New Jersey 6th grade reading list

Books with a New Jersey citation for 6th grade include New Kid, When You Reach Me and Elijah of Buxton (Scholastic Gold). This list has 738 total books, 62 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 410L to 1120L.

Top New Jersey 6th grade pick: New Kid by Jerry Craft — on 1 New Jersey list

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Total books738Lexile410L–1120LSourceNJ Student Learning 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 New Jersey 6th 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.

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

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  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.

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  4. Dead End in Norvelt

    Jack Gantos

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

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  5. Freewater

    Amina Luqman-Dawson

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

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  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.

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  7. 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 925–1185L band for this grade.

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

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  9. 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.

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  10. Alchemy and Meggy Swann

    Karen Cushman

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

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  11. 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.

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  12. Bad News for Outlaws

    Vaunda Micheaux Nelson

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

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  13. Chickadee

    Louise Erdrich

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

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  14. Chinese Menu

    Grace Lin

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

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  15. Clementine

    Sara Pennypacker

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

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  16. 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.

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  17. 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.

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  18. 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 925–1185L band for this grade.

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  19. 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.

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  20. 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.

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

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  22. Flora and Ulysses

    Kate DiCamillo

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

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  23. Full of Beans

    Jennifer L. Holm

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

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  24. Iron Hearted Violet

    Kelly Barnhill

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

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  25. Noah Webster and His Words

    Jeri Ferris

    Cited in 1 New Jersey curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 4 to 10.

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  26. P.S. Be Eleven

    Rita Williams-Garcia

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

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  27. Pie in the Sky

    Remy Lai

    Cited in 1 New Jersey curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 3 to 6. Covers immigration, grief and baking.

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  28. Roller Girl

    Victoria Jamieson

    Cited in 1 New Jersey curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 4 to 7. Covers friendship, perseverance and growing up. At 440L it reads well below the 925–1185L band for this grade.

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  29. Root Magic

    Eden Royce

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

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  30. Savvy

    Ingrid Law

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

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62 books cited for New Jersey 6th grade

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

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676 additional grade-appropriate books for 6th grade readers

The 738-book total above includes 62 titles with direct New Jersey citation; these 676 additional titles cover 6th grade in the broader canon. They don't have a New Jersey-specific citation yet but are commonly taught at this level.

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Other New Jersey grades

5th grade · 7th grade · 4th grade · 8th grade

Reading lists by grade (all states)

5th grade · 7th grade · 4th grade · 8th grade

Same 6th grade in other states

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

Browse 6th grade reading by theme

About the New Jersey 6th grade reading list

This list combines books cited in NJ Student Learning Standards with books from national sources that list titles for 6th grade: the Common Core State Standards (ELA), plus awards such as the Andre Norton Award for Middle Grade & Young Adult Fiction, the Golden Kite Award and the Newbery Medal. ReadingList currently tracks 738 titles for 6th grade in New Jersey, of which 62 carry a direct New Jersey citation and 676 are grade-appropriate titles whose reading level overlaps 6th grade. Across the list, Lexile measures span 410L–1120L.

6th 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 9 are grade-level, 53 are more accessible (often assigned for theme over challenge), and 0 are stretch texts that may need scaffolding. Because readers in a single 6th 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 6th 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 6th 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 6th grade students read in New Jersey?
Books with a New Jersey-specific citation for 6th 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 6th grade students in New Jersey?
This list has 738 books for 6th grade students in New Jersey. 62 of them have a New Jersey-specific citation; the other 676 are grade-appropriate titles from national reading lists and awards.
What's the Lexile range for 6th grade reading in New Jersey?
Lexile measures across the 6th grade New Jersey reading list range from 410L to 1120L. 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 6th grade: the Common Core State Standards (ELA), plus awards such as the Andre Norton Award for Middle Grade & Young Adult Fiction, the Golden Kite Award and the Newbery Medal. Each book's page links the primary source for every listing.

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

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