As a huge realistic fiction fan, I’m always eager to recommend them to middle schoolers of all ages. Hence, this list of realistic fiction books for 5th graders! For this list, I’ve included a wide range of stories featuring middle schoolers of different ages and tackling interesting themes in an age-appropriate way. The stories in this list are light on crushes (many feature zero of those), are easy to read, and will be relatable for 5th grade readers. Happy reading!
20 Great Realistic Fiction Books for 5th Graders
Here are 20 fabulous choices for 5th graders who love realistic fiction:
Freestyle
Published: October 18, 2022
Cory’s dance crew is getting ready for a major competition. It’s the last one before they graduate eighth grade and go their separate ways to high schools all over New York City, so they have to make it count! The group starts to have problems as their crew captain gets increasingly intense about nailing the routine, and things go from bad to worse when Cory’s parents ground him for not taking his grades seriously. He gets stuck with a new tutor, Sunna, who he dismisses as a boring nerd… until he catches her secretly practicing cool yo-yo tricks. Cory wants to learn the art of yo-yo, and as his friendship with Sunna grows, he ends up missing practice and bailing on his crew — and they are not happy about it. With mounting pressure coming from all sides, how is Cory supposed to balance the expectations of his parents, school, dance, and his new friend? This is a fun graphic novel about dance, friendships, and balancing it all.
Ready Set Dough
Published: October 17, 2023
Ambitious sixth grader Zoe Sparks loves to write and enjoys brainstorming ideas for her journalism class. There’s only one problem: Her at-home computer is so unreliable that it just stops working one day. Fortunately, her school is organizing a cookie dough fundraiser, and guess what the top seller prize is? A WordPro laptop — and orange (her favorite color) at that! Zoe is determined to outsell everyone, especially her nemesis Amaya. But soon, her ambition begins to impact her balance and her friendship with her BFF Felix. I adored the voice in this one and finished it in one day.
Curlfriends: New in Town
Published: October 10, 2023
Charlie is the new kid for the umpteenth time, but this time things will be different. Her dad is no longer in the military, and this is a more permanent home, so she feels more pressure to find and impress some new friends. When she meets a cool group of Black girls with varying interests, she decides to hide her “babyish” style and hobbies to befriend them. But she soon learns that with true friends, you can be your whole self. Curlfriends: New In Town is the cute first book in a new graphic novel series about Black hair, girlfriends, fashion, and adjusting to change.
Playing the Cards You’re Dealt
Published: October 5, 2021
Ant isn’t your average 10 year old. He loves a good game of spades and he and his best friend are planning to revamp their reputation after losing badly at the last spades tournament. But things are changing in Ant’s life. His dad is acting weird, asking him to hide things from his mom. There’s a new girl in class who Ant maybe likes and who plays spades better than many boys he knows. When his best friend is grounded, Ant teams up with Shirley, hoping to impress his father and finally be tough like Joplin men should be. But instead, he learns what it really means to be a man—and it’s not about never crying. There’s SO MUCH going on in this story, but the author does a stunning job of keeping all the threads in place. I was very surprised by all the protagonist has to manage at his age and the fact that it all remains believable. The story is told by Ant’s ancestor, lending a touch of magic realism. There are also many details about playing a game of spades and I loved, loved the audiobook narrator.
Light and Air
Published: January 2, 2024
As a non-fan of historical fiction, I was pleasantly surprised by this debut middle grade novel. Set in 1930s New York, where a tuberculosis epidemic is raging, it follows Halle, whose mother is diagnosed with the disease and sent off to JN Adams Sanatarium in Perrysburg. There, everyone, including people of all races, is welcome, and patients are treated with exposure to light and air. Soon, Halle ends up there to treat pneumonia. This book is accessible, plain-spoken, and truly written for kids without dumbing down or info dumping. The characters are richly drawn, and the subject matter is intriguing and rarely explored in books for kids. It’s impressive that the author has created a book all about tuberculosis with a rich, moving, adventurous, and tender plot balancing friendship, family, mystery, and history all at once.
Unstuck
Published: February 27, 2024
Lyla is an overlooked second child with a big sister who seems perfect — smart, beautiful, favored by her parents, and socially adept. In contrast, Lyla has one best friend, Rania, from whom she’s been separated and who seems to be expanding her social circle without Lyla. Lyla believes her main identity is a WRITER, but as a seventh grader, she’s looking to impress Ms Bowman, her new creative writing teacher whom she admires, and also Rania, who seems to be drifting away. With all the pressure, despite having a brilliant fantasy story idea, Lyla is stuck with writer’s block. As she navigates, admitting to the problem, writing for the joy of writing (not awards or impressing people), she also begins to build a new friend network. This is such a fresh take on writing anxiety — something many kids are dealing with. The back matter features 25 tips from the author for getting unstuck. Unstuck will be great for kids who love writing, are dealing with school social caste systems, and are finding their place in their families.
