What books are similar to Home of the Brave?

The 10 closest matches to Home of the Brave by Katherine Applegate on ReadingList include The One and Only Bob, The One and Only Ivan, A Life in the Wild, A Room on Lorelei Street, and Absolutely Positively Not. Each is scored on shared themes, shared award lists, genre, and reading level (grades 4–9), and links to the curricula, states, and grades where it is assigned in US schools, with primary sources.

Are books like Home of the Brave reading-level appropriate?

Yes — every match is a reading-level match, not just a topical one, scored on Lexile and grade band (grades 4–9), 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.

Books like Home of the Brave

If you liked Home of the Brave, read The One and Only Bob, The One and Only Ivan, or A Life in the Wild — the closest matches in our database, matched on shared award lists and reading level.

Closest match: The One and Only Bob by Katherine Applegate

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Looking for books like Home of the Brave by Katherine Applegate (Children's · grades 4–9)? 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 4–9 reader. See how we judge text difficulty on our methodology page.

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Why each is a match

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The One and Only Bobgrades 4–7: Is by Katherine Applegate, the same author and overlapping grades (4–7). Amazon → books like this →
The One and Only Ivan570L: Is by Katherine Applegate, the same author and overlapping grades (3–7). Amazon → books like this →
A Life in the Wildgrades 4–10: Both on the Golden Kite Award list, same genre (Children's), and overlapping grades (4–10). Amazon → books like this →
A Room on Lorelei Streetgrades 4–9: Both on the Golden Kite Award list, same genre (Children's), and overlapping grades (4–9). Amazon → books like this →
Absolutely Positively Notgrades 3–8: Both on the Golden Kite Award list, same genre (Children's), and overlapping grades (3–8). Amazon → books like this →
Al Capone Does My Shirtsgrades 3–8: Both on the Golden Kite Award list, same genre (Children's), and overlapping grades (3–8). Amazon → books like this →
As If Being 12 3/4 Isn't Bad Enough, My Mother Is Running for President!grades 3–8: Both on the Golden Kite Award list, same genre (Children's), and overlapping grades (3–8). Amazon → books like this →
Ashley Bryan: Words to My Life's Songgrades 4–10: Both on the Golden Kite Award list, same genre (Children's), and overlapping grades (4–10). Amazon → books like this →
Bucking the Sargegrades 4–9: Both on the Golden Kite Award list, same genre (Children's), and overlapping grades (4–9). Amazon → books like this →
Children of the Great Depressiongrades 4–10: Both on the Golden Kite Award list, same genre (Children's), and overlapping grades (4–10). Amazon → books like this →

Books like Home of the Brave for elementary readers (grades 3–5)

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

Clementine by Sara Pennypacker · grades 3–8 — Both on the Golden Kite Award list, same genre (Children's), and overlapping grades (3–8).
Commodore Perry in the Land of the Shogun by Rhoda Blumberg · grades 4–10 — Both on the Golden Kite Award list, same genre (Children's), and overlapping grades (4–10).
Darkness Over Denmark by Ellen Levine · grades 4–10 — Both on the Golden Kite Award list, same genre (Children's), and overlapping grades (4–10).
Dust to Eat by Michael L. Cooper · grades 4–10 — Both on the Golden Kite Award list, same genre (Children's), and overlapping grades (4–10).
Firegirl by Tony Abbott · grades 4–9 — Both on the Golden Kite Award list, same genre (Children's), and overlapping grades (4–9).

Books like Home of the Brave for middle school (grades 6–8)

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

Clementine by Sara Pennypacker · grades 3–8 — Both on the Golden Kite Award list, same genre (Children's), and overlapping grades (3–8).
Commodore Perry in the Land of the Shogun by Rhoda Blumberg · grades 4–10 — Both on the Golden Kite Award list, same genre (Children's), and overlapping grades (4–10).
Darkness Over Denmark by Ellen Levine · grades 4–10 — Both on the Golden Kite Award list, same genre (Children's), and overlapping grades (4–10).
Dust to Eat by Michael L. Cooper · grades 4–10 — Both on the Golden Kite Award list, same genre (Children's), and overlapping grades (4–10).
Firegirl by Tony Abbott · grades 4–9 — Both on the Golden Kite Award list, same genre (Children's), and overlapping grades (4–9).

Books like Home of the Brave for high school & teens (grades 9–12)

Closest matches whose grade range overlaps 9–12— same scoring, different audience.

Commodore Perry in the Land of the Shogun by Rhoda Blumberg · grades 4–10 — Both on the Golden Kite Award list, same genre (Children's), and overlapping grades (4–10).
Darkness Over Denmark by Ellen Levine · grades 4–10 — Both on the Golden Kite Award list, same genre (Children's), and overlapping grades (4–10).
Dust to Eat by Michael L. Cooper · grades 4–10 — Both on the Golden Kite Award list, same genre (Children's), and overlapping grades (4–10).
Firegirl by Tony Abbott · grades 4–9 — Both on the Golden Kite Award list, same genre (Children's), and overlapping grades (4–9).
Jenny of the Tetons by Kristiana Gregory · grades 4–9 — Both on the Golden Kite Award list, same genre (Children's), and overlapping grades (4–9).

Common questions

What books are similar to Home of the Brave?: The 10 closest matches to Home of the Brave by Katherine Applegate on ReadingList include The One and Only Bob, The One and Only Ivan, A Life in the Wild, A Room on Lorelei Street, and Absolutely Positively Not. Each is scored on shared themes, shared award lists, genre, and reading level (grades 4–9), and links to the curricula, states, and grades where it is assigned in US schools, with primary sources.
Are books like Home of the Brave reading-level appropriate?: Yes — every match is a reading-level match, not just a topical one, scored on Lexile and grade band (grades 4–9), 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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