Books like The Whipping Boy
Looking for books like The Whipping Boy by Sid Fleischman (Middle Grade Fiction · grades 3–7)? It’s most often read for its themes of friendship, adventure, 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 3–7 reader. See how we judge text difficulty on our methodology page.
10 books similar to The Whipping Boy
The BFGRoald Dahl · 720L
FablehavenBrandon Mull
GroundedAisha Saeed, S.K. Ali, Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow & Huda Al-Marashi
Impossible CreaturesKatherine Rundell
Simon Sort of SaysErin Bow
Stuart LittleE.B. White · 920L
The First State of BeingErin Entrada Kelly
The Last MusketeerStuart Gibbs
The Mouse and the MotorcycleBeverly Cleary · 860L- The Season of Styx MaloneKekla MagoonThe Season of Styx MaloneKekla Magoon · 510L
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Why each is a match
- The BFG720L
- Shares themes of friendship and courage, same genre (Middle Grade Fiction), and overlapping grades (3–6).
- Fablehavengrades 4–7
- Shares themes of friendship, adventure, and courage and overlapping grades (4–7).
- Groundedgrades 4–8
- Shares themes of friendship and adventure, same genre (Middle Grade Fiction), and overlapping grades (4–8).
- Impossible Creaturesgrades 4–8
- Shares themes of friendship, adventure, and courage 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).
- Stuart Little920L
- Shares themes of friendship and adventure, same genre (Middle Grade Fiction), and overlapping grades (3–5).
- The First State of Beinggrades 6–8
- Shares themes of friendship and courage, same genre (Middle Grade Fiction), and overlapping grades (6–8).
- The Last Musketeergrades 4–7
- Shares themes of friendship, adventure, and courage and overlapping grades (4–7).
- The Mouse and the Motorcycle860L
- Shares themes of friendship and adventure, same genre (Middle Grade Fiction), and overlapping grades (2–4).
- The Season of Styx Malone510L
- Shares themes of friendship and adventure, same genre (Middle Grade Fiction), and overlapping grades (3–7).