What books are similar to Elijah of Buxton (Scholastic Gold)?

The 10 closest matches to Elijah of Buxton (Scholastic Gold) by Christopher Paul Curtis on ReadingList include Chickadee, Dash (Dogs of World War II), Dead End in Norvelt, Full of Beans, and New Kid. Each is scored on shared themes, shared award lists, genre, and reading level (grades 5–8), and links to the curricula, states, and grades where it is assigned in US schools, with primary sources.

Are books like Elijah of Buxton (Scholastic Gold) reading-level appropriate?

Yes — every match is a reading-level match, not just a topical one, scored on Lexile and grade band (grades 5–8), 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.

Books like Elijah of Buxton (Scholastic Gold)

If you liked Elijah of Buxton (Scholastic Gold), read Chickadee, Dash (Dogs of World War II), or Dead End in Norvelt — the closest matches in our database, matched on shared award lists and reading level.

Looking for books like Elijah of Buxton (Scholastic Gold) by Christopher Paul Curtis? 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 5–8 reader. See how we judge text difficulty on our methodology page.

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Why each is a match

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Chickadeegrades 4–7: Both on the Garden State Children's Book Award list (+1 more shared list), overlapping grades (4–7), and the same era (2010s). Amazon →
Dash (Dogs of World War II)grades 4–7: Both on the Garden State Children's Book Award list (+1 more shared list), overlapping grades (4–7), and the same era (2010s). Amazon →
Dead End in Norveltgrades 4–7: Both on the Garden State Children's Book Award list (+1 more shared list), overlapping grades (4–7), and the same era (2010s). Amazon →
Full of Beansgrades 4–7: Both on the Garden State Children's Book Award list (+1 more shared list), overlapping grades (4–7), and the same era (2010s). Amazon →
New Kidgrades 4–8: Both on the Coretta Scott King Author Award list (+1 more shared list), overlapping grades (4–8), and the same era (2010s). Amazon →
One Crazy Summer750L: Both on the Coretta Scott King Author Award list (+1 more shared list), overlapping grades (5–8), and the same era (2010s). Amazon →
P.S. Be Elevengrades 5–8: Both on the Coretta Scott King Author Award list (+1 more shared list), overlapping grades (5–8), and the same era (2010s). Amazon →
The War That Saved My Life580L: Both on the Garden State Children's Book Award list (+1 more shared list), overlapping grades (4–7), and the same era (2010s). Amazon →
Bad News for Outlawsgrades 3–7: Both on the Coretta Scott King Author Award list (+1 more shared list) and overlapping grades (3–7). Amazon →
Freewatergrades 4–7: Both on the Coretta Scott King Author Award list (+1 more shared list) and overlapping grades (4–7). Amazon →

Books like Elijah of Buxton (Scholastic Gold) for younger readers (K–2)

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

Are You Ready to Play Outside? by Mo Willems · grades K–2 — Both on the Garden State Children's Book Award list and the same era (2010s).
Balloons over Broadway by Melissa Sweet · grades 1–4 — Both on the Garden State Children's Book Award list and the same era (2010s).
Bink and Gollie: Two for One by Kate DiCamillo · grades K–2 — Both on the Garden State Children's Book Award list and the same era (2010s).
Charlie & Mouse Even Better by Laurel Snyder · grades K–2 — Both on the Garden State Children's Book Award list and the same era (2010s).
Dog Man by Dav Pilkey · 390L — Both on the Garden State Children's Book Award list, overlapping grades (2–5), and the same era (2010s).

Books like Elijah of Buxton (Scholastic Gold) for elementary readers (grades 3–5)

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

Unspeakable by Carole Boston Weatherford · grades 3–7 — Both on the Coretta Scott King Author Award list (+1 more shared list) and overlapping grades (3–7).
When Stars Are Scattered by Victoria Jamieson · grades 5–8 — Both on the Garden State Children's Book Award list (+1 more shared list) and overlapping grades (5–8).
11 Birthdays by Wendy Mass · grades 3–5 — Both on the Garden State Children's Book Award list, overlapping grades (3–5), and the same era (2010s).
A Boy Called Christmas by Matt Haig · grades 3–10 — Both on the Odyssey Award (Best Audiobook) list, overlapping grades (3–10), and the same era (2010s).
A Snicker of Magic (Scholastic Gold) by Natalie Lloyd · grades 3–10 — Both on the Odyssey Award (Best Audiobook) list, overlapping grades (3–10), and the same era (2010s).

Books like Elijah of Buxton (Scholastic Gold) for middle school (grades 6–8)

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

Unspeakable by Carole Boston Weatherford · grades 3–7 — Both on the Coretta Scott King Author Award list (+1 more shared list) and overlapping grades (3–7).
When Stars Are Scattered by Victoria Jamieson · grades 5–8 — Both on the Garden State Children's Book Award list (+1 more shared list) and overlapping grades (5–8).
A Boy Called Christmas by Matt Haig · grades 3–10 — Both on the Odyssey Award (Best Audiobook) list, overlapping grades (3–10), and the same era (2010s).
A Few Red Drops by Claire Hartfield · grades 7–12 — Both on the Coretta Scott King Author Award list, overlapping grades (7–12), and the same era (2010s).
A Snicker of Magic (Scholastic Gold) by Natalie Lloyd · grades 3–10 — Both on the Odyssey Award (Best Audiobook) list, overlapping grades (3–10), and the same era (2010s).

Books like Elijah of Buxton (Scholastic Gold) for high school & teens (grades 9–12)

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

A Boy Called Christmas by Matt Haig · grades 3–10 — Both on the Odyssey Award (Best Audiobook) list, overlapping grades (3–10), and the same era (2010s).
A Few Red Drops by Claire Hartfield · grades 7–12 — Both on the Coretta Scott King Author Award list, overlapping grades (7–12), and the same era (2010s).
A Snicker of Magic (Scholastic Gold) by Natalie Lloyd · grades 3–10 — Both on the Odyssey Award (Best Audiobook) list, overlapping grades (3–10), and the same era (2010s).
Alchemy and Meggy Swann by Karen Cushman · grades 3–10 — Both on the Odyssey Award (Best Audiobook) list, overlapping grades (3–10), and the same era (2010s).
Anna and the Swallow Man by Gavriel Savit · grades 3–10 — Both on the Odyssey Award (Best Audiobook) list, overlapping grades (3–10), and the same era (2010s).

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

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