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  8. Stepping on the Cracks

    Mary Downing Hahn

    Cited in 1 Nebraska curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 4 to 7.

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  9. Superfudge

    Judy Blume

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

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  10. The War with Grandpa

    Robert Kimmel Smith

    Cited in 1 Nebraska curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 4 to 7.

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

    Louis Sachar

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

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  12. Wait Till Helen Comes

    Mary Downing Hahn

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

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  13. A Dog Called Kitty

    Wallace, Bill

    Cited in 1 Nebraska curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 5. Covers dogs.

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  14. Because of Mr. Terupt

    Rob Buyea

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

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  15. Bunnicula

    Deborah Howe

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

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  16. Closed for the Season

    Mary Downing Hahn

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

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  17. Deep and Dark and Dangerous

    Mary Downing Hahn

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

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  18. Escaping the Giant Wave

    Peg Kehret

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

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  19. Ferret in the Bedroom, Lizards in the Fridge

    Bill Wallace

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

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  20. Fuzzy Mud

    Louis Sachar

    Cited in 1 Nebraska curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 5. Covers environment, adventure and schools.

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  21. Ghost Boys

    Jewell Parker Rhodes

    Cited in 1 Nebraska curriculum document, taught from grade 4 to 7. Covers race, justice and family. At 360L it reads well below the 740–1010L band for this grade.

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  22. Is Anybody There?

    Eve Bunting

    Cited in 1 Nebraska curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 5. Covers mothers and sons, latchkey children, latchkey children in fiction.

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  23. Jaguar

    Roland Smith

    Cited in 1 Nebraska curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 5. Covers rain forests, jaguar, adventure and adventurers.

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  24. Loser

    Jerry Spinelli

    Cited in 1 Nebraska curriculum document, taught from grade 4 to 6. Covers families, family and elementary schools.

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  25. Maxi’s Secrets: (Or, What You Can Learn from a Dog)

    Lynn Plourde

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

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  26. Night of the Twisters

    Ivy Ruckman

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

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  27. Nightmare Mountain

    Peg Kehret

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

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  28. Nothing's Fair in Fifth Grade

    Barthe DeClements

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

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  29. Odder

    Katherine Applegate

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

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  30. Rescue Josh McGuire

    Ben Mikaelsen

    Cited in 1 Nebraska curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 5. Covers wildlife rescue, orphaned animals and bears.

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47 books cited for Nebraska 5th grade

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

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853 additional grade-appropriate books for 5th grade readers

The 900-book total above includes 47 titles with direct Nebraska citation; these 853 additional titles cover 5th grade in the broader canon. They don't have a Nebraska-specific citation yet but are commonly taught at this level.

Show all 853 titles

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Other Nebraska 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 Nebraska 5th grade reading list

This list combines books cited in Nebraska 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 900 titles for 5th grade in Nebraska, of which 47 carry a direct Nebraska citation and 853 are grade-appropriate titles whose reading level overlaps 5th grade. Across the list, Lexile measures span 360L–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 33 are grade-level, 26 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.

Nebraska’s English Language Arts requirements are set by Nebraska ELA Standards (education.ne.gov). Most states pair their own standards with the Common Core text-complexity framework. The 5th grade list below blends Nebraska-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 Nebraska-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 Nebraska?
Books with a Nebraska-specific citation for 5th grade include The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book 1); The War That Saved My Life; Wonder; Because of Winn-Dixie and Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library. 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 Nebraska?
This list has 900 books for 5th grade students in Nebraska. 47 of them have a Nebraska-specific citation; the other 853 are grade-appropriate titles from national reading lists and awards.
What's the Lexile range for 5th grade reading in Nebraska?
Lexile measures across the 5th grade Nebraska reading list range from 360L to 1020L. Books without a published Lexile (poetry, drama, picture books) are not included in this range.
Where does this reading list come from?
Nebraska-specific entries reference Nebraska ELA Standards (published at www.education.ne.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 www.education.ne.gov. National references cited on each book’s detail page.

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