Oklahoma 6th grade reading list

Books with an Oklahoma citation for 6th grade include Holes, A Wrinkle in Time and Shiloh. This list has 734 total books, 37 of them with an Oklahoma-specific citation. Each book shows its reading level and a cited source. Lexile levels on the list run from 410L to 1120L.

Top Oklahoma 6th grade pick: Holes by Louis Sachar — on 1 Oklahoma list

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Total books734Lexile410L–1120LSourceOklahoma Academic 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 Oklahoma 6th grade

These are the 30 titles named in Oklahoma’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. Holes

    Louis Sachar

    Cited in 1 Oklahoma 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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  2. A Wrinkle in Time

    Madeleine L'Engle

    Cited in 1 Oklahoma curriculum document and 2 national references, taught from grade 5 to 7. Covers good vs evil, scientific imagination and individuality. At 740L it sits just under the 925–1185L band for this grade.

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  3. Shiloh

    Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

    Cited in 1 Oklahoma 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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  4. The Crossover

    Kwame Alexander

    Cited in 1 Oklahoma curriculum document and 2 national references, taught from grade 5 to 8. Covers family, brotherhood and basketball. At 750L it sits just under the 925–1185L band for this grade.

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  5. The Giver

    Lois Lowry

    Cited in 1 Oklahoma 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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  6. The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book 1)

    Rick Riordan

    Cited in 1 Oklahoma 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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  7. The Tale of Despereaux

    Kate DiCamillo

    Cited in 1 Oklahoma 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. The War That Saved My Life

    Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

    Cited in 1 Oklahoma 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. Walk Two Moons

    Sharon Creech

    Cited in 1 Oklahoma curriculum document and 2 national references, taught from grade 5 to 7. Covers grief, family and identity. At 770L it sits just under the 925–1185L band for this grade.

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  10. After Ever After

    Jordan Sonnenblick

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

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  11. Dear Mr. Henshaw

    Beverly Cleary

    Cited in 1 Oklahoma curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 4 to 6. Covers family, identity and growing up.

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  12. Eragon

    Christopher Paolini

    Cited in 1 Oklahoma curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 6 to 9. Covers dragons, destiny and courage.

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  13. Hatchet

    Gary Paulsen

    Cited in 1 Oklahoma curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 5 to 8. Covers survival, resilience and self-reliance. At 1020L it falls inside the 925–1185L band for this grade.

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  14. Old Yeller

    Fred Gipson

    Cited in 1 Oklahoma curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 5 to 8. Covers family, courage and survival.

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  15. Rascal

    Sterling North

    Cited in 1 Oklahoma curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 5 to 8. Covers nature, animals and family.

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  16. Refugee

    Alan Gratz

    Cited in 1 Oklahoma curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 5 to 9. Covers refugees, survival and family. At 800L it sits just under the 925–1185L band for this grade.

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  17. Roller Girl

    Victoria Jamieson

    Cited in 1 Oklahoma 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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  18. The Hunger Games

    Suzanne Collins

    Cited in 1 Oklahoma 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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  19. The Lost Year

    Katherine Marsh

    Cited in 1 Oklahoma curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 6 to 8. Covers family, history and perseverance.

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  20. The One and Only Ivan

    Katherine Applegate

    Cited in 1 Oklahoma curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 3 to 7. Covers animal welfare, captivity and freedom, friendship across species. At 570L it reads well below the 925–1185L band for this grade.

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  21. When Stars Are Scattered

    Victoria Jamieson

    Cited in 1 Oklahoma curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 5 to 8. Covers refugees, family and hope.

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  22. All the Lovely Bad Ones

    Mary Downing Hahn

    Cited in 1 Oklahoma curriculum document, taught from grade 5 to 8. Covers ghosts, family and mystery.

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  23. Allies

    Alan Gratz

    Cited in 1 Oklahoma curriculum document, taught from grade 5 to 9. Covers war, courage and sacrifice.

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  24. Bunnicula

    Deborah Howe

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

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  25. Dogtown

    Katherine Applegate & Gennifer Choldenko

    Cited in 1 Oklahoma curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 6. Covers friendship, perseverance and humor.

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  26. Front Desk

    Kelly Yang

    Cited in 1 Oklahoma curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 7. Covers immigration, family and race. At 640L it reads well below the 925–1185L band for this grade.

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  27. Ground Zero

    Alan Gratz

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

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  28. Harriet the Spy

    Louise Fitzhugh

    Cited in 1 Oklahoma curriculum document, taught from grade 4 to 7. Covers friendship, identity and growing up.

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  29. How to Eat Fried Worms

    Thomas Rockwell

    Cited in 1 Oklahoma curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 6. Covers humor, friendship and school.

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  30. Parachute Kids

    Betty C. Tang

    Cited in 1 Oklahoma curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 7. Covers immigration, family and resilience.

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37 books cited for Oklahoma 6th grade

Assignments tied directly to Oklahoma’s Oklahoma Academic Standards with a Oklahoma-specific citation.

Show all 37 titles

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697 additional grade-appropriate books for 6th grade readers

The 734-book total above includes 37 titles with direct Oklahoma citation; these 697 additional titles cover 6th grade in the broader canon. They don't have an Oklahoma-specific citation yet but are commonly taught at this level.

Show all 697 titles

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Other Oklahoma 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

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About the Oklahoma 6th grade reading list

This list combines books cited in Oklahoma Academic 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 734 titles for 6th grade in Oklahoma, of which 37 carry a direct Oklahoma citation and 697 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 58 titles here with a Lexile score 8 are grade-level, 50 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.

Oklahoma’s English Language Arts requirements are set by Oklahoma Academic Standards (sde.ok.gov). Most states pair their own standards with the Common Core text-complexity framework. The 6th grade list below blends Oklahoma-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 Oklahoma-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 Oklahoma?
Books with an Oklahoma-specific citation for 6th grade include Holes, A Wrinkle in Time, Shiloh, The Crossover and The Giver. 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 Oklahoma?
This list has 734 books for 6th grade students in Oklahoma. 37 of them have an Oklahoma-specific citation; the other 697 are grade-appropriate titles from national reading lists and awards.
What's the Lexile range for 6th grade reading in Oklahoma?
Lexile measures across the 6th grade Oklahoma 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?
Oklahoma-specific entries reference Oklahoma Academic Standards (published at sde.ok.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 sde.ok.gov. National references cited on each book’s detail page.

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