# 5th grade books about grief

**20** books commonly assigned to 5th grade students in US schools that explore grief. Every title's grade range covers 5th grade, so each is grade-appropriate by curriculum placement. Sourced from Common Core exemplars, AP, IB, Cambridge, and 50 state ELA curricula.

**Reading difficulty:** the typical 5th grade band is 740–1010L (Common Core Appendix A). Of the 3 titles here with a Lexile score, 2 are grade-level, 1 more accessible, and 0 a stretch.

**Grade:** 5th grade  ·  **Theme:** grief
**Canonical URL:** https://readinglist.school/grade/5/grief
**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

## 5th grade grief reading list

- [Between Two Brothers](https://readinglist.school/book/between-two-brothers) by Crystal Allen _(Grades 4–8 · pub 2024)_
- [Dear Mr. Henshaw](https://readinglist.school/book/dear-mr-henshaw) by Beverly Cleary _(Grades 4–6 · pub 1983)_
- [Duel](https://readinglist.school/book/duel) by Jessixa Bagley _(Grades 4–8 · pub 2023)_
- [Fowl Play](https://readinglist.school/book/fowl-play) by Kristin O'Donnell Tubb _(Grades 3–6 · pub 2024)_
- [Hope in the Valley](https://readinglist.school/book/hope-in-the-valley) by Mitali Perkins _(Grades 3–6 · pub 2025)_
- [Mick Harte Was Here](https://readinglist.school/book/mick-harte-was-here) by Barbara Park _(Grades 5–8 · pub 2011)_
- [Mid-Air](https://readinglist.school/book/mid-air) by Alicia D. Williams _(Grades 5–8 · pub 2024)_
- [Old Yeller](https://readinglist.school/book/old-yeller) by Fred Gipson _(Grades 5–8 · pub 1956)_
- [Pie in the Sky](https://readinglist.school/book/pie-in-the-sky) by Remy Lai _(Grades 3–6 · pub 2019)_
- [Sal and Gabi Break the Universe](https://readinglist.school/book/sal-and-gabi-break-the-universe) by Carlos Hernandez _(Grades 4–7 · pub 2019)_
- [Smack Dab in the Middle of Maybe](https://readinglist.school/book/smack-dab-in-the-middle-of-maybe) by Jo Watson Hackl _(Grades 4–7 · pub 2018)_
- [The Crossover](https://readinglist.school/book/the-crossover) by Kwame Alexander _(750L · Grades 5–8 · pub 2014)_
- [The Girl with the Ghost Machine](https://readinglist.school/book/the-girl-with-the-ghost-machine) by Lauren DeStefano _(Grades 3–8 · pub 2017)_
- [The Labors of Hercules Beal](https://readinglist.school/book/the-labors-of-hercules-beal) by Gary D. Schmidt _(Grades 3–7 · pub 2023)_
- [The Night Train](https://readinglist.school/book/the-night-train) by Lorelei Savaryn _(Grades 4–8 · pub 2024)_
- [The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise](https://readinglist.school/book/the-remarkable-journey-of-coyote-sunrise) by Dan Gemeinhart _(Grades 5–8 · pub 2019)_
- [Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky](https://readinglist.school/book/tristan-strong-punches-a-hole-in-the-sky) by Kwame Mbalia _(Grades 4–7 · pub 2022)_
- [Walk Two Moons](https://readinglist.school/book/walk-two-moons) by Sharon Creech _(770L · Grades 5–7 · pub 1994)_
- [Where the Red Fern Grows](https://readinglist.school/book/where-the-red-fern-grows) by Wilson Rawls _(700L · Grades 4–7 · pub 1961)_
- [Wildful](https://readinglist.school/book/wildful) by Kengo Kurimoto _(Grades 4–8 · pub 2025)_

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_Generated from primary-source citations indexed on ReadingList.school. HTML view: https://readinglist.school/grade/5/grief._