What books are similar to Mountain of Fire: The Eruption and Survivors of Mount St. Helens?

The 10 closest matches to Mountain of Fire: The Eruption and Survivors of Mount St. Helens by Rebecca E. Barone on ReadingList include Spooky Lakes: 25 Strange and Mysterious Lakes that Dot Our Planet, The Dark!: Wild Life in the Mysterious World of Caves, Narwhal: Unicorn of the Arctic, Evidence! How Dr. John Snow Solved the Mystery of Cholera, and The Mystery of the Monarchs. Each is scored on shared themes (science, history, and survival), shared award lists, genre, and reading level (grades 4–8), and links to the curricula, states, and grades where it is assigned in US schools, with primary sources.

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 Mountain of Fire: The Eruption and Survivors of Mount St. Helens

If you liked Mountain of Fire: The Eruption and Survivors of Mount St. Helens, read Spooky Lakes: 25 Strange and Mysterious Lakes that Dot Our Planet first — the closest match in our database, matched on shared themes, shared award lists, and reading level.

Closest match: Spooky Lakes: 25 Strange and Mysterious Lakes that Dot Our Planet by Geo Rutherford — shares science and nature

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Looking for books like Mountain of Fire: The Eruption and Survivors of Mount St. Helens by Rebecca E. Barone (Nonfiction · grades 4–8)? It’s most often read for its themes of science, history, and survival. 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 4–8 reader. See how we judge text difficulty on our methodology page.

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Why each is a match

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Spooky Lakes: 25 Strange and Mysterious Lakes that Dot Our Planetgrades 4–8: Shares themes of science and nature, both on the Maine Student Book Award list, and same genre (Nonfiction). Amazon → books like this →
The Dark!: Wild Life in the Mysterious World of Cavesgrades 3–7: Shares themes of science and nature, both on the Maine Student Book Award list, and same genre (Nonfiction). Amazon → books like this →
Narwhal: Unicorn of the Arcticgrades 3–6: Shares themes of science and nature, both on the Maine Student Book Award list, and same genre (Nonfiction). Amazon → books like this →
Evidence! How Dr. John Snow Solved the Mystery of Choleragrades 3–6: Shares themes of science and history, both on the Maine Student Book Award list, and same genre (Nonfiction). Amazon → books like this →
The Mystery of the Monarchsgrades 4–8: Shares themes of science and nature, same genre (Nonfiction), and overlapping grades (4–8). Amazon → books like this →
The Fire of Starsgrades 4–8: Shares themes of science and history, same genre (Nonfiction), and overlapping grades (4–8). Amazon → books like this →
The Longest Shot: How Larry Kwong Changed the Face of Hockeygrades 3–7: Shares themes of history, both on the Maine Student Book Award list, and same genre (Nonfiction). Amazon → books like this →
Haiku, Ew! Celebrating the Disgusting Side of Naturegrades 3–6: Shares themes of science and nature, same genre (Nonfiction), and overlapping grades (3–6). Amazon → books like this →
Code Name Kingfishergrades 4–8: Shares themes of history and survival, both on the Maine Student Book Award list, and overlapping grades (4–8). Amazon → books like this →
Volcanoesgrades 3–6: Shares themes of history and nature, same genre (Nonfiction), and overlapping grades (3–6). Amazon → books like this →

Books like Mountain of Fire: The Eruption and Survivors of Mount St. Helens for younger readers (K–2)

Closest matches whose grade range overlaps K–2— same scoring, different audience.

Fever 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson · grades 2–8 — Shares themes of history and survival and overlapping grades (2–8).
Honey, the Dog Who Saved Abe Lincoln by Shari Swanson · grades K–2 — Same genre (Nonfiction) and the same era (2020s).
Yoshi and the Ocean: A Sea Turtle's Incredible Journey Home by Lindsay Moore · grades K–3 — Same genre (Nonfiction) and the same era (2020s).
A Mischief of Mice by Christie Matheson · grades K–3 — Shares themes of nature.
Butt or Face? by Kari Lavelle · grades K–2 — Shares themes of nature.

Books like Mountain of Fire: The Eruption and Survivors of Mount St. Helens for elementary readers (grades 3–5)

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

Ancestory: The Mystery and Majesty of Ancient Cave Art by Hannah Salyer · grades 4–8 — Shares themes of history, same genre (Nonfiction), and overlapping grades (4–8).
Iceberg by Jennifer A. Nielsen · grades 3–7 — Shares themes of history and survival and overlapping grades (3–7).
Wildful by Kengo Kurimoto · grades 4–8 — Shares themes of nature, both on the Maine Student Book Award list, and overlapping grades (4–8).
Not Nothing by Gayle Forman · grades 4–8 — Shares themes of history, both on the Maine Student Book Award list, and overlapping grades (4–8).
The Mythmakers: The Remarkable Fellowship of C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien by John Hendrix · grades 4–8 — Shares themes of history, both on the Maine Student Book Award list, and overlapping grades (4–8).

Books like Mountain of Fire: The Eruption and Survivors of Mount St. Helens for middle school (grades 6–8)

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

Ancestory: The Mystery and Majesty of Ancient Cave Art by Hannah Salyer · grades 4–8 — Shares themes of history, same genre (Nonfiction), and overlapping grades (4–8).
Iceberg by Jennifer A. Nielsen · grades 3–7 — Shares themes of history and survival and overlapping grades (3–7).
Wildful by Kengo Kurimoto · grades 4–8 — Shares themes of nature, both on the Maine Student Book Award list, and overlapping grades (4–8).
Not Nothing by Gayle Forman · grades 4–8 — Shares themes of history, both on the Maine Student Book Award list, and overlapping grades (4–8).
The Mythmakers: The Remarkable Fellowship of C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien by John Hendrix · grades 4–8 — Shares themes of history, both on the Maine Student Book Award list, and overlapping grades (4–8).

Books like Mountain of Fire: The Eruption and Survivors of Mount St. Helens for high school & teens (grades 9–12)

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

Murder Among Friends by Candace Fleming · grades 9–12 — Shares themes of history and same genre (Nonfiction).
Refugee by Alan Gratz · 800L — Shares themes of survival, both on the Maine Student Book Award list, and overlapping grades (5–9).
The Doom Stone by Paul Zindel · grades 6–9 — Shares themes of science and survival and overlapping grades (6–9).
Touching Spirit Bear by Ben Mikaelsen · grades 6–9 — Shares themes of survival and nature and overlapping grades (6–9).
How to Survive Your Murder by Danielle Valentine · grades 9–12 — Shares themes of survival.

Common questions

What books are similar to Mountain of Fire: The Eruption and Survivors of Mount St. Helens?: The 10 closest matches to Mountain of Fire: The Eruption and Survivors of Mount St. Helens by Rebecca E. Barone on ReadingList include Spooky Lakes: 25 Strange and Mysterious Lakes that Dot Our Planet, The Dark!: Wild Life in the Mysterious World of Caves, Narwhal: Unicorn of the Arctic, Evidence! How Dr. John Snow Solved the Mystery of Cholera, and The Mystery of the Monarchs. Each is scored on shared themes (science, history, and survival), shared award lists, genre, and reading level (grades 4–8), and links to the curricula, states, and grades where it is assigned in US schools, with primary sources.
Are books like Mountain of Fire: The Eruption and Survivors of Mount St. Helens reading-level appropriate?: Yes — every match is a reading-level match, not just a topical one, scored on Lexile and grade band (grades 4–8), 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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