Pennsylvania 6th grade reading list

Books with a Pennsylvania citation for 6th grade include Maniac Magee; New Kid and Bud, Not Buddy. This list has 765 total books, 62 of them with a Pennsylvania-specific citation. Each book shows its reading level and a cited source. Lexile levels on the list run from 410L to 1120L.

Top Pennsylvania 6th grade pick: Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli — on 2 Pennsylvania lists

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 books765Lexile410L–1120LSourcePA Core 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 Pennsylvania 6th grade

These are the 30 titles named in Pennsylvania’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. Maniac Magee

    Jerry Spinelli

    Cited in 2 Pennsylvania curriculum documents 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.

    Get it on Amazon

  2. New Kid

    Jerry Craft

    Cited in 1 Pennsylvania 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

  3. Bud, Not Buddy

    Christopher Paul Curtis

    Cited in 1 Pennsylvania 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.

    Get it on Amazon

  4. Holes

    Louis Sachar

    Cited in 1 Pennsylvania 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.

    Get it on Amazon

  5. El Deafo

    Cece Bell

    Cited in 1 Pennsylvania curriculum document and 2 national references, taught from grade 4 to 6. Covers disability, friendship and self-acceptance. At 420L it reads well below the 925–1185L band for this grade.

    Get it on Amazon

  6. Shiloh

    Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

    Cited in 1 Pennsylvania 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.

    Get it on Amazon

  7. The Giver

    Lois Lowry

    Cited in 1 Pennsylvania 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.

    Get it on Amazon

  8. The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book 1)

    Rick Riordan

    Cited in 1 Pennsylvania 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.

    Get it on Amazon

  9. Eragon

    Christopher Paolini

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

    Get it on Amazon

  10. Fish in a Tree

    Lynda Mullaly Hunt

    Cited in 1 Pennsylvania 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.

    Get it on Amazon

  11. Frindle

    Andrew Clements

    Cited in 1 Pennsylvania curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 3 to 7. Covers creativity, language and thought, intelligence. At 830L it sits just under the 925–1185L band for this grade.

    Get it on Amazon

  12. Out of My Mind

    Sharon M. Draper

    Cited in 1 Pennsylvania 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.

    Get it on Amazon

  13. Refugee

    Alan Gratz

    Cited in 1 Pennsylvania 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.

    Get it on Amazon

  14. The One and Only Ivan

    Katherine Applegate

    Cited in 1 Pennsylvania 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.

    Get it on Amazon

  15. When Stars Are Scattered

    Victoria Jamieson

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

    Get it on Amazon

  16. Aliens Are Coming!

    Megan McCarthy

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

    Get it on Amazon

  17. Among the Hidden

    Margaret Peterson Haddix

    Cited in 1 Pennsylvania curriculum document, taught from grade 5 to 8. Covers freedom, identity and resistance.

    Get it on Amazon

  18. Awkward

    Svetlana Chmakova

    Cited in 1 Pennsylvania curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 5. Covers basic reader, middle schools and comics & graphic novels.

    Get it on Amazon

  19. Belly Up

    Stuart Gibbs

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

    Get it on Amazon

  20. Black Brother, Black Brother

    Jewell Parker Rhodes

    Cited in 1 Pennsylvania curriculum document, taught from grade 5 to 8. Covers racism, identity and justice.

    Get it on Amazon

  21. Chomp

    Carl Hiaasen

    Cited in 1 Pennsylvania curriculum document, taught from grade 6 to 8. Covers television, reality television programs and missing persons.

    Get it on Amazon

  22. Crash

    Jerry Spinelli

    Cited in 1 Pennsylvania curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 8. Covers conduct of life, family life and friendship.

    Get it on Amazon

  23. Destiny Finds Her Way: How a Rescued Baby Sloth Learned to Be Wild

    Margarita Engle

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

    Get it on Amazon

  24. Double Fudge

    Judy Blume

    Cited in 1 Pennsylvania curriculum document, taught from grade 4 to 6. Covers humorous stories, families and brothers.

    Get it on Amazon

  25. Drums, Girls & Dangerous Pie

    Jordan Sonnenblick

    Cited in 1 Pennsylvania curriculum document, taught from grade 6 to 9. Covers family, illness and music.

    Get it on Amazon

  26. Found

    Margaret Peterson Haddix

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

    Get it on Amazon

  27. Ghosts

    Raina Telgemeier

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

    Get it on Amazon

  28. Gregor the Overlander

    Suzanne Collins

    Cited in 1 Pennsylvania curriculum document, taught from grade 4 to 7. Covers family, courage and destiny.

    Get it on Amazon

  29. Ground Zero

    Alan Gratz

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

    Get it on Amazon

  30. Hachiko

    Pamela S. Turner

    Cited in 1 Pennsylvania curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 6. Covers dogs, hachiko (dog) and biography.

    Get it on Amazon

62 books cited for Pennsylvania 6th grade

Assignments tied directly to Pennsylvania’s PA Core Standards with a Pennsylvania-specific citation.

Show all 62 titles

As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.

703 additional grade-appropriate books for 6th grade readers

The 765-book total above includes 62 titles with direct Pennsylvania citation; these 703 additional titles cover 6th grade in the broader canon. They don't have a Pennsylvania-specific citation yet but are commonly taught at this level.

Show all 703 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 Pennsylvania 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 · Illinois · Ohio

Browse 6th grade reading by theme

About the Pennsylvania 6th grade reading list

This list combines books cited in PA Core 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 765 titles for 6th grade in Pennsylvania, of which 62 carry a direct Pennsylvania citation and 703 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.

Pennsylvania’s English Language Arts requirements are set by PA Core Standards (education.pa.gov). Most states pair their own standards with the Common Core text-complexity framework. The 6th grade list below blends Pennsylvania-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 Pennsylvania-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 Pennsylvania?
Books with a Pennsylvania-specific citation for 6th grade include Maniac Magee; New Kid; Bud, Not Buddy; Holes and El Deafo. 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 Pennsylvania?
This list has 765 books for 6th grade students in Pennsylvania. 62 of them have a Pennsylvania-specific citation; the other 703 are grade-appropriate titles from national reading lists and awards.
What's the Lexile range for 6th grade reading in Pennsylvania?
Lexile measures across the 6th grade Pennsylvania 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?
Pennsylvania-specific entries reference PA Core Standards (published at www.education.pa.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

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

Preview: /embed/grade/6 · License: CC BY 4.0 (please credit “ReadingList.school”).

Was this page helpful?

Browse by another angle

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

Find ReadingList in your Google results more often: