Books like Class Act

If you liked Class Act, read New Kid, Swim Team, or Real Friends — the closest matches in our database, matched on shared themes, shared award lists, and reading level.

Looking for books like Class Act by Jerry Craft (Graphic Novel · grades 4–8)? It’s most often read for its themes of race, friendship, and class. 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 4–8 reader. See how we judge text difficulty on our methodology page.

10 books similar to Class Act

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Why each is a match

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New Kidgrades 4–8
Is by Jerry Craft, the same author, shares themes of friendship, and both on the Garden State Children's Book Award list (+1 more shared list). Amazon → books like this →
Swim Teamgrades 3–7
Shares themes of race and friendship, both on the Garden State Children's Book Award list, and overlapping grades (3–7). Amazon → books like this →
Real Friendsgrades 2–8
Shares themes of friendship, both on the Great Lakes Great Books Award list, and same genre (Graphic Novel). Amazon → books like this →
Simon Sort of Saysgrades 6–8
Shares themes of friendship, both on the Garden State Children's Book Award list (+1 more shared list), and overlapping grades (6–8). Amazon → books like this →
The Skull: A Tyrolean Folktalegrades 3–5
Shares themes of friendship, both on the Garden State Children's Book Award list (+1 more shared list), and overlapping grades (3–5). Amazon → books like this →
When Stars Are Scatteredgrades 5–8
Both on the Garden State Children's Book Award list (+1 more shared list), same genre (Graphic Novel), and overlapping grades (5–8). Amazon → books like this →
Fish in a Tree550L
Shares themes of friendship, both on the Garden State Children's Book Award list (+1 more shared list), and overlapping grades (4–7). Amazon → books like this →
Front Desk640L
Shares themes of race, both on the Garden State Children's Book Award list (+1 more shared list), and overlapping grades (3–7). Amazon → books like this →
When You Reach Me750L
Shares themes of friendship, both on the Garden State Children's Book Award list (+1 more shared list), and overlapping grades (4–8). Amazon → books like this →
A Lot to Like!grades 2–5
Shares themes of friendship, both on the Garden State Children's Book Award list, and overlapping grades (2–5). Amazon → books like this →

Books like Class Act for younger readers (K–2)

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

  • Buffalo Fluffalo by Bess Kalb · grades K–2 — Shares themes of friendship and both on the Great Lakes Great Books Award list.
  • Fox Has a Problem by Corey R. Tabor · grades 2–5 — Shares themes of friendship, both on the Garden State Children's Book Award list, and overlapping grades (2–5).
  • The First Cat in Space Ate Pizza by Mac Barnett · grades 2–5 — Shares themes of friendship, both on the Garden State Children's Book Award list, and overlapping grades (2–5).
  • Witchlings by Claribel A. Ortega · grades 2–5 — Shares themes of friendship, both on the Garden State Children's Book Award list, and overlapping grades (2–5).
  • Bink & Gollie by Kate DiCamillo · grades 2–8 — Shares themes of friendship, both on the Great Lakes Great Books Award list, and overlapping grades (2–8).

Books like Class Act for elementary readers (grades 3–5)

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

  • Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson · 810L — Shares themes of friendship and class and overlapping grades (4–6).
  • Dog Man Unleashed by Dav Pilkey · grades 3–6 — Shares themes of friendship, same genre (Graphic Novel), and overlapping grades (3–6).
  • Drama by Raina Telgemeier · grades 5–9 — Shares themes of friendship, same genre (Graphic Novel), and overlapping grades (5–9).
  • Fox Has a Problem by Corey R. Tabor · grades 2–5 — Shares themes of friendship, both on the Garden State Children's Book Award list, and overlapping grades (2–5).
  • Parachute Kids by Betty C. Tang · grades 3–7 — Both on the Garden State Children's Book Award list, same genre (Graphic Novel), and overlapping grades (3–7).

Books like Class Act for middle school (grades 6–8)

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

  • Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson · 810L — Shares themes of friendship and class and overlapping grades (4–6).
  • Dog Man Unleashed by Dav Pilkey · grades 3–6 — Shares themes of friendship, same genre (Graphic Novel), and overlapping grades (3–6).
  • Drama by Raina Telgemeier · grades 5–9 — Shares themes of friendship, same genre (Graphic Novel), and overlapping grades (5–9).
  • Parachute Kids by Betty C. Tang · grades 3–7 — Both on the Garden State Children's Book Award list, same genre (Graphic Novel), and overlapping grades (3–7).
  • Roll for Initiative by Jaime Formato · grades 4–8 — Shares themes of friendship, both on the Garden State Children's Book Award list, and overlapping grades (4–8).

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

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

  • Drama by Raina Telgemeier · grades 5–9 — Shares themes of friendship, same genre (Graphic Novel), and overlapping grades (5–9).
  • Four for the Road by K.J. Reilly · grades 9–12 — Shares themes of friendship.
  • Now Let Me Fly: A Portrait of Eugene Bullard by Ronald Wimberly · grades 9–12 — Same genre (Graphic Novel) and the same era (2020s).
  • Shut Up, This Is Serious by Carolina Ixta · grades 9–12 — Shares themes of friendship.
  • The Agathas by Kathleen Glasgow · grades 9–12 — Shares themes of friendship.

Common questions

What books are similar to Class Act?
The 10 closest matches to Class Act by Jerry Craft on ReadingList include New Kid, Swim Team, Real Friends, Simon Sort of Says, and The Skull: A Tyrolean Folktale. Each is scored on shared themes (race, friendship, and class), shared award lists, genre, and reading level (grades 4–8), and links to the curricula, states, and grades where it is assigned in US schools, with primary sources.
Are books like Class Act reading-level appropriate?
Yes — every match is a reading-level match, not just a topical one, scored on Lexile and grade band (grades 4–8), 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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