Books like The First State of Being

Looking for books like The First State of Being by Erin Entrada Kelly (Middle Grade Fiction · grades 6–8)? It’s most often read for its themes of friendship, identity, and courage. The 10 titlesbelow are the closest matches in the ReadingList database — each scored on shared themes, 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 First State of Being

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Why each is a match

Confessions of a Class Clowngrades 6–8
Shares themes of friendship and identity, same genre (Middle Grade Fiction), and overlapping grades (6–8).
Control Freaksgrades 6–8
Shares themes of friendship and identity, same genre (Middle Grade Fiction), and overlapping grades (6–8).
Groundedgrades 4–8
Shares themes of friendship and identity, same genre (Middle Grade Fiction), and overlapping grades (4–8).
Simon Sort of Saysgrades 6–8
Shares themes of friendship and courage, same genre (Middle Grade Fiction), and overlapping grades (6–8).
Harriet the Spygrades 4–7
Shares themes of friendship and identity, same genre (Middle Grade Fiction), and overlapping grades (4–7).
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone880L
Shares themes of friendship, identity, and courage and overlapping grades (4–7).
Planet Omar: Accidental Trouble Magnet820L
Shares themes of friendship and identity, same genre (Middle Grade Fiction), and overlapping grades (3–6).
The BFG720L
Shares themes of friendship and courage, same genre (Middle Grade Fiction), and overlapping grades (3–6).
The Whipping Boygrades 3–7
Shares themes of friendship and courage, same genre (Middle Grade Fiction), and overlapping grades (3–7).
A Royal Conundrumgrades 3–6
Shares themes of friendship and identity and overlapping grades (3–6).

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