Sixth Grade Reading List, in Alphabetical Order by Title
Reading Grade Level given is according to the Unabridged Version
Alternate reading levels/versions are acceptable and available for many of these books!
(Plot summaries and reviews compiled from various sources online)
A Boat to Nowhere
clever young boy growing up along
By Maureen Crane Wartski – 5th
the Mississippi River. It is set in the
This is the story of two Vietnamese
fictional town of St. Petersburg, inspired
children, their ailing grandfather, and
by Hannibal, Missouri, where Twain
the orphan who attempts to save them
lived. Tom Sawyer lives with his Aunt
in a small fishing boat.
Polly and his half-brother Sid. He skips
Historical Fiction
school to swim and is made to
whitewash the fence the next day as
Across Five Aprils
punishment. He cleverly persuades his
By Irene Hunt – 6.6 Reading Grade Level
friends to trade him small treasures for
The Newbery Award winning
the “privilege” of doing his work.
author presents the unforgettable story
Fiction
of Jethro Creighton—a brave boy who
comes of age during the turbulent years
All Creatures Great and Small
of the Civil War.
By James Harriot – 6.8
Historical Fiction
Award-winning English veterinarian
Harriot reminisces about his animal
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
patients in a small village in the
By Mark Twain – 8.1
Yorkshire dales.
Award-winning classic. Tom Sawyer, a
“Since I want to become a vet, I thought
mischievous 19th-century boy in a
that this would be a great book to read.
Mississippi River town, and his friends,
From the first sentence to the last I was
Huck Finn and Becky Thatcher, run away
enthralled. The words James Herriot
from home, witness a murder, and find
uses in his books make you feel like you
treasure in a cave. Classic novel about a
are standing right beside him when he is
Sixth Grade Reading List, in Alphabetical Order by Title
Reading Grade Level given is according to the Unabridged Version
Alternate reading levels/versions are acceptable and available for many of these books!
(Plot summaries and reviews compiled from various sources online)
talking. This book will make you literally
Anne Shirley, an 11-year old orphan who
laugh out loud and also will make you
is sent by mistake to live on a Canadian
cry.”
farm with a lonely, middle-aged brother
Nonfiction Autobiography
and sister and makes an indelible
impression on everyone around her as
Aladdin and Other Tales from The
she wins the hearts of everyone she
Arabian Nights (or, Sindbad the Sailor and
meets.
Other Tales from The Arabian Nights –
Fiction
Unabridged)
By N.J. Dawood – 6th/7th
Ask Me No Questions
These classic folktales, translated from A
By Marina Budhos – 5th
THOUSAND AND ONE NIGHTS, tell how
Fourteen-year-old Muslim Nadira, her
Shahrazad saves herself from execution
sister, and their parents leave
by distracting King Shahryar with stories.
Bangladesh for New York City, but the
This book contains Arabian, Indian and
expiration of their visas and the events
Persian tales full of magic and
of September 11, 2001, bring
excitement.
frustration, sorrow, and terror for the
Folktales Fiction.
whole family.
Historical Fiction
Anne of Green Gables
By L.M. Montgomery – 7.3
The Birchbark House
The best-seller classic has sold more
Erdrich, Louise Erdrich – 6.1
than 50 million copies and has been
Omakayas, a seven-year-old Native
translated into 20 languages. Follow the
American girl of the Ojibwa tribe, lives
adventures of the free-spirited redhead
through the joys of summer and the
Sixth Grade Reading List, in Alphabetical Order by Title
Reading Grade Level given is according to the Unabridged Version
Alternate reading levels/versions are acceptable and available for many of these books!
(Plot summaries and reviews compiled from various sources online)
perils of winter on an island in Lake
Superior in 1847.
The Bronze Bow
Historical Fiction
By Elizabeth George Speare – 6th
This gripping, Newbery Medal action-
The Black Stallion
By Walter Farley – 6th
The understanding and love between
Alec Ramsay and a magnificent wild
horse endure through shared
adventures and dangers.
Fiction
Brady
By Jean Fritz – 6th
Newbery Award winning author Fritz has
written an exciting, yet tender, historical
chronicle of a boy, his home, and his
times. Brady has never been trusted
with secrets, until now. When he
discovers an Underground Railroad
station near his family's farm, he is
forced to make his own decision about
the slavery controversy. Whatever his
decision may be, he knows that this is
one secret that must be kept.
Historical Fiction
packed novel tells the story of eighteenyear-old Daniel bar Jamin—a fierce,
hotheaded Israeli young man bent on
forcing the Romans from his land.
Daniel’s palpable hatred for Romans
wanes only when he hears the gentle
lessons of the traveling carpenter, Jesus
of Nazareth. A fast-paced, suspenseful,
vividly wrought tale of friendship,
loyalty, the idea of home, community . . .
and ultimately: “Can’t you see, Daniel, it
is hate that is the enemy? Not men. Hate
does not die with killing. It only springs
up a hundredfold. The only thing
stronger than hate is love.” A powerful,
relevant read in turbulent times.
Historical Fiction
Sixth Grade Reading List, in Alphabetical Order by Title
Reading Grade Level given is according to the Unabridged Version
Alternate reading levels/versions are acceptable and available for many of these books!
