Vermont 5th grade reading list

Books with a Vermont citation for 5th grade include Bud, Not Buddy; Holes and Maniac Magee. This list has 894 total books, 50 of them with a Vermont-specific citation. Each book shows its reading level and a cited source. Lexile levels on the list run from 390L to 1020L.

Top Vermont 5th grade pick: Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis — on 2 Vermont lists

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Total books894Lexile390L–1020LSourceVT Education Quality Standards✓ sources cited per book

Most-assigned on state lists: across every US state’s official reading and award lists, the Elementary (K–5) titles appearing in the most states are Wonder (29 states), Because of Winn-Dixie (26 states), and Shiloh (25 states). From our 2026 study of 13,258 source-cited assignments (as of 2026-07-13).

Our pick to start — most-cited for Vermont 5th grade

These are the 30 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. Bud, Not Buddy

    Christopher Paul Curtis

    Cited in 2 Vermont curriculum documents and 4 national references, taught from grade 4 to 7. Covers family, identity and perseverance. At 950L it falls inside the 740–1010L band for this grade.

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  2. Holes

    Louis Sachar

    Cited in 2 Vermont curriculum documents and 4 national references, taught from grade 4 to 7. Covers fate vs choice, friendship and justice. At 660L it sits just under the 740–1010L band for this grade.

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  3. Maniac Magee

    Jerry Spinelli

    Cited in 2 Vermont curriculum documents and 4 national references, taught from grade 4 to 7. Covers race, homelessness and family. At 820L it falls inside the 740–1010L band for this grade.

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  4. The Tale of Despereaux

    Kate DiCamillo

    Cited in 2 Vermont curriculum documents and 3 national references, taught from grade 3 to 6. Covers courage, forgiveness and light vs dark. At 670L it sits just under the 740–1010L band for this grade.

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  5. El Deafo

    Cece Bell

    Cited in 2 Vermont curriculum documents and 2 national references, taught from grade 4 to 6. Covers disability, friendship and self-acceptance. At 420L it reads well below the 740–1010L band for this grade.

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  6. Number the Stars

    Lois Lowry

    Cited in 2 Vermont curriculum documents and 2 national references, taught from grade 4 to 7. Covers courage, friendship and Holocaust. At 670L it sits just under the 740–1010L band for this grade.

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  7. Shiloh

    Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

    Cited in 2 Vermont curriculum documents and 2 national references, taught from grade 3 to 6. Covers animal welfare, morality and family. At 890L it falls inside the 740–1010L band for this grade.

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  8. Smile

    Raina Telgemeier

    Cited in 2 Vermont curriculum documents and 2 national references, taught from grade 4 to 8. Covers growing up, friendship and self-acceptance. At 410L it reads well below the 740–1010L band for this grade.

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  9. Wonder

    R.J. Palacio

    Cited in 2 Vermont curriculum documents and 2 national references, taught from grade 3 to 7. Covers facial difference, kindness and bullying. At 790L it falls inside the 740–1010L band for this grade.

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  10. 11 Birthdays

    Wendy Mass

    Cited in 2 Vermont curriculum documents and 1 national reference, taught from grade 3 to 5.

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  11. Because of Winn-Dixie

    Kate DiCamillo

    Cited in 2 Vermont curriculum documents and 1 national reference, taught from grade 3 to 5. Covers loss, friendship and mother absence. At 610L it sits just under the 740–1010L band for this grade.

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  12. Diary of a Wimpy Kid

    Jeff Kinney

    Cited in 2 Vermont curriculum documents and 1 national reference, taught from grade 3 to 7. Covers school, friendship and family. At 950L it falls inside the 740–1010L band for this grade.

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  13. Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library

    Chris Grabenstein

    Cited in 2 Vermont curriculum documents and 1 national reference, taught from grade 4 to 6.

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  14. Hatchet

    Gary Paulsen

    Cited in 2 Vermont curriculum documents and 1 national reference, taught from grade 5 to 8. Covers survival, resilience and self-reliance. At 1020L it runs above the 740–1010L band — a stretch text.

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  15. Refugee

    Alan Gratz

    Cited in 2 Vermont curriculum documents and 1 national reference, taught from grade 5 to 9. Covers refugees, survival and family. At 800L it falls inside the 740–1010L band for this grade.

