New Mexico 5th grade reading list

The 724 books most commonly assigned to New Mexico 5th grade students in US schools — each with its reading level and a cited source.

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Books724Lexile410L–1020LSourceNM Common Core✓ 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 New Mexico 5th grade

These are the 11 titles named in New Mexico’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. Maniac Magee

    Jerry Spinelli

    Cited in 1 New Mexico curriculum document and 3 national references, taught from grade 4 to 7. Covers race, homelessness and family. At 820L it falls inside the 740–1010L band for this grade.

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  2. The Tale of Despereaux

    Kate DiCamillo

    Cited in 1 New Mexico curriculum document and 2 national references, taught from grade 3 to 6. Covers courage, forgiveness and light vs dark. At 670L it sits just under the 740–1010L band for this grade.

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  3. Out of My Mind

    Sharon M. Draper

    Cited in 1 New Mexico 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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  4. Shiloh

    Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

    Cited in 1 New Mexico curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 3 to 6. Covers animal welfare, morality and family. At 890L it falls inside the 740–1010L band for this grade.

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  5. Wonder

    R.J. Palacio

    Cited in 1 New Mexico 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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  6. Deep and Dark and Dangerous

    Mary Downing Hahn

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

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  7. Ruby Holler

    Sharon Creech

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

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  8. So B. It

    Sarah Weeks

    Cited in 1 New Mexico curriculum document, taught from grade 5 to 8. Covers family, identity and journey.

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  9. Stolen Children

    Peg Kehret

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

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  10. The City of Ember

    Jeanne DuPrau

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

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

    Louis Sachar

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

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724 books cited for New Mexico 5th grade

Assignments tied directly to New Mexico’s NM Common Core or national curricula with a New Mexico-specific citation.

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Other New Mexico 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 New Mexico 5th grade reading list

In New Mexico schools, 5th grade students are most often assigned books drawn from NM Common Corealongside the national curricula that apply nationwide — Common Core State Standards Appendix B, AP English, and the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme. ReadingList currently tracks 724 titles for 5th grade in New Mexico, each tied to a New Mexico-specific curriculum citation. Across the list, Lexile measures span 410L–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 49 titles here with a Lexile score 28 are grade-level, 20 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.

New Mexico’s English Language Arts requirements are set by NM Common Core (webnew.ped.state.nm.us). Most states pair their own standards with the Common Core text-complexity framework, so the 5th grade list below blends New Mexico-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 New Mexico-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 New Mexico?
724 books appear on ReadingList for 5th grade students in New Mexico, sourced from NM Common Core and national curricula (Common Core, AP, IB) with applicable grade citations.
What's the Lexile range for 5th grade reading in New Mexico?
Lexile measures across the 5th grade New Mexico reading list range from 410L 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 NM Common Core (published at webnew.ped.state.nm.us) plus national curricula that apply to New Mexico 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 webnew.ped.state.nm.us. National references cited on each book’s detail page.