Books like Buddy

If you liked Buddy, read Ghost, Ghost Dog Secrets, or Hidden — the closest matches in our database, matched on shared award lists and reading level.

Closest match: Ghost by Jason Reynolds

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Looking for books like Buddy by M. H. Herlong? The 10 titles below are the closest matches in the ReadingList database — each scored on shared themes, shared award lists, genre, and reading level, and each linked to the curricula, states, and grades where it’s assigned, with primary sources.

These are reading-level matches, not just topical ones — so the picks stay grade-appropriate for a grades 6–8 reader. See how we judge text difficulty on our methodology page.

10 books similar to Buddy

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Why each is a match

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Ghost730L
Both on the Great Stone Face Book Award list (+2 more shared lists), overlapping grades (5–8), and the same era (2010s). Amazon → books like this →
Ghost Dog Secretsgrades 6–8
Both on the William Allen White Children's Book Award list (+1 more shared list), overlapping grades (6–8), and the same era (2010s). Amazon → books like this →
Hiddengrades 6–8
Both on the William Allen White Children's Book Award list (+1 more shared list), overlapping grades (6–8), and the same era (2010s). Amazon → books like this →
Restart730L
Both on the William Allen White Children's Book Award list (+1 more shared list), overlapping grades (5–8), and the same era (2010s). Amazon → books like this →
The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrisegrades 5–8
Both on the William Allen White Children's Book Award list (+1 more shared list), overlapping grades (5–8), and the same era (2010s). Amazon → books like this →
Tookgrades 6–8
Both on the William Allen White Children's Book Award list (+1 more shared list), overlapping grades (6–8), and the same era (2010s). Amazon → books like this →
Ground Zerogrades 6–8
Both on the Great Stone Face Book Award list (+2 more shared lists) and overlapping grades (6–8). Amazon → books like this →
Fish in a Tree550L
Both on the Great Stone Face Book Award list (+2 more shared lists), overlapping grades (4–7), and the same era (2010s). Amazon → books like this →
Pax760L
Both on the Great Stone Face Book Award list (+2 more shared lists), overlapping grades (4–7), and the same era (2010s). Amazon → books like this →
96 Milesgrades 6–8
Both on the William Allen White Children's Book Award list (+1 more shared list) and overlapping grades (6–8). Amazon → books like this →

Books like Buddy for elementary readers (grades 3–5)

Closest matches whose grade range overlaps 3–5— same scoring, different audience.

  • Small Spaces by Katherine Arden · grades 3–5 — Both on the Great Stone Face Book Award list (+2 more shared lists) and the same era (2010s).
  • Wildfire by Rodman Philbrick · grades 3–5 — Both on the Great Stone Face Book Award list (+2 more shared lists) and the same era (2010s).
  • America is Under Attack September 11 2001 by Don Brown · grades 3–5 — Both on the William Allen White Children's Book Award list (+1 more shared list) and the same era (2010s).
  • Guinea Dog by Patrick Jennings · grades 3–5 — Both on the William Allen White Children's Book Award list (+1 more shared list) and the same era (2010s).
  • Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus by Dusti Bowling · grades 3–5 — Both on the William Allen White Children's Book Award list (+1 more shared list) and the same era (2010s).

Books like Buddy for middle school (grades 6–8)

Closest matches whose grade range overlaps 6–8— same scoring, different audience.

  • Confetti Girl by Diana López · grades 6–8 — Both on the William Allen White Children's Book Award list (+1 more shared list) and overlapping grades (6–8).
  • Cracker The Best Dog in Vietnam by Cynthia Kadohata · grades 6–8 — Both on the William Allen White Children's Book Award list (+1 more shared list) and overlapping grades (6–8).
  • Surviving the Applewhites by Stephanie S. Tolan · grades 5–8 — Both on the Great Stone Face Book Award list (+1 more shared list) and overlapping grades (5–8).
  • The Boy Who Dared by Susan Campbell Bartoletti · grades 6–8 — Both on the William Allen White Children's Book Award list (+1 more shared list) and overlapping grades (6–8).
  • The Fort by Gordon Korman · grades 6–8 — Both on the William Allen White Children's Book Award list (+1 more shared list) and overlapping grades (6–8).

Common questions

What books are similar to Buddy?
The 10 closest matches to Buddy by M. H. Herlong on ReadingList include Ghost, Ghost Dog Secrets, Hidden, Restart, and The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise. Each is scored on shared themes, shared award lists, genre, and reading level (grades 6–8), and links to the curricula, states, and grades where it is assigned in US schools, with primary sources.
Are books like Buddy reading-level appropriate?
Yes — every match is a reading-level match, not just a topical one, scored on Lexile and grade band (grades 6–8), so the picks stay grade-appropriate. See how ReadingList judges text difficulty on the /standard methodology page.
How does ReadingList choose similar books?
Matches are ranked by shared themes, shared award and reading-program lists (two books picked for the same state award were chosen by the same committees for the same readers), same genre, comparable Lexile and grade band, and publication decade — computed from cited public curriculum data, not editorial opinion or AI-generated summaries.

Book data last updated 2026-09-05. Matches are computed from each book’s cited attributes — see the methodology.

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