Indiana 4th grade reading list

The 591 books most commonly assigned to Indiana 4th grade students in US schools — each with its reading level and a cited source.

Try it on audio — free. Kids who struggle with the print versions often finish the assigned books by listening.

Listen free on Audiblestarts instantly

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.

Books591Lexile410L–1000LSourceIndiana Academic Standards✓ 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 Indiana 4th grade

These are the 23 titles named in Indiana’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 Indiana curriculum document and 2 national references, taught from grade 4 to 8. Covers race and identity, code-switching, middle school adjustment.

    Get it on Amazon

  2. Because of Winn-Dixie

    Kate DiCamillo

    Cited in 1 Indiana curriculum document 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.

    Get it on Amazon

  3. Out of My Mind

    Sharon M. Draper

    Cited in 1 Indiana curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 4 to 7. Covers disability, inclusion and intelligence. At 700L it sits just under the 740–1010L band for this grade.

    Get it on Amazon

  4. Shiloh

    Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

    Cited in 1 Indiana 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.

    Get it on Amazon

  5. Smile

    Raina Telgemeier

    Cited in 1 Indiana 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.

    Get it on Amazon

  6. 11 Birthdays

    Wendy Mass

    Cited in 1 Indiana curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 5.

    Get it on Amazon

  7. A Boy Called Bat

    Elana K. Arnold

    Cited in 1 Indiana curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 5. Covers neurodiversity, animals and family.

    Get it on Amazon

  8. Abduction

    Peg Kehret

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

    Get it on Amazon

  9. Because of Mr. Terupt

    Rob Buyea

    Cited in 1 Indiana curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 5.

    Get it on Amazon

  10. Ella Enchanted

    Gail Carson Levine

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

    Get it on Amazon

  11. Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library

    Chris Grabenstein

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

    Get it on Amazon

  12. Escaping the Giant Wave

    Peg Kehret

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

    Get it on Amazon

  13. Frindle

    Andrew Clements

    Cited in 1 Indiana curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 7. Covers creativity, language and thought, intelligence. At 830L it falls inside the 740–1010L band for this grade.

    Get it on Amazon

  14. Gregor the Overlander

    Suzanne Collins

    Cited in 1 Indiana curriculum document, taught from grade 4 to 7. Covers family, courage and destiny.

    Get it on Amazon

  15. How to Steal a Dog

    Barbara O'Connor

    Cited in 1 Indiana curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 5.

    Get it on Amazon

  16. Roller Girl

    Victoria Jamieson

    Cited in 1 Indiana curriculum document, taught from grade 4 to 7. Covers friendship, perseverance and growing up. At 440L it reads well below the 740–1010L band for this grade.

    Get it on Amazon

  17. Ruby Holler

    Sharon Creech

    Cited in 1 Indiana curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 5.

    Get it on Amazon

  18. Saving Shiloh

    Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

    Cited in 1 Indiana curriculum document, taught from grade 4 to 7. Covers loyalty, forgiveness and community.

    Get it on Amazon

  19. The City of Ember

    Jeanne DuPrau

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

    Get it on Amazon

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

    Rick Riordan

    Cited in 1 Indiana curriculum document, 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.

    Get it on Amazon

  21. Wait Till Helen Comes

    Mary Downing Hahn

    Cited in 1 Indiana curriculum document, taught from grade 4 to 7. Covers ghosts, family and jealousy.

    Get it on Amazon

  22. Wayside School Gets a Little Stranger

    Louis Sachar

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

    Get it on Amazon

  23. Wonder

    R.J. Palacio

    Cited in 1 Indiana curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 7. Covers facial difference, kindness and bullying. At 790L it falls inside the 740–1010L band for this grade.

    Get it on Amazon

591 books cited for Indiana 4th grade

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

Show all 591 titles

Reading the whole Indiana 4th grade reading list? Kids who struggle with the print versions often finish the assigned books by listening.

Listen free on Audiblestarts instantly

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.

Know a parent or teacher who needs this? Share it:FacebookPinterest

Teacher or librarian? Print this list as a checklist — free to photocopy for your class or library (details).

Other Indiana grades

3rd grade · 5th grade · 2nd grade · 6th grade

Reading lists by grade (all states)

3rd grade · 5th grade · 2nd grade · 6th grade

Same 4th grade in other states

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

Browse 4th grade reading by theme

About the Indiana 4th grade reading list

In Indiana schools, 4th grade students are most often assigned books drawn from Indiana Academic Standardsalongside the national curricula that apply nationwide — Common Core State Standards Appendix B, AP English, and the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme. ReadingList currently tracks 591 titles for 4th grade in Indiana, each tied to a Indiana-specific curriculum citation. Across the list, Lexile measures span 410L–1000L.

4th 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 52 titles here with a Lexile score 29 are grade-level, 23 are more accessible (often assigned for theme over challenge), and 0 are stretch texts that may need scaffolding. Because readers in a single 4th grade classroom can span several hundred Lexile points, this list is best read as a starting point rather than a fixed requirement.

Indiana’s English Language Arts requirements are set by Indiana Academic Standards (in.gov). Most states pair their own standards with the Common Core text-complexity framework, so the 4th grade list below blends Indiana-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 4th grade unit can pair a Indiana-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 4th grade students in Indiana?
591 books appear on ReadingList for 4th grade students in Indiana, sourced from Indiana Academic Standards and national curricula (Common Core, AP, IB) with applicable grade citations.
What's the Lexile range for 4th grade reading in Indiana?
Lexile measures across the 4th grade Indiana reading list range from 410L to 1000L. Books without a published Lexile (poetry, drama, picture books) are not included in this range.
Where does this reading list come from?
Entries reference Indiana Academic Standards (published at www.in.gov) plus national curricula that apply to Indiana 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

▸Embed this list on your site

Copy + paste this snippet into any school newsletter, classroom blog, library site, or homeschool resource page. The embed shows the top 12 titles and links back to the full list. Updates automatically when ReadingList’s data changes.

<iframe src="https://readinglist.school/embed/grade/4" width="100%" height="540" style="border:1px solid rgba(0,0,0,0.1);border-radius:6px;max-width:640px" loading="lazy" title="4th grade reading list — ReadingList.school"></iframe>

Preview: /embed/grade/4 · License: CC BY 4.0 (please credit “ReadingList.school”).

Was this page helpful?

Browse by another angle

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