Building off the big list of books with 900-1000 Lexile, here is a general list of recommended books from many teacher pals on Twitter and Facebook. This is a work in progress! I’m still working on getting everything listed nicely and linked up for easy browsing. 😄
⚠️ I haven’t read every book on the list, so use your professional judgment.
Repeated recommendations include Lions of Little Rock, A Wrinkle In Time, The Westing Game, City of Ember, and Chasing Vermeer.
| Recommended By | Title(s) | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| Michelle Tucci | A Long Way From Chicago by Richard Peck | 4th grade. Not only is it set during the Great Depression which makes for some great history lessons, but the language is so fun! It was a great book to teach figurative language :) |
| Paula Smith Alsup | Lions of Little Rock | This was a favorite among my 5th graders last year. I loved it so much, I read it twice. Historical fiction is sometimes hard for kiddos but this was great! |
| Linda Noel Slycord | The Little Prince | I recommended it to my 7th-grade daughter. She said that the Lexile wasn’t high enough. I assured her that the allegory was enough to make up for it. We are going to read it together this fall! |
| Emily Lombard Hollett | Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli | I love this for upper elem or middle. |
| Emily Lombard Hollett | Phantom Tollbooth | Great for 4th. Not a chapter book but very complex and loads of fun. |
| Emily Lombard Hollett | The Eleventh Hour by Graeme Base | Usually with 4th or 5th as an introduction to a mystery unit. I usually follow that with Westing Game, or Shakespeare’s Secret depending on grade level and interest. |
| Emily Lombard Hollett | Chasing Vermeer | is awesome, as are the follow-ups (The Calder Game and The Wright Three). All of those have fabulous tie ins with across disciplines (especially great for depth and complexity lovers!). |
| Emily Lombard Hollett | Secret Garden or Twenty-One Balloons | I love these two for younger kiddos. |
| Emily Lombard Hollett | No Talking and/or Frindle by Andrew Clements | I can always go far teaching wordplay and communication units with these. I have done a lit circle round robin/jigsaw Socratic using those two Clements books, Charlotte’s Web and Harriet the Spy and discussing “Do words have power?” |
| Emily Lombard Hollett | Wednesday Wars | Oh gracious I forgot my favorite book–I adore the Wednesday Wars. Probably best for upper elementary but it is amazing. |
| Samantha Blaszynski | 43 Old Cemetery Rd: Dying to Meet You by Kate and M. Sarah Kline | For 3rd graders. Lexile 730. |
| Bonnie Grover | Echo | My student are loving this book. Lots of inferencing and story comes together at the end. Historical fiction/fairy tale. |
| Joelle Trayers | Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo | My favorite! You can compare the different ways people viewed Edward, the big idea of the story is a huge one and also the changes over time he goes through makes for a great discussion. |
| Janell Rismiller | A Wrinkle in Time” | 4/5 grade class, but am looking for a second book to use every other year. For my 6th grade class we read “The Unwanteds” |
| JM Hardy | Rangers Apprentice series, Gary Paulsen books, Guardians of Gahoole, and one of my all time favorites has to be Time Stops for No Mouse. | |
| Delilah Rodriguez | Phantom Tolbooth | It’s great! I did it with Grades 3 & 4 as a lunch bunch group. |
| Joyce Christman | Crooked River | For Grade 5. Told from two perspectives, one in poetry, one in prose. Unfair accusation and trial of Native American in 1812. Powerful book for debate and discussion. |
| Samantha Blaszynski | Chasing Vermeer 4th grade, Esperanza Rising 5th, Sign of the Beaver 4th, Stone Fox, Frindle, 2nd-3rd | |
| Laura Ricks | Maniac Magee and Wonder | |
| Sara Wade Churchill | The Dark is Rising Sequence | I am a school librarian working on my doctorate. My dissertation has to do with gifted students and independent reading, so I’m interestingly perusing this thread! I like to recommend The Dark is Rising Sequence by Susan Cooper to my 4th-5th-6th gifted kids who are Harry Potter fans. |
| Judy Twetten | Chasing Vermeer and other Blue Balliett books, The Mysterious Benedict Society, The Westing Game. 4th to 6th grade, depending on the kid. An oldie but goody for 6th The View from Saturday (E.L. Konigsburg) | |
| Gail Stevens | Counting by 7’s, The Meaning of Maggie | |
| Maria Selke | Lions of Little Rock, Code Talker (5th grade), Wrinkle in Time, Westing Game, Book of Three (4th grade) | |
| Whitley Rubinson | Sideways Stories from Wayside School | For 1st grade. It’s is my fave chapter book to start the year with. Short, sweet, creative. |
| Sandi Johnson | I love The Phantom Tollbooth, City of Ember (series), The Giver (series) | All 3rd-5th grade |
| Mrs. Green | The Green Book | with 3rd grade; great parallel with the study of the colonists! |
| Jennifer Heimach | The Peace Book by Todd Parr. | We write our own books about what peace meand to us (1st gr). Great at beginning of year to set class culture. |
| Cyndi Petray | The Door in the Wall | 3rd & 4th gifted and talented kids. |
| Barbara Edwards | “The Good Earth” by Pearl S. Buck gr 8; “The Time Machine” gr 7; “Animal Farm” & “The Pearl” tie for gr 6 | |
| Lauren Wirth | 5th- Evol. of Calpurnia Tate, 4th- Among the Hidden, 3rd-⚡Thief, Despereaux, Hatchet 1&2- 1&only Ivan | |
| Brian Nicol | 6th grade: Watership Down (Characters+setting), Westing Game (Mystery), Hobbit (Setting), Hamilton (Arts integration) | |
| Whitley Rubinson | picture books: Not a Box, Not a Stick, Froodle, Calvin Can’t Fly, and any Amy Krouse Rosenthal books. | |
| Elizabeth Tipton | City of Ember |
See also: science fiction and fantasy recommendations.