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Books For 5th and 6th Graders

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Booklists for Fifth and Sixth Graders!

Are you looking for books for your 5th or 6th grader? Then you've come to the right place! This is a short list of books that are guaranteed to interest any young reader. This list includes books set in the present and the past, in addition to true stories and graphic novels. Including great books for both girls and boys! Perfect for summer reading. Studies show that summer reading programs can result in improved performance when students return to school in the fall.

"You cannot open a book without learning something."
~Confucius

Books Set in Modern Times

"Books are the quietest and most constant of friends; they are the most accessible and wisest of counselors, and the most patient of teachers."
~Charles W. Eliot

  • Love That Dog by Sharon Creech.

    A boy who thinks poetry is just for girls changes his opinion, thanks to a special teacher and a classroom visit from Walter Dean Myers.

  • Brendan Buckley's Universe and Everything in It by Sundee T. Frazier

    Brendan Buckley, whose mother is White and his father is African American, is a scientist. Why hasn't he ever met his grandfather, who is also a scientist?

  • The Road to Paris by Nikki Grimes

    Eight-year-old Paris is separated from her adored older brother when they are placed in different foster homes.

  • Edward's Eyes by Patricia MacLaughlan

    Eleven-year-old Jake appreciates everyone in his close-knit family but he has a special closeness with Edward, his little brother. It is the love of this family that helps him through a tragic accident.

  • Saffy's Angel by Hilary McKay

    After learning she was adopted, Saffy's relationship with her eccentric, artistic family is strained, until they help her go back to Italy, to where she was born, to find a memento from her past.

  • The Higher Power of Lucky by Susan Patron

    Hard Pan, California (population 43) is not your usual town, but ten-year-old Lucky loves her desert home where she pursues her search for her "Higher Power."

  • Lawn Boy by Gary Paulson

    Things get out of hand for a twelve-year old boy when a neighbor convinces him to expand his summer lawn mowing business.

  • The Way a Door Closes by Hope Anita Smith

    Written in verse, this is the story of an African American family that struggles to survive in the face of Daddy's loss of his job.

  • Listen! by Stephanie Tolan

    Charley (Charlotte) has to exercise to strengthen the leg that was injured in a recent car accident, as well as to try to come to terms with the death of her mother two years earlier.

  • Feathers by Jacqueline Woodson

    The new kid in Frannie's 6th grade class, nick named "Jesus Boy" because of his appearance and calm demeanor, challenges her to reevaluate many of her long held beliefs and to find a new peace with her family situation.

  • Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech

    Thirteen-year-old Salamanca Tree Hiddle's mother has disappeared. While tracing her steps on a car trip from Ohio to Idaho with her grandparents, Salamanca tells a story to pass the time about a friend named Phoebe Winterbottom whose mother vanished.

  • HOLES by Louis Sachar

    "If you take a bad boy and make him dig a hole every day in the hot sun, it will turn him into a good boy." Such is the reigning philosophy at Camp Green Lake, a juvenile detention facility where there is no lake, and there are no happy campers.

"In Summer at Reading" (1959) by Russian artist Nikolai Pozdneev (via Wikimedia Commons)

Books Set in the Past

"The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go."
-Dr. Seuss

  • Number the Stars by Lois Lowry

    Set in Nazi-occupied Denmark in 1943, this 1990 Newbery winner tells of a 10-year-old girl who undertakes a dangerous mission to save her best friend.

  • Home of the Brave by Katherine Applegate

    Kek has many adjustments to make when he comes to America after escaping from the horrible war in Sudan where his father and brother have died. Was his mother able to escape too?

  • The Seer of Shadows by Avi

    A ghost story set in New York City in the year 1872 that involves the new-fangled art of photography and the spirit of revenge!

  • The Seven Wonders of Sassafras Springs by Betty Birney

    Eben is bored in his rural town of Sassafras Springs, and really wants to travel. His father makes a deal with him: if he can find seven Wonders right here in town, his father will buy him a ticket to Colorado.

  • Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Curtis

    Elijah, the first child born in Buxton, Canada, which is a haven for escaping slaves, goes to find the preacher who has stolen the money that a man was saving to buy his family's freedom.

  • Blood on the River: Jamestown 1607 by Elisa Lynn Carbone

    Travelling to the New World as a page to Captain John Smith in 1606, twelve-year-old orphan Samual Collier settles into the new colony of James Town, where he must quickly learn to distinguish between friend and foe.

  • Penny from Heaven by Jennifer Holm

    No one will tell Penny how her father died years ago when she was a baby, but she has remained close to her Italian-American relatives.

  • Shooting the Moon by Frances O'Roark Dowell

    When Army brat Jamie Dexter's older brother joins the Army and goes to Vietnam, Jamie is happy and proud. When her brother starts sending film of the pictures he has taken and asks her to develop it, she learns a lot about war %u2026 and about herself.

  • Journey to the Bottomless Pit: the Story of Stephen Bishop and Mammoth Cave by Elizabeth Mitchell

    Reads like a biography. Stephen Bishop was a slave whose job was to explore and guide people through Mammoth Cave.

  • Keeping Score by Linda Sue Park

    Maggie is not a traitor to the Dodgers, even though she befriends Jim, a die-hard Dodgers fan, who teaches her how to score a baseball game before he goes off to serve in the Korean War.

  • Billy Creekmore by Tracey Porter

    Billy is relieved when a mysterious uncle comes to take him away from the horrible Guardian Angels Home for Boys where he's been living.

