21 Top middle grade books like What Happened to Rachel Riley? by Claire Swinarski

Cover of What Happened to Rachel Riley? by Claire Swinarski

What Happened to Rachel Riley?

By: Claire Swinarski

4.23

Format: 352 pages, Hardcover

An eighth grader uses social media posts, passed notes, and other clues to find out why a formerly …

If you liked the middle grade plot in What Happened to Rachel Riley? by Claire Swinarski , here is a list of 21 books like this:

Cover of The Mona Lisa Vanishes: A Legendary Painter, a Shocking Heist, and the Birth of a Global Celebrity by Nicholas  Day

1. The Mona Lisa Vanishes: A Legendary Painter, a Shocking Heist, and the Birth of a Global Celebrity

By: Nicholas Day

4.15

Format: 288 pages, Hardcover

A propulsive work of narrative nonfiction about how the Mona Lisa was stolen from the Louvre, how t… read more

Similar categories in Nicholas Day's The Mona Lisa Vanishes: A Legendary Painter, a Shocking Heist, and the Birth of a Global Celebrity book and Claire Swinarski's What Happened to Rachel Riley?

  • mystery
  • middle grade
  • childrens
  • audiobook
"Leonard da Vinci had painted the Mona Lisa. But Vincenzo Perugia had turned it into The Mona Lisa."

-Nicholas Day, The Mona Lisa Vanishes: A Legendary Painter, a Shocking Heist, and the Birth of a Global Celebrity

"The Lourve, he concluded, with an insult designed to puncture French pride, "is less well protected than a Spanish museum."

-Nicholas Day, The Mona Lisa Vanishes: A Legendary Painter, a Shocking Heist, and the Birth of a Global Celebrity

"If the Mona Lisa is the most famous face in art history, Les Demoiselles is a hatchet thrown at it. It's not a pretty painting. Its brutal and uncomfortable."

-Nicholas Day, The Mona Lisa Vanishes: A Legendary Painter, a Shocking Heist, and the Birth of a Global Celebrity

"Word of his midnight activities gets out. 'The pope has found out that I have skinned three corpses,' Leonardo writes in his notebook. He gets off easy. He's simply told: please stop skinning corpses."

-Nicholas Day, The Mona Lisa Vanishes: A Legendary Painter, a Shocking Heist, and the Birth of a Global Celebrity

Cover of Something Like Home by Andrea Beatriz Arango

2. Something Like Home

By: Andrea Beatriz Arango

4.31

Format: 256 pages, Library Binding

A novel in verse in which a lost dog helps a lonely girl find a way home to her family . . . only f… read more

Similar categories in Andrea Beatriz Arango's Something Like Home book and Claire Swinarski's What Happened to Rachel Riley?

  • childrens
  • realistic fiction
  • middle grade
  • fiction
  • audiobook
Cover of The Lost Year by Katherine Marsh

3. The Lost Year

By: Katherine Marsh

4.50

Format: 368 pages, Hardcover

A middle-grade survival story that traces a family secret back to the Holodomor, a terrible famine … read more

Similar categories in Katherine Marsh's The Lost Year book and Claire Swinarski's What Happened to Rachel Riley?

  • childrens
  • realistic fiction
  • middle grade
  • young adult
  • fiction
  • audiobook
Cover of A First Time for Everything by Dan Santat

4. A First Time for Everything

By: Dan Santat

4.39

Format: 320 pages, Hardcover

A middle grade graphic memoir based on bestselling author and Caldecott Medalist Dan Santat's awkwa… read more

Similar categories in Dan Santat's A First Time for Everything book and Claire Swinarski's What Happened to Rachel Riley?

  • middle grade
  • childrens
Cover of Mascot by Charles Waters

5. Mascot

By: Charles Waters

4.02

Format: 255 pages, Kindle Edition

What if a school's mascot is seen as racist, but not by everyone? In this compelling middle-grade n… read more

Similar categories in Charles Waters's Mascot book and Claire Swinarski's What Happened to Rachel Riley?

  • realistic fiction
  • middle grade
  • young adult
  • fiction
  • contemporary
Cover of Good Different by Meg Eden  Kuyatt

6. Good Different

By: Meg Eden Kuyatt

4.52

Format: 288 pages, Hardcover

A extraordinary novel-in-verse about a neurodivergent girl who comes to understand and celebrate he… read more

Similar categories in Meg Eden Kuyatt's Good Different book and Claire Swinarski's What Happened to Rachel Riley?

  • childrens
  • realistic fiction
  • middle grade
  • fiction
  • contemporary
"Fight for words, even if it's hard."

-Meg Eden Kuyatt, Good Different

"You may have different needs than some folks in your class, but that doesn't make you the ­«wrong» version and other people the «normal» version. You are Selah. And you are not the only one feeling t…"

-Meg Eden Kuyatt, Good Different

Cover of The Probability of Everything by Sarah Everett

7. The Probability of Everything

By: Sarah Everett

4.33

Format: 336 pages, Hardcover

A heart-wrenching middle grade debut about Kemi, an aspiring scientist who loves statistics and fac… read more

Similar categories in Sarah Everett's The Probability of Everything book and Claire Swinarski's What Happened to Rachel Riley?

