New York 6th grade reading list

The 597 books most commonly assigned to New York 6th grade students in US schools — each with its reading level and a cited source.

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Books597Lexile410L–1120LSourceNext Generation 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 York 6th grade

These are the 15 titles named in New York’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 York 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. Brown Girl Dreaming

    Jacqueline Woodson

    Cited in 1 New York curriculum document and 3 national references, taught from grade 5 to 8. Covers identity, family and civil rights. At 990L it falls inside the 925–1185L band for this grade.

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  3. New Kid

    Jerry Craft

    Cited in 1 New York 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. Maniac Magee

    Jerry Spinelli

    Cited in 1 New York 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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  5. A First Time for Everything

    Dan Santat

    Cited in 1 New York curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 4 to 8.

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  6. Number the Stars

    Lois Lowry

    Cited in 1 New York curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 4 to 7. Covers courage, friendship and Holocaust. At 670L it reads well below 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 New York 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. We Will Not Be Silent

    Russell Freedman

    Cited in 1 New York curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 4 to 10.

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  9. Wonder

    R.J. Palacio

    Cited in 1 New York curriculum document 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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  10. A Tale Dark and Grimm

    Adam Gidwitz

    Cited in 1 New York curriculum document, taught from grade 4 to 7. Covers fairy tales, courage and siblings.

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  11. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

    J.K. Rowling

    Cited in 1 New York curriculum document, taught from grade 4 to 7. Covers friendship, courage and good vs evil. At 880L it sits just under the 925–1185L band for this grade.

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  12. Mick Harte Was Here

    Barbara Park

    Cited in 1 New York curriculum document, taught from grade 5 to 8. Covers grief, family and safety.

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  13. Stargirl

    Jerry Spinelli

    Cited in 1 New York curriculum document, taught from grade 6 to 9. Covers individuality, conformity and first love.

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  14. Stolen Children

    Peg Kehret

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

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  15. The Hunger Games

    Suzanne Collins

    Cited in 1 New York curriculum document, taught from grade 6 to 9. Covers authoritarianism, survival, media and spectacle. At 810L it sits just under the 925–1185L band for this grade.

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597 books cited for New York 6th grade

Assignments tied directly to New York’s Next Generation Learning Standards or national curricula with a New York-specific citation.

Show all 597 titles

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

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Other New York 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 · Pennsylvania · Illinois · Ohio

Browse 6th grade reading by theme

About the New York 6th grade reading list

In New York schools, 6th grade students are most often assigned books drawn from Next Generation 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 597 titles for 6th grade in New York, each tied to a New York-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 53 titles here with a Lexile score 7 are grade-level, 46 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 York’s English Language Arts requirements are set by Next Generation Learning Standards (nysed.gov). Most states pair their own standards with the Common Core text-complexity framework, so the 6th grade list below blends New York-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 York-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 York?
597 books appear on ReadingList for 6th grade students in New York, sourced from Next Generation Learning Standards and national curricula (Common Core, AP, IB) with applicable grade citations.
What's the Lexile range for 6th grade reading in New York?
Lexile measures across the 6th grade New York 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 Next Generation Learning Standards (published at www.nysed.gov) plus national curricula that apply to New York 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.nysed.gov. National references cited on each book’s detail page.