Wires Crossed
Published: April 30, 2024
13-year-old Mia feels like her social circle is changing faster than she can keep up with. Her best friend Addy is now friends with a not-nice popular girl whom they were both united in not liking. In a positive twist of events, one of her good friends, Tariq, whom she knows from science camp, announces that he’s moving to her town. But when Tariq arrives, he looks different: cool haircut, contacts, and he plays sports too now? Tariq quickly begins to make friends at school while remaining friends with Mia, who also finds herself befriended by Kinsey, a nice but mysterious girl in her class. Soon, Kinsey, Tariq, Mia, and another kid, Evan, get thrown into a science lab group together, and their first project is building a snake robot. This is another slice-of-life graphic novel for fans of Telgemeier’s books, and the friendship miscommunications add a necessary level of tension and suspense. I also loved the friendship between these kids and the fact that everything stays platonic (which is rare in kidlit these days).
Picture Day
Published: June 27, 2023
Middle schooler Viv is tired of being boring and ordinary. She wants to amass social media followers and be a trendsetter like some of her classmates. She also watches a YouTuber who encourages her inclinations. So, on picture day, she gets the grand idea to chop off her pigtail, creating a strange hairstyle, which a hairstylist eventually refines into something more attention-grabbing. Suddenly, everyone wants Viv’s advice, and she becomes more pushy too, especially towards her friends. It’s not long before everything comes crashing down. This is a funny but thoughtful start to a new graphic novel series for fans of the Click Series.
Join the Club, Maggie Diaz
Published: May 17, 2022
New seventh-grader Maggie Diaz is not the most organized person. But she’s trying to become her best self this school year so she can win her parents’ trust and get a new phone by the end of the year. She soon finds out that getting on honor roll is not that easy. Worse still, Maggie’s dealing with so many changes. Her best friends have joined after-school clubs to pursue their interests and have little or no time for Maggie (who can’t seem to find her interests). This is a lively, engaging debut about finding your place and passions when everyone else seems to be miles ahead in the game. Content note: Maggie discovers that her sister is dating a girl.
A Place to Hang the Moon
Published: February 2, 2021
A Place to Hang the Moon follows three orphaned kids in England during the WWII evacuation. Orphans William, Edmund, and Anna (aged 12, 11, and 9) are evacuated after their (not nice) grandmother dies. The kids are instructed not to disclose how well off their family is until they’re placed with a new family that feels like a forever family. In their new countryside dwelling, the kids are placed with several poorly matched families. The first family has twin boys who are just horrid and the second family is too poor (and could care less about them besides the money she’s paid to look after them). Through it all, the children take solace in each other, stories from William about their parents, and their love of books and the town library. This is a heartwarming, immersive middle-grade debut.
The Great Peach Experiment #1: When Life Gives You Lemons, Make Peach Pie
Published: April 6, 2021
Lucy, Freddie, and Herb have spent more time with each other than with their father since their mom died. But now one of their mom’s inventions has sold for a lot of money, and their dad has bought a food truck and wants them to spend the summer traveling through the country as a family. The kids are hesitant at first, but Freddie is glad to miss summer school, so he gets on board super quickly. Firstborn and watchdog of her siblings, Lucy is suspicious but agrees because she wants her dad to be more present in their lives. Herb is just happy as long as he gets to swim every single day while they’re on the road. The family plans to also enter a food truck contest at the end of their trip to compete for $10,000. But along the way, they learn a lot about what really matters. This is a wonderful introduction to a new middle-grade series for fans of The Vanderbeekers.
I Am Kavi
Published: September 19, 2023
It’s 1998 in Colombo, Sri Lanka. In the middle of the Sri Lankan Civil War, Kavi is dealing with her own personal upheavals. Her mother has remarried her father’s best friend after his death and is expecting a new baby. Meanwhile, Kavi is getting sent to the city on a scholarship to an elite private school. There, she starts telling lies about a life of wealth and grandeur– small at first, then bigger and bigger — to fit in with the rich kids until she begins to lose herself. This is a touching verse novel about a young girl adapting to changes in her world and finding her voice amidst the Sri Lankan civil war.
Ginny Off the Map
Published: June 20, 2023
Ginny’s summer is thrown off when her dad gets a surprise redeployment in the middle of their family’s moving to another city. Then, her geography camp gets canceled. Her sister seems to be making new friends, but no one appears to like Ginny–even when she starts her own geography camp. This sweet, unique young middle grade book made my heart grow and ache for Ginny and her family as they navigated a season of change. Features illustrations and a new geography fact in each chapter.
