Books like Curveball

Looking for books like Curveball by Pablo Cartaya (Middle Grade Graphic Novel · grades 3–5)? It’s most often read for its themes of friendship, perseverance, and family. The 10 titlesbelow are the closest matches in the ReadingList database — each scored on shared themes, 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 3–5 reader. See how we judge text difficulty on our methodology page.

10 books similar to Curveball

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Why each is a match

Growing Homegrades 3–5
Shares themes of friendship, perseverance, and family and overlapping grades (3–5).
Operation Final Noticegrades 4–8
Shares themes of friendship, perseverance, and family and overlapping grades (4–8).
Swim Teamgrades 3–7
Shares themes of friendship and perseverance, same genre (Middle Grade Graphic Novel), and overlapping grades (3–7).
Roller Girl440L
Shares themes of friendship and perseverance, same genre (Middle Grade Graphic Novel), and overlapping grades (4–7).
Bea and the New Deal Horsegrades 3–5
Shares themes of perseverance and family and overlapping grades (3–5).
Chronicles of a Lizard Nobodygrades 4–8
Shares themes of friendship, same genre (Middle Grade Graphic Novel), and overlapping grades (4–8).
Countdown to Yesterdaygrades 3–6
Shares themes of friendship and family and overlapping grades (3–6).
Dogtowngrades 3–6
Shares themes of friendship and perseverance and overlapping grades (3–6).
Doña Quixote: Rise of the Knightgrades 3–6
Shares themes of family, same genre (Middle Grade Graphic Novel), and overlapping grades (3–6).
Duelgrades 4–8
Shares themes of family, same genre (Middle Grade Graphic Novel), and overlapping grades (4–8).

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