(Plot summaries and reviews compiled from various sources online)
Caddie Woodlawn
“No better book can be given to a young
By Carol Ryrie Brink – 6.0
person who shows real intellectual
Awarded the John Newbery Medal for
potential, especially in math and
the most distinguished contribution to
science.” This Newbery award winner is
American literature for children. A
a fictionalized biography of the early life
spirited pioneer girl relates her
and career of Nathanial Bowditch of
adventures on the Wisconsin
Salem. Set in a proud Massachusetts
frontier. Caddie Woodlawn is a real
sailing village and on the high seas,
adventurer. She'd rather hunt than sew
remarkable true story tells how a small,
and plow than bake, and no one
bright young boy who seemed to have
understands why she is friends with the
all his dreams dashed as he grew up
Native Indians.
show perseverance in the face of
Historical Fiction
adversity… and literally rewrite the book
on 18th century navigation, thus making
Call Me Maria
the ocean safer for all. By pursuing his
By Judith Ortiz Cofer – 6th
intellectual passions whenever he had a
Fifteen-year-old Maria leaves her
spare moment, he became one of the
mother and their Puerto Rican home to
most famous marine navigation experts
live in the barrio of New York with her
of all time and saved countless lives.
father, and feels torn between the two
Historical Fiction Biography
cultures in which she has been raised.
Historical Fiction
Cheaper by the Dozen
By Frank and Ernestine Gilbreth – 6.0
Carry on, Mr. Bowditch
This best-selling memoir recounts the
By Jean Lee Latham - 5th
lives Frank Bunker Gilbreth and Lillian
Sixth Grade Reading List, in Alphabetical Order by Title
Reading Grade Level given is according to the Unabridged Version
Alternate reading levels/versions are acceptable and available for many of these books!
(Plot summaries and reviews compiled from various sources online)
Moller Gilbreth, discussing the
things experienced within a lifetime, for
adventures they encountered raising a
all time. Bunyan's book is as relevant and
family with twelve children.
necessary today as at any point since
Nonfiction Autobiography
being written in 1676. If you read only
one version of Pilgrim's Progress, make
Cry, The Beloved Country
sure that ‘Dangerous Journey,’ is it. The
By Alan Paton – 6.2
poetic flow and wonderful illustrations
Award-winning novel on Oprah’s Book
grab and hold onto to you at word one
Club. This book is a beautifully told and
and never let go.”
profoundly compassionate, amzing story
Fiction
of the Zulu pastor Stephen Kumalo and
his son Absalom, set in the troubled and
Esperanza Rising
changing South Africa of the 1940s.
By Pam Muñoz Ryan – 6th
Historical Fiction
Winner of Smithsonian Best Books 2000
and other awards. Esperanza thought
Dangerous Journey (Pilgrim’s Progress)
she'd always live with her fancy dresses
Hunkin, Oliver (John Bunyan) – 6th
and servants on her family’s ranch in
This is the award-winning, world-famous
Mexico. But a sudden tragedy forces
timeless story of Pilgrim's Progress told
Esperanza and Mama to flee to
again for another generation. “John
California during the Great Depression,
Bunyan has created a story that will,
and to settle in a camp for Mexican farm
regardless of your religious affiliation,
workers. Esperanza isn't ready for the
profoundly move your heart. The author
hard labor, financial struggles, or lack of
has created settings and characters that
acceptance she now faces. When their
boldly reflect the best and worst of all
new life is threatened, Esperanza must
Sixth Grade Reading List, in Alphabetical Order by Title
Reading Grade Level given is according to the Unabridged Version
Alternate reading levels/versions are acceptable and available for many of these books!
(Plot summaries and reviews compiled from various sources online)
find a way to rise above her difficult
Farewell to Manzanar
circumstances--Mama's life, and her
By Jeanne Houston – 6.7
own, depend on it.
Award-winning true story of a spirited
Historical Fiction
Japanese-American family's attempt to
survive the indignities of forced
Extra Credit
detention, and of a native-born
By Andrew Clements – 6th
American child who discovered what it
Abby Carson is a sixth grade student in
was like to grow up behind barbed wire
rural Illinois whose head is everywhere
in the United States. Jeanne Wakatsuki
but her schoolwork. In order to be
was seven years old in 1942 when her
spared the embarrassment of being left
family was uprooted from their home
behind a grade, she agrees to an extra
and sent to live at Manzanar internment
credit assignment involving writing to a
camp--with 10,000 other Japanese
pen pal in another country and so she
Americans. Along with searchlight
meets 11-yr. old Sadeed Bayat and his
towers and armed guards, Manzanar
sister in rural Afghanistan. As their
ludicrously featured cheerleaders, Boy
friendship flourishes, problems arise on
Scouts, sock hops, baton twirling lessons
both sides. However, as letters flow back
and a dance band called the “Jive
and forth between the prairies of Illinois
Bombers.”
and the mountains of Afghanistan,
Nonfiction
across cultural and religious divides, they
learn to speak and listen to each other.
Fiction
Sixth Grade Reading List, in Alphabetical Order by Title
Reading Grade Level given is according to the Unabridged Version
Alternate reading levels/versions are acceptable and available for many of these books!
