What books are similar to Curveball?

The 10 closest matches to Curveball by Pablo Cartaya on ReadingList include Growing Home, Operation Final Notice, Swim Team, Misfit Mansion, and Punycorn. Each is scored on shared themes (friendship, perseverance, and family), 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 Curveball 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.

Books like Curveball

If you liked Curveball, read Growing Home, Operation Final Notice, or Swim Team — the closest matches in our database, matched on shared themes, shared award lists, and reading level.

Looking for books like Curveball by Pablo Cartaya (Middle Grade Graphic Novel · grades 3–5)? It’s most often read for its themes of friendship, perseverance, and family. 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.

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Why each is a match

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Growing Homegrades 3–5: Shares themes of friendship, perseverance, and family, both on the Sunshine State Young Readers Award list, and overlapping grades (3–5). Amazon →
Operation Final Noticegrades 4–8: Shares themes of friendship, perseverance, and family and overlapping grades (4–8). Amazon →
Swim Teamgrades 3–7: Shares themes of friendship and perseverance, same genre (Middle Grade Graphic Novel), and overlapping grades (3–7). Amazon →
Misfit Mansiongrades 3–5: Shares themes of friendship, both on the Sunshine State Young Readers Award list, and same genre (Middle Grade Graphic Novel). Amazon →
Punycorngrades 3–5: Shares themes of perseverance, both on the Sunshine State Young Readers Award list, and same genre (Middle Grade Graphic Novel). Amazon →
Roller Girl440L: Shares themes of friendship and perseverance, same genre (Middle Grade Graphic Novel), and overlapping grades (4–7). Amazon →
The Sherlock Societygrades 4–8: Shares themes of friendship and family, both on the Sunshine State Young Readers Award list, and overlapping grades (4–8). Amazon →
Bea and the New Deal Horsegrades 3–5: Shares themes of perseverance and family and overlapping grades (3–5). Amazon →
Chronicles of a Lizard Nobodygrades 4–8: Shares themes of friendship, same genre (Middle Grade Graphic Novel), and overlapping grades (4–8). Amazon →
Countdown to Yesterdaygrades 3–6: Shares themes of friendship and family and overlapping grades (3–6). Amazon →

Books like Curveball for younger readers (K–2)

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

Knight Owl by Christopher Denise · grades K–3 — Shares themes of friendship and perseverance and overlapping grades (K–3).
Knight Owl and Early Bird by Christopher Denise · grades K–3 — Shares themes of friendship and perseverance and overlapping grades (K–3).
The First Cat in Space Ate Pizza by Mac Barnett · grades 2–5 — Shares themes of friendship, same genre (Middle Grade Graphic Novel), and overlapping grades (2–5).
Dog Man by Dav Pilkey · 390L — Shares themes of friendship, same genre (Middle Grade Graphic Novel), and overlapping grades (2–5).
Geronimo Stilton: Lost Treasure of the Emerald Eye by Geronimo Stilton · 530L — Shares themes of friendship and family and overlapping grades (2–5).

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

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

Dogtown by Katherine Applegate & Gennifer Choldenko · grades 3–6 — Shares themes of friendship and perseverance and overlapping grades (3–6).
Doña Quixote: Rise of the Knight by Rey Terciero · grades 3–6 — Shares themes of family, same genre (Middle Grade Graphic Novel), and overlapping grades (3–6).
Duel by Jessixa Bagley · grades 4–8 — Shares themes of family, same genre (Middle Grade Graphic Novel), and overlapping grades (4–8).
Four Eyes: A Graphic Novel by Rex Ogle · grades 3–7 — Shares themes of family, same genre (Middle Grade Graphic Novel), and overlapping grades (3–7).
Hoops by Matt Tavares · grades 3–5 — Shares themes of perseverance, same genre (Middle Grade Graphic Novel), and overlapping grades (3–5).

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

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

Brick Dust and Bones by M.R. Fournet · grades 6–8 — Shares themes of perseverance and family and both on the Sunshine State Young Readers Award list.
Control Freaks by J.E. Thomas · grades 6–8 — Shares themes of friendship and perseverance and both on the Sunshine State Young Readers Award list.
Skyriders by Polly Holyoke · grades 6–8 — Shares themes of friendship and perseverance and both on the Sunshine State Young Readers Award list.
The Lost Year by Katherine Marsh · grades 6–8 — Shares themes of perseverance and family and both on the Sunshine State Young Readers Award list.
Dogtown by Katherine Applegate & Gennifer Choldenko · grades 3–6 — Shares themes of friendship and perseverance and overlapping grades (3–6).

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

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

Shut Up, This Is Serious by Carolina Ixta · grades 9–12 — Shares themes of friendship and family.
The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton · 750L — Shares themes of friendship and family.
The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares · grades 7–10 — Shares themes of friendship and family.
Everything We Never Had by Randy Ribay · grades 7–12 — Shares themes of family.
Four for the Road by K.J. Reilly · grades 9–12 — Shares themes of friendship.

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

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