What books are similar to The City of Ember?

The 10 closest matches to The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau on ReadingList include Because of Winn-Dixie, Deep and Dark and Dangerous, Hoot, Ruby Holler, and Stolen Children. Each is scored on shared themes, shared award lists, genre, and reading level (grades 4–6), and links to the curricula, states, and grades where it is assigned in US schools, with primary sources.

Are books like The City of Ember reading-level appropriate?

Yes — every match is a reading-level match, not just a topical one, scored on Lexile and grade band (grades 4–6), 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.

Books like The City of Ember

If you liked The City of Ember, read Because of Winn-Dixie, Deep and Dark and Dangerous, or Hoot — the closest matches in our database, matched on shared award lists and reading level.

Closest match: Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo

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Looking for books like The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau? 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 4–6 reader. See how we judge text difficulty on our methodology page.

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Why each is a match

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Because of Winn-Dixie610L: Both on the Connecticut Nutmeg Book Award list (+8 more shared lists), overlapping grades (3–5), and the same era (2000s). Amazon → books like this →
Deep and Dark and Dangerousgrades 4–6: Both on the Land of Enchantment Book Award list (+2 more shared lists), overlapping grades (4–6), and the same era (2000s). Amazon → books like this →
Hoot760L: Both on the Connecticut Nutmeg Book Award list (+1 more shared list), overlapping grades (4–7), and the same era (2000s). Amazon → books like this →
Ruby Hollergrades 3–5: Both on the Great Stone Face Book Award list (+3 more shared lists), overlapping grades (3–5), and the same era (2000s). Amazon → books like this →
Stolen Childrengrades 4–6: Both on the Connecticut Nutmeg Book Award list (+4 more shared lists), overlapping grades (4–6), and the same era (2000s). Amazon → books like this →
The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book 1)740L: Both on the Connecticut Nutmeg Book Award list (+4 more shared lists), overlapping grades (4–7), and the same era (2000s). Amazon → books like this →
The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulanegrades 3–6: Both on the Nevada Young Readers' Award list (+2 more shared lists), overlapping grades (3–6), and the same era (2000s). Amazon → books like this →
The Sea of Monstersgrades 4–6: Both on the Mark Twain Readers Award list (+1 more shared list), overlapping grades (4–6), and the same era (2000s). Amazon → books like this →
Wenny Has Wingsgrades 4–6: Both on the Mark Twain Readers Award list (+1 more shared list), overlapping grades (4–6), and the same era (2000s). Amazon → books like this →
Diary of a Wimpy Kid950L: Both on the Great Stone Face Book Award list (+1 more shared list), overlapping grades (3–7), and the same era (2000s). Amazon → books like this →

Books like The City of Ember for elementary readers (grades 3–5)

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

Abduction by Peg Kehret · grades 3–6 — Both on the Mark Twain Readers Award list (+1 more shared list), overlapping grades (3–6), and the same era (2000s).
Gregor the Overlander by Suzanne Collins · grades 4–7 — Both on the Great Stone Face Book Award list (+1 more shared list), overlapping grades (4–7), and the same era (2000s).
The Ghost's Grave by Peg Kehret · grades 3–8 — Both on the Nevada Young Readers' Award list (+1 more shared list), overlapping grades (3–8), and the same era (2000s).
Swindle by Gordon Korman · grades 4–7 — Both on the Great Stone Face Book Award list (+1 more shared list), overlapping grades (4–7), and the same era (2000s).
11 Birthdays by Wendy Mass · grades 3–5 — Both on the Maryland Black-Eyed Susan Book Award list (+2 more shared lists), overlapping grades (3–5), and the same era (2000s).

Books like The City of Ember for middle school (grades 6–8)

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

Unwind by Neal Shusterman · grades 8–12 — Both on the Connecticut Nutmeg Book Award list (+2 more shared lists) and the same era (2000s).
Abduction by Peg Kehret · grades 3–6 — Both on the Mark Twain Readers Award list (+1 more shared list), overlapping grades (3–6), and the same era (2000s).
Gregor the Overlander by Suzanne Collins · grades 4–7 — Both on the Great Stone Face Book Award list (+1 more shared list), overlapping grades (4–7), and the same era (2000s).
The Ghost's Grave by Peg Kehret · grades 3–8 — Both on the Nevada Young Readers' Award list (+1 more shared list), overlapping grades (3–8), and the same era (2000s).
Swindle by Gordon Korman · grades 4–7 — Both on the Great Stone Face Book Award list (+1 more shared list), overlapping grades (4–7), and the same era (2000s).

Books like The City of Ember for high school & teens (grades 9–12)

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

Unwind by Neal Shusterman · grades 8–12 — Both on the Connecticut Nutmeg Book Award list (+2 more shared lists) and the same era (2000s).
Orbiting Jupiter by Gary D. Schmidt · grades 7–10 — Both on the Connecticut Nutmeg Book Award list (+2 more shared lists).
The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares · grades 7–10 — Both on the Maryland Black-Eyed Susan Book Award list (+1 more shared list) and the same era (2000s).
Scythe by Neal Shusterman · grades 7–12 — Both on the Land of Enchantment Book Award list (+1 more shared list).
Divergent by Veronica Roth · grades 8–12 — Both on the Land of Enchantment Book Award list (+1 more shared list).

Common questions

What books are similar to The City of Ember?: The 10 closest matches to The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau on ReadingList include Because of Winn-Dixie, Deep and Dark and Dangerous, Hoot, Ruby Holler, and Stolen Children. Each is scored on shared themes, shared award lists, genre, and reading level (grades 4–6), and links to the curricula, states, and grades where it is assigned in US schools, with primary sources.
Are books like The City of Ember reading-level appropriate?: Yes — every match is a reading-level match, not just a topical one, scored on Lexile and grade band (grades 4–6), 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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