(Plot summaries and reviews compiled from various sources online)
Funny in Farsi: A Memoir of Growing Up
pulled her baby close to her chest and
Iranian in America
stood rooted to the dirt floor in fear. A
By Firoozeh Dumas – 7.3
man stumbled through her doorway.
In 1972, when she was seven, Firoozeh
"We got us one, boys!" he yelled, waving
Dumas and her family moved from Iran
his rifle in the air and dragging his
to Southern California, arriving with no
captives into the cold night.
firsthand knowledge of this country
Once a kidnapped slave baby, George
beyond her father’s glowing memories
Washington Carver found freedom in
of his graduate school years here.
learning everything he could about the
Nonfiction autobiography
world around him. Overcoming poverty
and racism, George became a brilliant
George Washington Carver: From Slave
scientist and a gifted professor who
to Scientist
dedicated his expertise to helping
By Janet Benge – 7.3
farmers escape the devastating grip of
George Washington Carver was a weak
poverty.
young boy, kidnapped from his family,
George's scientific creativity knew no
not allowed to go to school… yet he
limits. Still remembered for his far-
taught himself wonderful skills that
reaching and diverse achievements, Dr.
saved the whole South! He overcame
Carver generously shared his talent
many disadvantages and prejudices to
simply for the reward of helping others.
become a brilliant scientist and a gifted
Nonfiction Biography
professor.
George's mother panicked when she
heard the thunder of horses and the
whooping of men. Bushwhackers! She
Sixth Grade Reading List, in Alphabetical Order by Title
Reading Grade Level given is according to the Unabridged Version
Alternate reading levels/versions are acceptable and available for many of these books!
(Plot summaries and reviews compiled from various sources online)
Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story
King Hezekiah seeking help against the
By Gregg Lewis – 6.7
Assyrians. Posing as a medical assistant,
He was in trouble at school for not doing
Taharka journeys with Amos to Judea
his homework and getting into fights.
where he encounters the two kings in
Now he is a life-saving doctor and
conflict. His true identity suddenly
running for President of the United
uncovered, he must choose with whom
States! This book tells the story of Ben
he will fight-the mighty Assyrian,
Carson, providing an account of how he
Sennacherib, promising alliance or
went from a rebellious child of poverty
Hezekiah, the Jew who trusts in
in Detroit, labeled the class dummy, to
Yahweh.
become one of the world's leading
“I particularly liked the fact that the
pediatric neurosurgeons.
book was set in a historical period that is
Nonfiction biography
not well studied by your typical 12 year
old. Hopefully, it will spur some interest
God King
in ancient history among the young. The
By Joanne Williamson – 6th
book is also notable because though
Award-winning author carries the reader
Taharka is Black, race never becomes an
back to Ancient Egypt in 701 B.C, during
issue as it often so tediously does in
the rule of the Kushite dynasty. Young
more contemporary fiction for young
Prince Taharka, a very minor royal son,
people. For this reason, I almost hesitate
succeeds unexpectedly to the throne of
to bring up the subject at all. Let it
Kush and Egypt-a divine rulership. It's
suffice to say that if more fiction were
not long, however, before a treacherous
written from this perspective--where a
plot pushes him into sudden exile and
Black main character is portrayed
into the hands of Amos, an emissary of
positively and the other characters are
Sixth Grade Reading List, in Alphabetical Order by Title
Reading Grade Level given is according to the Unabridged Version
Alternate reading levels/versions are acceptable and available for many of these books!
(Plot summaries and reviews compiled from various sources online)
good or evil not based on their race but
Gone with the Wind
on their actions--race relations in the
By Margaret Mitchell – 7.1
real world might actually improve.”
After the Civil War sweeps away the
Historical Fiction
genteel life to which she has been
accustomed, Scarlett O'Hara sets about
The Golden Goblet
to salvage her plantation home. Mature
By Eloise Jarvis McGraw - 6th
readers only due to some violence, etc.
Winner of a Newbery Honor, an exciting
Historical Fiction
ancient Egyptian mystery!
Ranofer wants only one thing in the
Hans Brinker and The Silver Skates
world: to be a master goldsmith like his
By Mary Mapes Dodge – 6th
beloved father was. But how can he
Dutch brother and sister Hans and
when he is all but imprisoned by his evil
Gretel's dream of competing for the
half brother, Gebu? Ranofer knows the
silver skates seems as remote as a cure
only way he can escape Gebu's abuse is
for their invalid father, until a new friend
by changing his destiny. But can a poor
comes into their lives.
boy with no skills survive on the
Historical Fiction
cutthroat streets of ancient Thebes?
Then Ranofer finds a priceless golden
Heidi
goblet in Gebu's room and he knows his
By Johanna Spyri- 8.2
luck−and his destiny−are about to
The classic best-seller is about an orphan
change.
girl, Heidi, who has been sent to live with
Historical Fiction
her grandfather, a lonely, angry man at
the top of a secluded mountain in the
Swiss Alps. However, she builds a strong
Sixth Grade Reading List, in Alphabetical Order by Title
Reading Grade Level given is according to the Unabridged Version
Alternate reading levels/versions are acceptable and available for many of these books!