  • Riding Freedom by Pam Munoz Ryan

    This fictionalized biography describes the life of Charley (Charlotte) Parkhurst, who spent her life masquerading as a man in order to pursue her dream of driving stagecoaches.

  • The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick

    When twelve-year old Hugo, an orphan living and repairing clocks within the walls of a Paris train station in 1931, meets a mysterious toy seller and his goddaughter, his undercover life and his biggest secret are jeopardized.

  • Way Down Deep by Ruth White

    It is the summer of 1944, and a red-headed toddler mysteriously appears on the courthouse steps of the tiny hamlet of Way Down Deep, West Virginia. The town takes her in and raises her, but years later she begins to discover the secrets of her past.

  • Red Rose Box by Brenda Woods

    Ten-year-old Leah lives in a small town in Louisiana in 1953, and wants to travel to escape poverty. When the red rose box comes in the mail, perhaps her dreams will be realized - but at what price?

  • When the Circus Came to Town by Laurence Yep

    Ursula's has a wild imagination, but when she contracts smallpox and is horribly scarred, she wants to hide in her room forever. The family's Chinese cook brings a circus to the town to help bring her out of her shell.

"Three Reading Women in a Summer Landscape" (1908) by Johan Krouthén (via Wikimedia Commons)

True Stories

"Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore."
~Andre Gide

"The Reader" (1770-1772) by Jean-Honoré Fragonard (via Wikimedia Commons)

Graphic Novels

"When writing a novel a writer should create living people; people not characters. A character is a caricature."
~Ernest Hemingway

  • Oddly Normal by Otis Frampton

    Oddly Normal, a half witch with green hair and pointy ears is miserable. When an accidental wish on her tenth birthday goes awry, her parents disappear and she finds herself living with her great-aunt in Figmation.

  • Rapunzel's Revenge by Shannon Hale

    Who knew that Rapunzel spent most of the time that she was locked in the tower practicing using her long tresses as lassos. When she escapes from her prison, she works to remove her evil foster mother from power.

  • Little Vampire series by Joann Sfar

    Little Vampire lives in an old mansion with his vampire mother, ghost dog, and some stray monsters and makes a human friend.

  • Into the Volcano by Don Wood

    Brothers Duffy and Sumo go to visit their aunt, whom they have never met before. They get trapped inside an erupting volcano while being chased.

  • Bone: Out of Boneville by Jeff Smith

    Grade 5 Up-A whimsical journey, cunningly told. It combines fable with American legend in a tale of greed, friendship, and struggle.

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More Reading Lists

Even more reading ideas for your 5th or 6th grader! Includes some great summer reading programs that are worth checking into!

"Reading is a basic tool in the living of a good life."
-Mortimer J. Adler

Favorite Books for Fifth-Graders
Our panel of children's book experts recommends these great books for your fifth-grader.
5th Grade Reading List
Extensive list of books for 5th graders to explore!
6th Grade Reading List
Extensive listing of 6th grader reading ideas.
Education World: Sixth Grade Summer Reading List
Wonderful summer reading list -- includes both historical and contemporary fiction for 6th graders.
Scholastic Summer Challenge | Reading program keeping kids reading all summer long | Scholastic.com
Kids around the world log reading minutes in an effort to set a new world record for summer reading and be featured in the Scholastic Book of World Records
Collaborative Summer Library Program - Welcome
The Collaborative Summer Library Program (CSLP) is a grassroots consortium of states working together to provide high-quality summer reading program materials for children at the lowest cost possible for their public libraries.
Reading Program | Institute of Reading Development
The Institute helps universities, colleges, school districts, and municipalities provide summer reading programs to the communities and families in their service areas.

Great books from Amazon.com!

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Don't Forget Harry Potter!

Suitable for any age....

Harry Potter Paperback Box Set (Books 1-7)

Harry Potter Paperback Box Set (Books 1-7)

by: J. K. Rowling

Amazon Price: $44.46 (as of 05/30/2012)Buy Now
Used Price: $34.99

Harry Potter is "the boy who lived" through a terribly dark time for witches and wizards when he was just an infant. The series takes us through Harry's magical journey -- and all his hardships and triumphs along the way. So much more than the classic battle of good vs. evil! This is a series that can be read by people of all ages! If you enjoy the movies, you will certainly love these books.

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  • Serenia May 25, 2012 @ 8:28 am | delete
    My son will be going into grade 5 in september and these are some great ideas to try and get him interested, thanks.
    Did you know that the Hugo Cabret book (brian selznick) is now a movie. I LOVED the movie. It has lots of STEAMPUNK in it!!!
  • Sylvestermouse May 8, 2012 @ 10:49 am | delete
    Oh, summer reading! I used to wish the school year would hurry and end so I would have time to read the books of my choice. There seems to be something here for every interest. Total awesomeness!
  • Tipi Aug 28, 2011 @ 8:44 pm | delete
    Now these books would certainly have gotten me reading when I was in the 5th and 6th grades! I was particularly interested that Rapunzel spent all that time plotting, that kind of reminded me of Sarah Connor in Terminator.
  • MiddleSister Aug 20, 2011 @ 8:37 pm | delete
    Thanks! These are great picks for the age. I teach fifth grade, so will come back to refer to this.
  • sousababy Jun 27, 2011 @ 8:51 pm | delete
    Love the quotes and this is the most comprehensive list I have ever seen of great books for kids grades 5th and 6th . . really. Hey and how fabulous it is of Barnes and Noble to offer a free book to kids who read 8 books. Wow, great job and this needs to be shared. Sincerely, Rose
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