Books like The Stranger Next Door

If you liked The Stranger Next Door, read Stolen Children, The Ghost's Grave, or Two Bobbies: A True Story of Hurricane Katrina, Friendship and Survival — the closest matches in our database, matched on shared themes, shared award lists, and reading level.

Closest match: Stolen Children by Peg Kehret

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Looking for books like The Stranger Next Door by Peg Kehret (Realistic Fiction · grades 3–8)? It’s most often read for its themes of arson, moving, household, and cats. 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 3–8 reader. See how we judge text difficulty on our methodology page.

10 books similar to The Stranger Next Door

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Why each is a match

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Stolen Childrengrades 4–6
Is by Peg Kehret, the same author, both on the Nevada Young Readers' Award list, and overlapping grades (4–6). Amazon → books like this →
The Ghost's Gravegrades 3–8
Is by Peg Kehret, the same author, both on the Nevada Young Readers' Award list, and overlapping grades (3–8). Amazon → books like this →
Two Bobbies: A True Story of Hurricane Katrina, Friendship and Survivalgrades 3–6
Shares themes of cats, same genre (Realistic Fiction), and overlapping grades (3–6). Amazon → books like this →
Stepping Upgrades 3–8
Shares themes of friendship, both on the Nevada Young Readers' Award list, and same genre (Realistic Fiction). Amazon → books like this →
Socksgrades 4–8
Shares themes of cats, same genre (Realistic Fiction), and overlapping grades (4–8). Amazon → books like this →
Hostagegrades 3–8
Both on the Nevada Young Readers' Award list, same genre (Realistic Fiction), and overlapping grades (3–8). Amazon → books like this →
The Cats in Krasinski Squaregrades 3–8
Shares themes of cats and overlapping grades (3–8). Amazon → books like this →
A Boy Named Queengrades 3–8
Shares themes of friendship, both on the Nevada Young Readers' Award list, and same genre (Realistic Fiction). Amazon → books like this →
Saving Winslowgrades 3–8
Shares themes of friendship, both on the Nevada Young Readers' Award list, and same genre (Realistic Fiction). Amazon → books like this →
Ungiftedgrades 5–8
Shares themes of friendship, both on the Nevada Young Readers' Award list, and same genre (Realistic Fiction). Amazon → books like this →

Books like The Stranger Next Door for elementary readers (grades 3–5)

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

  • Escaping the Giant Wave by Peg Kehret · grades 3–6 — Is by Peg Kehret, the same author, both on the Nevada Young Readers' Award list, and overlapping grades (3–6).
  • Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney · 950L — Shares themes of friendship, both on the Nevada Young Readers' Award list, and overlapping grades (3–7).
  • Fablehaven by Brandon Mull · grades 4–7 — Shares themes of friendship, both on the Nevada Young Readers' Award list, and overlapping grades (4–7).
  • Molly Moon's Incredible Book of Hypnotism by Georgia Byng · grades 3–8 — Shares themes of friendship, both on the Nevada Young Readers' Award list, and overlapping grades (3–8).
  • Ava and Pip by Carol Weston · grades 3–8 — Both on the Nevada Young Readers' Award list, same genre (Realistic Fiction), and overlapping grades (3–8).

Books like The Stranger Next Door for middle school (grades 6–8)

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

  • Escaping the Giant Wave by Peg Kehret · grades 3–6 — Is by Peg Kehret, the same author, both on the Nevada Young Readers' Award list, and overlapping grades (3–6).
  • Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney · 950L — Shares themes of friendship, both on the Nevada Young Readers' Award list, and overlapping grades (3–7).
  • Fablehaven by Brandon Mull · grades 4–7 — Shares themes of friendship, both on the Nevada Young Readers' Award list, and overlapping grades (4–7).
  • Molly Moon's Incredible Book of Hypnotism by Georgia Byng · grades 3–8 — Shares themes of friendship, both on the Nevada Young Readers' Award list, and overlapping grades (3–8).
  • Ava and Pip by Carol Weston · grades 3–8 — Both on the Nevada Young Readers' Award list, same genre (Realistic Fiction), and overlapping grades (3–8).

Common questions

What books are similar to The Stranger Next Door?
The 10 closest matches to The Stranger Next Door by Peg Kehret on ReadingList include Stolen Children, The Ghost's Grave, Two Bobbies: A True Story of Hurricane Katrina, Friendship and Survival, Stepping Up, and Socks. Each is scored on shared themes (arson, moving, household, and cats), shared award lists, genre, and reading level (grades 3–8), and links to the curricula, states, and grades where it is assigned in US schools, with primary sources.
Are books like The Stranger Next Door reading-level appropriate?
Yes — every match is a reading-level match, not just a topical one, scored on Lexile and grade band (grades 3–8), 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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