What books are similar to Lulu's Mysterious Mission?

The 10 closest matches to Lulu's Mysterious Mission by Judith Viorst on ReadingList include My Explosive Diary, Say What?, Baby-Sitting Is a Dangerous Job, Class Clown, and Counting by 7s. Each is scored on shared themes (babysitters, conduct of life, and behavior), shared award lists, genre, and reading level (grades 2–8), and links to the curricula, states, and grades where it is assigned in US schools, with primary sources.

Are books like Lulu's Mysterious Mission reading-level appropriate?

Yes — every match is a reading-level match, not just a topical one, scored on Lexile and grade band (grades 2–8), 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 Lulu's Mysterious Mission

If you liked Lulu's Mysterious Mission, read My Explosive Diary, Say What?, or Baby-Sitting Is a Dangerous Job — the closest matches in our database, matched on shared themes, shared award lists, and reading level.

Looking for books like Lulu's Mysterious Mission by Judith Viorst (Realistic Fiction · grades 2–8)? It’s most often read for its themes of babysitters, conduct of life, and behavior. 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 2–8 reader. See how we judge text difficulty on our methodology page.

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Why each is a match

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My Explosive Diarygrades 2–8: Shares themes of spies, both on the Great Lakes Great Books Award (Michigan Reading Association) list, and same genre (Realistic Fiction). Amazon →
Say What?grades 2–8: Shares themes of conduct of life, both on the Great Lakes Great Books Award (Michigan Reading Association) list, and same genre (Realistic Fiction). Amazon →
Baby-Sitting Is a Dangerous Jobgrades 3–8: Shares themes of babysitters, same genre (Realistic Fiction), and overlapping grades (3–8). Amazon →
Class Clowngrades 3–5: Shares themes of behavior, same genre (Realistic Fiction), and overlapping grades (3–5). Amazon →
Counting by 7sgrades 2–8: Both on the Great Lakes Great Books Award (Michigan Reading Association) list, same genre (Realistic Fiction), and overlapping grades (2–8). Amazon →
Fourth Grade Ratsgrades 4–6: Shares themes of conduct of life, same genre (Realistic Fiction), and overlapping grades (4–6). Amazon →
Front Desk640L: Both on the Great Lakes Great Books Award (Michigan Reading Association) list, same genre (Realistic Fiction), and overlapping grades (3–7). Amazon →
Ghost730L: Both on the Great Lakes Great Books Award (Michigan Reading Association) list, same genre (Realistic Fiction), and overlapping grades (5–8). Amazon →
Ghost Boys360L: Both on the Great Lakes Great Books Award (Michigan Reading Association) list, same genre (Realistic Fiction), and overlapping grades (4–7). Amazon →
Henry Reed's Babysitting Servicegrades 4–6: Shares themes of babysitters, same genre (Realistic Fiction), and overlapping grades (4–6). Amazon →

Books like Lulu's Mysterious Mission for younger readers (K–2)

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

Here Comes the Garbage Barge by Jonah Winter · grades 2–8 — Both on the Great Lakes Great Books Award (Michigan Reading Association) list, same genre (Realistic Fiction), and overlapping grades (2–8).
¡Vamos! Let's Go Eat by Raúl the Third III · grades 2–8 — Both on the Great Lakes Great Books Award (Michigan Reading Association) list, same genre (Realistic Fiction), and overlapping grades (2–8).
Ida B. and Her Plans to Maximize Fun, Avoid Disaster, and (Possibly) Save the World by Katherine Hannigan · grades 2–8 — Both on the Great Lakes Great Books Award (Michigan Reading Association) list, same genre (Realistic Fiction), and overlapping grades (2–8).
Lawn Boy by Gary Paulsen · grades 2–8 — Both on the Great Lakes Great Books Award (Michigan Reading Association) list, same genre (Realistic Fiction), and overlapping grades (2–8).
Sharing Susan by Eve Bunting · grades 2–8 — Both on the Great Lakes Great Books Award (Michigan Reading Association) list, same genre (Realistic Fiction), and overlapping grades (2–8).

Books like Lulu's Mysterious Mission for elementary readers (grades 3–5)

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

Here Comes the Garbage Barge by Jonah Winter · grades 2–8 — Both on the Great Lakes Great Books Award (Michigan Reading Association) list, same genre (Realistic Fiction), and overlapping grades (2–8).
Shoeshine Girl by Clyde Robert Bulla · grades 4–6 — Shares themes of behavior, same genre (Realistic Fiction), and overlapping grades (4–6).
The Gollywhopper Games by Jody Feldman · grades 3–8 — Shares themes of conduct of life, same genre (Realistic Fiction), and overlapping grades (3–8).
The Strange Case of Origami Yoda by Tom Angleberger · grades 4–6 — Both on the Great Lakes Great Books Award (Michigan Reading Association) list, same genre (Realistic Fiction), and overlapping grades (4–6).
¡Vamos! Let's Go Eat by Raúl the Third III · grades 2–8 — Both on the Great Lakes Great Books Award (Michigan Reading Association) list, same genre (Realistic Fiction), and overlapping grades (2–8).

Books like Lulu's Mysterious Mission for middle school (grades 6–8)

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

Here Comes the Garbage Barge by Jonah Winter · grades 2–8 — Both on the Great Lakes Great Books Award (Michigan Reading Association) list, same genre (Realistic Fiction), and overlapping grades (2–8).
Orbiting Jupiter by Gary D. Schmidt · grades 7–10 — Both on the Great Lakes Great Books Award (Michigan Reading Association) list, same genre (Realistic Fiction), and overlapping grades (7–10).
Shoeshine Girl by Clyde Robert Bulla · grades 4–6 — Shares themes of behavior, same genre (Realistic Fiction), and overlapping grades (4–6).
The Gollywhopper Games by Jody Feldman · grades 3–8 — Shares themes of conduct of life, same genre (Realistic Fiction), and overlapping grades (3–8).
The Strange Case of Origami Yoda by Tom Angleberger · grades 4–6 — Both on the Great Lakes Great Books Award (Michigan Reading Association) list, same genre (Realistic Fiction), and overlapping grades (4–6).

Books like Lulu's Mysterious Mission for high school & teens (grades 9–12)

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

Orbiting Jupiter by Gary D. Schmidt · grades 7–10 — Both on the Great Lakes Great Books Award (Michigan Reading Association) list, same genre (Realistic Fiction), and overlapping grades (7–10).
Drums, Girls & Dangerous Pie by Jordan Sonnenblick · grades 6–9 — Same genre (Realistic Fiction), overlapping grades (6–9), and the same era (2010s).
Posted by John David Anderson · grades 6–9 — Same genre (Realistic Fiction), overlapping grades (6–9), and the same era (2010s).
Romiette and Julio by Sharon M. Draper · grades 7–10 — Same genre (Realistic Fiction), overlapping grades (7–10), and the same era (2010s).
Stuck in Neutral by Terry Trueman · grades 7–10 — Same genre (Realistic Fiction), overlapping grades (7–10), 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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