Books like Gone Crazy in Alabama

If you liked Gone Crazy in Alabama, read One Crazy Summer, P.S. Be Eleven, or A Few Red Drops — the closest matches in our database, matched on shared award lists and reading level.

Looking for books like Gone Crazy in Alabama by Rita Williams-Garcia? 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.

10 books similar to Gone Crazy in Alabama

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Why each is a match

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One Crazy Summer750L
Is by Rita Williams-Garcia, the same author, both on the Coretta Scott King Author Award list, and overlapping grades (5–8). Amazon → books like this →
P.S. Be Elevengrades 5–8
Is by Rita Williams-Garcia, the same author, both on the Coretta Scott King Author Award list, and overlapping grades (5–8). Amazon → books like this →
A Few Red Dropsgrades 7–12
Both on the Coretta Scott King Author Award list, overlapping grades (7–12), and the same era (2010s). Amazon → books like this →
Brown Girl Dreaming990L
Both on the Coretta Scott King Author Award list, overlapping grades (5–8), and the same era (2010s). Amazon → books like this →
Elijah of Buxton (Scholastic Gold)grades 5–8
Both on the Coretta Scott King Author Award list, overlapping grades (5–8), and the same era (2010s). Amazon → books like this →
Hand in Handgrades 4–8
Both on the Coretta Scott King Author Award list, overlapping grades (4–8), and the same era (2010s). Amazon → books like this →
Heart and Soulgrades 4–8
Both on the Coretta Scott King Author Award list, overlapping grades (4–8), and the same era (2010s). Amazon → books like this →
New Kidgrades 4–8
Both on the Coretta Scott King Author Award list, overlapping grades (4–8), and the same era (2010s). Amazon → books like this →
Piecing Me Togethergrades 7–12
Both on the Coretta Scott King Author Award list, overlapping grades (7–12), and the same era (2010s). Amazon → books like this →
Sweet Whispers, Brother Rushgrades 4–9
Both on the Coretta Scott King Author Award list, overlapping grades (4–9), and the same era (2010s). Amazon → books like this →

Common questions

What books are similar to Gone Crazy in Alabama?
The 10 closest matches to Gone Crazy in Alabama by Rita Williams-Garcia on ReadingList include One Crazy Summer, P.S. Be Eleven, A Few Red Drops, Brown Girl Dreaming, and Elijah of Buxton (Scholastic Gold). 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 Gone Crazy in Alabama 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.

Book data last updated 2026-09-05. Matches are computed from each book’s cited attributes — see the methodology.

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