Books like Hands

If you liked Hands, read A Work in Progress, Farther Than the Moon, or Good Different — the closest matches in our database, matched on shared award lists and reading level.

Looking for books like Hands by Torrey Maldonado? 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 Hands

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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A Work in Progressgrades 4–8
Both on the Georgia Children's Book Award list, overlapping grades (4–8), and the same era (2020s). Amazon → books like this →
Farther Than the Moongrades 6–8
Both on the Georgia Children's Book Award list, overlapping grades (6–8), and the same era (2020s). Amazon → books like this →
Good Differentgrades 6–9
Both on the Georgia Children's Book Award list, overlapping grades (6–9), and the same era (2020s). Amazon → books like this →
Mexikidgrades 6–8
Both on the Georgia Children's Book Award list, overlapping grades (6–8), and the same era (2020s). Amazon → books like this →
Not an Easy Wingrades 6–8
Both on the Georgia Children's Book Award list, overlapping grades (6–8), and the same era (2020s). Amazon → books like this →
Parachute Kidsgrades 3–7
Both on the Georgia Children's Book Award list, overlapping grades (3–7), and the same era (2020s). Amazon → books like this →
The Door of No Returngrades 6–8
Both on the Georgia Children's Book Award list, overlapping grades (6–8), and the same era (2020s). Amazon → books like this →
The Mona Lisa Vanishesgrades 6–8
Both on the Georgia Children's Book Award list, overlapping grades (6–8), and the same era (2020s). Amazon → books like this →
Two Tribesgrades 6–8
Both on the Georgia Children's Book Award list, overlapping grades (6–8), and the same era (2020s). Amazon → books like this →
What Happened to Rachel Riley?grades 6–8
Both on the Georgia Children's Book Award list, overlapping grades (6–8), and the same era (2020s). Amazon → books like this →

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

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

  • A Rover's Story by Jasmine Warga · grades 4–5 — Both on the Georgia Children's Book Award list and the same era (2020s).
  • Frizzy by Claribel Ortega · grades 4–5 — Both on the Georgia Children's Book Award list and the same era (2020s).
  • Hoops by Matt Tavares · grades 3–5 — Both on the Georgia Children's Book Award list and the same era (2020s).
  • Little Monarchs by Jonathan Case · grades 4–5 — Both on the Georgia Children's Book Award list and the same era (2020s).
  • Nic Blake and the Remarkables by Angie Thomas · grades 4–5 — Both on the Georgia Children's Book Award list and the same era (2020s).

Common questions

What books are similar to Hands?
The 10 closest matches to Hands by Torrey Maldonado on ReadingList include A Work in Progress, Farther Than the Moon, Good Different, Mexikid, and Not an Easy Win. 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 Hands 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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