Books like The Boy Who Dared

If you liked The Boy Who Dared, read Black Potatoes, Cracker The Best Dog in Vietnam, or 96 Miles — the closest matches in our database, matched on shared award lists and reading level.

Closest match: Black Potatoes by Susan Campbell Bartoletti

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Looking for books like The Boy Who Dared by Susan Campbell Bartoletti? 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 6–8 reader. See how we judge text difficulty on our methodology page.

10 books similar to The Boy Who Dared

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Why each is a match

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Black Potatoesgrades 6–10
Is by Susan Campbell Bartoletti, the same author and overlapping grades (6–10). Amazon → books like this →
Cracker The Best Dog in Vietnamgrades 6–8
Both on the William Allen White Children's Book Award list (+1 more shared list), overlapping grades (6–8), and the same era (2000s). Amazon → books like this →
96 Milesgrades 6–8
Both on the William Allen White Children's Book Award list (+1 more shared list) and overlapping grades (6–8). Amazon → books like this →
Buddygrades 6–8
Both on the William Allen White Children's Book Award list (+1 more shared list) and overlapping grades (6–8). Amazon → books like this →
Confetti Girlgrades 6–8
Both on the William Allen White Children's Book Award list (+1 more shared list) and overlapping grades (6–8). Amazon → books like this →
Ghost730L
Both on the William Allen White Children's Book Award list (+1 more shared list) and overlapping grades (5–8). Amazon → books like this →
Ghost Dog Secretsgrades 6–8
Both on the William Allen White Children's Book Award list (+1 more shared list) and overlapping grades (6–8). Amazon → books like this →
Ground Zerogrades 6–8
Both on the William Allen White Children's Book Award list (+1 more shared list) and overlapping grades (6–8). Amazon → books like this →
Hiddengrades 6–8
Both on the William Allen White Children's Book Award list (+1 more shared list) and overlapping grades (6–8). Amazon → books like this →
Restart730L
Both on the William Allen White Children's Book Award list (+1 more shared list) and overlapping grades (5–8). Amazon → books like this →

Books like The Boy Who Dared for elementary readers (grades 3–5)

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

  • 11 Birthdays by Wendy Mass · grades 3–5 — Both on the William Allen White Children's Book Award list (+1 more shared list) and the same era (2000s).
  • Eleven by Patricia Reilly Giff · grades 3–5 — Both on the William Allen White Children's Book Award list (+1 more shared list) and the same era (2000s).
  • How to Steal a Dog by Barbara O'Connor · grades 3–5 — Both on the William Allen White Children's Book Award list (+1 more shared list) and the same era (2000s).
  • 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).
  • Guinea Dog by Patrick Jennings · grades 3–5 — Both on the William Allen White Children's Book Award list (+1 more shared list).

Books like The Boy Who Dared for middle school (grades 6–8)

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

  • The Fort by Gordon Korman · grades 6–8 — Both on the William Allen White Children's Book Award list (+1 more shared list) and overlapping grades (6–8).
  • The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise by Dan Gemeinhart · grades 5–8 — Both on the William Allen White Children's Book Award list (+1 more shared list) and overlapping grades (5–8).
  • Took by Mary Downing Hahn · grades 6–8 — Both on the William Allen White Children's Book Award list (+1 more shared list) and overlapping grades (6–8).

Common questions

What books are similar to The Boy Who Dared?
The 10 closest matches to The Boy Who Dared by Susan Campbell Bartoletti on ReadingList include Black Potatoes, Cracker The Best Dog in Vietnam, 96 Miles, Buddy, and Confetti Girl. Each is scored on shared themes, shared award lists, genre, and reading level (grades 6–8), and links to the curricula, states, and grades where it is assigned in US schools, with primary sources.
Are books like The Boy Who Dared reading-level appropriate?
Yes — every match is a reading-level match, not just a topical one, scored on Lexile and grade band (grades 6–8), 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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