What books are similar to Blubber?

The 10 closest matches to Blubber by Judy Blume on ReadingList include Dork Diaries: Tales from a Not-So-Fabulous Life, Save Me a Seat, Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing, Wonder, and A Boy Named Queen. Each is scored on shared themes (bullying, friendship, and school), shared award lists, genre, and reading level (grades 4–7), and links to the curricula, states, and grades where it is assigned in US schools, with primary sources.

Are books like Blubber reading-level appropriate?

Yes — every match is a reading-level match, not just a topical one, scored on Lexile and grade band (grades 4–7), 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 Blubber

If you liked Blubber, read Dork Diaries: Tales from a Not-So-Fabulous Life, Save Me a Seat, or Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing — the closest matches in our database, matched on shared themes, shared award lists, and reading level.

Looking for books like Blubber by Judy Blume (Realistic Fiction · grades 4–7)? It’s most often read for its themes of bullying, friendship, and school. 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 4–7 reader. See how we judge text difficulty on our methodology page.

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Why each is a match

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Dork Diaries: Tales from a Not-So-Fabulous Life890L: Shares themes of friendship, school, and identity, same genre (Realistic Fiction), and overlapping grades (4–7). Amazon → books like this →
Save Me a Seat780L: Shares themes of bullying, friendship, and identity, same genre (Realistic Fiction), and overlapping grades (4–7). Amazon → books like this →
Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing470L: Is by Judy Blume, the same author, both on the North Dakota Flicker Tale Children's Book Award list (+1 more shared list), and overlapping grades (2–5). Amazon → books like this →
Wonder790L: Shares themes of bullying and friendship, both on the North Dakota Flicker Tale Children's Book Award list (+1 more shared list), and overlapping grades (3–7). Amazon → books like this →
A Boy Named Queengrades 3–8: Shares themes of bullying and friendship, same genre (Realistic Fiction), and overlapping grades (3–8). Amazon → books like this →
Are You There God? It's Me, Margaretgrades 4–6: Is by Judy Blume, the same author, same genre (Realistic Fiction), and overlapping grades (4–6). Amazon → books like this →
Confessions of a Class Clowngrades 6–8: Shares themes of friendship, school, and identity and overlapping grades (6–8). Amazon → books like this →
Control Freaksgrades 6–8: Shares themes of friendship, school, and identity and overlapping grades (6–8). Amazon → books like this →
Fish in a Tree550L: Shares themes of bullying, friendship, and school and overlapping grades (4–7). Amazon → books like this →
Harriet the Spygrades 4–7: Shares themes of friendship, school, and identity and overlapping grades (4–7). Amazon → books like this →

Books like Blubber for younger readers (K–2)

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

Dog Man by Dav Pilkey · 390L — Shares themes of friendship and identity, both on the Pacific Northwest Young Reader's Choice Award list, and overlapping grades (2–5).
Buffalo Fluffalo by Bess Kalb · grades K–2 — Shares themes of friendship and identity.
How This Book Got Red by Margaret Chiu Greanias · grades K–2 — Shares themes of friendship and identity.
My Explosive Diary by Emily Gale · grades 2–8 — Shares themes of bullying, same genre (Realistic Fiction), and overlapping grades (2–8).
The Adventures of Captain Underpants by Dav Pilkey · 720L — Shares themes of friendship and school and overlapping grades (2–5).

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

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

Hoot by Carl Hiaasen · 760L — Shares themes of bullying and friendship, same genre (Realistic Fiction), and overlapping grades (4–7).
Invisible Isabel by Sally J. Pla · grades 3–6 — Shares themes of school and identity, same genre (Realistic Fiction), and overlapping grades (3–6).
Planet Omar: Accidental Trouble Magnet by Zanib Mian · 820L — Shares themes of friendship, school, and identity and overlapping grades (3–6).
Superfudge by Judy Blume · grades 3–6 — Is by Judy Blume, the same author, both on the North Dakota Flicker Tale Children's Book Award list (+1 more shared list), and overlapping grades (3–6).
The Cybil War by Betsy Byars · grades 3–6 — Shares themes of friendship and identity, same genre (Realistic Fiction), and overlapping grades (3–6).

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

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

Hoot by Carl Hiaasen · 760L — Shares themes of bullying and friendship, same genre (Realistic Fiction), and overlapping grades (4–7).
Invisible Isabel by Sally J. Pla · grades 3–6 — Shares themes of school and identity, same genre (Realistic Fiction), and overlapping grades (3–6).
Planet Omar: Accidental Trouble Magnet by Zanib Mian · 820L — Shares themes of friendship, school, and identity and overlapping grades (3–6).
Posted by John David Anderson · grades 6–9 — Shares themes of bullying and friendship, same genre (Realistic Fiction), and overlapping grades (6–9).
Superfudge by Judy Blume · grades 3–6 — Is by Judy Blume, the same author, both on the North Dakota Flicker Tale Children's Book Award list (+1 more shared list), and overlapping grades (3–6).

Books like Blubber for high school & teens (grades 9–12)

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

Posted by John David Anderson · grades 6–9 — Shares themes of bullying and friendship, same genre (Realistic Fiction), and overlapping grades (6–9).
American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang · 530L — Shares themes of bullying and identity and overlapping grades (7–12).
Drama by Raina Telgemeier · grades 5–9 — Shares themes of friendship and identity and overlapping grades (5–9).
Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes · 910L — Shares themes of friendship and identity.
Ruby Lost and Found by Christina Li · grades 6–9 — Shares themes of identity, same genre (Realistic Fiction), and overlapping grades (6–9).

Book data last updated 2026-07-07. Matches are computed from each book’s cited attributes — see the methodology.

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