Massachusetts 6th grade reading list

The 605 books most commonly assigned to Massachusetts 6th grade students in US schools — each with its reading level and a cited source.

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Books605Lexile410L–1120LSourceMA Curriculum Framework✓ 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 Massachusetts 6th grade

These are the 22 titles named in Massachusetts’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 Massachusetts 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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  2. Maniac Magee

    Jerry Spinelli

    Cited in 1 Massachusetts 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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  3. The Crossover

    Kwame Alexander

    Cited in 1 Massachusetts curriculum document and 2 national references, taught from grade 5 to 8. Covers family, brotherhood and basketball. At 750L it sits just under the 925–1185L band for this grade.

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  4. Hatchet

    Gary Paulsen

    Cited in 1 Massachusetts 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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  5. Matilda

    Roald Dahl

    Cited in 1 Massachusetts curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 3 to 6. Covers intelligence, overcoming neglect and teacher-student bond. At 840L it sits just under the 925–1185L band for this grade.

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  6. Shiloh

    Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

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

    Rick Riordan

    Cited in 1 Massachusetts 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 Tale of Despereaux

    Kate DiCamillo

    Cited in 1 Massachusetts curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 3 to 6. Covers courage, forgiveness and light vs dark. At 670L it reads well below the 925–1185L band for this grade.

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  9. Alone

    Megan E. Freeman

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

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  10. Artemis Fowl

    Eoin Colfer

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

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  11. Because of Winn-Dixie

    Kate DiCamillo

    Cited in 1 Massachusetts curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 5. Covers loss, friendship and mother absence. At 610L it reads well below the 925–1185L band for this grade.

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  12. Charlotte's Web

    E.B. White

    Cited in 1 Massachusetts curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 5. Covers friendship, mortality and loyalty. At 680L it reads well below the 925–1185L band for this grade.

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  13. Found

    Margaret Peterson Haddix

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

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  14. Frindle

    Andrew Clements

    Cited in 1 Massachusetts 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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  15. Jackie and Me

    Dan Gutman

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

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  16. The Great Gilly Hopkins

    Katherine Paterson

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

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  17. The Mysterious Benedict Society

    Trenton Lee Stewart

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

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  18. The Thief

    Megan Whalen Turner

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

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  19. The Thief Lord

    Cornelia Funke

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

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  20. There's a Boy in the Girls' Bathroom

    Louis Sachar

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

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  21. Wayside School Gets a Little Stranger

    Louis Sachar

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

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  22. Where the Red Fern Grows

    Wilson Rawls

    Cited in 1 Massachusetts curriculum document, taught from grade 4 to 7. Covers boy-and-dog bond, rural self-reliance and perseverance. At 700L it reads well below the 925–1185L band for this grade.

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605 books cited for Massachusetts 6th grade

Assignments tied directly to Massachusetts’s MA Curriculum Framework or national curricula with a Massachusetts-specific citation.

Show all 605 titles

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Other Massachusetts 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 Massachusetts 6th grade reading list

In Massachusetts schools, 6th grade students are most often assigned books drawn from MA Curriculum Frameworkalongside the national curricula that apply nationwide — Common Core State Standards Appendix B, AP English, and the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme. ReadingList currently tracks 605 titles for 6th grade in Massachusetts, each tied to a Massachusetts-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 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.

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