Maryland 5th grade reading list

The 753 books most commonly assigned to Maryland 5th grade students in US schools — each with its reading level and a cited source.

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Books753Lexile360L–1020LSourceMaryland College & Career Ready 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 Maryland 5th grade

These are the 30 titles named in Maryland’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 Maryland 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. Matilda

    Roald Dahl

    Cited in 1 Maryland curriculum document and 2 national references, taught from grade 3 to 6. Covers intelligence, overcoming neglect and teacher-student bond. At 840L it falls inside the 740–1010L band for this grade.

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  3. The Crossover

    Kwame Alexander

    Cited in 1 Maryland curriculum document and 2 national references, taught from grade 5 to 8. Covers family, brotherhood and basketball. At 750L it falls inside the 740–1010L band for this grade.

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  4. El Deafo

    Cece Bell

    Cited in 1 Maryland 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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  5. Frizzy

    Claribel Ortega

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

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  6. Out of My Mind

    Sharon M. Draper

    Cited in 1 Maryland 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.

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  7. Swim Team

    Johnnie Christmas

    Cited in 1 Maryland curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 3 to 7. Covers perseverance, friendship and race.

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  8. Wonder

    R.J. Palacio

    Cited in 1 Maryland 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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  9. 101 Ways to Bug Your Parents

    Lee Wardlaw

    Cited in 1 Maryland curriculum document, taught from grade 4 to 6. Covers family life, moneymaking projects, parent and child.

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  10. 11 Birthdays

    Wendy Mass

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

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  11. A Night Divided

    Jennifer A. Nielsen

    Cited in 1 Maryland curriculum document, taught from grade 5 to 8. Covers courage, freedom and family.

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  12. A Wolf Called Wander

    Rosanne Parry

    Cited in 1 Maryland curriculum document, taught from grade 4 to 6. Covers new york times bestseller, wolves, fiction and animals, infancy, fiction.

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  13. Allies

    Alan Gratz

    Cited in 1 Maryland curriculum document, taught from grade 5 to 9. Covers war, courage and sacrifice.

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  14. Because of Winn-Dixie

    Kate DiCamillo

    Cited in 1 Maryland 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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  15. City Spies

    James Ponti

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

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  16. Dogtown

    Katherine Applegate & Gennifer Choldenko

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

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  17. Ella Enchanted

    Gail Carson Levine

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

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  18. Ellie's Story

    W. Bruce Cameron

    Cited in 1 Maryland curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 6. Covers working animals, search dogs and human-animal relationships.

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  19. Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library

    Chris Grabenstein

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

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  20. Fourth Grade Rats

    Jerry Spinelli

    Cited in 1 Maryland curriculum document, taught from grade 4 to 6. Covers conduct of life, schools and friendship.

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  21. Frindle

    Andrew Clements

    Cited in 1 Maryland 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.

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  22. Front Desk

    Kelly Yang

    Cited in 1 Maryland 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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  23. Fudge-a-Mania

    Judy Blume

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

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  24. Ghost Boys

    Jewell Parker Rhodes

    Cited in 1 Maryland curriculum document, taught from grade 4 to 7. Covers race, justice and family. At 360L it reads well below the 740–1010L band for this grade.

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  25. Gracie Under the Waves

    Linda Sue Park

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

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  26. Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher

    Bruce Coville

    Cited in 1 Maryland curriculum document, taught from grade 4 to 6. Covers dragons, pets and friendship.

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  27. No Talking

    Andrew Clements

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

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  28. Odder

    Katherine Applegate

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

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  29. Restart

    Gordon Korman

    Cited in 1 Maryland curriculum document, taught from grade 5 to 8. Covers identity, bullying and memory. At 730L it sits just under the 740–1010L band for this grade.

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  30. Roller Girl

    Victoria Jamieson

    Cited in 1 Maryland 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.

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753 books cited for Maryland 5th grade

Assignments tied directly to Maryland’s Maryland College & Career Ready Standards or national curricula with a Maryland-specific citation.

Show all 753 titles

Reading the whole Maryland 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 Maryland 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 Maryland 5th grade reading list

In Maryland schools, 5th grade students are most often assigned books drawn from Maryland College & Career Ready Standardsalongside the national curricula that apply nationwide — Common Core State Standards Appendix B, AP English, and the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme. ReadingList currently tracks 753 titles for 5th grade in Maryland, each tied to a Maryland-specific curriculum citation. Across the list, Lexile measures span 360L–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 57 titles here with a Lexile score 30 are grade-level, 26 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.

Maryland’s English Language Arts requirements are set by Maryland College & Career Ready Standards (marylandpublicschools.org). Most states pair their own standards with the Common Core text-complexity framework, so the 5th grade list below blends Maryland-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 Maryland-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 Maryland?
753 books appear on ReadingList for 5th grade students in Maryland, sourced from Maryland College & Career Ready Standards and national curricula (Common Core, AP, IB) with applicable grade citations.
What's the Lexile range for 5th grade reading in Maryland?
Lexile measures across the 5th grade Maryland reading list range from 360L 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 Maryland College & Career Ready Standards (published at marylandpublicschools.org) plus national curricula that apply to Maryland 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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