New York 6th grade reading list

Books with a New York citation for 6th grade include New Kid, When You Reach Me and Brown Girl Dreaming. This list has 723 total books, 16 of them with a New York-specific citation. Each book shows its reading level and a cited source. Lexile levels on the list run from 410L to 1120L.

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

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Total books723Lexile410L–1120LSourceNext Generation 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 York 6th grade

These are the 16 titles named in New York’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 York 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 York 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. Brown Girl Dreaming

    Jacqueline Woodson

    Cited in 1 New York 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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  4. Maniac Magee

    Jerry Spinelli

    Cited in 1 New York 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. The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book 1)

    Rick Riordan

    Cited in 1 New York curriculum document and 2 national references, taught from grade 4 to 7. Covers Greek mythology, neurodivergence (dyslexia, ADHD) and friendship. At 740L it sits just under the 925–1185L band for this grade.

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  6. Wonder

    R.J. Palacio

    Cited in 1 New York 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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  7. A First Time for Everything

    Dan Santat

    Cited in 1 New York curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 4 to 8.

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  8. Fallen Angels

    Walter Dean Myers

    Cited in 1 New York curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 4 to 8.

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  9. Number the Stars

    Lois Lowry

    Cited in 1 New York curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 4 to 7. Covers courage, friendship and Holocaust. At 670L it reads well below the 925–1185L band for this grade.

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  10. The Hunger Games

    Suzanne Collins

    Cited in 1 New York 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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  11. We Will Not Be Silent

    Russell Freedman

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

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  12. A Tale Dark and Grimm

    Adam Gidwitz

    Cited in 1 New York curriculum document, taught from grade 4 to 7. Covers fairy tales, courage and siblings.

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  13. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

    J.K. Rowling

    Cited in 1 New York curriculum document, taught from grade 4 to 7. Covers friendship, courage and good vs evil. At 880L it sits just under the 925–1185L band for this grade.

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  14. Mick Harte Was Here

    Barbara Park

    Cited in 1 New York curriculum document, taught from grade 5 to 8. Covers grief, family and safety.

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  15. Stargirl

    Jerry Spinelli

    Cited in 1 New York curriculum document, taught from grade 6 to 9. Covers individuality, conformity and first love.

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  16. Stolen Children

    Peg Kehret

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

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16 books cited for New York 6th grade

Assignments tied directly to New York’s Next Generation Learning Standards with a New York-specific citation.

707 additional grade-appropriate books for 6th grade readers

The 723-book total above includes 16 titles with direct New York citation; these 707 additional titles cover 6th grade in the broader canon. They don't have a New York-specific citation yet but are commonly taught at this level.

Show all 707 titles

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Other New York 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 · Pennsylvania · Illinois · Ohio

Browse 6th grade reading by theme

About the New York 6th grade reading list

This list combines books cited in Next Generation 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 723 titles for 6th grade in New York, of which 16 carry a direct New York citation and 707 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 57 titles here with a Lexile score 8 are grade-level, 49 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 York’s English Language Arts requirements are set by Next Generation Learning Standards (nysed.gov). Most states pair their own standards with the Common Core text-complexity framework. The 6th grade list below blends New York-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 York-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 York?
Books with a New York-specific citation for 6th grade include New Kid; When You Reach Me; Brown Girl Dreaming; Maniac Magee and The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book 1). 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 York?
This list has 723 books for 6th grade students in New York. 16 of them have a New York-specific citation; the other 707 are grade-appropriate titles from national reading lists and awards.
What's the Lexile range for 6th grade reading in New York?
Lexile measures across the 6th grade New York 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 York-specific entries reference Next Generation Learning Standards (published at www.nysed.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.

Reading guides for parents

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

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