(Plot summaries and reviews compiled from various sources online)
bond with him and when she is forced
Helen Keller: A Photographic Story of a
into town to attend school and be a
Life
friend to a wealthy man's invalid
Garrett, Leslie Garrett – 6.5
daughter, Heidi becomes homesick for
Photographs, illustrations, and text
her Grandfather and her home in the
explore the life of Helen Keller, a woman
mountains. “The part of the book I
who lost her vision and hearing at the
enjoyed most is when Heidi makes a
age of two, but went on, with the help of
new friend called Clara. Her other friend,
her teacher Annie Sullivan, to become a
Peter, who is Heidi's grandfather's
world-famous speaker and writer.
shepherd, starts to become jealous.
Nonfiction
Clara's stranded in a wheelchair and
cannot travel anywhere without it. Peter
The Hiding Place
knows this, so he decides to get rid of
By Corrie TenBoom – 6.4
the chair; that way, he will be able to
Only twenty minutes away from Anne
spend more time with Heidi.
Frank’s home, two Christian sisters were
Unfortunately, this plan backfires
helping Jews escape. This is the
completely. Instead of making Clara feel
autobiographical story of Corrie Ten
isolated, he makes her realize she can
Boom and how she and her family
walk!”
worked for the Dutch underground
Fiction
movement during World War II. The
family were Christians and took a very
strong stand against the Nazi
persecution of the Jews. Corrie's father,
a kindly, religious man, even wore a
Jewish star to walk in solidarity with the
Sixth Grade Reading List, in Alphabetical Order by Title
Reading Grade Level given is according to the Unabridged Version
Alternate reading levels/versions are acceptable and available for many of these books!
(Plot summaries and reviews compiled from various sources online)
Jews.
Canaanite forces of Sisera and the
Corrie and her sister, Betsie were two
Hebrew forces of Barak.
ladies aged 45 and 52 years of age,
Historical Fiction
respectively. They are the unlikely
heroines of this story. Never married
The Hobbit (Lord of the Rings trilogy)
and rather innocent of the world, they
By J.R.R. Tolkien – 6th
proved the old saying that "you can't tell
Voted "The Greatest Book of the
a book by its cover." Both sisters risked
Millennium" on Amazon.com.
everything they had including their lives
Frodo Baggins, a young hobbit, sets out
to save people they didn't even know.
on a perilous journey with a band of
“In today's world of "me first", it's so
warriors from different kingdoms to the
encouraging to read a story of a family
Cracks of Doom to destroy the Dark
that truly lived their faith and practiced
Lord's Ring of Power. Mild-mannered
the Golden Rule.”This book tells how
Oxford scholar John Ronald Reuel
their faith helped them to overcome its
Tolkien had little inkling when he
horrors.
published The Hobbit; Or, There and
Nonfiction autobiography
Back Again that, once hobbits were
unleashed upon the world, there would
Hittite Warrior
be no turning back. Hobbits are, of
By Joanne Williamson – 6th
course, small, furry creatures who love
In 1200 B.C., Uriah the Hittite leaves his
nothing better than a leisurely life quite
conquered homeland and, following his
free from adventure. But in that first
father's instruction, seeks refuge with an
novel and the Lord of the Rings trilogy,
old family friend, eventually finding
the hobbits Bilbo and Frodo and their
himself in a battle between the
elfish friends get swept up into a mighty
Sixth Grade Reading List, in Alphabetical Order by Title
Reading Grade Level given is according to the Unabridged Version
Alternate reading levels/versions are acceptable and available for many of these books!
(Plot summaries and reviews compiled from various sources online)
conflict with the dragon Smaug, the dark
the extravagant affair of the Doughnuts,
lord Sauron, the monstrous Gollum, the
the breathtaking suspense of “Mystery
Cracks of Doom, and the awful power of
Yarn”, the doleful defeat of The Super-
the magical Ring. The four books'
Duper, the puzzling problem of Michael
characters--good and evil--are
Murphy’s musical Mousetrap, and the
recognizably human, and the realism is
Great Pageant of One Hundred and Fifty
deepened by the magnificent detail of
Years of Centerburg Progress Week, will
the vast parallel world Tolkien devised.
reduce him/her to helpless laughter.
Fantasy Fiction
Fiction with Overt Literary Devices
Homer Price
By Robert McCloskey – 6.6
The House of Sixty Fathers
(Caldecott award-winning author
By Meindert DeJong – 6th
McCloskey was declared a Living Legend
Award-winning author writes this story
by the Library of Congress.) Ingenious
of a young Chinese boy and his beloved
young Homer Price captures thieves,
pig, "Glory of the Republic", who get
solves mysteries, and helps people in
separated from his family and caught
trouble. Homer Price lives two miles out
behind Japanese lines when Japan
of Centerburg, but most of his friends
invaded China in the late 1930's. It has
and relatives live in town. In six
some scary moments. But the book will
preposterous tales, Robert McCloskey
open your eyes as to what it might be
takes a good look at the face of mid-
like as a child to be caught in a war.
western America with humorous and
affectionate eyes. The strange
skullduggery of the Sensational Scent,
Tien Pao is all alone in enemy territory.
