New Jersey 5th grade reading list

Books with a New Jersey citation for 5th grade include New Kid, When You Reach Me and Elijah of Buxton (Scholastic Gold). This list has 895 total books, 80 of them with a New Jersey-specific citation. Each book shows its reading level and a cited source. Lexile levels on the list run from 390L to 1020L.

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

Get it on Amazon →

Affiliate link: as an Amazon Associate, ReadingList earns from qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you.

Try it on audio — free. Kids who struggle with the print versions often finish the assigned books by listening.

Listen free on Audiblestarts instantly

New members only · many assigned titles are included with the membership. As an Amazon Associate, ReadingList earns from qualifying purchases and membership trials at no extra cost to you.

Total books895Lexile390L–1020LSourceNJ Student Learning 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 New Jersey 5th grade

These are the 30 titles named in New Jersey’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 New Jersey curriculum document and 4 national references, taught from grade 4 to 8. Covers race and identity, code-switching, middle school adjustment.

    Get it on Amazon

  2. When You Reach Me

    Rebecca Stead

    Cited in 1 New Jersey curriculum document and 4 national references, taught from grade 4 to 8. Covers time travel (speculative), friendship and 1970s NYC. At 750L it falls inside the 740–1010L band for this grade.

    Get it on Amazon

  3. Elijah of Buxton (Scholastic Gold)

    Christopher Paul Curtis

    Cited in 1 New Jersey curriculum document and 3 national references, taught from grade 5 to 8.

    Get it on Amazon

  4. Dead End in Norvelt

    Jack Gantos

    Cited in 1 New Jersey curriculum document and 2 national references, taught from grade 4 to 7.

    Get it on Amazon

  5. Freewater

    Amina Luqman-Dawson

    Cited in 1 New Jersey curriculum document and 2 national references, taught from grade 4 to 7.

    Get it on Amazon

  6. The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane

    Kate DiCamillo

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

    Get it on Amazon

  7. The One and Only Ivan

    Katherine Applegate

    Cited in 1 New Jersey curriculum document and 2 national references, taught from grade 3 to 7. Covers animal welfare, captivity and freedom, friendship across species. At 570L it sits just under the 740–1010L band for this grade.

    Get it on Amazon

  8. The Season of Styx Malone

    Kekla Magoon

    Cited in 1 New Jersey curriculum document and 2 national references, taught from grade 3 to 7. Covers family, friendship and adventure. At 510L it reads well below the 740–1010L band for this grade.

    Get it on Amazon

  9. The War That Saved My Life

    Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

    Cited in 1 New Jersey 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.

    Get it on Amazon

  10. Unspeakable

    Carole Boston Weatherford

    Cited in 1 New Jersey curriculum document and 2 national references, taught from grade 3 to 7.

    Get it on Amazon

  11. 11 Birthdays

    Wendy Mass

    Cited in 1 New Jersey curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 3 to 5.

    Get it on Amazon

  12. A Green Place to be

    Ashley Benham Yazdani

    Cited in 1 New Jersey curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade K to 5.

    Get it on Amazon

  13. A Snicker of Magic (Scholastic Gold)

    Natalie Lloyd

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

    Get it on Amazon

  14. Alchemy and Meggy Swann

    Karen Cushman

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

    Get it on Amazon

  15. Aru Shah and the End of Time

    Roshani Chokshi

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

    Get it on Amazon

  16. Bad News for Outlaws

    Vaunda Micheaux Nelson

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

    Get it on Amazon

  17. Chickadee

    Louise Erdrich

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

    Get it on Amazon

  18. Chinese Menu

    Grace Lin

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

    Get it on Amazon

  19. Clementine

    Sara Pennypacker

    Cited in 1 New Jersey curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 3 to 8.

    Get it on Amazon

  20. Curlfriends: New in Town (a Graphic Novel)

    Sharee Miller

    Cited in 1 New Jersey curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 3 to 8.

