# Middle Grade Fiction books about friendship

**32** middle grade fiction books that explore friendship, drawn from the US-school assigned-reading canon. Sourced from Common Core exemplars, AP, IB, Cambridge, and 50 state ELA curricula.

**Reading levels:** Lexile measures range from 510L to 950L across these 32 titles.

**Genre:** Middle Grade Fiction  ·  **Theme:** friendship
**Canonical URL:** https://readinglist.school/genre/middle-grade-fiction/theme/friendship
**License:** [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) — please credit ReadingList.school when citing.
**Primary source — Common Core ELA exemplars:** https://achievethecore.org/page/2699

## Middle Grade Fiction friendship reading list

- [Because of Winn-Dixie](https://readinglist.school/book/because-of-winn-dixie) by Kate DiCamillo _(610L · Grades 3–5 · pub 2000)_
- [Confessions of a Class Clown](https://readinglist.school/book/confessions-of-a-class-clown) by Arianne Costner _(Grades 6–8 · pub 2023)_
- [Control Freaks](https://readinglist.school/book/control-freaks) by J.E. Thomas _(Grades 6–8 · pub 2023)_
- [Countdown to Yesterday](https://readinglist.school/book/countdown-to-yesterday) by Shirley Marr _(Grades 3–6 · pub 2024)_
- [Diary of a Wimpy Kid](https://readinglist.school/book/diary-of-a-wimpy-kid) by Jeff Kinney _(950L · Grades 3–7 · pub 2007)_
- [Fish in a Tree](https://readinglist.school/book/fish-in-a-tree) by Lynda Mullaly Hunt _(550L · Grades 4–7 · pub 2015)_
- [Grounded](https://readinglist.school/book/grounded-airport) by Aisha Saeed, S.K. Ali, Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow & Huda Al-Marashi _(Grades 4–8 · pub 2023)_
- [Harriet the Spy](https://readinglist.school/book/harriet-the-spy) by Louise Fitzhugh _(Grades 4–7 · pub 1964)_
- [Hello, Universe](https://readinglist.school/book/hello-universe) by Erin Entrada Kelly _(690L · Grades 3–7 · pub 2017)_
- [Holes](https://readinglist.school/book/holes) by Louis Sachar _(660L · Grades 4–7 · pub 1998)_
- [J vs. K](https://readinglist.school/book/j-vs-k) by Kwame Alexander & Jerry Craft _(Grades 3–5 · pub 2025)_
- [James and the Giant Peach](https://readinglist.school/book/james-and-the-giant-peach) by Roald Dahl _(870L · Grades 3–6 · pub 1961)_
- [Just Keep Walking](https://readinglist.school/book/just-keep-walking) by Erin Soderberg Downing _(Grades 3–6 · pub 2024)_
- [Mid-Air](https://readinglist.school/book/mid-air) by Alicia D. Williams _(Grades 5–8 · pub 2024)_
- [Not Nothing](https://readinglist.school/book/not-nothing) by Gayle Forman _(Grades 4–8 · pub 2024)_
- [Operation Final Notice](https://readinglist.school/book/operation-final-notice) by Matthew Landis _(Grades 4–8 · pub 2022)_
- [Out of My Mind](https://readinglist.school/book/out-of-my-mind) by Sharon M. Draper _(700L · Grades 4–7 · pub 2010)_
- [Pax](https://readinglist.school/book/pax) by Sara Pennypacker _(760L · Grades 4–7 · pub 2016)_
- [Planet Omar: Accidental Trouble Magnet](https://readinglist.school/book/planet-omar-accidental-trouble-magnet) by Zanib Mian _(820L · Grades 3–6 · pub 2019)_
- [Roll for Initiative](https://readinglist.school/book/roll-for-initiative) by Jaime Formato _(Grades 4–8 · pub 2022)_
- [Simon Sort of Says](https://readinglist.school/book/simon-sort-of-says) by Erin Bow _(Grades 6–8 · pub 2023)_
- [Stuart Little](https://readinglist.school/book/stuart-little) by E.B. White _(920L · Grades 3–5 · pub 1945)_
- [The 13-Story Treehouse](https://readinglist.school/book/the-13-story-treehouse) by Andy Griffiths _(560L · Grades 2–5 · pub 2011)_
- [The Adventures of Captain Underpants](https://readinglist.school/book/the-adventures-of-captain-underpants) by Dav Pilkey _(720L · Grades 2–5 · pub 1997)_
- [The BFG](https://readinglist.school/book/the-bfg) by Roald Dahl _(720L · Grades 3–6 · pub 1982)_
- [The Cricket in Times Square](https://readinglist.school/book/the-cricket-in-times-square) by George Selden _(780L · Grades 3–5 · pub 1960)_
- [The First State of Being](https://readinglist.school/book/the-first-state-of-being) by Erin Entrada Kelly _(Grades 6–8 · pub 2024)_
- [The Mouse and the Motorcycle](https://readinglist.school/book/the-mouse-and-the-motorcycle) by Beverly Cleary _(860L · Grades 2–4 · pub 1965)_
- [The Season of Styx Malone](https://readinglist.school/book/the-season-of-styx-malone) by Kekla Magoon _(510L · Grades 3–7 · pub 2018)_
- [The Superteacher Project](https://readinglist.school/book/the-superteacher-project) by Gordon Korman _(Grades 3–6 · pub 2023)_
- [The Whipping Boy](https://readinglist.school/book/the-whipping-boy) by Sid Fleischman _(Grades 3–7 · pub 1986)_
- [Wonder](https://readinglist.school/book/wonder) by R.J. Palacio _(790L · Grades 3–7 · pub 2012)_

---

_Generated from primary-source citations indexed on ReadingList.school. HTML view: https://readinglist.school/genre/middle-grade-fiction/theme/friendship._