Only a few days before, his family had
escaped from the Japanese army, fleeing
Sixth Grade Reading List, in Alphabetical Order by Title
Reading Grade Level given is according to the Unabridged Version
Alternate reading levels/versions are acceptable and available for many of these books!
(Plot summaries and reviews compiled from various sources online)
downriver by boat. Then came the
Jack Archer: Tale of Crimea
terrible rainstorm. Tien Pao was fast
By G.A. Henty – 6th +
asleep in the little sampan when the
Best-selling author writes this interesting
boat broke loose from its moorings and
detailed historical story of a young
drifted right back to the Japanese
English youth's survival and growth
soldiers. With only his lucky pig for
during the Crimean war (1850’s). There's
company, Tien Pao must begin a long
no profane dialog or graphic bloody
and dangerous journey in search of his
descriptions; instead, battle stats are
home and family.
provided. “Every young person needs to
Historical Fiction
read this book! It's packed with
adventure and a thrilling tale as only
G.A. Henty can describe it. Where else
I, Juan de Pareja
does a 15-year-old boy get captured
By Elizabeth Borton de Treviño – 6.5
with his pal and save his country, learn
After the slave Juan de Pareja is willed to
Russian, sail through heavy storms, fight
the great Spanish painter Velázquez,
on the front lines, get the girl and it all
Juan teaches himself to paint and wins
end up well with a climactic ending?!”
his freedom and the respect of his great
(Most Americans only know of this
master. Their relationship changes from
conflict through the Charge of the Light
one of master and slave to one
Brigade and Florence Nightingale). Our
friendship.
hero survives adventures at Gibraltar
Historical Fiction
and the battles of Alma, Bacalava, and
Inkerman, but is captured and is
involved in the death of a Russian
official. He escapes, goes through the fall
Sixth Grade Reading List, in Alphabetical Order by Title
Reading Grade Level given is according to the Unabridged Version
Alternate reading levels/versions are acceptable and available for many of these books!
(Plot summaries and reviews compiled from various sources online)
of Sebastopol, and ultimately marries a
Johnny Tremain
By
wealthy Russian girl.
Esther Forbes – 6th
Historical Fiction
Medal-winning novel. The Year: 1773.
Newbery
The place: Boston. Johnny Tremain is
Jacob Have I Loved
fourteen and apprenticed to a
By Katherine Paterson – 6th
silversmith. He is gifted and lords his
Newbery Award. Feeling deprived all her
skills over the other apprentices, until
life of schooling, friends, mother, and
one day his hand is horribly burned by
even her name by her twin sister, Louise
molten silver. Johnny’s dreams of
finally begins to find her identity. Sara
silversmithing are over. A depressed
Louise Bradshaw is sick and tired of her
Johnny finds work as a dispatch rider, a
beautiful twin Caroline. Ever since they
job that brings him in touch with Boston
were born, Caroline has been the pretty
patriots—and the excitement that will
one, the talented one, the better sister.
lead to his dramatic involvement as a
Even now, Caroline seems to take
patriot in the days just before the
everything: Louise's friends, their
American Revolution.
parents' love, her dreams for the future.
For once in her life, Louise wants to be
the special one. But in order to do that,
she must first figure out who she is . . .
and find a way to make a place for
herself outside her sister's shadow.
Fiction
Historical Fiction
King Arthur and the Knights of the Round
Table
By Joshua E. Hanft – 6.2
In this retelling of the Howard Pyle
classic tale, King Arthur, at the head of
the Round Table, leads the most gallant
men of the realm to fight to bring peace,
Sixth Grade Reading List, in Alphabetical Order by Title
Reading Grade Level given is according to the Unabridged Version
Alternate reading levels/versions are acceptable and available for many of these books!
(Plot summaries and reviews compiled from various sources online)
to perform outstanding deeds of
classic literature. Each of the seven
strength and bravery, and to win honor.
books is a masterpiece, drawing the
Fiction
reader into a land where magic meets
reality, and the result is a fictional world
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
whose scope has fascinated generations.
(The Chronicles of Narnia)
Fantasy Fiction
By C.S. Lewis – 6th
This best-seller is on TIME’s 100 Best
Little Women
English-language Novels from 1923 to
By Louisa May Alcott – 7.9
2005 and School Library Journal’s One
Little Women is one of the best loved
Hundred Books that Shaped the Century,
books of all time. Lovely Meg, talented
and
Jo, frail Beth, spoiled Amy: these girls go
presents the story of four English school
through hard lessons of poverty and of
children who find their way through the
growing up in New England during the
back of a wardrobe into the magic land
Civil War. Through their dreams, plays,
of Narnia and assist Aslan, the golden
pranks, letters, illnesses, and courtships,
lion, to triumph over the White Witch
women of all ages have become a part
who has cursed the land with eternal
of this remarkable family. Based on
winter. Journeys to the end of the world,
Louise May Alcott's childhood, this lively
fantastic creatures, and epic battles
portrait of nineteenth-century family life
between good and evil—what more
possesses a lasting vitality that has
could any reader ask for in one book?
endeared it to generations of readers.
