Books like My Friend the Vampire

If you liked My Friend the Vampire, read The Hot and Cold Summer, The Secret Garden, or Amos & Boris — the closest matches in our database, matched on shared themes and reading level.

Closest match: The Hot and Cold Summer by Johanna Hurwitz — shares friendship and friendship, fiction

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Looking for books like My Friend the Vampire by Angela Sommer-Bodenburg (Realistic Fiction · grades 3–5)? It’s most often read for its themes of friendship, vampires, and friendship, fiction. 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.

10 books similar to My Friend the Vampire

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Why each is a match

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The Hot and Cold Summergrades 3–6
Shares themes of friendship and friendship, fiction, same genre (Realistic Fiction), and overlapping grades (3–6). Amazon → books like this →
The Secret Gardengrades 4–5
Shares themes of friendship, fiction and overlapping grades (4–5). Amazon → books like this →
Amos & Borisgrades 2–3
Shares themes of friendship, fiction, same genre (Realistic Fiction), and overlapping grades (2–3). Amazon → books like this →
Poppleton in Wintergrades 2–3
Shares themes of friendship, fiction, same genre (Realistic Fiction), and overlapping grades (2–3). Amazon → books like this →
Beware of Boysgrades K–3
Shares themes of friendship, fiction, both on the Virginia Readers' Choice list, and same genre (Realistic Fiction). Amazon → books like this →
The Indian in the Cupboardgrades 3–6
Shares themes of friendship, both on the Virginia Readers' Choice list, and overlapping grades (3–6). Amazon → books like this →
The Cybil Wargrades 3–6
Shares themes of friendship, same genre (Realistic Fiction), and overlapping grades (3–6). Amazon → books like this →
Alvin Ho: Allergic to Girls, School, and Other Scary Thingsgrades 3–5
Both on the Virginia Readers' Choice list, same genre (Realistic Fiction), and overlapping grades (3–5). Amazon → books like this →
City Spiesgrades 4–6
Both on the Virginia Readers' Choice list, same genre (Realistic Fiction), and overlapping grades (4–6). Amazon → books like this →
Fig Puddinggrades 3–5
Both on the Virginia Readers' Choice list, same genre (Realistic Fiction), and overlapping grades (3–5). Amazon → books like this →

Books like My Friend the Vampire for middle school (grades 6–8)

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

  • Heart of a Champion by Carl Deuker · grades 6–8 — Shares themes of friendship and friendship, fiction and same genre (Realistic Fiction).
  • Every Soul a Star by Wendy Mass · grades 6–8 — Shares themes of friendship and friendship, fiction.
  • A Family Apart by Joan Lowery Nixon · grades 6–8 — Both on the Virginia Readers' Choice list, same genre (Realistic Fiction), and the same era (1980s).
  • Ghost in My Soup by Judi Miller · grades 6–8 — Both on the Virginia Readers' Choice list, same genre (Realistic Fiction), and the same era (1980s).

Books like My Friend the Vampire for high school & teens (grades 9–12)

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

  • Someone Like You by Sarah Dessen · grades 9–12 — Shares themes of friendship and friendship, fiction and same genre (Realistic Fiction).
  • Faking Normal by Courtney C. Stevens · grades 9–12 — Shares themes of friendship, fiction and same genre (Realistic Fiction).
  • The Silver Kiss by Annette Curtis Klause · grades 9–12 — Shares themes of vampires and same genre (Realistic Fiction).
  • The Darkangel by Meredith Ann Pierce · grades 9–12 — Shares themes of vampires.
  • Izzy, Willy-Nilly by Cynthia Voigt · grades 9–12 — Shares themes of friendship, both on the Virginia Readers' Choice list, and same genre (Realistic Fiction).

Common questions

What books are similar to My Friend the Vampire?
The 10 closest matches to My Friend the Vampire by Angela Sommer-Bodenburg on ReadingList include The Hot and Cold Summer, The Secret Garden, Amos & Boris, Poppleton in Winter, and Beware of Boys. Each is scored on shared themes (friendship, vampires, and friendship, fiction), 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 My Friend the Vampire 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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