Books like City of Orphans

If you liked City of Orphans, read Poppy, Crispin: The Cross of Lead, or Brown Girl Dreaming — the closest matches in our database, matched on shared award lists and reading level.

Looking for books like City of Orphans by Avi? 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.

10 books similar to City of Orphans

Reading the whole similar-books list? Kids who struggle with the print versions often finish the assigned books by listening.

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Why each is a match

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Poppygrades 4–9
Is by Avi, the same author, both on the Land of Enchantment Book Award list, and overlapping grades (4–9). Amazon → books like this →
Crispin: The Cross of Leadgrades 3–7
Is by Avi, the same author and overlapping grades (3–7). Amazon → books like this →
Brown Girl Dreaming990L
Both on the Land of Enchantment Book Award list and overlapping grades (5–8). Amazon → books like this →
Bud, Not Buddy950L
Both on the Land of Enchantment Book Award list and overlapping grades (4–7). Amazon → books like this →
Bunniculagrades 3–6
Both on the Land of Enchantment Book Award list and overlapping grades (3–6). Amazon → books like this →
Dangerousgrades 6–8
Both on the Land of Enchantment Book Award list and overlapping grades (6–8). Amazon → books like this →
Deep and Dark and Dangerousgrades 4–6
Both on the Land of Enchantment Book Award list and overlapping grades (4–6). Amazon → books like this →
Divergentgrades 8–12
Both on the Land of Enchantment Book Award list and overlapping grades (8–12). Amazon → books like this →
Eleanor & Parkgrades 4–9
Both on the Land of Enchantment Book Award list and overlapping grades (4–9). Amazon → books like this →
Ghost Canoegrades 6–8
Both on the Land of Enchantment Book Award list and overlapping grades (6–8). Amazon → books like this →

Common questions

What books are similar to City of Orphans?
The 10 closest matches to City of Orphans by Avi on ReadingList include Poppy, Crispin: The Cross of Lead, Brown Girl Dreaming, Bud, Not Buddy, and Bunnicula. Each is scored on shared themes, 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 City of Orphans 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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