North Dakota 7th grade reading list

The 617 books most commonly assigned to North Dakota 7th grade students in US schools — each with its reading level and a cited source.

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Books617Lexile410L–1300LSourceND ELA 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 North Dakota 7th grade

These are the 16 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 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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  2. Maniac Magee

    Jerry Spinelli

    Cited in 1 North Dakota 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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  3. 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 falls inside the 925–1185L band for this grade.

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  4. Long Way Down

    Jason Reynolds

    Cited in 1 North Dakota curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 7 to 12. Covers grief, revenge and family. At 720L it reads well below the 925–1185L band for this grade.

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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 reads well below the 925–1185L band for this grade.

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  6. 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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  7. The One and Only Ivan

    Katherine Applegate

    Cited in 1 North Dakota 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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  8. 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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  9. 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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  10. 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 sits just under the 925–1185L band for this grade.

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  11. 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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  12. Refugee

    Alan Gratz

    Cited in 1 North Dakota curriculum document, taught from grade 5 to 9. Covers refugees, survival and family. At 800L it sits just under the 925–1185L band for this grade.

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  13. 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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  14. Touching Spirit Bear

    Ben Mikaelsen

    Cited in 1 North Dakota curriculum document, taught from grade 6 to 9. Covers survival, nature and courage.

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  15. Where the Red Fern Grows

    Wilson Rawls

    Cited in 1 North Dakota curriculum document, taught from grade 4 to 7. Covers boy-and-dog bond, rural self-reliance and perseverance. At 700L it reads well below the 925–1185L band for this grade.

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  16. Wonder

    R.J. Palacio

    Cited in 1 North Dakota curriculum document, 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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617 books cited for North Dakota 7th grade

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

Show all 617 titles

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Other North Dakota grades

6th grade · 8th grade · 5th grade · 9th grade

Reading lists by grade (all states)

6th grade · 8th grade · 5th grade · 9th grade

Same 7th grade in other states

California · Texas · Florida · New York · Pennsylvania · Illinois

Browse 7th grade reading by theme

About the North Dakota 7th grade reading list

In North Dakota schools, 7th 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 617 titles for 7th grade in North Dakota, each tied to a North Dakota-specific curriculum citation. Across the list, Lexile measures span 410L–1300L.

7th 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 58 titles here with a Lexile score 9 are grade-level, 48 are more accessible (often assigned for theme over challenge), and 1 is a stretch text that may need scaffolding. Because readers in a single 7th 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 7th 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 7th 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 7th grade students in North Dakota?
617 books appear on ReadingList for 7th 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 7th grade reading in North Dakota?
Lexile measures across the 7th grade North Dakota reading list range from 410L to 1300L. 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.