What books are similar to Juana and Lucas?

The 10 closest matches to Juana and Lucas by Juana Medina on ReadingList include A Green Place to be, Are You Ready to Play Outside?, Balloons over Broadway, Bink and Gollie: Two for One, and Charlie & Mouse Even Better. Each is scored on shared themes, shared award lists, genre, and reading level (grades K–3), and links to the curricula, states, and grades where it is assigned in US schools, with primary sources.

Are books like Juana and Lucas reading-level appropriate?

Yes — every match is a reading-level match, not just a topical one, scored on Lexile and grade band (grades K–3), 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 Juana and Lucas

If you liked Juana and Lucas, read A Green Place to be, Are You Ready to Play Outside?, or Balloons over Broadway — the closest matches in our database, matched on shared award lists and reading level.

Closest match: A Green Place to be by Ashley Benham Yazdani

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Looking for books like Juana and Lucas by Juana Medina? 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 K–3 reader. See how we judge text difficulty on our methodology page.

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Why each is a match

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A Green Place to begrades K–5: Both on the Garden State Children's Book Award list, overlapping grades (K–5), and the same era (2010s). Amazon → books like this →
Are You Ready to Play Outside?grades K–2: Both on the Garden State Children's Book Award list, overlapping grades (K–2), and the same era (2010s). Amazon → books like this →
Balloons over Broadwaygrades 1–4: Both on the Garden State Children's Book Award list, overlapping grades (1–4), and the same era (2010s). Amazon → books like this →
Bink and Gollie: Two for Onegrades K–2: Both on the Garden State Children's Book Award list, overlapping grades (K–2), and the same era (2010s). Amazon → books like this →
Charlie & Mouse Even Bettergrades K–2: Both on the Garden State Children's Book Award list, overlapping grades (K–2), and the same era (2010s). Amazon → books like this →
Don't Throw It to Mo!grades K–2: Both on the Garden State Children's Book Award list, overlapping grades (K–2), and the same era (2010s). Amazon → books like this →
Fox the Tigergrades K–2: Both on the Garden State Children's Book Award list, overlapping grades (K–2), and the same era (2010s). Amazon → books like this →
Otis and Will Discover the Deepgrades K–5: Both on the Garden State Children's Book Award list, overlapping grades (K–5), and the same era (2010s). Amazon → books like this →
An American Storygrades K–3: Both on the Garden State Children's Book Award list and overlapping grades (K–3). Amazon → books like this →
Benny and Penny in the Big No-No!grades K–2: Both on the Garden State Children's Book Award list and overlapping grades (K–2). Amazon → books like this →

Books like Juana and Lucas for elementary readers (grades 3–5)

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

Frizzy by Claribel Ortega · grades 4–5 — Both on the Garden State Children's Book Award list (+1 more shared list).
I Lived on Butterfly Hill by Marjorie Agosín · grades 5–8 — Both on the Pura Belpré Author Award list and the same era (2010s).
Lucky Broken Girl by Ruth Behar · grades 5–8 — Both on the Pura Belpré Author Award list and the same era (2010s).
Sal and Gabi Break the Universe by Carlos Hernandez · grades 4–7 — Both on the Pura Belpré Author Award list and the same era (2010s).
The Dreamer by Pam Muñoz Ryan · grades 4–7 — Both on the Pura Belpré Author Award list and the same era (2010s).

Books like Juana and Lucas for middle school (grades 6–8)

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

Enchanted Air by Margarita Engle · grades 6–10 — Both on the Pura Belpré Author Award list and the same era (2010s).
I Lived on Butterfly Hill by Marjorie Agosín · grades 5–8 — Both on the Pura Belpré Author Award list and the same era (2010s).
Lucky Broken Girl by Ruth Behar · grades 5–8 — Both on the Pura Belpré Author Award list and the same era (2010s).
Sal and Gabi Break the Universe by Carlos Hernandez · grades 4–7 — Both on the Pura Belpré Author Award list and the same era (2010s).
The Dreamer by Pam Muñoz Ryan · grades 4–7 — Both on the Pura Belpré Author Award list and the same era (2010s).

Books like Juana and Lucas for high school & teens (grades 9–12)

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

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz · grades 9–12 — Both on the Pura Belpré Author Award list and the same era (2010s).
Enchanted Air by Margarita Engle · grades 6–10 — Both on the Pura Belpré Author Award list and the same era (2010s).
The Poet Slave of Cuba by Margarita Engle · grades 7–12 — Both on the Pura Belpré Author Award list and the same era (2010s).
The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo · 800L — Both on the Pura Belpré Author Award list and the same era (2010s).
Under the Mesquite by Guadalupe Garcia McCall · grades 7–12 — Both on the Pura Belpré Author Award list and the same era (2010s).

Common questions

What books are similar to Juana and Lucas?: The 10 closest matches to Juana and Lucas by Juana Medina on ReadingList include A Green Place to be, Are You Ready to Play Outside?, Balloons over Broadway, Bink and Gollie: Two for One, and Charlie & Mouse Even Better. Each is scored on shared themes, shared award lists, genre, and reading level (grades K–3), and links to the curricula, states, and grades where it is assigned in US schools, with primary sources.
Are books like Juana and Lucas reading-level appropriate?: Yes — every match is a reading-level match, not just a topical one, scored on Lexile and grade band (grades K–3), 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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