  • audiobook
  • childrens
  • realistic fiction
  • middle grade
  • young adult
  • fiction
  • contemporary
  • juvenile
Cover of Mexikid: A Graphic Memoir by Pedro Martín

8. Mexikid: A Graphic Memoir

By: Pedro Martín

4.27

Format: 320 pages, Hardcover

A poignant, hilarious, and unforgettable graphic memoir about a Mexican-American boy’s family and t… read more

Similar categories in Pedro Martín's Mexikid: A Graphic Memoir book and Claire Swinarski's What Happened to Rachel Riley?

  • middle grade
  • childrens
"It was like the driveway at Disneyland but with way more automatic weapons."

-Pedro Martín, Mexikid: A Graphic Memoir

"I like to say that my stories are 100% true 90% of the time. My memory and my heart like to play tricks on each other. The results are what makes my stories."

-Pedro Martín, Mexikid: A Graphic Memoir

Cover of Simon Sort of Says by Erin Bow

9. Simon Sort of Says

By: Erin Bow

4.31

Format: 320 pages, Hardcover

Simon O’Keeffe’s biggest claim to fame should be the time his dad accidentally gave a squirrel a ho… read more

Similar categories in Erin Bow's Simon Sort of Says book and Claire Swinarski's What Happened to Rachel Riley?

  • childrens
  • realistic fiction
  • middle grade
  • young adult
  • fiction
  • contemporary
  • audiobook
"Dad picks Denver [to get his rabies shots], and he's totally fine, but he's going to be away for three days. "Just like Jesus," Mom says. I can hear the phone say, "Isobel!"

-Erin Bow, Simon Sort of Says

"In the tabernacle did the [squirrel]--" "Eat the Host?" says Dad. "Yes he did." "And was it--" "Consecrated?" says Dad. "Yes it was." ... "What, uh, happened to the squirrel?" "That squirrel is now 3…"

-Erin Bow, Simon Sort of Says

"The dog- Todd?- looks up from its leaking beer, puffs a sigh, then crosses the room to head-butt the fridge door closed. "Ummm" I manage "Did you see he got a--" "It's okay," she says. "He only has o…"

-Erin Bow, Simon Sort of Says

Cover of The Labors of Hercules Beal by Gary D. Schmidt

10. The Labors of Hercules Beal

By: Gary D. Schmidt

4.53

Format: 352 pages, Hardcover

From award-winning author Gary D. Schmidt, a warm and witty novel in the tradition of The Wednesday… read more

Similar categories in Gary D. Schmidt's The Labors of Hercules Beal book and Claire Swinarski's What Happened to Rachel Riley?

  • audiobook
  • childrens
  • realistic fiction
  • middle grade
  • young adult
  • fiction
  • contemporary
  • juvenile
"And when Achilles went inside the Vampire said to me, "You all right?" I nodded. "I'm okay." "Okay is good enough for now," she said."

-Gary D. Schmidt, The Labors of Hercules Beal

"Most people don't think we even look like brothers," I said. "You do when you're asleep," she said. "Your face relaxes, and you stop worrying, and all that grit you two carry around falls away, and y…"

-Gary D. Schmidt, The Labors of Hercules Beal

Cover of Lasagna Means I Love You by Kate  O'Shaughnessy

11. Lasagna Means I Love You

By: Kate O'Shaughnessy

4.40

Format: 368 pages, Library Binding

What are the essential ingredients that make a family? Eleven-year-old Mo is making up her own reci… read more

Similar categories in Kate O'Shaughnessy's Lasagna Means I Love You book and Claire Swinarski's What Happened to Rachel Riley?

  • audiobook
  • childrens
  • realistic fiction
  • middle grade
  • fiction
  • contemporary
  • juvenile
Cover of The Night War by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

12. The Night War

By: Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

4.04

Format: 288 pages, Hardcover

From the two-time Newbery Honor-winning author of The War That Saved My Life and Fighting Words com… read more

Similar categories in Kimberly Brubaker Bradley's The Night War book and Claire Swinarski's What Happened to Rachel Riley?

  • middle grade
  • childrens
  • fiction
  • audiobook
Cover of And Then, Boom! by Lisa Fipps

13. And Then, Boom!

By: Lisa Fipps

4.69

Format: 256 pages, Hardcover

A gripping new novel-in-verse by the author of the Printz Honor-winning Starfish , featuring a pove… read more

Similar categories in Lisa Fipps's And Then, Boom! book and Claire Swinarski's What Happened to Rachel Riley?

  • realistic fiction
  • middle grade
  • fiction
  • contemporary
  • audiobook
"Friendship is being there to notice someone's about to fall, to try to keep them from falling, to catch them when they fall or to cushion the blow when they do, to feel what they're feeling, and to u…"

-Lisa Fipps, And Then, Boom!

Cover of You Are Here: Connecting Flights by Ellen Oh

14. You Are Here: Connecting Flights

By: Ellen Oh

4.26

Format: 272 pages, Hardcover

An incident at a TSA security check point sows chaos and rumors, creating a chain of events that im… read more

Similar categories in Ellen Oh's You Are Here: Connecting Flights book and Claire Swinarski's What Happened to Rachel Riley?

