Kansas 6th grade reading list

The 617 books most commonly assigned to Kansas 6th grade students in US schools — each with its reading level and a cited source.

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Books617Lexile360L–1120LSourceKansas Academic 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 Kansas 6th grade

These are the 30 titles named in Kansas’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. Ghost

    Jason Reynolds

    Cited in 2 Kansas curriculum documents and 1 national reference, taught from grade 5 to 8. Covers running, family violence and mentorship. At 730L it sits just under the 925–1185L band for this grade.

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  2. A Million Ways Home

    Dianna Dorisi-Winget

    Cited in 2 Kansas curriculum documents, taught from grade 4 to 6.

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  3. Confetti Girl

    Diana López

    Cited in 2 Kansas curriculum documents, taught from grade 6 to 8.

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  4. Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library

    Chris Grabenstein

    Cited in 2 Kansas curriculum documents, taught from grade 4 to 6.

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  5. Ghost Boys

    Jewell Parker Rhodes

    Cited in 2 Kansas curriculum documents, taught from grade 4 to 7. Covers race, justice and family. At 360L it reads well below the 925–1185L band for this grade.

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  6. Ghost Dog Secrets

    Peg Kehret

    Cited in 2 Kansas curriculum documents, taught from grade 6 to 8.

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  7. Ground Zero

    Alan Gratz

    Cited in 2 Kansas curriculum documents, taught from grade 6 to 8.

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  8. Hidden

    Helen Frost

    Cited in 2 Kansas curriculum documents, taught from grade 6 to 8.

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  9. Restart

    Gordon Korman

    Cited in 2 Kansas curriculum documents, taught from grade 5 to 8. Covers identity, bullying and memory. At 730L it sits just under the 925–1185L band for this grade.

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  10. The Boy Who Dared

    Susan Campbell Bartoletti

    Cited in 2 Kansas curriculum documents, taught from grade 6 to 8.

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  11. The Fort

    Gordon Korman

    Cited in 2 Kansas curriculum documents, taught from grade 6 to 8.

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  12. The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise

    Dan Gemeinhart

    Cited in 2 Kansas curriculum documents, taught from grade 5 to 8. Covers grief, family and journey.

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  13. Took

    Mary Downing Hahn

    Cited in 2 Kansas curriculum documents, taught from grade 6 to 8.

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  14. Holes

    Louis Sachar

    Cited in 1 Kansas 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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  15. Maniac Magee

    Jerry Spinelli

    Cited in 1 Kansas curriculum document and 2 national references, taught from grade 4 to 7. Covers race, homelessness and family. At 820L it sits just under the 925–1185L band for this grade.

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  16. Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH

    Robert C. O'Brien

    Cited in 1 Kansas curriculum document and 2 national references, taught from grade 4 to 6. Covers family, courage, science and ethics. At 790L it sits just under the 925–1185L band for this grade.

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  17. Amos Fortune, Free Man

    Elizabeth Yates

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

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  18. Bud, Not Buddy

    Christopher Paul Curtis

    Cited in 1 Kansas 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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  19. Clementine

    Sara Pennypacker

    Cited in 1 Kansas curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 3 to 8.

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  20. Fish in a Tree

    Lynda Mullaly Hunt

    Cited in 1 Kansas curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 4 to 7. Covers disability, friendship and school. At 550L it reads well below the 925–1185L band for this grade.

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  21. From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler

    E.L. Konigsburg

    Cited in 1 Kansas curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 4 to 6. Covers independence, art and running away. At 700L it reads well below the 925–1185L band for this grade.

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  22. Hatchet

    Gary Paulsen

    Cited in 1 Kansas curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 5 to 8. Covers survival, resilience and self-reliance. At 1020L it falls inside the 925–1185L band for this grade.

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  23. Island of the Blue Dolphins

    Scott O'Dell

    Cited in 1 Kansas curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 4 to 7. Covers survival, solitude and indigenous identity. At 1000L it falls inside the 925–1185L band for this grade.

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  24. Shiloh

    Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

    Cited in 1 Kansas 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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  25. The Giver

    Lois Lowry

    Cited in 1 Kansas 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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  26. 96 Miles

    J. L. Esplin

    Cited in 1 Kansas curriculum document, taught from grade 6 to 8.

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  27. Buddy

    M. H. Herlong

    Cited in 1 Kansas curriculum document, taught from grade 6 to 8.

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  28. Cracker The Best Dog in Vietnam

    Cynthia Kadohata

    Cited in 1 Kansas curriculum document, taught from grade 6 to 8.

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  29. Frindle

    Andrew Clements

    Cited in 1 Kansas curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 7. Covers creativity, language and thought, intelligence. At 830L it sits just under the 925–1185L band for this grade.

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  30. Mick Harte Was Here

    Barbara Park

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

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617 books cited for Kansas 6th grade

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

Show all 617 titles

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

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Other Kansas 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 Kansas 6th grade reading list

In Kansas schools, 6th grade students are most often assigned books drawn from Kansas 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 617 titles for 6th grade in Kansas, each tied to a Kansas-specific curriculum citation. Across the list, Lexile measures span 360L–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 55 titles here with a Lexile score 7 are grade-level, 48 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.

Kansas’s English Language Arts requirements are set by Kansas Academic Standards (ksde.org). Most states pair their own standards with the Common Core text-complexity framework, so the 6th grade list below blends Kansas-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 Kansas-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 Kansas?
617 books appear on ReadingList for 6th grade students in Kansas, sourced from Kansas Academic Standards and national curricula (Common Core, AP, IB) with applicable grade citations.
What's the Lexile range for 6th grade reading in Kansas?
Lexile measures across the 6th grade Kansas reading list range from 360L 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 Kansas Academic Standards (published at www.ksde.org) plus national curricula that apply to Kansas 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.ksde.org. National references cited on each book’s detail page.