Treasury · Merit

Davidson Gifted

The Davidson Institute's reading list for profoundly gifted young readers; the hardest list here for its ages.

130 books in the catalog stand on this list. The list itself (opens the list's own website) ↗

A reader aged

43 of these books cover age 9. The 58 that name no age at all are left off rather than guessed at — choose any age to bring them back.

• Am I Naturally This Crazy?: Poems by Sara Holbrook, 1996 · ages 9–14 · AR 3.5 · AR Interest: MG (4–8)
  Remember
• Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery, 1935 · ages 9–12 · Lexile 710L · AR 7.3 · AR Interest: MG (4–8)
  also on Deep Roots Grade, Halsted - Best Friends, Mensa Kids, The Good & The Beautiful, TJEd Youth Recommended
  Remember
• Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne, 1873 · ages 9–14 · Lexile 1090L · AR 9.6 · AR Interest: MG (4–8)
  also on Beautiful Feet, Deep Roots Grade
  Remember
• Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer, 2001 · ages 9–14 · Lexile 600L · AR 5.0 · AR Interest: MG (4–8)
  Remember
• A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle, 1962 · ages 9–13 · Lexile 740L · AR 4.7 · AR Interest: MG (4–8)
  also on Halsted - Best Friends, Mensa Kids, Newbery Award, NY Public Library
  Remember
• Betsy-Tacy by Maud Hart Lovelace, 1940 · ages 8–10 · Lexile 650L · AR 4.0 · AR Interest: MG (4–8)
  also on Mensa Kids, TJEd Early Recommended
  Remember
• Black Beauty by Anna Sewell, 1877 · ages 8–12 · Lexile 1010L · AR 7.7 · AR Interest: MG (4–8)
  also on Beautiful Feet, Deep Roots Grade, Mensa Kids, The Good & The Beautiful, TJEd Youth Recommended
  Remember
• Boxcar Children by Gertrude Chandler Warner, 1942 · ages 8–9 · Lexile 580L · AR 3.9 · AR Interest: LG (K–3)
  also on Deep Roots Grade, The Good & The Beautiful
  Remember
• Charlotte's Web by E.B. White, 1952 · ages 8–12 · Lexile 680L · AR 4.4 · AR Interest: MG (4–8)
  also on Mensa Kids, NY Public Library, The Good & The Beautiful, TJEd Early Recommended
  Remember
• Danny, the Champion of the World by Roald Dahl, 1975 · ages 8–10 · AR 4.7 · AR Interest: MG (4–8)
  also on Halsted - Best Friends
  Remember
• Dinosaurs Before Dark by Mary Pope Osborne, 1992 · ages 5–9 · Lexile 510L · AR 2.6 · AR Interest: LG (K–3)
  Remember
• Dinotopia: A Land Apart from Time by James Gurney, 1992 · ages 9–14 · Lexile 700L · AR 6.9 · AR Interest: MG (4–8)
  also on TJEd Early Recommended
  Remember
• Dogs Don't Tell Jokes by Louis Sachar, 1991 · ages 9–14 · Lexile 560L · AR 3.8 · AR Interest: MG (4–8)
  Remember
• Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine, 1997 · ages 8–10 · Lexile 670L · AR 4.6 · AR Interest: MG (4–8)
  also on Halsted - Best Friends
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• Encyclopedia Brown by Donald J. Sobol, 1963 · up to age 10 · Lexile 610L · AR 4.1 · AR Interest: MG (4–8)
  also on Deep Roots Grade, The Good & The Beautiful
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• Ginger Pye by Eleanor Estes, 1952 · ages 8–10 · Lexile 990L · AR 6.0 · AR Interest: MG (4–8)
  also on Newbery Award
  Remember
• Half Magic by Edward Eager, 1954 · ages 9–14 · Lexile 830L · AR 5.0 · AR Interest: MG (4–8)
  Remember
• Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh, 1964 · ages 9–12 · Lexile 760L · AR 4.5 · AR Interest: MG (4–8)
  also on Halsted - Best Friends, Mensa Kids, NY Public Library
  Remember
• Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J. K. Rowling, 1998 · ages 9–11 · Lexile 880L · AR 5.5 · AR Interest: MG (4–8)
  also on NY Public Library
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• Hoot by Carl Hiaasen, 2002 · ages 9–14 · Lexile 520L · AR 5.2 · AR Interest: MG (4–8)
