What books are similar to The Thief?

The 10 closest matches to The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner on ReadingList include Frindle, Holes, Maniac Magee, Shiloh, and Wayside School Gets a Little Stranger. 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 Thief 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 Thief

If you liked The Thief, read Frindle, Holes, or Maniac Magee — the closest matches in our database, matched on shared award lists and reading level.

Closest match: Frindle by Andrew Clements

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Looking for books like The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner? 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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Frindle830L: Both on the Massachusetts Children's Book Award list, overlapping grades (3–7), and the same era (1990s). Amazon → books like this →
Holes660L: Both on the Massachusetts Children's Book Award list, overlapping grades (4–7), and the same era (1990s). Amazon → books like this →
Maniac Magee820L: Both on the Massachusetts Children's Book Award list, overlapping grades (4–7), and the same era (1990s). Amazon → books like this →
Shiloh890L: Both on the Massachusetts Children's Book Award list, overlapping grades (3–6), and the same era (1990s). Amazon → books like this →
Wayside School Gets a Little Strangergrades 4–6: Both on the Massachusetts Children's Book Award list, overlapping grades (4–6), and the same era (1990s). Amazon → books like this →
Alonegrades 4–6: Both on the Massachusetts Children's Book Award list and overlapping grades (4–6). Amazon → books like this →
Artemis Fowlgrades 4–6: Both on the Massachusetts Children's Book Award list and overlapping grades (4–6). Amazon → books like this →
Because of Winn-Dixie610L: Both on the Massachusetts Children's Book Award list and overlapping grades (3–5). Amazon → books like this →
Charlotte's Web680L: Both on the Massachusetts Children's Book Award list and overlapping grades (3–5). Amazon → books like this →
Foundgrades 4–6: Both on the Massachusetts Children's Book Award list and overlapping grades (4–6). Amazon → books like this →

Common questions

What books are similar to The Thief?: The 10 closest matches to The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner on ReadingList include Frindle, Holes, Maniac Magee, Shiloh, and Wayside School Gets a Little Stranger. 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 Thief 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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Books like The Thief

10 books similar to The Thief

Why each is a match

Common questions

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