For the past fifty years, The Chronicles of
Historical Fiction
Narnia have transcended the fantasy
genre to become part of the canon of
Sixth Grade Reading List, in Alphabetical Order by Title
Reading Grade Level given is according to the Unabridged Version
Alternate reading levels/versions are acceptable and available for many of these books!
(Plot summaries and reviews compiled from various sources online)
Moccasin Trail
animal community in the Indian
By Eloise Jarvis McGraw - 6th
wilderness. These selections from The
Jim Keath attempts to re-orient himself
Jungle Book, The Second Jungle
to life as a white man, after living for six
Book, and Many Inventions offer a
years as a pioneer boy among Crow
chronological presentation of every
Indian. “If you like the outdoors, the
episode from Rudyard Kipling's beloved
ways of the Old West, and unmatched
tales of a feral child, including the
descriptions, this Newbery novel is one
beloved poems. The adventures begin
you should look into. The happenings of
with "Mowgli's Brothers," in which the
the book are so well described that you
orphan is rescued from the wrath of
can see, hear, taste, feel and smell every
Shere Khan, the man-eating tiger. Upon
detail possible throughout the book.
his adoption into the wolf pack, Mowgli
Mrs. McGraw sends a vivid picture of
is schooled in the Law of the Jungle by
setting into the reader's mind so well
Baloo the bear and Bagheera the
that you could feel the grizzly take a
panther. Eight additional tales trace the
swipe at Jim's face. Readers of any age
boy's growing knowledge of jungle lore
could fall in love with this adventure
as well as his moral development and
story.”
return to human society. Kipling's
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powerfully original fables, recounted in
richly evocative prose, continue to
The Complete Mowgli of the Jungle Book
enchant readers of all ages.
Stories
Fiction
Rudyard Kipling – 4th to 9th
By
Raised
by a pack of wolves, the little boy known
as Mowgli forms the human heart of an
Sixth Grade Reading List, in Alphabetical Order by Title
Reading Grade Level given is according to the Unabridged Version
Alternate reading levels/versions are acceptable and available for many of these books!
(Plot summaries and reviews compiled from various sources online)
My Side of the Mountain
Number the Stars
By Jean Craighead George – 6th
By Lois Lowry – 5th
Written in the form of a diary, this story
In 1943, during the German occupation
relates the days of a young boy in the
of Denmark, ten-year-old Annemarie
Catskill Mountains. This coming-of-age
learns how to be courageous when she
story about a boy and his falcon went on
helps shelter her Jewish friend from the
to win a Newbery Honor, and for the
Nazis. Annemarie is asked to go on a
past forty years has enthralled and
dangerous mission to save Ellen's life.
entertained generations of would-be
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Sam Gribleys.
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An Old Fashioned Girl
(Companion book to the My Side of the
By Louisa May Alcott – 8.2
Mountain: Pocket Guide to the
Award-winning author writes of Polly's
Outdoors: Based on My Side of the
friendship with the wealthy Shaws of
Mountain
Boston that helps them to build a new
George, Jean Craighead
life and teaches her the truth about the
This book offers an easy-to-follow guide
relationship between happiness and
on camping, building shelters, finding
riches.
water, and cooking outdoors for fans of
Fiction
MY SIDE OF THE MOUNTAIN, who want
to live the adventure.
Nonfiction)
Sixth Grade Reading List, in Alphabetical Order by Title
Reading Grade Level given is according to the Unabridged Version
Alternate reading levels/versions are acceptable and available for many of these books!
(Plot summaries and reviews compiled from various sources online)
Out of the Silent Planet (The Space
his prayers when he finds a great pearl
Trilogy)
worth a fortune, but tragedy soon
By C.S. Lewis – 7.4
follows.
Out of the Silent Planet was reportedly
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inspired by a conversation between
Lewis and his friend, also a famous
The Phantom Tollbooth
author, J.R.R. Tolkien. The men lamented
By Norton Juster – 6.7
the state of modern fiction and agreed
Parents’ Choice Classic Award, among
that each would write a science-fiction
others. As “Milo, a boy who is always
story of the type that they found ‘good’.
bored, finds a mystery package and
Thus, award-winning first novel of C.S.
heads toward Dictionopolis, he meets
Lewis's classic science fiction trilogy. Dr.
with the Whether Man ("for after all it's
Ransom, a Cambridge academic, is
more important to know whether there
abducted and taken on a spaceship to
will be weather than what the weather
the red planet of Malacandra, which he
will be"), passes through The Doldrums
knows as Mars. His captors are plotting
(populated by Lethargarians), and picks
to plunder the planet's treasures and
up a watchdog named Tock (who has a
plan to offer Ransom as a sacrifice to the
giant alarm clock for a body). The
creatures who live there.
brilliant satire and double entendre
Fantasy Science Fiction
intensifies in the Word Market, where
after a brief scuffle with Officer Short
The Pearl
Shrift, Milo and Tock set off toward the
By John Steinbeck – 7.1
Mountains of Ignorance to rescue the
Kino, a poor Mexican pearl-diver,
twin Princesses, Rhyme and Reason.
believes he has received the answer to
Anyone with an appreciation for
Sixth Grade Reading List, in Alphabetical Order by Title
Reading Grade Level given is according to the Unabridged Version
Alternate reading levels/versions are acceptable and available for many of these books!