  • audiobook
  • childrens
  • realistic fiction
  • middle grade
  • fiction
  • contemporary
  • juvenile
"Being good was slippery. It didn't stay still; it moved around, and not only that, sometimes it meant exactly opposite things. Like, there were times when being good meant speaking up, but other time…"

-Ellen Oh, You Are Here: Connecting Flights

Cover of Louder Than Hunger by John Schu

15. Louder Than Hunger

By: John Schu

4.55

Format: 528 pages, Hardcover

Revered teacher, librarian, and story ambassador John Schu explores anorexia—and self-expression as… read more

Similar categories in John Schu's Louder Than Hunger book and Claire Swinarski's What Happened to Rachel Riley?

  • childrens
  • realistic fiction
  • middle grade
  • young adult
  • fiction
  • audiobook
Cover of The Fire, the Water, and Maudie McGinn by Sally J. Pla

16. The Fire, the Water, and Maudie McGinn

By: Sally J. Pla

4.57

Format: 336 pages, Hardcover

Neurodivergent Maudie is ready to spend an amazing summer with her dad, but will she find the coura… read more

Similar categories in Sally J. Pla's The Fire, the Water, and Maudie McGinn book and Claire Swinarski's What Happened to Rachel Riley?

  • realistic fiction
  • middle grade
  • young adult
  • fiction
  • contemporary
  • audiobook
Cover of What Happened to Rachel Riley? by Claire Swinarski

17. What Happened to Rachel Riley?

By: Claire Swinarski

4.23

Format: 352 pages, Hardcover

An eighth grader uses social media posts, passed notes, and other clues to find out why a formerly … read more

Similar categories in Claire Swinarski's What Happened to Rachel Riley? book and Claire Swinarski's What Happened to Rachel Riley?

  • audiobook
  • childrens
  • school
  • realistic fiction
  • middle grade
  • young adult
  • fiction
  • contemporary
  • mystery
  • juvenile
Cover of We Still Belong by Christine  Day

18. We Still Belong

By: Christine Day

4.16

Format: 256 pages, Hardcover

A thoughtful and heartfelt middle grade novel by American Indian Youth Literature Honor–winning aut… read more

Similar categories in Christine Day's We Still Belong book and Claire Swinarski's What Happened to Rachel Riley?

  • childrens
  • school
  • realistic fiction
  • middle grade
  • fiction
  • contemporary
  • audiobook
Cover of Not an Easy Win by Chrystal D. Giles

19. Not an Easy Win

By: Chrystal D. Giles

4.08

Format: 256 pages, Library Binding

FOUR STARRED REVIEWS! Twelve-year old Lawrence is new to chess--can he find a way to get on the bo… read more

Similar categories in Chrystal D. Giles's Not an Easy Win book and Claire Swinarski's What Happened to Rachel Riley?

  • audiobook
  • childrens
  • realistic fiction
  • middle grade
  • fiction
  • contemporary
  • juvenile
Cover of The Tenth Mistake of Hank Hooperman by Gennifer Choldenko

20. The Tenth Mistake of Hank Hooperman

By: Gennifer Choldenko

4.55

Format: 320 pages, Hardcover

Readers will be rooting for a happy ending for Hank in Newbery-Honor-winner Gennifer Choldenko’s gr… read more

Similar categories in Gennifer Choldenko's The Tenth Mistake of Hank Hooperman book and Claire Swinarski's What Happened to Rachel Riley?

  • audiobook
  • childrens
  • realistic fiction
  • middle grade
  • fiction
  • contemporary
  • juvenile
Cover of The Puttermans Are in the House by Jacquetta Nammar Feldman

21. The Puttermans Are in the House

By: Jacquetta Nammar Feldman

3.91

Format: 368 pages, Hardcover

A heartfelt and hopeful middle grade novel from Jacquetta Nammar Feldman, author of the Junior Libr… read more

Similar categories in Jacquetta Nammar Feldman's The Puttermans Are in the House book and Claire Swinarski's What Happened to Rachel Riley?

  • childrens
  • realistic fiction
  • middle grade
  • young adult
  • juvenile

17 Top fiction books like What Happened to Rachel Riley? by Claire Swinarski

Transform Your Habits

Something Like Home

Andrea Beatriz Arango

4.31

Transform Your Habits

The Lost Year

Katherine Marsh

4.50

Transform Your Habits

Mascot

Charles Waters

4.02

Transform Your Habits

Good Different

Meg Eden Kuyatt

4.52

View all the books

15 best-selling childrens books like Mexikid: A Graphic Memoir by Pedro Martín

Transform Your Habits

The Eyes and the Impossible

Dave Eggers

4.25

Transform Your Habits

Ferris

Kate DiCamillo

4.30

Transform Your Habits

The Mona Lisa Vanishes: A Legendary Painter, a Shocking Heist, and the Birth of a Global Celebrity

Nicholas Day

4.15

Transform Your Habits

The Lost Year

Katherine Marsh

4.50

View all the books

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