Hawaii 5th grade reading list

The 765 books most commonly assigned to Hawaii 5th grade students in US schools — each with its reading level and a cited source.

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Books765Lexile410L–1020LSourceHawaii Common Core✓ sources cited per book

Most-assigned nationally: 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).

Start here — most-cited for Hawaii 5th grade

These are the 30 titles named in Hawaii’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. Holes

    Louis Sachar

    Cited in 1 Hawaii curriculum document and 3 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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  2. Maniac Magee

    Jerry Spinelli

    Cited in 1 Hawaii curriculum document and 3 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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  3. New Kid

    Jerry Craft

    Cited in 1 Hawaii 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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  4. Bud, Not Buddy

    Christopher Paul Curtis

    Cited in 1 Hawaii curriculum document and 2 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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  5. Island of the Blue Dolphins

    Scott O'Dell

    Cited in 1 Hawaii curriculum document and 2 national references, taught from grade 4 to 7. Covers survival, solitude and indigenous identity. At 1000L it falls inside the 740–1010L band for this grade.

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  6. Dear Mr. Henshaw

    Beverly Cleary

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

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  7. El Deafo

    Cece Bell

    Cited in 1 Hawaii curriculum document and 1 national reference, 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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  8. Frizzy

    Claribel Ortega

    Cited in 1 Hawaii curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 4 to 5.

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  9. Shiloh

    Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

    Cited in 1 Hawaii curriculum document and 1 national reference, 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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  10. Smile

    Raina Telgemeier

    Cited in 1 Hawaii curriculum document and 1 national reference, 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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  11. Sounder

    William H. Armstrong

    Cited in 1 Hawaii curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 3 to 7.

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  12. The Invention of Hugo Cabret

    Brian Selznick

    Cited in 1 Hawaii curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 3 to 7.

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

    Rick Riordan

    Cited in 1 Hawaii curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 4 to 7. Covers Greek mythology, neurodivergence (dyslexia, ADHD) and friendship. At 740L it falls inside the 740–1010L band for this grade.

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  14. The Whipping Boy

    Sid Fleischman

    Cited in 1 Hawaii curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 3 to 7. Covers friendship, adventure and courage.

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  15. Under the Blood-Red Sun

    Graham Salisbury

    Cited in 1 Hawaii curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 5 to 8.

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  16. Wonder

    R.J. Palacio

    Cited in 1 Hawaii curriculum document and 1 national reference, 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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  17. Allergic

    Megan Wagner Lloyd

    Cited in 1 Hawaii curriculum document, taught from grade 4 to 6. Covers new york times reviewed and comic books, strips, etc..

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  18. Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret

    Judy Blume

    Cited in 1 Hawaii curriculum document, taught from grade 4 to 6. Covers puberty, menarche and christians.

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  19. Be a Perfect Person in Just Three Days

    Stephen Manes

    Cited in 1 Hawaii curriculum document, taught from grade 4 to 6. Covers humorous stories, behavior and boys, fiction.

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  20. Because of Winn-Dixie

    Kate DiCamillo

    Cited in 1 Hawaii curriculum document, 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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  21. Boy at War

    Harry Mazer

    Cited in 1 Hawaii curriculum document, taught from grade 4 to 6. Covers world war, 1939-1945, causes and history.

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  22. Bunnicula

    Deborah Howe

    Cited in 1 Hawaii curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 6.

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  23. Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator

    Roald Dahl

    Cited in 1 Hawaii curriculum document, taught from grade 4 to 6. Covers outer space, fiction, science fiction and humorous stories.

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  24. City Spies

    James Ponti

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

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  25. Double Fudge

    Judy Blume

    Cited in 1 Hawaii curriculum document, taught from grade 4 to 6. Covers humorous stories, families and brothers.

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  26. Found

    Margaret Peterson Haddix

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

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  27. Freaky Friday

    Mary Rodgers

    Cited in 1 Hawaii curriculum document, taught from grade 4 to 6. Covers mothers and daughters, fiction, mothers and daughters, schools.

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  28. Front Desk

    Kelly Yang

    Cited in 1 Hawaii curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 7. Covers immigration, family and race. At 640L it sits just under the 740–1010L band for this grade.

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  29. Fudge

    Charlotte Towner Graeber

    Cited in 1 Hawaii curriculum document, taught from grade 4 to 6. Covers responsibility, dogs and pets.

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  30. Fudge-a-Mania

    Judy Blume

    Cited in 1 Hawaii curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 6.

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765 books cited for Hawaii 5th grade

Assignments tied directly to Hawaii’s Hawaii Common Core or national curricula with a Hawaii-specific citation.

Show all 765 titles

Reading the whole Hawaii 5th 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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Teacher or librarian? Print this list as a checklist — free to photocopy for your class or library (details).

Other Hawaii 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 Hawaii 5th grade reading list

In Hawaii schools, 5th grade students are most often assigned books drawn from Hawaii Common Corealongside the national curricula that apply nationwide — Common Core State Standards Appendix B, AP English, and the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme. ReadingList currently tracks 765 titles for 5th grade in Hawaii, each tied to a Hawaii-specific curriculum citation. Across the list, Lexile measures span 410L–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 56 titles here with a Lexile score 31 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.

Hawaii’s English Language Arts requirements are set by Hawaii Common Core (hawaiipublicschools.org). Most states pair their own standards with the Common Core text-complexity framework, so the 5th grade list below blends Hawaii-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 5th grade unit can pair a Hawaii-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 5th grade students in Hawaii?
765 books appear on ReadingList for 5th grade students in Hawaii, sourced from Hawaii Common Core and national curricula (Common Core, AP, IB) with applicable grade citations.
What's the Lexile range for 5th grade reading in Hawaii?
Lexile measures across the 5th grade Hawaii reading list range from 410L to 1020L. Books without a published Lexile (poetry, drama, picture books) are not included in this range.
Where does this reading list come from?
Entries reference Hawaii Common Core (published at www.hawaiipublicschools.org) plus national curricula that apply to Hawaii 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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