Missouri 6th grade reading list

The 610 books most commonly assigned to Missouri 6th grade students in US schools — each with its reading level and a cited source.

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Books610Lexile410L–1120LSourceMissouri Learning 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 Missouri 6th grade

These are the 29 titles named in Missouri’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. The War That Saved My Life

    Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

    Cited in 2 Missouri curriculum documents and 2 national references, taught from grade 4 to 7. Covers war, resilience and disability. At 580L it reads well below the 925–1185L band for this grade.

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  2. Blended

    Sharon M. Draper

    Cited in 2 Missouri curriculum documents and 1 national reference, taught from grade 3 to 7. Covers family, race and identity. At 610L it reads well below the 925–1185L band for this grade.

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  3. Out of My Mind

    Sharon M. Draper

    Cited in 2 Missouri curriculum documents and 1 national reference, taught from grade 4 to 7. Covers disability, inclusion and intelligence. At 700L it reads well below the 925–1185L band for this grade.

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

    Rick Riordan

    Cited in 2 Missouri curriculum documents 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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  5. Wonder

    R.J. Palacio

    Cited in 2 Missouri curriculum documents and 1 national reference, taught from grade 3 to 7. Covers facial difference, kindness and bullying. At 790L it sits just under the 925–1185L band for this grade.

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  6. A Million Ways Home

    Dianna Dorisi-Winget

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

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  7. Deep and Dark and Dangerous

    Mary Downing Hahn

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

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  8. Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library

    Chris Grabenstein

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

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  9. Millionaires for the Month

    Stacy McAnulty

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

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  10. One for Sorrow

    Mary Downing Hahn

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

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  11. Runaway Twin

    Peg Kehret

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

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  12. Six Feet Below Zero

    Ena Jones

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

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  13. Stolen Children

    Peg Kehret

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

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  14. The City of Ember

    Jeanne DuPrau

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

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  15. The Girl in the Lake

    India Hill Brown

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

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  16. The Sea of Monsters

    Rick Riordan

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

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  17. The Unwanteds

    Lisa McMann

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

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  18. Wenny Has Wings

    Janet Lee Carey

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

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  19. White Bird

    R.J. Palacio

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

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  20. Holes

    Louis Sachar

    Cited in 1 Missouri 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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  21. Maniac Magee

    Jerry Spinelli

    Cited in 1 Missouri 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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  22. Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH

    Robert C. O'Brien

    Cited in 1 Missouri 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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  23. Shiloh

    Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

    Cited in 1 Missouri 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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  24. Sounder

    William H. Armstrong

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

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  25. Because of Winn-Dixie

    Kate DiCamillo

    Cited in 1 Missouri 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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  26. How to Eat Fried Worms

    Thomas Rockwell

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

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  27. Saving Shiloh

    Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

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

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  28. The Dollhouse Murders

    Betty Ren Wright

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

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

    Louis Sachar

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

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610 books cited for Missouri 6th grade

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

Show all 610 titles

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

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Other Missouri 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 Missouri 6th grade reading list

In Missouri schools, 6th grade students are most often assigned books drawn from Missouri Learning Standardsalongside the national curricula that apply nationwide — Common Core State Standards Appendix B, AP English, and the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme. ReadingList currently tracks 610 titles for 6th grade in Missouri, each tied to a Missouri-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 52 titles here with a Lexile score 7 are grade-level, 45 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.

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