Books like Wildfire

If you liked Wildfire, read El Deafo, Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library, or Small Spaces — the closest matches in our database, matched on shared award lists and reading level.

Closest match: El Deafo by Cece Bell

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Looking for books like Wildfire by Rodman Philbrick? 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 3–5 reader. See how we judge text difficulty on our methodology page.

10 books similar to Wildfire

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Why each is a match

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El Deafo420L
Both on the Great Stone Face Book Award list (+1 more shared list), overlapping grades (4–6), and the same era (2010s). Amazon → books like this →
Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Librarygrades 4–6
Both on the Great Stone Face Book Award list (+4 more shared lists), overlapping grades (4–6), and the same era (2010s). Amazon → books like this →
Small Spacesgrades 3–5
Both on the Great Stone Face Book Award list (+2 more shared lists), overlapping grades (3–5), and the same era (2010s). Amazon → books like this →
We Own the Skygrades 4–6
Is by Rodman Philbrick, the same author and overlapping grades (4–6). Amazon → books like this →
Wonder790L
Both on the Great Stone Face Book Award list (+2 more shared lists), overlapping grades (3–7), and the same era (2010s). Amazon → books like this →
A Million Ways Homegrades 4–6
Both on the William Allen White Children's Book Award list (+1 more shared list), overlapping grades (4–6), and the same era (2010s). Amazon → books like this →
America is Under Attack September 11 2001grades 3–5
Both on the William Allen White Children's Book Award list (+1 more shared list), overlapping grades (3–5), and the same era (2010s). Amazon → books like this →
Guinea Doggrades 3–5
Both on the William Allen White Children's Book Award list (+1 more shared list), overlapping grades (3–5), and the same era (2010s). Amazon → books like this →
Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactusgrades 3–5
Both on the William Allen White Children's Book Award list (+1 more shared list), overlapping grades (3–5), and the same era (2010s). Amazon → books like this →
Life on Marsgrades 3–5
Both on the William Allen White Children's Book Award list (+1 more shared list), overlapping grades (3–5), and the same era (2010s). Amazon → books like this →

Books like Wildfire for elementary readers (grades 3–5)

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

  • Malcolm at Midnight by W. H. Beck · grades 3–5 — Both on the William Allen White Children's Book Award list (+1 more shared list), overlapping grades (3–5), and the same era (2010s).
  • The Boy on the Porch by Sharon Creech · grades 3–5 — Both on the William Allen White Children's Book Award list (+1 more shared list), overlapping grades (3–5), and the same era (2010s).
  • Superfudge by Judy Blume · grades 3–6 — Both on the Great Stone Face Book Award list (+1 more shared list), overlapping grades (3–6), and the same era (2010s).
  • A Rover's Story by Jasmine Warga · grades 4–5 — Both on the Great Stone Face Book Award list (+1 more shared list) and overlapping grades (4–5).
  • Frindle by Andrew Clements · 830L — Both on the Great Stone Face Book Award list (+2 more shared lists) and overlapping grades (3–7).

Books like Wildfire for middle school (grades 6–8)

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

  • Buddy by M. H. Herlong · grades 6–8 — Both on the Great Stone Face Book Award list (+2 more shared lists) and the same era (2010s).
  • Ghost Dog Secrets by Peg Kehret · grades 6–8 — Both on the William Allen White Children's Book Award list (+1 more shared list) and the same era (2010s).
  • Hidden by Helen Frost · grades 6–8 — Both on the William Allen White Children's Book Award list (+1 more shared list) and the same era (2010s).
  • Took by Mary Downing Hahn · grades 6–8 — Both on the William Allen White Children's Book Award list (+1 more shared list) and the same era (2010s).
  • Superfudge by Judy Blume · grades 3–6 — Both on the Great Stone Face Book Award list (+1 more shared list), overlapping grades (3–6), and the same era (2010s).

Common questions

What books are similar to Wildfire?
The 10 closest matches to Wildfire by Rodman Philbrick on ReadingList include El Deafo, Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library, Small Spaces, We Own the Sky, and Wonder. Each is scored on shared themes, shared award lists, genre, and reading level (grades 3–5), and links to the curricula, states, and grades where it is assigned in US schools, with primary sources.
Are books like Wildfire reading-level appropriate?
Yes — every match is a reading-level match, not just a topical one, scored on Lexile and grade band (grades 3–5), 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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