What books are similar to Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus?

The 10 closest matches to Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus by Dusti Bowling on ReadingList include Across the Desert, Superfudge, Wonder, A Million Ways Home, and America is Under Attack September 11 2001. Each is scored on shared themes, shared award lists, genre, and reading level (grades 3–5), and links to the curricula, states, and grades where it is assigned in US schools, with primary sources.

Are books like Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus reading-level appropriate?

Yes — every match is a reading-level match, not just a topical one, scored on Lexile and grade band (grades 3–5), 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 Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus

If you liked Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus, read Across the Desert, Superfudge, or Wonder — the closest matches in our database, matched on shared award lists and reading level.

Closest match: Across the Desert by Dusti Bowling

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Looking for books like Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus by Dusti Bowling? 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 3–5 reader. See how we judge text difficulty on our methodology page.

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Why each is a match

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Across the Desertgrades 3–6: Is by Dusti Bowling, the same author and overlapping grades (3–6). Amazon → books like this →
Superfudgegrades 3–6: Both on the Land of Enchantment Book Award list (+2 more shared lists), overlapping grades (3–6), and the same era (2010s). Amazon → books like this →
Wonder790L: Both on the Land of Enchantment Book Award list (+2 more shared lists), overlapping grades (3–7), and the same era (2010s). Amazon → books like this →
A Million Ways Homegrades 4–6: Both on the William Allen White Children's Book Award list (+1 more shared list), overlapping grades (4–6), and the same era (2010s). Amazon → books like this →
America is Under Attack September 11 2001grades 3–5: Both on the William Allen White Children's Book Award list (+1 more shared list), overlapping grades (3–5), and the same era (2010s). Amazon → books like this →
Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Librarygrades 4–6: Both on the Pacific Northwest Young Reader's Choice Award list (+2 more shared lists), overlapping grades (4–6), and the same era (2010s). Amazon → books like this →
Guinea Doggrades 3–5: Both on the William Allen White Children's Book Award list (+1 more shared list), overlapping grades (3–5), and the same era (2010s). Amazon → books like this →
Life on Marsgrades 3–5: Both on the William Allen White Children's Book Award list (+1 more shared list), overlapping grades (3–5), and the same era (2010s). Amazon → books like this →
Malcolm at Midnightgrades 3–5: Both on the William Allen White Children's Book Award list (+1 more shared list), overlapping grades (3–5), and the same era (2010s). Amazon → books like this →
Small Spacesgrades 3–5: Both on the William Allen White Children's Book Award list (+1 more shared list), overlapping grades (3–5), and the same era (2010s). Amazon → books like this →

Books like Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus for elementary readers (grades 3–5)

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

The Boy on the Porch by Sharon Creech · grades 3–5 — Both on the William Allen White Children's Book Award list (+1 more shared list), overlapping grades (3–5), and the same era (2010s).
Wildfire by Rodman Philbrick · grades 3–5 — Both on the William Allen White Children's Book Award list (+1 more shared list), overlapping grades (3–5), and the same era (2010s).
El Deafo by Cece Bell · 420L — Both on the Pacific Northwest Young Reader's Choice Award list (+1 more shared list), overlapping grades (4–6), and the same era (2010s).
Scritch Scratch by Lindsay Currie · grades 3–5 — Both on the Connecticut Nutmeg Book Award list (+2 more shared lists) and overlapping grades (3–5).
The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau · grades 4–6 — Both on the Connecticut Nutmeg Book Award list (+3 more shared lists) and overlapping grades (4–6).

Books like Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus for middle school (grades 6–8)

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

Orbiting Jupiter by Gary D. Schmidt · grades 7–10 — Both on the Connecticut Nutmeg Book Award list (+1 more shared list) and the same era (2010s).
Buddy by M. H. Herlong · grades 6–8 — Both on the William Allen White Children's Book Award list (+1 more shared list) and the same era (2010s).
Ghost Dog Secrets by Peg Kehret · grades 6–8 — Both on the William Allen White Children's Book Award list (+1 more shared list) and the same era (2010s).
Hidden by Helen Frost · grades 6–8 — Both on the William Allen White Children's Book Award list (+1 more shared list) and the same era (2010s).
Took by Mary Downing Hahn · grades 6–8 — Both on the William Allen White Children's Book Award list (+1 more shared list) and the same era (2010s).

Books like Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus for high school & teens (grades 9–12)

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

Orbiting Jupiter by Gary D. Schmidt · grades 7–10 — Both on the Connecticut Nutmeg Book Award list (+1 more shared list) and the same era (2010s).
Divergent by Veronica Roth · grades 8–12 — Both on the Land of Enchantment Book Award list (+1 more shared list) and the same era (2010s).
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins · 810L — Both on the Connecticut Nutmeg Book Award list (+2 more shared lists).
Posted by John David Anderson · grades 6–9 — Both on the Connecticut Nutmeg Book Award list and the same era (2010s).

Common questions

What books are similar to Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus?: The 10 closest matches to Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus by Dusti Bowling on ReadingList include Across the Desert, Superfudge, Wonder, A Million Ways Home, and America is Under Attack September 11 2001. Each is scored on shared themes, shared award lists, genre, and reading level (grades 3–5), and links to the curricula, states, and grades where it is assigned in US schools, with primary sources.
Are books like Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus reading-level appropriate?: Yes — every match is a reading-level match, not just a topical one, scored on Lexile and grade band (grades 3–5), 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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