South Carolina 6th grade reading list

Books with a South Carolina citation for 6th grade include Curlfriends: New in Town (a Graphic Novel); Remember Us and The Fire, the Water, and Maudie McGinn. This list has 732 total books, 19 of them with a South Carolina-specific citation. Each book shows its reading level and a cited source. Lexile levels on the list run from 410L to 1120L.

Top South Carolina 6th grade pick: Curlfriends: New in Town (a Graphic Novel) by Sharee Miller — on 1 South Carolina list

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Total books732Lexile410L–1120LSourceSC College & Career Ready 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 South Carolina 6th grade

These are the 19 titles named in South Carolina’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. Curlfriends: New in Town (a Graphic Novel)

    Sharee Miller

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

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  2. Remember Us

    Jacqueline Woodson

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

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  3. The Fire, the Water, and Maudie McGinn

    Sally J. Pla

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

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  4. The Lost Year

    Katherine Marsh

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

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  5. The Mona Lisa Vanishes

    Nicholas Day

    Cited in 1 South Carolina curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 6 to 8.

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  6. 102 Days of Lying About Lauren

    Maura Jortner

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

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  7. Clementine

    Ann Hood

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

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  8. Eb & Flow

    Kelly J. Baptist

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

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  9. Half Moon Summer

    Elaine Vickers

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

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  10. Hoops

    Matt Tavares

    Cited in 1 South Carolina curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 5. Covers courage, perseverance and history.

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  11. It's Boba Time for Pearl Li!

    Nicole Chen

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

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  12. Land of Broken Promises

    Jane Kuo

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

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  13. Lasagna Means I Love You

    Kate O'Shaughnessy

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

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  14. Maid for It

    Jamie Sumner

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

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  15. Parachute Kids

    Betty C. Tang

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

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  16. Ruptured

    Joanne Rossmassler Fritz

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

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  17. Something Like Home

    Andrea Beatriz Arango

    Cited in 1 South Carolina curriculum document, taught from grade 6 to 8. Covers family, identity and perseverance.

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  18. Tagging Freedom

    Rhonda Roumani

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

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  19. The Astronaut's Guide to Leaving the Planet

    Terry Virts

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

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19 books cited for South Carolina 6th grade

Assignments tied directly to South Carolina’s SC College & Career Ready Standards with a South Carolina-specific citation.

713 additional grade-appropriate books for 6th grade readers

The 732-book total above includes 19 titles with direct South Carolina citation; these 713 additional titles cover 6th grade in the broader canon. They don't have a South Carolina-specific citation yet but are commonly taught at this level.

Show all 713 titles

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Other South Carolina 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 South Carolina 6th grade reading list

This list combines books cited in SC College & Career Ready 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 732 titles for 6th grade in South Carolina, of which 19 carry a direct South Carolina citation and 713 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.

South Carolina’s English Language Arts requirements are set by SC College & Career Ready Standards (ed.sc.gov). Most states pair their own standards with the Common Core text-complexity framework. The 6th grade list below blends South Carolina-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 South Carolina-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 South Carolina?
Books with a South Carolina-specific citation for 6th grade include Curlfriends: New in Town (a Graphic Novel); Remember Us; The Fire, the Water, and Maudie McGinn; The Lost Year and The Mona Lisa Vanishes. 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 South Carolina?
This list has 732 books for 6th grade students in South Carolina. 19 of them have a South Carolina-specific citation; the other 713 are grade-appropriate titles from national reading lists and awards.
What's the Lexile range for 6th grade reading in South Carolina?
Lexile measures across the 6th grade South Carolina 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?
South Carolina-specific entries reference SC College & Career Ready Standards (published at ed.sc.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 ed.sc.gov. National references cited on each book’s detail page.

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