North Dakota 5th grade reading list

The 730 books most commonly assigned to North Dakota 5th grade students in US schools — each with its reading level and a cited source.

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Books730Lexile410L–1020LSourceND ELA Standards✓ 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 North Dakota 5th grade

These are the 21 titles named in North Dakota’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 North Dakota curriculum document and 3 national references, taught from grade 4 to 7. Covers fate vs choice, friendship and justice. At 660L it sits just under the 740–1010L band for this grade.

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  2. Maniac Magee

    Jerry Spinelli

    Cited in 1 North Dakota 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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  3. The One and Only Ivan

    Katherine Applegate

    Cited in 1 North Dakota curriculum document and 2 national references, taught from grade 3 to 7. Covers animal welfare, captivity and freedom, friendship across species. At 570L it sits just under the 740–1010L band for this grade.

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  4. Hatchet

    Gary Paulsen

    Cited in 1 North Dakota curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 5 to 8. Covers survival, resilience and self-reliance. At 1020L it runs above the 740–1010L band — a stretch text.

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  5. Out of My Mind

    Sharon M. Draper

    Cited in 1 North Dakota 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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  6. Shiloh

    Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

    Cited in 1 North Dakota 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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  7. The Invention of Hugo Cabret

    Brian Selznick

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

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  8. Where the Red Fern Grows

    Wilson Rawls

    Cited in 1 North Dakota curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 4 to 7. Covers boy-and-dog bond, rural self-reliance and perseverance. At 700L it sits just under the 740–1010L band for this grade.

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  9. Wonder

    R.J. Palacio

    Cited in 1 North Dakota 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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  10. Amari and the Night Brothers

    B. B. Alston

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

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  11. Blubber

    Judy Blume

    Cited in 1 North Dakota curriculum document, taught from grade 4 to 7. Covers bullying, friendship and school.

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  12. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

    Roald Dahl

    Cited in 1 North Dakota curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 6. Covers poverty, kindness and imagination. At 810L it falls inside the 740–1010L band for this grade.

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  13. Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library

    Chris Grabenstein

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

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  14. Frindle

    Andrew Clements

    Cited in 1 North Dakota curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 7. Covers creativity, language and thought, intelligence. At 830L it falls inside the 740–1010L band for this grade.

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  15. Fudge-a-Mania

    Judy Blume

    Cited in 1 North Dakota curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 6.

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  16. Mick Harte Was Here

    Barbara Park

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

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  17. Refugee

    Alan Gratz

    Cited in 1 North Dakota curriculum document, taught from grade 5 to 9. Covers refugees, survival and family. At 800L it falls inside the 740–1010L band for this grade.

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  18. Superfudge

    Judy Blume

    Cited in 1 North Dakota curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 6.

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  19. Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing

    Judy Blume

    Cited in 1 North Dakota curriculum document, taught from grade 2 to 5. Covers siblings, family and everyday life. At 470L it reads well below the 740–1010L band for this grade.

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  20. The Best School Year Ever

    Barbara Robinson

    Cited in 1 North Dakota curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 6. Covers humor, family and school.

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  21. The River

    Gary Paulsen

    Cited in 1 North Dakota curriculum document, taught from grade 5 to 8. Covers survival, nature and courage.

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730 books cited for North Dakota 5th grade

Assignments tied directly to North Dakota’s ND ELA Standards or national curricula with a North Dakota-specific citation.

Show all 730 titles

Reading the whole North Dakota 5th grade reading list? Kids who struggle with the print versions often finish the assigned books by listening.

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Other North Dakota 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 North Dakota 5th grade reading list

In North Dakota schools, 5th grade students are most often assigned books drawn from ND ELA Standardsalongside the national curricula that apply nationwide — Common Core State Standards Appendix B, AP English, and the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme. ReadingList currently tracks 730 titles for 5th grade in North Dakota, each tied to a North Dakota-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 53 titles here with a Lexile score 31 are grade-level, 21 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.

North Dakota’s English Language Arts requirements are set by ND ELA Standards (nd.gov). Most states pair their own standards with the Common Core text-complexity framework, so the 5th grade list below blends North Dakota-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 North Dakota-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 North Dakota?
730 books appear on ReadingList for 5th grade students in North Dakota, sourced from ND ELA Standards and national curricula (Common Core, AP, IB) with applicable grade citations.
What's the Lexile range for 5th grade reading in North Dakota?
Lexile measures across the 5th grade North Dakota 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 ND ELA Standards (published at www.nd.gov) plus national curricula that apply to North Dakota 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.nd.gov. National references cited on each book’s detail page.