Arizona 6th grade reading list

The 635 books most commonly assigned to Arizona 6th grade students in US schools — each with its reading level and a cited source.

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Books635Lexile410L–1120LSourceArizona ELA Standards✓ sources cited per book

Most-assigned nationally: 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).

Start here — most-cited for Arizona 6th grade

These are the 30 titles named in Arizona’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 Arizona curriculum document and 3 national references, taught from grade 4 to 8. Covers race and identity, code-switching, middle school adjustment.

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  2. Holes

    Louis Sachar

    Cited in 1 Arizona curriculum document and 2 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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  3. Bud, Not Buddy

    Christopher Paul Curtis

    Cited in 1 Arizona curriculum document and 1 national reference, 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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  4. Echo

    Pam Muñoz Ryan

    Cited in 1 Arizona curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 5 to 8. Covers music, family and war. At 680L it reads well below the 925–1185L band for this grade.

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  5. Shiloh

    Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

    Cited in 1 Arizona curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 3 to 6. Covers animal welfare, morality and family. At 890L it sits just under the 925–1185L band for this grade.

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  6. The Giver

    Lois Lowry

    Cited in 1 Arizona curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 6 to 8. Covers conformity vs individuality, memory, utopia and dystopia. At 760L it sits just under the 925–1185L band for this grade.

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  7. The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book 1)

    Rick Riordan

    Cited in 1 Arizona curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 4 to 7. Covers Greek mythology, neurodivergence (dyslexia, ADHD) and friendship. At 740L it sits just under the 925–1185L band for this grade.

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  8. The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane

    Kate DiCamillo

    Cited in 1 Arizona curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 3 to 6. Covers love, loss and journey.

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  9. Wonder

    R.J. Palacio

    Cited in 1 Arizona curriculum document and 1 national reference, 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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  10. A Handful of Stars

    Cynthia Lord

    Cited in 1 Arizona curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 8. Covers grandparent and child, blind dogs, grandparents.

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  11. Aliens Ate My Homework

    Bruce Coville

    Cited in 1 Arizona curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 8. Covers science fiction, life on other planets and extraterrestrial beings.

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  12. Backlash

    Sarah Darer Littman

    Cited in 1 Arizona curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 8. Covers neighbors, suicide and family life.

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  13. Becoming Muhammad Ali

    James Patterson

    Cited in 1 Arizona curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 8.

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  14. Closed for the Season

    Mary Downing Hahn

    Cited in 1 Arizona curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 8. Covers neighbors, murder and friendship.

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  15. Deep and Dark and Dangerous

    Mary Downing Hahn

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

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  16. Dragon Rider

    Cornelia Funke

    Cited in 1 Arizona curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 8. Covers animals, mythical.

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  17. Drama

    Raina Telgemeier

    Cited in 1 Arizona curriculum document, taught from grade 5 to 9. Covers theater, friendship and identity.

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  18. Drive-By

    Lynne Ewing

    Cited in 1 Arizona curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 8. Covers gangs, death, brothers and sisters.

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  19. Drums, Girls & Dangerous Pie

    Jordan Sonnenblick

    Cited in 1 Arizona curriculum document, taught from grade 6 to 9. Covers family, illness and music.

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  20. Ella Enchanted

    Gail Carson Levine

    Cited in 1 Arizona curriculum document, taught from grade 4 to 7. Covers courage, fairy-tale and independence.

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  21. Eragon

    Christopher Paolini

    Cited in 1 Arizona curriculum document, taught from grade 6 to 9. Covers dragons, destiny and courage.

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  22. Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library

    Chris Grabenstein

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

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  23. Guts

    Raina Telgemeier

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

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  24. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

    J.K. Rowling

    Cited in 1 Arizona curriculum document, taught from grade 4 to 7. Covers friendship, courage and good vs evil. At 880L it sits just under the 925–1185L band for this grade.

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  25. How to Eat Fried Worms

    Thomas Rockwell

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

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  26. Just Gus

    McCall Hoyle

    Cited in 1 Arizona curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 8.

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  27. Mick Harte Was Here

    Barbara Park

    Cited in 1 Arizona curriculum document, taught from grade 5 to 8. Covers grief, family and safety.

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  28. Molly Moon's Incredible Book of Hypnotism

    Georgia Byng

    Cited in 1 Arizona curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 8. Covers amistad, bank robberies and ficción juvenil.

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  29. Peter and the Starcatchers

    Dave Barry

    Cited in 1 Arizona curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 8. Covers characters in literature, humorous stories and magic.

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  30. Pie

    Sarah Weeks

    Cited in 1 Arizona curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 8. Covers families, cooking and mother-daughter relationship.

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635 books cited for Arizona 6th grade

Assignments tied directly to Arizona’s Arizona ELA Standards or national curricula with a Arizona-specific citation.

Show all 635 titles

Reading the whole Arizona 6th grade reading list? Kids who struggle with the print versions often finish the assigned books by listening.

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New members only · many assigned titles are included with the membership. As an Amazon Associate, ReadingList earns from qualifying purchases and membership trials at no extra cost to you.

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Other Arizona 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 Arizona 6th grade reading list

In Arizona schools, 6th grade students are most often assigned books drawn from Arizona ELA Standardsalongside the national curricula that apply nationwide — Common Core State Standards Appendix B, AP English, and the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme. ReadingList currently tracks 635 titles for 6th grade in Arizona, each tied to a Arizona-specific curriculum citation. 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 54 titles here with a Lexile score 7 are grade-level, 47 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.

Arizona’s English Language Arts requirements are set by Arizona ELA Standards (azed.gov). Most states pair their own standards with the Common Core text-complexity framework, so the 6th grade list below blends Arizona-specific assignments with the widely-taught national canon. 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 Arizona-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

How many books are assigned to 6th grade students in Arizona?
635 books appear on ReadingList for 6th grade students in Arizona, sourced from Arizona ELA Standards and national curricula (Common Core, AP, IB) with applicable grade citations.
What's the Lexile range for 6th grade reading in Arizona?
Lexile measures across the 6th grade Arizona 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?
Entries reference Arizona ELA Standards (published at www.azed.gov) plus national curricula that apply to Arizona schools: Common Core State Standards Appendix B, AP English Literature and Language, IB Diploma Programme, and Cambridge Assessment International. Every assignment row on each book's detail page links its primary source.

Reading guides for parents

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