  Remember
• James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl, 1961 · ages 9–14 · Lexile 870L · AR 4.8 · AR Interest: MG (4–8)
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• Junie B. Jones and the Stupid Smelly Bus by Barbara Park, 1992 · ages 5–9 · Lexile 380L · AR 2.9 · AR Interest: LG (K–3)
  Remember
• Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder, 1935 · ages 8–10 · Lexile 600L · AR 5.3
  also on Deep Roots Grade, Mensa Kids, The Good & The Beautiful
  Remember
• Little Women by Louisa May Alcott, 1868 · ages 9–14 · Lexile 1300L · AR 7.9 · AR Interest: MG (4–8)
  also on Deep Roots Grade, Mensa Kids, The Good & The Beautiful, TJEd Youth Recommended
  Remember
• Math Curse by Jon Scieszka; Lane Smith, 1995 · ages 5–9 · Lexile 560L · AR 3.7 · AR Interest: LG (K–3)
  Remember
• Matilda by Roald Dahl, 1988 · ages 8–12 · Lexile 840L · AR 5.0 · AR Interest: MG (4–8)
  also on Mensa Kids, NY Public Library
  Remember
• My Father’s Dragon by Ruth Stiles Gannett, 1948 · ages 8–10 · Lexile 970L · AR 5.6 · AR Interest: LG (K–3)
  also on NY Public Library
  Remember
• My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George, 1959 · ages 9–12 · Lexile 810L · AR 5.2
  also on Deep Roots Grade, Mensa Kids, The Good & The Beautiful
  Remember
• Nancy Drew: The Secret of the Old Clock by Carolyn Keene, 1930 · ages 9–14 · Lexile 760L · AR 5.4 · AR Interest: MG (4–8)
  also on The Good & The Beautiful
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• Nate the Great by Marjorie Weinman Sharmat, 1972 · ages 5–9 · Lexile 340L · AR 2.0 · AR Interest: LG (K–3)
  Remember
• Stuart Little by E.B. White, 1945 · ages 9–10 · Lexile 920L · AR 6.0
  also on Deep Roots Grade, TJEd Youth Recommended
  Remember
• The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket, 1999 · ages 9–14 · Lexile 1010L · AR 6.4 · AR Interest: MG (4–8)
  Remember
• The Book of Three by Lloyd Alexander, 1964 · ages 9–12 · Lexile 770L · AR 5.3 · AR Interest: MG (4–8)
  also on Mensa Kids, NY Public Library
  Remember
• The King's Equal by Katherine Paterson, 1992 · ages 5–9 · Lexile 780L · AR 5.2 · AR Interest: LG (K–3)
  also on The Good & The Beautiful
  Remember
• The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan, 2005 · ages 9–14 · Lexile 680L · AR 4.7 · AR Interest: MG (4–8)
  Remember
• The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis, 1950 · ages 8–13 · Lexile 940L · AR 5.7
  also on Deep Roots Grade, Mensa Kids, NY Public Library, The Good & The Beautiful, Time Magazine 1923-2005, TJEd Youth Recommended
  Remember
• The Magic School Bus at the Waterworks by Joanna Cole, 1986 · ages 5–9 · Lexile 660L · AR 3.7 · AR Interest: LG (K–3)
  Remember
• The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi, 1990 · ages 9–14 · Lexile 740L · AR 5.3 · AR Interest: MG (4–8)
  Remember
• The Trumpet of the Swan by E.B. White, 1970 · ages 8–10 · Lexile 750L · AR 4.9 · AR Interest: MG (4–8)
  also on The Good & The Beautiful, TJEd Youth Recommended
  Remember
• The Wanderings of Odysseus by Rosemary Sutcliff, 1995 · ages 9–14 · Lexile 1220L · AR 6.5 · AR Interest: MG (4–8)
  Remember
• The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum, 1900 · ages 9–14 · Lexile 1000L · AR 7.0 · AR Interest: MG (4–8)
  also on Mensa Kids, TJEd Early Recommended
  Remember
• Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt, 1975 · ages 9–12 · Lexile 770L · AR 5.0 · AR Interest: MG (4–8)
  also on Mensa Kids
  Remember
• Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame, 1908 · ages 9–14 · Lexile 1070L · AR 8.2 · AR Interest: MG (4–8)
  also on Deep Roots Grade, TJEd Early Recommended
  Remember