Books like Cracker The Best Dog in Vietnam

If you liked Cracker The Best Dog in Vietnam, read The Thing About Luck, Kira-Kira, or The Boy Who Dared — the closest matches in our database, matched on shared award lists and reading level.

Closest match: The Thing About Luck by Cynthia Kadohata

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Looking for books like Cracker The Best Dog in Vietnam by Cynthia Kadohata? 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 Cracker The Best Dog in Vietnam

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Why each is a match

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The Thing About Luckgrades 5–8
Is by Cynthia Kadohata, the same author and overlapping grades (5–8). Amazon → books like this →
Kira-Kiragrades 4–7
Is by Cynthia Kadohata, the same author, overlapping grades (4–7), and the same era (2000s). Amazon → books like this →
The Boy Who Daredgrades 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 (2000s). 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 →
Buddygrades 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 →
Confetti Girlgrades 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 →
Ghost730L
Both on the William Allen White Children's Book Award list (+1 more shared list) and overlapping grades (5–8). Amazon → books like this →
Ghost Dog Secretsgrades 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 →
Ground Zerogrades 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 →
Hiddengrades 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 Cracker The Best Dog in Vietnam for elementary readers (grades 3–5)

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

  • 11 Birthdays by Wendy Mass · grades 3–5 — Both on the Alabama Camellia Children's Choice Book Award list (+2 more shared lists) and the same era (2000s).
  • Eleven by Patricia Reilly Giff · grades 3–5 — Both on the William Allen White Children's Book Award list (+1 more shared list) and the same era (2000s).
  • How to Steal a Dog by Barbara O'Connor · grades 3–5 — Both on the William Allen White Children's Book Award list (+1 more shared list) and the same era (2000s).
  • Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo · 610L — Both on the Alabama Camellia Children's Choice Book Award list (+3 more shared lists) and the same era (2000s).
  • 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).

Books like Cracker The Best Dog in Vietnam for middle school (grades 6–8)

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

  • Restart by Gordon Korman · 730L — Both on the California Young Reader Medal list (+3 more shared lists) and overlapping grades (5–8).
  • 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).
  • The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise by Dan Gemeinhart · grades 5–8 — Both on the California Young Reader Medal list (+2 more shared lists) and overlapping grades (5–8).
  • Took by Mary Downing Hahn · grades 6–8 — Both on the William Allen White Children's Book Award list (+1 more shared list) and overlapping grades (6–8).
  • The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins · 810L — Both on the California Young Reader Medal list (+1 more shared list), overlapping grades (6–9), and the same era (2000s).

Common questions

What books are similar to Cracker The Best Dog in Vietnam?
The 10 closest matches to Cracker The Best Dog in Vietnam by Cynthia Kadohata on ReadingList include The Thing About Luck, Kira-Kira, The Boy Who Dared, 96 Miles, and Buddy. 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 Cracker The Best Dog in Vietnam 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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