Tennessee 6th grade reading list

Books with a Tennessee citation for 6th grade include New Kid; Bud, Not Buddy and Holes. This list has 729 total books, 23 of them with a Tennessee-specific citation. Each book shows its reading level and a cited source. Lexile levels on the list run from 410L to 1120L.

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

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Total books729Lexile410L–1120LSourceTN 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 Tennessee 6th grade

These are the 23 titles named in Tennessee’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 Tennessee 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. Bud, Not Buddy

    Christopher Paul Curtis

    Cited in 1 Tennessee 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 Tennessee 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. The Tale of Despereaux

    Kate DiCamillo

    Cited in 1 Tennessee 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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  5. The War That Saved My Life

    Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

    Cited in 1 Tennessee 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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  6. Wonder

    R.J. Palacio

    Cited in 1 Tennessee 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. Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library

    Chris Grabenstein

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

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  8. Out of My Mind

    Sharon M. Draper

    Cited in 1 Tennessee 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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  9. Refugee

    Alan Gratz

    Cited in 1 Tennessee 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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  10. The Lost Hero

    Rick Riordan

    Cited in 1 Tennessee curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 5 to 9. Covers mythology, heroism and memory.

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

    Louis Sachar

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

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  12. Wait Till Helen Comes

    Mary Downing Hahn

    Cited in 1 Tennessee curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 4 to 7. Covers ghosts, family and jealousy.

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  13. Amari and the Night Brothers

    B. B. Alston

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

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  14. Fablehaven

    Brandon Mull

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

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  15. Found

    Margaret Peterson Haddix

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

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  16. Fudge-a-Mania

    Judy Blume

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

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  17. Ground Zero

    Alan Gratz

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

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  18. Guts

    Raina Telgemeier

    Cited in 1 Tennessee curriculum document, taught from grade 4 to 8. Covers anxiety, growing up and courage.

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  19. Heroes

    Alan Gratz

    Cited in 1 Tennessee curriculum document, taught from grade 6 to 8. Covers courage, friendship and history.

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  20. Mid-Air

    Alicia D. Williams

    Cited in 1 Tennessee curriculum document, taught from grade 5 to 8. Covers grief, friendship and growing up.

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  21. The Best School Year Ever

    Barbara Robinson

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

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  22. The Million Dollar Shot

    Dan Gutman

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

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  23. The Old Willis Place

    Mary Downing Hahn

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

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23 books cited for Tennessee 6th grade

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

706 additional grade-appropriate books for 6th grade readers

The 729-book total above includes 23 titles with direct Tennessee citation; these 706 additional titles cover 6th grade in the broader canon. They don't have a Tennessee-specific citation yet but are commonly taught at this level.

Show all 706 titles

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Other Tennessee 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 Tennessee 6th grade reading list

This list combines books cited in TN 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 729 titles for 6th grade in Tennessee, of which 23 carry a direct Tennessee citation and 706 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.

Tennessee’s English Language Arts requirements are set by TN Academic Standards (tn.gov). Most states pair their own standards with the Common Core text-complexity framework. The 6th grade list below blends Tennessee-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 Tennessee-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 Tennessee?
Books with a Tennessee-specific citation for 6th grade include New Kid; Bud, Not Buddy; Holes; The Tale of Despereaux and The War That Saved My Life. 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 Tennessee?
This list has 729 books for 6th grade students in Tennessee. 23 of them have a Tennessee-specific citation; the other 706 are grade-appropriate titles from national reading lists and awards.
What's the Lexile range for 6th grade reading in Tennessee?
Lexile measures across the 6th grade Tennessee 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?
Tennessee-specific entries reference TN Academic Standards (published at www.tn.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 www.tn.gov. National references cited on each book’s detail page.

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