What books are similar to There's a Dead Person Following My Sister Around?

The 10 closest matches to There's a Dead Person Following My Sister Around by Vivian Vande Velde on ReadingList include Night Terrors, Heir Apparent, All the Lovely Bad Ones, Something Upstairs, and The Ghost of Graylock. Each is scored on shared themes (ghosts, brothers and sisters, and slavery), shared award lists, genre, and reading level (grades 6–8), and links to the curricula, states, and grades where it is assigned in US schools, with primary sources.

Are books like There's a Dead Person Following My Sister Around reading-level appropriate?

Yes — every match is a reading-level match, not just a topical one, scored on Lexile and grade band (grades 6–8), 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.

Books like There's a Dead Person Following My Sister Around

If you liked There's a Dead Person Following My Sister Around, read Night Terrors, Heir Apparent, or All the Lovely Bad Ones — the closest matches in our database, matched on shared themes, shared award lists, and reading level.

Closest match: Night Terrors by Murphy, Jim — shares ghosts

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Looking for books like There's a Dead Person Following My Sister Around by Vivian Vande Velde (Horror · grades 6–8)? It’s most often read for its themes of ghosts, brothers and sisters, and slavery. 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 6–8 reader. See how we judge text difficulty on our methodology page.

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Why each is a match

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Night Terrorsgrades 6–8: Shares themes of ghosts, both on the Maryland Black-Eyed Susan Book Award list, and same genre (Horror). Amazon → books like this →
Heir Apparentgrades 6–8: Is by Vivian Vande Velde, the same author, both on the Maryland Black-Eyed Susan Book Award list, and overlapping grades (6–8). Amazon → books like this →
All the Lovely Bad Onesgrades 5–8: Shares themes of ghosts, same genre (Horror), and overlapping grades (5–8). Amazon → books like this →
Something Upstairsgrades 6–8: Shares themes of ghosts and slavery and overlapping grades (6–8). Amazon → books like this →
The Ghost of Graylockgrades 5–8: Shares themes of ghosts, same genre (Horror), and overlapping grades (5–8). Amazon → books like this →
The Ghost of Fossil Glengrades 3–8: Shares themes of ghosts, same genre (Horror), and overlapping grades (3–8). Amazon → books like this →
The Ghost's Gravegrades 3–8: Shares themes of ghosts, same genre (Horror), and overlapping grades (3–8). Amazon → books like this →
Wait Till Helen Comesgrades 4–7: Shares themes of ghosts, same genre (Horror), and overlapping grades (4–7). Amazon → books like this →
Ghost in the Housegrades 4–6: Shares themes of ghosts, same genre (Horror), and overlapping grades (4–6). Amazon → books like this →
Horror at the Haunted Housegrades 4–6: Shares themes of ghosts, same genre (Horror), and overlapping grades (4–6). Amazon → books like this →

Books like There's a Dead Person Following My Sister Around for elementary readers (grades 3–5)

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

Earthquake Terror by Peg Kehret · grades 3–5 — Shares themes of brothers and sisters and same genre (Horror).
Ghost Cadet by Elaine Marie Alphin · grades 3–5 — Shares themes of ghosts and same genre (Horror).
A Haunting in Williamsburg by Lou Kassem · grades 3–5 — Shares themes of ghosts.
The Ghost on Saturday Night by Sid Fleischman · grades 4–6 — Shares themes of ghosts, same genre (Horror), and overlapping grades (4–6).
Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson · 780L — Shares themes of slavery and overlapping grades (5–9).

Books like There's a Dead Person Following My Sister Around for middle school (grades 6–8)

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

Nightjohn by Gary Paulsen · grades 6–8 — Shares themes of slavery and overlapping grades (6–8).
The Haunting by Joan Lowery Nixon · grades 6–9 — Shares themes of ghosts and overlapping grades (6–9).
The Ghost on Saturday Night by Sid Fleischman · grades 4–6 — Shares themes of ghosts, same genre (Horror), and overlapping grades (4–6).
A Family Apart by Joan Lowery Nixon · grades 6–8 — Shares themes of brothers and sisters and overlapping grades (6–8).
Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson · 780L — Shares themes of slavery and overlapping grades (5–9).

Books like There's a Dead Person Following My Sister Around for high school & teens (grades 9–12)

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

Full Tilt by Neal Shusterman · grades 9–12 — Both on the Maryland Black-Eyed Susan Book Award list and same genre (Horror).
A Door Near Here by Heather Quarles · grades 9–12 — Shares themes of brothers and sisters.
The Haunting by Joan Lowery Nixon · grades 6–9 — Shares themes of ghosts and overlapping grades (6–9).
A Summer to Die by Lois Lowry · grades 9–12 — Shares themes of brothers and sisters.
Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson · 780L — Shares themes of slavery and overlapping grades (5–9).

Common questions

What books are similar to There's a Dead Person Following My Sister Around?: The 10 closest matches to There's a Dead Person Following My Sister Around by Vivian Vande Velde on ReadingList include Night Terrors, Heir Apparent, All the Lovely Bad Ones, Something Upstairs, and The Ghost of Graylock. Each is scored on shared themes (ghosts, brothers and sisters, and slavery), shared award lists, genre, and reading level (grades 6–8), and links to the curricula, states, and grades where it is assigned in US schools, with primary sources.
Are books like There's a Dead Person Following My Sister Around reading-level appropriate?: Yes — every match is a reading-level match, not just a topical one, scored on Lexile and grade band (grades 6–8), 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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