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  16. Wait Till Helen Comes

    Mary Downing Hahn

    Cited in 2 Vermont curriculum documents and 1 national reference, taught from grade 4 to 7. Covers ghosts, family and jealousy.

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  17. Bunnicula

    Deborah Howe

    Cited in 2 Vermont curriculum documents, taught from grade 3 to 6.

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  18. Ella Enchanted

    Gail Carson Levine

    Cited in 2 Vermont curriculum documents, taught from grade 4 to 7. Covers courage, fairy-tale and independence.

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  19. Flush

    Carl Hiaasen

    Cited in 2 Vermont curriculum documents, taught from grade 3 to 5.

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  20. Mick Harte Was Here

    Barbara Park

    Cited in 2 Vermont curriculum documents, taught from grade 5 to 8. Covers grief, family and safety.

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  21. Rules

    Cynthia Lord

    Cited in 2 Vermont curriculum documents, taught from grade 4 to 7. Covers disability, friendship and acceptance.

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  22. Small Spaces

    Katherine Arden

    Cited in 2 Vermont curriculum documents, taught from grade 3 to 5.

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  23. The Old Willis Place

    Mary Downing Hahn

    Cited in 2 Vermont curriculum documents, taught from grade 3 to 6.

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  24. The Terrible Two

    Mac Barnett

    Cited in 2 Vermont curriculum documents, taught from grade 3 to 5.

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  25. Dear Mr. Henshaw

    Beverly Cleary

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

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  26. Rascal

    Sterling North

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

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  27. Small Steps

    Peg Kehret

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

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  28. The Incredible Journey

    Burnford Sheila

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

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  29. The War with Grandpa

    Robert Kimmel Smith

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

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  30. A Bundle of Sticks

    Pat Mauser McCord

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

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50 books cited for Vermont 5th grade

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

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844 additional grade-appropriate books for 5th grade readers

The 894-book total above includes 50 titles with direct Vermont citation; these 844 additional titles cover 5th grade in the broader canon. They don't have a Vermont-specific citation yet but are commonly taught at this level.

Show all 844 titles

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Other Vermont grades

4th grade · 6th grade · 3rd grade · 7th grade

Reading lists by grade (all states)

4th grade · 6th grade · 3rd grade · 7th grade

Same 5th grade in other states

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

Browse 5th grade reading by theme

About the Vermont 5th grade reading list

This list combines books cited in VT Education Quality Standards with books from national sources that list titles for 5th grade: the Common Core State Standards (ELA), plus awards such as the Golden Kite Award, the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award and the Andre Norton Award for Middle Grade & Young Adult Fiction. ReadingList currently tracks 894 titles for 5th grade in Vermont, of which 50 carry a direct Vermont citation and 844 are grade-appropriate titles whose reading level overlaps 5th grade. Across the list, Lexile measures span 390L–1020L.

5th grade sits in the 3-5 grade band, where students are transitional readers. At this stage the emphasis is on shifting from learning-to-read to reading-to-learn and sustaining attention across longer chapter books. Assigned reading skews toward early novels, narrative non-fiction, and a student's first assigned full-length stories, with text complexity that, per Common Core’s Appendix A reading bands, typically falls around roughly 400L to 800L. Measured against that 740–1010L range, of the 58 titles here with a Lexile score 33 are grade-level, 24 are more accessible (often assigned for theme over challenge), and 1 is a stretch text that may need scaffolding. Because readers in a single 5th 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 5th 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 5th 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 5th grade students read in Vermont?
Books with a Vermont-specific citation for 5th grade include Bud, Not Buddy; Holes; Maniac Magee; The Tale of Despereaux 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 5th grade students in Vermont?
This list has 894 books for 5th grade students in Vermont. 50 of them have a Vermont-specific citation; the other 844 are grade-appropriate titles from national reading lists and awards.
What's the Lexile range for 5th grade reading in Vermont?
Lexile measures across the 5th grade Vermont reading list range from 390L to 1020L. 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 5th grade: the Common Core State Standards (ELA), plus awards such as the Golden Kite Award, the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award and the Andre Norton Award for Middle Grade & Young Adult Fiction. Each book's page links the primary source for every listing.

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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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