Books like Small Spaces

If you liked Small Spaces, read El Deafo, Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library, or Superfudge — the closest matches in our database, matched on shared award lists and reading level.

Closest match: El Deafo by Cece Bell

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Looking for books like Small Spaces by Katherine Arden? 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 Small Spaces

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Why each is a match

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El Deafo420L
Both on the Dorothy Canfield Fisher / Vermont Golden Dome Book Award list (+3 more shared lists), overlapping grades (4–6), and the same era (2010s). Amazon → books like this →
Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Librarygrades 4–6
Both on the Dorothy Canfield Fisher / Vermont Golden Dome Book Award list (+5 more shared lists), overlapping grades (4–6), and the same era (2010s). Amazon → books like this →
Superfudgegrades 3–6
Both on the Great Stone Face Book Award list (+2 more shared lists), overlapping grades (3–6), and the same era (2010s). Amazon → books like this →
Wildfiregrades 3–5
Both on the Great Stone Face Book Award list (+2 more shared lists), overlapping grades (3–5), and the same era (2010s). Amazon → books like this →
Wonder790L
Both on the Dorothy Canfield Fisher / Vermont Golden Dome Book Award list (+3 more shared lists), overlapping grades (3–7), and the same era (2010s). Amazon → books like this →
The Best School Year Evergrades 3–6
Both on the Hawai'i Nēnē Award list (+1 more shared list), overlapping grades (3–6), and the same era (2010s). Amazon → books like this →
The Invention of Hugo Cabretgrades 3–7
Both on the Garden State Children's Book Award list (+2 more shared lists), overlapping grades (3–7), and the same era (2010s). Amazon → books like this →
The One and Only Ivan570L
Both on the Garden State Children's Book Award list (+1 more shared list), overlapping grades (3–7), and the same era (2010s). Amazon → books like this →
Wishgrades 3–5
Both on the Garden State Children's Book Award list (+1 more shared list), overlapping grades (3–5), 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 →

Books like Small Spaces for elementary readers (grades 3–5)

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

  • America is Under Attack September 11 2001 by Don Brown · 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).
  • Guinea Dog by Patrick Jennings · 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).
  • Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus by Dusti Bowling · 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).
  • Life on Mars by Jennifer Brown · 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).
  • Malcolm at Midnight by W. H. Beck · 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).

Books like Small Spaces for middle school (grades 6–8)

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

  • Buddy by M. H. Herlong · grades 6–8 — Both on the Great Stone Face Book Award list (+2 more shared lists) 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).
  • Front Desk by Kelly Yang · 640L — Both on the Garden State Children's Book Award list (+1 more shared list), overlapping grades (3–7), and the same era (2010s).

Common questions

What books are similar to Small Spaces?
The 10 closest matches to Small Spaces by Katherine Arden on ReadingList include El Deafo, Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library, Superfudge, Wildfire, and Wonder. 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 Small Spaces 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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