Books like Loch

If you liked Loch, read Drive-By, Loot, or The Doom Stone — the closest matches in our database, matched on shared themes, shared award lists, and reading level.

Closest match: Drive-By by Lynne Ewing — shares brothers and sisters

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Looking for books like Loch by Paul Zindel (Realistic Fiction · grades 3–8)? It’s most often read for its themes of underwater exploration, brothers and sisters, and monsters. 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 3–8 reader. See how we judge text difficulty on our methodology page.

10 books similar to Loch

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Why each is a match

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Drive-Bygrades 3–8
Shares themes of brothers and sisters, same genre (Realistic Fiction), and overlapping grades (3–8). Amazon → books like this →
Lootgrades 3–8
Shares themes of brothers and sisters, both on the Nevada Young Readers' Award list, and overlapping grades (3–8). Amazon → books like this →
The Doom Stonegrades 6–9
Is by Paul Zindel, the same author, both on the Nevada Young Readers' Award list, and overlapping grades (6–9). Amazon → books like this →
All About Samgrades 4–6
Shares themes of brothers and sisters, same genre (Realistic Fiction), and overlapping grades (4–6). Amazon → books like this →
Jake and Lilygrades 3–6
Shares themes of brothers and sisters, same genre (Realistic Fiction), and overlapping grades (3–6). Amazon → books like this →
The Lemonade Wargrades 4–6
Shares themes of brothers and sisters, same genre (Realistic Fiction), and overlapping grades (4–6). Amazon → books like this →
Shiloh890L
Both on the Nevada Young Readers' Award list, same genre (Realistic Fiction), and overlapping grades (3–6). Amazon → books like this →
The Boys Start the Wargrades 3–8
Both on the Nevada Young Readers' Award list, same genre (Realistic Fiction), and overlapping grades (3–8). Amazon → books like this →
Zach's Liegrades 3–8
Both on the Nevada Young Readers' Award list, same genre (Realistic Fiction), and overlapping grades (3–8). Amazon → books like this →
The Wishing Spellgrades 3–8
Shares themes of brothers and sisters and overlapping grades (3–8). Amazon → books like this →

Books like Loch for elementary readers (grades 3–5)

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

  • A Boy Named Queen by Sara Cassidy · grades 3–8 — Both on the Nevada Young Readers' Award list, same genre (Realistic Fiction), and overlapping grades (3–8).
  • Ava and Pip by Carol Weston · grades 3–8 — Both on the Nevada Young Readers' Award list, same genre (Realistic Fiction), and overlapping grades (3–8).
  • Baby-Sitting Is a Dangerous Job by Willo Davis Roberts · grades 3–8 — Both on the Nevada Young Readers' Award list, same genre (Realistic Fiction), and overlapping grades (3–8).
  • Ban This Book by Alan Gratz · grades 3–6 — Both on the Nevada Young Readers' Award list, same genre (Realistic Fiction), and overlapping grades (3–6).
  • City of Thieves by Alex London · grades 3–8 — Both on the Nevada Young Readers' Award list, same genre (Realistic Fiction), and overlapping grades (3–8).

Books like Loch for middle school (grades 6–8)

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

  • A Boy Named Queen by Sara Cassidy · grades 3–8 — Both on the Nevada Young Readers' Award list, same genre (Realistic Fiction), and overlapping grades (3–8).
  • Ava and Pip by Carol Weston · grades 3–8 — Both on the Nevada Young Readers' Award list, same genre (Realistic Fiction), and overlapping grades (3–8).
  • Baby-Sitting Is a Dangerous Job by Willo Davis Roberts · grades 3–8 — Both on the Nevada Young Readers' Award list, same genre (Realistic Fiction), and overlapping grades (3–8).
  • Ban This Book by Alan Gratz · grades 3–6 — Both on the Nevada Young Readers' Award list, same genre (Realistic Fiction), and overlapping grades (3–6).
  • City of Thieves by Alex London · grades 3–8 — Both on the Nevada Young Readers' Award list, same genre (Realistic Fiction), and overlapping grades (3–8).

Common questions

What books are similar to Loch?
The 10 closest matches to Loch by Paul Zindel on ReadingList include Drive-By, Loot, The Doom Stone, All About Sam, and Jake and Lily. Each is scored on shared themes (underwater exploration, brothers and sisters, and monsters), shared award lists, genre, and reading level (grades 3–8), and links to the curricula, states, and grades where it is assigned in US schools, with primary sources.
Are books like Loch reading-level appropriate?
Yes — every match is a reading-level match, not just a topical one, scored on Lexile and grade band (grades 3–8), 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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