New Jersey 6th grade reading list

The 614 books most commonly assigned to New Jersey 6th grade students in US schools — each with its reading level and a cited source.

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Books614Lexile410L–1120LSourceNJ Student 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 New Jersey 6th grade

These are the 30 titles named in New Jersey’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. When You Reach Me

    Rebecca Stead

    Cited in 1 New Jersey curriculum document and 4 national references, taught from grade 4 to 8. Covers time travel (speculative), friendship and 1970s NYC. At 750L it sits just under the 925–1185L band for this grade.

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  2. Elijah of Buxton (Scholastic Gold)

    Christopher Paul Curtis

    Cited in 1 New Jersey curriculum document and 3 national references, taught from grade 5 to 8.

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  3. New Kid

    Jerry Craft

    Cited in 1 New Jersey curriculum document and 3 national references, taught from grade 4 to 8. Covers race and identity, code-switching, middle school adjustment.

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  4. Dead End in Norvelt

    Jack Gantos

    Cited in 1 New Jersey curriculum document and 2 national references, taught from grade 4 to 7.

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  5. Freewater

    Amina Luqman-Dawson

    Cited in 1 New Jersey curriculum document and 2 national references, taught from grade 4 to 7.

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  6. The Season of Styx Malone

    Kekla Magoon

    Cited in 1 New Jersey curriculum document and 2 national references, taught from grade 3 to 7. Covers family, friendship and adventure. At 510L it reads well below the 925–1185L band for this grade.

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  7. The War That Saved My Life

    Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

    Cited in 1 New Jersey curriculum document 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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  8. Bad News for Outlaws

    Vaunda Micheaux Nelson

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

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  9. Chickadee

    Louise Erdrich

    Cited in 1 New Jersey curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 4 to 7.

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  10. Dash (Dogs of World War II)

    Kirby Larson

    Cited in 1 New Jersey curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 4 to 7.

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  11. Fish in a Tree

    Lynda Mullaly Hunt

    Cited in 1 New Jersey 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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  12. Flora and Ulysses

    Kate DiCamillo

    Cited in 1 New Jersey curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 4 to 7.

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  13. Full of Beans

    Jennifer L. Holm

    Cited in 1 New Jersey curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 4 to 7.

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  14. P.S. Be Eleven

    Rita Williams-Garcia

    Cited in 1 New Jersey curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 5 to 8.

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  15. Pie in the Sky

    Remy Lai

    Cited in 1 New Jersey curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 3 to 6. Covers immigration, grief and baking.

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  16. The Invention of Hugo Cabret

    Brian Selznick

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

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  17. The Lost Year

    Katherine Marsh

    Cited in 1 New Jersey curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 6 to 8. Covers family, history and perseverance.

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  18. The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane

    Kate DiCamillo

    Cited in 1 New Jersey curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 3 to 6. Covers love, loss and journey.

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  19. The One and Only Ivan

    Katherine Applegate

    Cited in 1 New Jersey curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 3 to 7. Covers animal welfare, captivity and freedom, friendship across species. At 570L it reads well below the 925–1185L band for this grade.

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  20. The Truth As Told by Mason Buttle

    Leslie Connor

    Cited in 1 New Jersey curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 4 to 7.

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  21. The Wall

    Peter Sís

    Cited in 1 New Jersey curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 5 to 9.

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  22. Unspeakable

    Carole Boston Weatherford

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

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  23. When Stars Are Scattered

    Victoria Jamieson

    Cited in 1 New Jersey curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 5 to 8. Covers refugees, family and hope.

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  24. When You Trap a Tiger

    Tae Keller

    Cited in 1 New Jersey curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 4 to 7.

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  25. Wonderstruck

    Brian Selznick

    Cited in 1 New Jersey curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 4 to 7.

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  26. Amari and the Night Brothers

    B. B. Alston

    Cited in 1 New Jersey curriculum document, taught from grade 4 to 7. Covers magic, family and courage.

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  27. Big Nate: In a Class by Himself

    Lincoln Peirce

    Cited in 1 New Jersey curriculum document, taught from grade 4 to 7. Covers humor, school and friendship. At 500L it reads well below the 925–1185L band for this grade.

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  28. Class Act

    Jerry Craft

    Cited in 1 New Jersey curriculum document, taught from grade 4 to 8. Covers race, friendship and class.

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  29. Diary of a Wimpy Kid

    Jeff Kinney

    Cited in 1 New Jersey curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 7. Covers school, friendship and family. At 950L it falls inside the 925–1185L band for this grade.

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  30. Duel

    Jessixa Bagley

    Cited in 1 New Jersey curriculum document, taught from grade 4 to 8. Covers grief, sisters and family.

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614 books cited for New Jersey 6th grade

Assignments tied directly to New Jersey’s NJ Student Learning Standards or national curricula with a New Jersey-specific citation.

Show all 614 titles

Reading the whole New Jersey 6th 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 New Jersey 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 New Jersey 6th grade reading list

In New Jersey schools, 6th grade students are most often assigned books drawn from NJ Student 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 614 titles for 6th grade in New Jersey, each tied to a New Jersey-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 59 titles here with a Lexile score 9 are grade-level, 50 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.

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