(Plot summaries and reviews compiled from various sources online)
language, irony, or Alice in Wonderland-
quest. A wonderful tale of adventure
style adventure will adore this book for
and courage.
years on end.”
Fantasy Fiction
Fantasy Fiction
The Princess and the Goblin
Pollyanna
By George MacDonald – 6.1
By Eleanor Hodgson Burnett- 6th
This best-seller classic was one of JRR
Award-winning classic. Orphaned
Tolkien’s favorites. Princess Irene lives in
eleven-year-old Pollyanna comes to live
a castle on a wild, lonely mountain. Can
with stern and wealthy Aunt Polly, and
the ring the princess is given protect her
her philosophy of gladness brings
against the lurking menace of the
happiness to her aunt and other
goblins from under the mountain?
unhappy members of the community.
MacDonald blends Romantic literature
Fiction
with the greatest characteristics of fairy
tales--then he turns convention on its
The Princess and Curdie
head. Some examples:
By George MacDonald – 8.4
-Whereas in fairy tales wisdom is
The Princess and Curdie are back in this
associated with the old and
sequel to The Princess and the Goblin
knowledgeable, wisdom is here
(see next entry on this list). Princess
associated with innocence.
Irene and her male friend Curdie are a
-While in traditional tales, it is the hero
year or two older, and are sent on a task
who saves the princess, here the
to save the kingdom from evil men with
princess must rescue the hero.
a monster called Lina to help him on his
- -Fans of modern fantasy may be used
to Providential Guidance being related
Sixth Grade Reading List, in Alphabetical Order by Title
Reading Grade Level given is according to the Unabridged Version
Alternate reading levels/versions are acceptable and available for many of these books!
(Plot summaries and reviews compiled from various sources online)
to male literary figures such as Tolkien's
subsequently helped by the children,
Gandalf, Lewis' Aslan. Here the figure is
was most likely an amalgam of the real-
Feminine--the Grandmother.
life dissidents Sergius Stepniak and Peter
Fantasy Fiction
Kropotkin, both friends of the author.
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The Railway Children
By E. Nesbit – 6th
The Redwall
Award-winning author writes that
By Brian Jacques – 6th
happiness of three children (Roberta,
This story promotes peace in the face of
Phyllis, and Peter) ends overnight. The
war and is an award-winning exciting
family moves to "Three Chimneys" after
fantasy frequently enjoyed by children
the father is falsely accused of spying
who normally don’t want to read.
and imprisoned. An Old Gentleman
Redwall Abbey, tranquil home to a
helps prove their father's innocence, the
community of loyal, brave, peace-loving
family is reunited, and takes care of a
mice is threatened by Cluny the Scourge
Russian exile, Mr. Szczepansky, who
- the evil-one-eyed rat warlord - and his
came to England looking for his family.
battle-hardened horde of predators.
The theme of an innocent man being
Fantasy Fiction
falsely imprisoned for espionage might
have been influenced by the Dreyfus
Roll of Thunder Hear my Cry
Affair, a prominent news item a few
By Mildred Taylor – 6th
years before the book was written. The
Winner of the Newbery Medal, this
Russian exile, persecuted by the Tsars
remarkably moving novel has impressed
for writing "a beautiful book about poor
the hearts and minds of millions of
people and how to help them" and
readers.
Sixth Grade Reading List, in Alphabetical Order by Title
Reading Grade Level given is according to the Unabridged Version
Alternate reading levels/versions are acceptable and available for many of these books!
(Plot summaries and reviews compiled from various sources online)
Set in Mississippi at the height of the
relationships that formed between
Depression, this is the story of one
settlers and natives in the 1700s. Matt, a
family’s struggle to maintain their
13-yr. old boy in Maine, is left alone to
integrity, pride, and independence in the
guard his family’s new cabin in the
face of racism and social injustice. It is
wilderness. When a renegade white
also Cassie’s story—an independent girl
stranger steals his gun, the boy is
who discovers why having land of their
rescued by an Indian chief and his
own is so crucial to the Logan family,
grandson but must decide whether to
even as she learns to draw strength from
spend the winter alone in the woods
her own sense of dignity and self-
waiting for his family, or move on to a
respect.
new life with his new friends. When
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Matt meets Attean, a boy in the Beaver
clan, he begins to better understand
The Secret Garden
their way of life and their growing
By Frances Hodgson Burnett- 6.3
problem in adapting to the white man
Mary moves to a huge estate to live with
and the changing frontier.
her mysterious uncle, his ailing son, the
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servants, and a secret garden.
Fiction
The Snow Goose
By Paul Gallico – 6th
The Sign of the Beaver
This award-winning classic short novel is
By Elizabeth George Speare – 4th
a simple, short written parable on the
This Newbery Honor-winning survival
regenerative power of friendship and
story is filled with wonderful detail about
love. Against the backdrop of World War
living in the wilderness and the
II, friendship develops between a lonely
Sixth Grade Reading List, in Alphabetical Order by Title
Reading Grade Level given is according to the Unabridged Version
Alternate reading levels/versions are acceptable and available for many of these books!
