Vermont 10th grade reading list

Only 2 titles are cited to Vermont for 10th grade: Small Steps and The Running Dream. The other 509 books on this page are grade-appropriate titles from national reading lists and awards, not Vermont assignments. Each book shows its reading level and a cited source. Lexile levels on the list run from 530L to 1170L.

Top Vermont 10th grade pick: Small Steps by Peg Kehret — on 1 Vermont list

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Books on this page511Cited to Vermont2Lexile530L–1170LSourceVT Education Quality Standards✓ sources cited per book

Most-assigned on state lists: across every US state’s official reading and award lists, the High (9–12) titles appearing in the most states are The Hate U Give (4 states), Their Eyes Were Watching God (3 states), and The Great Gatsby (2 states). From our 2026 study of 13,258 source-cited assignments (as of 2026-07-13).

Full curriculum guides: Common Core State Standards (ELA) · IB Diploma Programme — English A: Literature · Cambridge IGCSE English Literature (0475) · AP English Language & Composition · AP English Literature & Composition · AP European History · AP Psychology

Our pick to start — most-cited for Vermont 10th grade

These are the 2 titles named in Vermont’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. Small Steps

    Peg Kehret

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

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  2. The Running Dream

    Wendelin Van Draanen

    Cited in 1 Vermont curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 7 to 12.

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2 books cited for Vermont 10th grade

Assignments tied directly to Vermont’s VT Education Quality Standards with a Vermont-specific citation.

509 additional grade-appropriate books for 10th grade readers

The 511-book total above includes 2 titles with direct Vermont citation; these 509 additional titles cover 10th grade in the broader canon. They don't have a Vermont-specific citation yet but are commonly taught at this level.

Show all 509 titles

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Other Vermont grades

9th grade · 11th grade · 8th grade · 12th grade

Reading lists by grade (all states)

9th grade · 11th grade · 8th grade · 12th grade

Same 10th grade in other states

California · Texas · Florida · New York · Pennsylvania · Illinois

Browse 10th grade reading by theme

About the Vermont 10th grade reading list

This list combines books cited in VT Education Quality Standards with books from national sources that list titles for 10th grade: Cambridge IGCSE English Literature (0475) and the Common Core State Standards (ELA), plus awards such as the Andre Norton Award for Middle Grade & Young Adult Fiction, the William C. Morris YA Debut Award and the Odyssey Award (Best Audiobook). ReadingList currently tracks 511 titles for 10th grade in Vermont, of which 2 carry a direct Vermont citation and 509 are grade-appropriate titles whose reading level overlaps 10th grade. Across the list, Lexile measures span 530L–1170L.

10th grade sits in the 9-12 grade band, where students are high-school readers. At this stage the emphasis is on close reading, literary analysis, rhetoric, and preparing for AP, IB, and college coursework. Assigned reading skews toward canonical literature, drama, poetry, and AP/IB set texts, with text complexity that, per Common Core’s Appendix A reading bands, typically falls around roughly 900L to 1300L. Measured against that 1050–1335L range, of the 24 titles here with a Lexile score 6 are grade-level, 18 are more accessible (often assigned for theme over challenge), and 0 are stretch texts that may need scaffolding. Because readers in a single 10th grade classroom can span several hundred Lexile points, this list is best read as a starting point rather than a fixed requirement.

Vermont’s English Language Arts requirements are set by VT Education Quality Standards (education.vermont.gov). Most states pair their own standards with the Common Core text-complexity framework. The 10th grade list below blends Vermont-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 10th grade unit can pair a Vermont-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 10th grade students read in Vermont?
Books with a Vermont-specific citation for 10th grade include Small Steps and The Running Dream. 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 10th grade students in Vermont?
This list has 511 books for 10th grade students in Vermont. 2 of them have a Vermont-specific citation; the other 509 are grade-appropriate titles from national reading lists and awards, not Vermont assignments.
What's the Lexile range for 10th grade reading in Vermont?
Lexile measures across the 10th grade Vermont reading list range from 530L to 1170L. Books without a published Lexile (poetry, drama, picture books) are not included in this range.
Where does this reading list come from?
Vermont-specific entries reference VT Education Quality Standards (published at education.vermont.gov). The other books come from national sources that list books for 10th grade: Cambridge IGCSE English Literature (0475) and the Common Core State Standards (ELA), plus awards such as the Andre Norton Award for Middle Grade & Young Adult Fiction, the William C. Morris YA Debut Award and the Odyssey Award (Best Audiobook). Each book's page links the primary source for every listing.

Reading guides for parents

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

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