What books are similar to Not Quite Dead Yet?

The 10 closest matches to Not Quite Dead Yet by Holly Jackson on ReadingList include The Reappearance of Rachel Price, How to Survive Your Murder, The Dollhouse Murders, Under the Surface, and Final Word (The Winterton Deception #1). Each is scored on shared themes (mystery, mortality, and family), shared award lists, genre, and reading level (grades 7–12), and links to the curricula, states, and grades where it is assigned in US schools, with primary sources.

Are books like Not Quite Dead Yet reading-level appropriate?

Yes — every match is a reading-level match, not just a topical one, scored on Lexile and grade band (grades 7–12), 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 Not Quite Dead Yet

If you liked Not Quite Dead Yet, read The Reappearance of Rachel Price, How to Survive Your Murder, or The Dollhouse Murders — the closest matches in our database, matched on shared themes, shared award lists, and reading level.

Looking for books like Not Quite Dead Yet by Holly Jackson (Mystery · grades 7–12)? It’s most often read for its themes of mystery, mortality, 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 7–12 reader. See how we judge text difficulty on our methodology page.

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Why each is a match

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The Reappearance of Rachel Pricegrades 7–12: Shares themes of mystery and family, both on the Colorado Blue Spruce Young Adult Book Award list, and same genre (Mystery). Amazon →
How to Survive Your Murdergrades 9–12: Shares themes of mystery and family, same genre (Mystery), and overlapping grades (9–12). Amazon →
The Dollhouse Murdersgrades 4–7: Shares themes of mystery and family, same genre (Mystery), and overlapping grades (4–7). Amazon →
Under the Surfacegrades 7–12: Shares themes of mystery, both on the Colorado Blue Spruce Young Adult Book Award list, and same genre (Mystery). Amazon →
Final Word (The Winterton Deception #1)grades 3–7: Shares themes of mystery and family and overlapping grades (3–7). Amazon →
Puzzleheartgrades 4–8: Shares themes of mystery and family and overlapping grades (4–8). Amazon →
That's Not My Namegrades 9–12: Shares themes of mystery, same genre (Mystery), and overlapping grades (9–12). Amazon →
The Agathasgrades 9–12: Shares themes of mystery, same genre (Mystery), and overlapping grades (9–12). Amazon →
The Firefly Summergrades 3–7: Shares themes of mystery and family and overlapping grades (3–7). Amazon →
The Sherlock Societygrades 4–8: Shares themes of mystery and family and overlapping grades (4–8). Amazon →

Books like Not Quite Dead Yet for younger readers (K–2)

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

Down the Rabbit Hole by Peter Abrahams · grades 2–8 — Shares themes of mystery, same genre (Mystery), and overlapping grades (2–8).
The Boxcar Children by Gertrude Chandler Warner · 490L — Shares themes of mystery and family.
A Mischief of Mice by Christie Matheson · grades K–3 — Shares themes of mystery.
Dadaji's Paintbrush by Rashmi Sirdeshpande · grades K–3 — Shares themes of family.
How Dinosaurs Went Extinct: A Safety Guide by Ame Dyckman · grades K–2 — Shares themes of family.

Books like Not Quite Dead Yet for elementary readers (grades 3–5)

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

Fowl Play by Kristin O'Donnell Tubb · grades 3–6 — Shares themes of mystery and family.
Hannah Sharpe, Cartoon Detective by Janet Tashjian · grades 3–6 — Shares themes of mystery and same genre (Mystery).
Magnolia Wu Unfolds It All by Chanel Miller · grades 3–6 — Shares themes of mystery and family.
All the Lovely Bad Ones by Mary Downing Hahn · grades 5–8 — Shares themes of mystery and family and overlapping grades (5–8).
Cryptid Hunters by Roland Smith · grades 5–8 — Shares themes of mystery and family and overlapping grades (5–8).

Books like Not Quite Dead Yet for middle school (grades 6–8)

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

Fowl Play by Kristin O'Donnell Tubb · grades 3–6 — Shares themes of mystery and family.
Hannah Sharpe, Cartoon Detective by Janet Tashjian · grades 3–6 — Shares themes of mystery and same genre (Mystery).
Magnolia Wu Unfolds It All by Chanel Miller · grades 3–6 — Shares themes of mystery and family.
All the Lovely Bad Ones by Mary Downing Hahn · grades 5–8 — Shares themes of mystery and family and overlapping grades (5–8).
Cryptid Hunters by Roland Smith · grades 5–8 — Shares themes of mystery and family and overlapping grades (5–8).

Books like Not Quite Dead Yet for high school & teens (grades 9–12)

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

Everything We Never Had by Randy Ribay · grades 7–12 — Shares themes of family, both on the Colorado Blue Spruce Young Adult Book Award list, and overlapping grades (7–12).
Never Thought I'd End Up Here by Ann Liang · grades 7–12 — Shares themes of family, both on the Colorado Blue Spruce Young Adult Book Award list, and overlapping grades (7–12).
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon · 1090L — Shares themes of mystery and family and overlapping grades (8–12).
Ruby Lost and Found by Christina Li · grades 6–9 — Shares themes of family and overlapping grades (6–9).
Shut Up, This Is Serious by Carolina Ixta · grades 9–12 — Shares themes of family and overlapping grades (9–12).

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

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