Call Me Adnan
Published: June 13, 2023
Adnan loves table tennis, his family, and the aviation alphabet. He’s color blind, left-handed and has a big sister and little brother, with another sibling on the way. When his family take a summer trip so he can compete in a tennis tournament, an unbelievable tragedy occurs, shattering their life as they know it. I don’t like sad stories. Life is hard enough, but the author drew me into this story and I couldn’t stop reading. The verse format is enjoyable and provides a wide enough window into the plot and characters. Most importantly, this story is very hopeful, despite the tragedy. If you love verse novels and don’t mind a tearjerker, this is a perfect summer story for you. Heads up for sibling loss and child drowning.
A Soft Place to Land
Published: September 14, 2021
Joy Taylor and her family have moved into an apartment complex because her dad lost his job, and their mortgage is too expensive to keep on one income. Now Joy has to share a room with her little sister and hear her parents fight every day about the work her dad chooses (or chooses not to do). Her only respite is the nice kids in the building and the hideout they introduce Joy to. One of the kids befriends Joy and they even start a dog-walking business together. But when Joy finds a sad message on the hideout wall, she’s determined to find out the person in need, but her good intentions cause more harm than good. This is a sweet, heartfelt story about finding friendship and community and handling financial difficulties as a family.
Not An Easy Win
Published: February 28, 2023
In Not an Easy Win, young Lawrence has had the odds stacked against him for so long. He and his mom and little sister went from living in Charlotte, NC to finally moving in with his grandma while his father is incarcerated. To make matters worse, Lawrence keeps getting picked on at school and getting into fights which results in his getting expelled. While he’s home, he starts going to the town’s rec center where he learns to play chess. But a boy there keeps trying to get Lawrence to fight. Can he find a way to secure a win for once? Not an Easy Win is a heartwarming, realistic, and satisfying book about poverty, having an incarcerated parent, and finding belonging in chess.
Falling Short
Published: March 15, 2022
In Falling Short, we meet Marco and Isaac. They’ve been besties for as long as they can remember and now they share one pain in common: both their dads aren’t in their lives as they’d like. Isaac’s dad is attentive but currently struggling with alcoholism. Marco’s dad wishes Marco were more athletic, instead of nerdy. At the start of middle school, both boys decide to help each other reach their goals. For Isaac, it’s getting better at more than just basketball — getting better grades and being more responsible. And for Marco, it’s learning a sport: basketball. Can they reach their goals? And will their friendship survive it? I loved this look at a warm friendship bond between boys.
Golden Ticket
Published: June 21, 2022
After Ash McAnulty won the school-wide Quiz Bowl in the fifth grade, it was almost like she got a golden ticket. Although she’d been in the school’s Gifted and Talented program since first grade, now everyone viewed her as the smartest of the bunch. But now fifth grade is wrapping up, and Ash feels less gifted. She can’t seem to grasp the abstract concepts other kids in her class do, and she begins to feel like a fraud. If she asks for help and her teachers learn she’s struggling, she’ll no longer be “gifted,” will she? Then who will she be without her “gifted” identity? She resolves to prove herself in the upcoming Quiz Bowl, but her plan doesn’t go to plan, triggering a sequence of events that forces Ash to evaluate what matters most. This is a true-to-life middle grade book about intelligence, identity, and recovering from poor choices as a kid.
Swim Team
Published: May 17, 2022
After she and her dad move from Brooklyn to Florida, Bree is excited for her first day in middle school. But also, she’s super anxious about whether she’ll make friends and fit in. Thankfully, she makes a new friend in the housing complex where they live. Unfortunately, when Bree goes to choose her math club elective, it’s fully booked. As a math lover who can’t swim, she’s crushed to hear that the only elective left is swim 101. At first, Bree avoids getting in the water, but after a near-drowning in her housing complex, an elderly neighbor (who used to be part of her swim team) decides to coach Bree. Bree gets so good that she joins her swim team, but can the team get past the drama and win? Swim Team is a highly engaging graphic novel about swimming, Black history (and why many Blacks don’t swim), and friendship.
No Matter the Distance
Published: February 21, 2023
No Matter the Distance It centers young Penny, a middle schooler with cystic fibrosis. Penny has to take digestive enzymes and do her breathing treatments to help her lungs get rid of mucus that affects her breathing. While her CF case is relatively mild-moderate, she still struggles with being chronically ill. One day a dolphin shows up in the lake near their house and Penny feels a strong connection with the animal. It turns out the dolphin (who Penny names Rose) is also sick and needs to return to her pod to get better. Penny may be the only one who can help the scientists take Rose back. But can she do that, when she feels so drawn to the animal? No Matter the Distance is a beautiful middle-grade verse novel about living with cystic fibrosis and finding belonging in the community.
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There they are: 20 wonderful realistic fiction books for 5th graders! Many of these would also work well for 6th graders. Which of these have you read and loved? What did I miss?
What do you think? Leave a comment