    Get it on Amazon

  21. Dash (Dogs of World War II)

    Kirby Larson

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

    Get it on Amazon

  22. Diary of a Wimpy Kid

    Jeff Kinney

    Cited in 1 New Jersey curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 3 to 7. Covers school, friendship and family. At 950L it falls inside the 740–1010L band for this grade.

    Get it on Amazon

  23. Dog Man

    Dav Pilkey

    Cited in 1 New Jersey curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 2 to 5. Covers humor, friendship and good vs evil. At 390L it reads well below the 740–1010L band for this grade.

    Get it on Amazon

  24. Emmanuel's Dream: The True Story of Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah

    Laurie Ann Thompson

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

    Get it on Amazon

  25. Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library

    Chris Grabenstein

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

    Get it on Amazon

  26. Fish in a Tree

    Lynda Mullaly Hunt

    Cited in 1 New Jersey curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 4 to 7. Covers disability, friendship and school. At 550L it sits just under the 740–1010L band for this grade.

    Get it on Amazon

  27. Flora and Ulysses

    Kate DiCamillo

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

    Get it on Amazon

  28. Frizzy

    Claribel Ortega

    Cited in 1 New Jersey curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 4 to 5.

    Get it on Amazon

  29. Full of Beans

    Jennifer L. Holm

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

    Get it on Amazon

  30. Iron Hearted Violet

    Kelly Barnhill

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

    Get it on Amazon

80 books cited for New Jersey 5th grade

Assignments tied directly to New Jersey’s NJ Student Learning Standards with a New Jersey-specific citation.

Show all 80 titles

As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.

815 additional grade-appropriate books for 5th grade readers

The 895-book total above includes 80 titles with direct New Jersey citation; these 815 additional titles cover 5th grade in the broader canon. They don't have a New Jersey-specific citation yet but are commonly taught at this level.

Show all 815 titles

As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.

Know a parent or teacher who needs this? Share it:FacebookPinterest

Teacher or librarian? Print this list as a checklist — free to photocopy for your class or library (details).

Other New Jersey 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 New Jersey 5th grade reading list

This list combines books cited in NJ Student Learning 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 895 titles for 5th grade in New Jersey, of which 80 carry a direct New Jersey citation and 815 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 63 titles here with a Lexile score 35 are grade-level, 27 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.

New Jersey’s English Language Arts requirements are set by NJ Student Learning Standards (nj.gov). Most states pair their own standards with the Common Core text-complexity framework. The 5th grade list below blends New Jersey-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 New Jersey-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 New Jersey?
Books with a New Jersey-specific citation for 5th grade include New Kid, When You Reach Me, Elijah of Buxton (Scholastic Gold), Dead End in Norvelt and Freewater. 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 New Jersey?
This list has 895 books for 5th grade students in New Jersey. 80 of them have a New Jersey-specific citation; the other 815 are grade-appropriate titles from national reading lists and awards.
What's the Lexile range for 5th grade reading in New Jersey?
Lexile measures across the 5th grade New Jersey 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?
New Jersey-specific entries reference NJ Student Learning Standards (published at www.nj.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.

Reading guides for parents

▸Embed this list on your site

Copy + paste this snippet into any school newsletter, classroom blog, library site, or homeschool resource page. The embed shows the top 12 titles and links back to the full list. Updates automatically when ReadingList’s data changes.

<iframe src="https://readinglist.school/embed/grade/5" width="100%" height="540" style="border:1px solid rgba(0,0,0,0.1);border-radius:6px;max-width:640px" loading="lazy" title="5th grade reading list — ReadingList.school"></iframe>

Preview: /embed/grade/5 · License: CC BY 4.0 (please credit “ReadingList.school”).

Was this page helpful?

Browse by another angle

State-specific entries sourced from www.nj.gov. National references cited on each book’s detail page.

Find ReadingList in your Google results more often: