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Reading levels and needs

Top 20 books for a 5th grader who is behind or reluctant

These are fifth-grade-friendly in subject but lighter in text: graphic memoirs, school comics and a verse novel. They give a child something to talk about at school without exposing a reading gap. Pair with audiobooks if your child wants to hear the longer stories.

Titles, authors and publication details were checked against Open Library in October 2026. Age ranges and content notes are editorial judgment based on publisher and library guidance, so preview anything sensitive for your own child. Checked 2026-10-25. Nobody paid to be here. The buy links are plain search links, not affiliate links, so Peabody earns nothing from them.

  1. New Kid

    Jerry Craft · Ages 8-12

    Jordan, a Black seventh grader who loves drawing, is sent to a mostly white private school. Funny and honest about microaggressions; the first graphic novel to win the Newbery Medal.

    Watch for: Racial microaggressions and a teacher's insensitivity.

    Buy: Bookshop.org · Amazon

  2. Class Act

    Jerry Craft · Ages 8-12

    Drew faces the wealthy private school's culture and a friendship strained by money. The follow-up to New Kid.

    Watch for: Racism and class tensions.

    Buy: Bookshop.org · Amazon

  3. Smile

    Raina Telgemeier · Ages 8-12

    Raina knocks out her front teeth in a fall and goes through years of dental work while navigating friends and middle school. A true memoir in graphic form.

    Watch for: Dental trauma and unkind friends.

    Buy: Bookshop.org · Amazon

  4. Guts

    Raina Telgemeier · Ages 8-12

    Raina's memoir of anxiety and stomach trouble in fourth and fifth grade, a companion to Smile. Helpful for kids who worry.

    Watch for: Anxiety and a panic attack.

    Buy: Bookshop.org · Amazon

  5. Real Friends

    Shannon Hale · Ages 8-12

    Shannon's memoir of shifting friendships in elementary school. Honest about cliques and anxiety.

    Watch for: Cliques, bullying, a family's temper.

    Buy: Bookshop.org · Amazon

  6. El Deafo

    Cece Bell · Ages 8-12

    Cece, who loses her hearing as a child, uses a hearing aid and thinks of herself as a superhero. A Newbery Honor graphic memoir.

    Buy: Bookshop.org · Amazon

  7. Roller Girl

    Victoria Jamieson · Ages 9-12

    Astrid joins a roller derby summer camp and finds her best friend moving in a different direction. A Newbery Honor book.

    Buy: Bookshop.org · Amazon

  8. Sunny Side Up

    Jennifer L. Holm · Ages 9-12

    Sunny spends the summer of 1976 with her grandfather in Florida and is hiding a secret about her brother. A graphic novel with serious themes.

    Watch for: A teenage brother's substance use and adults who smoke and drink.

    Buy: Bookshop.org · Amazon

  9. Awkward

    Svetlana Chmakova · Ages 9-13

    A new student is mocked at school and joins the art club. A manga-style school story.

    Watch for: Bullying.

    Buy: Bookshop.org · Amazon

  10. Lumberjanes: Beware the Kitten Holy

    Noelle Stevenson · Ages 9-13

    Five friends at a summer camp face supernatural creatures. Funny and friendly.

    Buy: Bookshop.org · Amazon

  11. The Lightning Thief: The Graphic Novel

    Rick Riordan · Ages 9-12

    Percy Jackson's first adventure, adapted into a graphic novel by Robert Venditti. A shorter way into the series.

    Watch for: Monster fights.

    Buy: Bookshop.org · Amazon

  12. Wings of Fire: The Dragonet Prophecy (graphic novel)

    Tui T. Sutherland · Ages 8-12

    The first book of the series adapted into a graphic novel. A friendlier way into a long dragon series.

    Watch for: Dragon fights.

    Buy: Bookshop.org · Amazon

  13. Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales: One Dead Spy

    Nathan Hale · Ages 8-12

    The Revolutionary War spy Nathan Hale narrates history in comic form while waiting to be hanged. Dry humor and real events.

    Watch for: War and an execution.

    Buy: Bookshop.org · Amazon

  14. Bone

    Jeff Smith · Ages 8-14

    Three cousins stranded in a valley with dragons and rat creatures. Black-and-white graphic novel classic.

    Watch for: Cartoon violence; later volumes get darker.

    Buy: Bookshop.org · Amazon

  15. Amulet

    Kazu Kibuishi · Ages 8-13

    Emily moves into a strange house after her father's death and finds a stone that talks. A graphic novel series with nine books.

    Watch for: A parent dies in a car crash.

    Buy: Bookshop.org · Amazon

  16. Mighty Jack

    Ben Hatke · Ages 9-12

    A boy and his autistic sister plant seeds that grow into a strange garden. Jack and the Beanstalk retold as a graphic novel.

    Buy: Bookshop.org · Amazon

  17. Coraline: The Graphic Novel

    Neil Gaiman · Ages 9-13

    The story of Coraline told in pictures by P. Craig Russell. Scary and well suited to reluctant readers.

    Watch for: Frightening images.

    Buy: Bookshop.org · Amazon

  18. Restart

    Gordon Korman · Ages 9-12

    A boy who falls off a roof and loses his memory learns who he was before. A funny, readable story about bullying and second chances.

    Watch for: The main character was a bully and the book shows it.

    Buy: Bookshop.org · Amazon

  19. Diary of a Wimpy Kid

    Jeff Kinney · Ages 8-12

    Greg Heffley records his middle school survival in a diary with cartoons. Good for children who think reading is not for them.

    Watch for: Mild bullying; Greg is not a role model.

    Buy: Bookshop.org · Amazon

  20. The Crossover

    Kwame Alexander · Ages 10-14

    Twin brothers who are basketball stars face a rift between them, told in verse. Won the 2015 Newbery Medal.

    Watch for: The father dies of a heart condition near the end.

    Buy: Bookshop.org · Amazon

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