(Plot summaries and reviews compiled from various sources online)
crippled painter and a village girl when
unexpected joy when she discovers Alef,
together they minister to an injured
the first letter of the Arabic alphabet.
snow goose.
This is the beginning of her passionate
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connection to words, and as language
becomes her refuge, allowing her to
Sounder
piece together the fragments of her
By William H. Armstrong – 6th
world, it becomes her true home. “A
Angry and humiliated when his
truly exquisite book. The words weave
sharecropper father is jailed for stealing
together experiences and feelings in
food for his family, a young black boy
amazingly beautiful ways. Hearing her
grows in courage and understanding by
story of humanity in the midst of
learning to read and through his relation
harshness is very hopeful. She doesn't
with his devoted dog, Sounder.
pull any punches, yet shares her story
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without blaming.”
Nonfiction Autobiography
Tasting the Sky
By Ibtisam Barakat - 6th
Uncle Tom's Cabin
This memoir set in Ramallah during the
Stowe, Harriet Beecher – 9.3
aftermath of the 1967 Six-Day War,
Uncle Tom's Cabin was a runaway best-
captures what it is like for a child whose
seller, selling 10,000 copies in the United
world is shattered by war: fear and
States in its first week; 300,000 in the
confusion as bombs explode near her
first year; and in Great Britain, 1.5
home and she is separated from her
million copies in one year. It changed the
family; the harshness of
world! Even the international audience
life as a Palestinian refugee; her
was affected by this protest novel and
Sixth Grade Reading List, in Alphabetical Order by Title
Reading Grade Level given is according to the Unabridged Version
Alternate reading levels/versions are acceptable and available for many of these books!
(Plot summaries and reviews compiled from various sources online)
literary work. This is the story that
mysterious promised land and a more
awakened the conscience of the nation
perfect society.
to life under the slave system and, as
Fantasy Fiction
President Lincoln said, “caused the Big
war” that freed the slaves.
The Wind in the Willows
Historical fiction based on real life – for
By Kenneth Grahame – 8.2
mature children only; some violence,
Award-winning classic, favorite of
etc.
President Theodore Roosevelt.
Generations of children have roamed
Watership Down
the English countryside in the company
By Richard Adams – 6.2
of Rat, Mole, Toad, and Badger, through
A phenomenal worldwide bestseller for
timeless tales of friendship amid the
more than forty years, this is a timeless
natural world.
classic and one of the most beloved
The adventures begin when Mole,
novels of all time. Set in England's
feeling all the restlessness that
Downs, a once idyllic rural landscape,
springtime brings, abandons his burrow
this stirring tale of adventure, courage,
to discover the magic of the great river.
and survival follows a band of very
Fantasy Fiction
special rabbits on their flight from the
intrusion of man and the certain
destruction of their home. Led by a
stouthearted pair of brothers, they
journey forth from their native Warren
through the harrowing trials posed by
predators and adversaries, to a
Sixth Grade Reading List, in Alphabetical Order by Title
Reading Grade Level given is according to the Unabridged Version
Alternate reading levels/versions are acceptable and available for many of these books!
(Plot summaries and reviews compiled from various sources online)
The Witch of Blackbird Pond
A Wrinkle in Time
By Elizabeth George Speare – 6th
By Madeleine L’Engle – 5th
Newbery Medal, a moving portrayal of a
Winner of the Newbery Medal... The
heroine whom readers will admire for
story of the adventures in space and
her unwavering sense of truth as well as
time of Meg, her small brother Charles
her infinite capacity to love.
Wallace, and Calvin O'Keefe (athlete,
Sixteen-year-old Kit Tyler is marked by
student, and one of the most popular
suspicion and disapproval from the
boys in high school). They are in search
moment she arrives on the unfamiliar
of Meg's father, a scientist who
shores of colonial Connecticut in 1687.
disappeared while engaged in secret
Alone and desperate, she has been
work for the government on the
forced to leave her beloved home on the
tesseract (wrinkle in time) problem.
Caribbean island of Barbados and join a
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family she has never met. Torn between
her quest for belonging and her desire to
be true to herself, Kit struggles to
survive in a hostile place. Just when it
seems she must give up, she finds a
kindred spirit. But Kit’s friendship with
Hannah Tupper, believed by the
colonists to be a witch, proves more
taboo than she could have imagined and
ultimately forces Kit to choose between
her heart and her duty.
Historical Fiction
Sixth Grade Reading List, in Alphabetical Order by Title
Reading Grade Level given is according to the Unabridged Version
Alternate reading levels/versions are acceptable and available for many of these books!
(Plot summaries and reviews compiled from various sources online)
Some References:
www.arbookfind.com/ - Accelerated
Reader
http://www.pragmaticmom.com/catego
ry/my-best-book-lists/ - Specializes in
Multicultural Children’s Books
http://www.theloveliesthour.com/greatbooks-for-children/ - Specializes in Books
for Children Who Are Advanced Readers
https://www.commonsensemedia.org/b
ook-reviews - Reviews for Parents
http://www.csames.illinois.edu/outreac
h/mideast/books/Middle_Books.pdf Books Reflecting the Middle East for
Children
http://www.teachersfirst.com/content/b
ooklist-titles.cfm?id=15 – Children’s
Books on Immigration