What books are similar to Spooky Lakes: 25 Strange and Mysterious Lakes that Dot Our Planet?

The 10 closest matches to Spooky Lakes: 25 Strange and Mysterious Lakes that Dot Our Planet by Geo Rutherford on ReadingList include Haiku, Ew! Celebrating the Disgusting Side of Nature, Mountain of Fire: The Eruption and Survivors of Mount St. Helens, Narwhal: Unicorn of the Arctic, The Dark!: Wild Life in the Mysterious World of Caves, and The Mystery of the Monarchs. Each is scored on shared themes (science, nature, and geography), shared award lists, genre, and reading level (grades 4–8), and links to the curricula, states, and grades where it is assigned in US schools, with primary sources.

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 Spooky Lakes: 25 Strange and Mysterious Lakes that Dot Our Planet

If you liked Spooky Lakes: 25 Strange and Mysterious Lakes that Dot Our Planet, read Haiku, Ew! Celebrating the Disgusting Side of Nature first — the closest match in our database, matched on shared themes, shared award lists, and reading level.

Looking for books like Spooky Lakes: 25 Strange and Mysterious Lakes that Dot Our Planet by Geo Rutherford (Nonfiction · grades 4–8)? It’s most often read for its themes of science, nature, and geography. 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 4–8 reader. See how we judge text difficulty on our methodology page.

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Why each is a match

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Haiku, Ew! Celebrating the Disgusting Side of Naturegrades 3–6: Shares themes of science and nature, both on the Great Lakes Great Books Award list, and same genre (Nonfiction). Amazon → books like this →
Mountain of Fire: The Eruption and Survivors of Mount St. Helensgrades 4–8: Shares themes of science and nature, both on the Maine Student Book Award list, and same genre (Nonfiction). Amazon → books like this →
Narwhal: Unicorn of the Arcticgrades 3–6: Shares themes of science and nature, both on the Maine Student Book Award list, and same genre (Nonfiction). Amazon → books like this →
The Dark!: Wild Life in the Mysterious World of Cavesgrades 3–7: Shares themes of science and nature, both on the Maine Student Book Award list, and same genre (Nonfiction). Amazon → books like this →
The Mystery of the Monarchsgrades 4–8: Shares themes of science and nature, same genre (Nonfiction), and overlapping grades (4–8). Amazon → books like this →
Evidence! How Dr. John Snow Solved the Mystery of Choleragrades 3–6: Shares themes of science, both on the Maine Student Book Award list, and same genre (Nonfiction). Amazon → books like this →
A Journey Under the Seagrades 2–5: Shares themes of science and nature and overlapping grades (2–5). Amazon → books like this →
The Fire of Starsgrades 4–8: Shares themes of science, same genre (Nonfiction), and overlapping grades (4–8). Amazon → books like this →
Volcanoesgrades 3–6: Shares themes of nature, same genre (Nonfiction), and overlapping grades (3–6). Amazon → books like this →
The Longest Shot: How Larry Kwong Changed the Face of Hockeygrades 3–7: Both on the Maine Student Book Award list, same genre (Nonfiction), and overlapping grades (3–7). Amazon → books like this →

Books like Spooky Lakes: 25 Strange and Mysterious Lakes that Dot Our Planet for younger readers (K–2)

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

Ida B. and Her Plans to Maximize Fun, Avoid Disaster, and (Possibly) Save the World by Katherine Hannigan · grades 2–8 — Shares themes of nature, both on the Great Lakes Great Books Award list, and overlapping grades (2–8).
A Mischief of Mice by Christie Matheson · grades K–3 — Shares themes of nature.
Butt or Face? by Kari Lavelle · grades K–2 — Shares themes of nature.
Millie Fleur's Poison Garden by Christy Mandin · grades K–3 — Shares themes of nature.
Thank a Farmer by Maria Gianferrari · grades K–2 — Shares themes of nature.

Books like Spooky Lakes: 25 Strange and Mysterious Lakes that Dot Our Planet for elementary readers (grades 3–5)

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

Wildful by Kengo Kurimoto · grades 4–8 — Shares themes of nature, both on the Maine Student Book Award list, and overlapping grades (4–8).
Ida B. and Her Plans to Maximize Fun, Avoid Disaster, and (Possibly) Save the World by Katherine Hannigan · grades 2–8 — Shares themes of nature, both on the Great Lakes Great Books Award list, and overlapping grades (2–8).
Popcorn by Rob Harrell · grades 4–8 — Both on the Great Lakes Great Books Award list (+1 more shared list), overlapping grades (4–8), and the same era (2020s).
The Wild Robot by Peter Brown · 740L — Shares themes of nature, both on the Great Lakes Great Books Award list, and overlapping grades (4–6).
A Mischief of Mice by Christie Matheson · grades K–3 — Shares themes of nature.

Books like Spooky Lakes: 25 Strange and Mysterious Lakes that Dot Our Planet for middle school (grades 6–8)

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

Wildful by Kengo Kurimoto · grades 4–8 — Shares themes of nature, both on the Maine Student Book Award list, and overlapping grades (4–8).
Ida B. and Her Plans to Maximize Fun, Avoid Disaster, and (Possibly) Save the World by Katherine Hannigan · grades 2–8 — Shares themes of nature, both on the Great Lakes Great Books Award list, and overlapping grades (2–8).
Popcorn by Rob Harrell · grades 4–8 — Both on the Great Lakes Great Books Award list (+1 more shared list), overlapping grades (4–8), and the same era (2020s).
The Wild Robot by Peter Brown · 740L — Shares themes of nature, both on the Great Lakes Great Books Award list, and overlapping grades (4–6).
Ancestory: The Mystery and Majesty of Ancient Cave Art by Hannah Salyer · grades 4–8 — Same genre (Nonfiction), overlapping grades (4–8), and the same era (2020s).

Books like Spooky Lakes: 25 Strange and Mysterious Lakes that Dot Our Planet for high school & teens (grades 9–12)

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

Murder Among Friends by Candace Fleming · grades 9–12 — Same genre (Nonfiction) and the same era (2020s).
Brownstone by Samuel Teer · grades 9–12 — Both on the Great Lakes Great Books Award list and the same era (2020s).
Death in the Jungle by Candace Fleming · grades 4–10 — Both on the Great Lakes Great Books Award list, overlapping grades (4–10), and the same era (2020s).
I'm the King of the Castle by Susan Hill · grades 9–10 — Shares themes of nature.
The Doom Stone by Paul Zindel · grades 6–9 — Shares themes of science and overlapping grades (6–9).

Common questions

What books are similar to Spooky Lakes: 25 Strange and Mysterious Lakes that Dot Our Planet?: The 10 closest matches to Spooky Lakes: 25 Strange and Mysterious Lakes that Dot Our Planet by Geo Rutherford on ReadingList include Haiku, Ew! Celebrating the Disgusting Side of Nature, Mountain of Fire: The Eruption and Survivors of Mount St. Helens, Narwhal: Unicorn of the Arctic, The Dark!: Wild Life in the Mysterious World of Caves, and The Mystery of the Monarchs. Each is scored on shared themes (science, nature, and geography), shared award lists, genre, and reading level (grades 4–8), and links to the curricula, states, and grades where it is assigned in US schools, with primary sources.
Are books like Spooky Lakes: 25 Strange and Mysterious Lakes that Dot Our Planet reading-level appropriate?: Yes — every match is a reading-level match, not just a topical one, scored on Lexile and grade band (grades 4–8), 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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