What books are similar to What Girls Are Made Of?

The 10 closest matches to What Girls Are Made Of by Elana K. Arnold on ReadingList include The Blood Years, Lovely War, Mapping the Bones, Beneath the Wide Silk Sky, and The Blossom and the Firefly. Each is scored on shared themes, shared award lists, genre, and reading level (grades 9–12), and links to the curricula, states, and grades where it is assigned in US schools, with primary sources.

Are books like What Girls Are Made Of reading-level appropriate?

Yes — every match is a reading-level match, not just a topical one, scored on Lexile and grade band (grades 9–12), 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 What Girls Are Made Of

If you liked What Girls Are Made Of, read The Blood Years, Lovely War, or Mapping the Bones — the closest matches in our database, matched on shared award lists and reading level.

Closest match: The Blood Years by Elana K. Arnold

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Looking for books like What Girls Are Made Of by Elana K. Arnold (Children's · grades 9–12)? 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 9–12 reader. See how we judge text difficulty on our methodology page.

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Why each is a match

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The Blood Yearsgrades 9–12: Is by Elana K. Arnold, the same author, both on the Golden Kite Award list, and same genre (Children's). Amazon → books like this →
Lovely Wargrades 9–12: Both on the Golden Kite Award list, same genre (Children's), and overlapping grades (9–12). Amazon → books like this →
Mapping the Bonesgrades 9–12: Both on the Golden Kite Award list, same genre (Children's), and overlapping grades (9–12). Amazon → books like this →
Beneath the Wide Silk Skygrades 9–12: Both on the Golden Kite Award list, same genre (Children's), and overlapping grades (9–12). Amazon → books like this →
The Blossom and the Fireflygrades 9–12: Both on the Golden Kite Award list, same genre (Children's), and overlapping grades (9–12). Amazon → books like this →
When You Look Like Usgrades 9–12: Both on the Golden Kite Award list, same genre (Children's), and overlapping grades (9–12). Amazon → books like this →
Crazygrades 9–12: Same genre (Children's), overlapping grades (9–12), and the same era (2010s). Amazon → books like this →
Fourgrades 9–12: Same genre (Children's), overlapping grades (9–12), and the same era (2010s). Amazon → books like this →
New Moongrades 9–12: Same genre (Children's), overlapping grades (9–12), and the same era (2010s). Amazon → books like this →
Red Queengrades 9–12: Same genre (Children's), overlapping grades (9–12), and the same era (2010s). Amazon → books like this →

Books like What Girls Are Made Of for younger readers (K–2)

Closest matches whose grade range overlaps K–2— same scoring, different audience.

A Band of Angels by Deborah Hopkinson · grades K–5 — Both on the Golden Kite Award list, same genre (Children's), and the same era (2010s).
A Dance Like Starlight by Kristy Dempsey · grades K–5 — Both on the Golden Kite Award list, same genre (Children's), and the same era (2010s).
A Green Place to be by Ashley Benham Yazdani · grades K–5 — Both on the Golden Kite Award list, same genre (Children's), and the same era (2010s).
A Visitor for Bear by Bonny Becker · grades K–5 — Both on the Golden Kite Award list, same genre (Children's), and the same era (2010s).
Big Red Lollipop by Rukhsana Khan · grades K–5 — Both on the Golden Kite Award list, same genre (Children's), and the same era (2010s).

Books like What Girls Are Made Of for elementary readers (grades 3–5)

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

A Band of Angels by Deborah Hopkinson · grades K–5 — Both on the Golden Kite Award list, same genre (Children's), and the same era (2010s).
A Dance Like Starlight by Kristy Dempsey · grades K–5 — Both on the Golden Kite Award list, same genre (Children's), and the same era (2010s).
A Green Place to be by Ashley Benham Yazdani · grades K–5 — Both on the Golden Kite Award list, same genre (Children's), and the same era (2010s).
A Visitor for Bear by Bonny Becker · grades K–5 — Both on the Golden Kite Award list, same genre (Children's), and the same era (2010s).
Big Red Lollipop by Rukhsana Khan · grades K–5 — Both on the Golden Kite Award list, same genre (Children's), and the same era (2010s).

Books like What Girls Are Made Of for middle school (grades 6–8)

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

Evil Librarian by Michelle Knudsen · grades 3–8 — Both on the Golden Kite Award list, same genre (Children's), and the same era (2010s).
Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs by Mo Willems · grades 3–8 — Both on the Golden Kite Award list, same genre (Children's), and the same era (2010s).
Lifeboat 12 by Susan Hood · grades 3–7 — Both on the Golden Kite Award list, same genre (Children's), and the same era (2010s).
Millicent Min, Girl Genius (The Millicent Min Trilogy, Book 1) by Lisa Yee · grades 3–8 — Both on the Golden Kite Award list, same genre (Children's), and the same era (2010s).
Milo by Alan Silberberg · grades 3–8 — Both on the Golden Kite Award list, same genre (Children's), and the same era (2010s).

Common questions

What books are similar to What Girls Are Made Of?: The 10 closest matches to What Girls Are Made Of by Elana K. Arnold on ReadingList include The Blood Years, Lovely War, Mapping the Bones, Beneath the Wide Silk Sky, and The Blossom and the Firefly. Each is scored on shared themes, shared award lists, genre, and reading level (grades 9–12), and links to the curricula, states, and grades where it is assigned in US schools, with primary sources.
Are books like What Girls Are Made Of reading-level appropriate?: Yes — every match is a reading-level match, not just a topical one, scored on Lexile and grade band (grades 9–12), 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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