If you’re looking for a great list of must-read 6th grade books for summer reading or planning out your 6th grader’s reading list for the year, you’ve landed in the right place! Here we have an amazing line-up of clean and timeless stories, living books, Newbery award winners, and tried-and-true classics for 6th graders that they will actually want to read.
The middle school years represent a time when kids begin to consider challenging topics and explore the injustices of life. Some of these books explore some tough themes! Others, especially older literature, frame issues in ways that are different than we do today – which is an excellent source of discussion and dialogue! All the books on the list, however, represent clean, quality children’s literature!
What Level are 6th Grade Books?
Typically, students in 6th grade read in levels W, X, and Y on the Fountas & Pinnell reading scale, which translates to level 60 on DRA and 900-975 Lexile. However, even the best middle school readers enjoy reading books that are easier and more digestible, so you may want to also check out this list of 5th grade books as well. There’s nothing wrong with reading easy books for fun!
If you’re not sure of your child’s reading level, you can find out quickly at home. I always say books are like shoes – if you’re child hates reading, chances are the books are too easy or too difficult. The key is to get them at just the right level!
READ: Stop! Do You Know Your Kids Reading Level?
Key Features of 6th Grade Books
- Multifaceted characters
- Require interpretation
- Mature societal issues
- Solid theme development
- Require critical thinking
- Challenging themes
- Heroic-larger-than-life characters
- Multiple settings
- Complex structure
- Adolescent issues
- Layers of understanding
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Clean, Quality 6th Grade Books
1. Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
2. Ginger Pye by Eleanor Estes
3. Rain Reign by Ann M. Martin
4. The Golden Goblet by Eloise Jarvis McGraw
5. Dragon Rider by Cornelia Funke
6 The Bad Beginning: Or Orphans! – A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket
7. The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster
8. The Door in the Wall by Marguerite de Angeli
9. Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor
10. The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare
11. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J. K. Rowling
12. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle
13. Old Yeller by Fred Gipson
14. Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls
15. Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne
16. The Midwife’s Apprentice by Karen Cushman
17. The Giver by Lois Lowry
18. Anne of Avonlea by L. M Montgomery
19. The Call of the Wild by Jack London
20. The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle by Hugh Lofting
21. The Wingfeather Saga by Andrew Peterson
RELATED POSTS:
- 1st Grade Books List
- 2nd Grade Books List
- 3rd Grade Books List
- 4th Grade Books List
- 5th Grade Books List
- 6th Grade Books List
- 7th-8th Grade Books List
- 100 Must-Read Classics for Kids: The Complete Elementary Reading List
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Great article. Thank you for your post, it helps me to develop my work. Kimbra Emelen Edmund
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