When we share books with our students, it is inevitable that they will fall in love and want to seek out similar books. How can you find read-alikes or booklists for popular books and series? Why, with the wonders of the internet, of course!
Popular novels and series are frequently the source of “If you liked_________, You will like _________” lists. Earlier this year I was constantly referring to read-alike lists for Twilight in order to satiate my students’ desire for my vampire love stories. Below are links to some read-alike booklists that you can use with your children.
- Lemony Snicket Read-alikes
- Harry Potter Read-alikes
- Vampire Reads- If You Love Twilight!
- Into Thin Air Read-alikes (Adventure stories)
- Lock it, Lick it, Click it: Diaries, Letters and Email
- If You Liked Frindle…
- If You Liked the Hardy Boys…
- If You Liked Holes…
- If You Liked Maniac Magee…
- If You Liked The Princess Diaries…
- If You Liked Stargirl…
- If You Liked The Outsiders
- If You Liked Hatchet…
- Junie B. Jones Read-alikes
- Westing Game Read-alikes
The best way to have a go-to read-alikes list is to read, read, read yourself. I am constantly reading children’s books and thinking of specific students that I think will enjoy a particular book. Over the last few days I have given Don’t Die, My Love to a Twilight lover (she is a romance addict), The Alex Rider Collection for my Roland Smith fan, and Alvin Ho: Allergic to Girls, School, and Other Scary Things for my Diary of a Wimpy Kid superfan. The more I read, the more books I have to draw on. I can make personal recommendations for students, based on their previous favorites.
Filed under: share a story-shape a future | Tagged: booklists, read alouds, read-alikes, share a sto |
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Holy cow! What great read alike lists! I printed each one of them to keep in a binder! I always need these. I am going to link to your site right away so I can share with others!
What a great list, thanks! I’m off to read, read, read!
So helpful! Thanks!
[…] Know What to Read Next: Helping Middle Grade Readers – Sarah Mulhern at The Reading Zone Booklists and Read Alikes – Sarah Mulhern at The Reading Zone Using Non-fiction – Mary Lee Hahn of A Year of Reading, hosted […]
Yes, read-alikes are VERY helpful – it helps the students find something they already “know” they like.
Great Read-Alike lists. And I ❤ your comment about the best way to create these lists is to “read, read, read”. That goes for all today’s posts!
My fifth grader just finished the Chronicles of Prydain books by Lloyd Alexander and he wanted some just like them. He wanted “mythical, treacherous, with fighting.” I’d love a Prydain read-alike list. … anyone?
Read-alike lists are wonderful! I’d love to see some picture book read-alike lists, if anybody’s got them.
What a great way to help kids figure out what they’d like to read next. If you have the time, I would appreciate it if you checked out my website. There’s a link to the beginning of my novel, Running Away, and if you find it interesting I’d be glad to send you a review copy, for your take on where it would fit in your lists. It’s like having a child, it’s too hard to compare it to others realistically. Thanks.
Another useful tool in finding similar books is Scholastic’s Teacher Book Wizard. They offer a “BookAlike”tool to help locate similar books at the reading level you need. I’ve enjoyed using it to find new books for my daughter. http://bookwizard.scholastic.com/
Ohhhh, Sarah Campbell, I have just stumbled onto this blog and I saw your comment and I would LOVE to help you find some Prydain read-alikes! Those are just the sort of book I tend to read the most of myself, so I couldn’t pass by here without running through my list of all the books I’ve read (I put the website for it on that line if you’re interested) and trying to come up with something.
I don’t know how far “up” your fifth grader is reading– I notice a lot of books on my list that are more YA, but are likely to be exactly what he’ll enjoy in, say, 7th or 8th grade…. Alexander’s Westmark trilogy is AWESOME for example, but higher-level than the Prydain books… MIGHT be too hard still at this point, but I don’t know your kid!
Moving on through my list…
Susan Cooper’s Dark is Rising series is a little darker and doesn’t ENTIRELY take place in a fantasy kingdom, but sounds like it might fit with what he liked about the other books…
What about the Chronicles of Narnia? It seems like something you would have already considered, but I figure I’ll put it out there anyway!
If you can track down any George MacDonald, he wrote very fun fairy-tale adventures… but personally it took me YEARS to actually FIND any of his books, so I don’t know…
Oh, oh! Consider this one starred-for-definite-consideration: Gerald Morris’s Arthurian retellings would be AWESOME– enough adventure, myth and magic, etc, AND, like Alexander, a bit funny too.
Also different in setting but with plenty of the mythic treacherous fighting (and sense of humor) he’s looking for– have you tried Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson books yet (starting with The Lightning Thief)?
Too soon for The Hobbit? Definitely too soon for Lord of the Rings, likely, but I’m not sure about The Hobbit– I loved it in 8th grade, but I’d never CONSIDERED picking it up before my mom handed it to me then, so I don’t know how young it can go!
There’s Harry Potter, but you’re even more likely to have already gone there…
Well, there’s a start… I just couldn’t help chiming in here!
What a GREAT list!!! Thank you so much!!
[…] I Don’t Know What I Want to Read Next: Helping Middle Grade Readers – Sarah Mulhern @ The Reading […]
[…] a Future. She is a voracious reader and gets her students excited about reading, too. Her Reading Zone post is filled with read alike ideas. Sarah says she frequently relies on “the wonders of the […]
[…] Here are some terrific read-alike booklists: https://thereadingzone.wordpress.com/2009/03/10/read-alikes-and-booklists/ […]
[…] ALIKE RESOURCES: Here are some terrific read-alike booklists: https://thereadingzone.wordpress.com/2009/03/10/read-alikes-and-booklists/ Really terrific question tips for choosing books with and for children here: […]