New Mexico 6th grade reading list

Books with a New Mexico citation for 6th grade include Brown Girl Dreaming; Bud, Not Buddy and Holes. This list has 741 total books, 41 of them with a New Mexico-specific citation. Each book shows its reading level and a cited source. Lexile levels on the list run from 410L to 1120L.

Top New Mexico 6th grade pick: Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson — on 1 New Mexico list

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Total books741Lexile410L–1120LSourceNM Common Core✓ 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 Mexico 6th grade

These are the 30 titles named in New Mexico’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. Brown Girl Dreaming

    Jacqueline Woodson

    Cited in 1 New Mexico curriculum document and 3 national references, taught from grade 5 to 8. Covers identity, family and civil rights. At 990L it falls inside the 925–1185L band for this grade.

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  2. Bud, Not Buddy

    Christopher Paul Curtis

    Cited in 1 New Mexico curriculum document and 3 national references, taught from grade 4 to 7. Covers family, identity and perseverance. At 950L it falls inside the 925–1185L band for this grade.

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  3. Holes

    Louis Sachar

    Cited in 1 New Mexico curriculum document and 3 national references, taught from grade 4 to 7. Covers fate vs choice, friendship and justice. At 660L it reads well below the 925–1185L band for this grade.

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  4. Maniac Magee

    Jerry Spinelli

    Cited in 1 New Mexico curriculum document and 3 national references, taught from grade 4 to 7. Covers race, homelessness and family. At 820L it sits just under the 925–1185L band for this grade.

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  5. Shiloh

    Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

    Cited in 1 New Mexico curriculum document and 2 national references, taught from grade 3 to 6. Covers animal welfare, morality and family. At 890L it sits just under the 925–1185L band for this grade.

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  6. The Giver

    Lois Lowry

    Cited in 1 New Mexico curriculum document and 2 national references, taught from grade 6 to 8. Covers conformity vs individuality, memory, utopia and dystopia. At 760L it sits just under the 925–1185L band for this grade.

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  7. The Tale of Despereaux

    Kate DiCamillo

    Cited in 1 New Mexico curriculum document and 2 national references, taught from grade 3 to 6. Covers courage, forgiveness and light vs dark. At 670L it reads well below the 925–1185L band for this grade.

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  8. Wonder

    R.J. Palacio

    Cited in 1 New Mexico curriculum document and 2 national references, taught from grade 3 to 7. Covers facial difference, kindness and bullying. At 790L it sits just under the 925–1185L band for this grade.

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  9. Out of My Mind

    Sharon M. Draper

    Cited in 1 New Mexico curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 4 to 7. Covers disability, inclusion and intelligence. At 700L it reads well below the 925–1185L band for this grade.

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  10. Poppy

    Avi

    Cited in 1 New Mexico curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 4 to 9.

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  11. Ramona and Her Father

    Beverly Cleary

    Cited in 1 New Mexico curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 4 to 6. Covers fathers, growing up and elementary school.

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  12. Sixth Grade Can Really Kill You

    Barthe DeClements

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

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  13. Superfudge

    Judy Blume

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

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  14. Terror at the Zoo

    Peg Kehret

    Cited in 1 New Mexico 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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  15. The Dollhouse Murders

    Betty Ren Wright

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

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  16. The Hunger Games

    Suzanne Collins

    Cited in 1 New Mexico curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 6 to 9. Covers authoritarianism, survival, media and spectacle. At 810L it sits just under the 925–1185L band for this grade.

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

    Louis Sachar

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

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  18. Thirteen Ways to Sink a Sub

    Jamie Gilson

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

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  19. Bunnicula

    Deborah Howe

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

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  20. City of Orphans

    Avi

    Cited in 1 New Mexico curriculum document, taught from grade 6 to 8.

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  21. Dangerous

    Shannon Hale

    Cited in 1 New Mexico curriculum document, taught from grade 6 to 8.

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  22. Deep and Dark and Dangerous

    Mary Downing Hahn

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

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  23. Ghost Canoe

    Will Hobbs

    Cited in 1 New Mexico curriculum document, taught from grade 6 to 8.

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  24. Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus

    Dusti Bowling

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

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  25. Knights of the Kitchen Table

    Jon Scieszka

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

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  26. Love That Dog

    Sharon Creech

    Cited in 1 New Mexico curriculum document, taught from grade 4 to 8. Covers poetry, fiction, poetry and authorship.

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  27. Nothing's Fair in Fifth Grade

    Barthe DeClements

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

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  28. Orbiting Jupiter

    Gary D. Schmidt

    Cited in 1 New Mexico curriculum document, taught from grade 7 to 10. Covers fatherhood, loss and compassion.

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  29. Pecos Bill

    Steven Kellogg

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

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  30. Raymond and Graham Rule the School

    Mike Knudson

    Cited in 1 New Mexico curriculum document, taught from grade 6 to 8.

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41 books cited for New Mexico 6th grade

Assignments tied directly to New Mexico’s NM Common Core with a New Mexico-specific citation.

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700 additional grade-appropriate books for 6th grade readers

The 741-book total above includes 41 titles with direct New Mexico citation; these 700 additional titles cover 6th grade in the broader canon. They don't have a New Mexico-specific citation yet but are commonly taught at this level.

Show all 700 titles

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

Other New Mexico 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 Mexico 6th grade reading list

This list combines books cited in NM Common Core 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 741 titles for 6th grade in New Mexico, of which 41 carry a direct New Mexico citation and 700 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 56 titles here with a Lexile score 8 are grade-level, 48 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 Mexico’s English Language Arts requirements are set by NM Common Core (webnew.ped.state.nm.us). Most states pair their own standards with the Common Core text-complexity framework. The 6th grade list below blends New Mexico-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 Mexico-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 Mexico?
Books with a New Mexico-specific citation for 6th grade include Brown Girl Dreaming; Bud, Not Buddy; Holes; Maniac Magee and Shiloh. 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 Mexico?
This list has 741 books for 6th grade students in New Mexico. 41 of them have a New Mexico-specific citation; the other 700 are grade-appropriate titles from national reading lists and awards.
What's the Lexile range for 6th grade reading in New Mexico?
Lexile measures across the 6th grade New Mexico 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 Mexico-specific entries reference NM Common Core (published at webnew.ped.state.nm.us). 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 webnew.ped.state.nm.us. National references cited on each book’s detail page.

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