Books like The Agathas

If you liked The Agathas, read Under the Surface, How to Survive Your Murder, or Not Quite Dead Yet — the closest matches in our database, matched on shared themes and reading level.

Looking for books like The Agathas by Kathleen Glasgow (Mystery · grades 9–12)? It’s most often read for its themes of mystery, friendship, and justice. 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 9–12 reader. See how we judge text difficulty on our methodology page.

10 books similar to The Agathas

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Why each is a match

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Under the Surfacegrades 7–12
Shares themes of mystery and friendship, same genre (Mystery), and overlapping grades (7–12). Amazon → books like this →
How to Survive Your Murdergrades 9–12
Shares themes of mystery, same genre (Mystery), and overlapping grades (9–12). Amazon → books like this →
Not Quite Dead Yetgrades 7–12
Shares themes of mystery, same genre (Mystery), and overlapping grades (7–12). Amazon → books like this →
That's Not My Namegrades 9–12
Shares themes of mystery, same genre (Mystery), and overlapping grades (9–12). Amazon → books like this →
The Reappearance of Rachel Pricegrades 7–12
Shares themes of mystery, same genre (Mystery), and overlapping grades (7–12). Amazon → books like this →
Shut Up, This Is Seriousgrades 9–12
Shares themes of friendship, both on the California Young Reader Medal list, and overlapping grades (9–12). Amazon → books like this →
Touching Spirit Beargrades 6–9
Shares themes of justice, both on the California Young Reader Medal list, and overlapping grades (6–9). Amazon → books like this →
Four for the Roadgrades 9–12
Shares themes of friendship and overlapping grades (9–12). Amazon → books like this →
Murder Among Friendsgrades 9–12
Shares themes of justice and overlapping grades (9–12). Amazon → books like this →
The Silence That Binds Usgrades 9–12
Shares themes of justice and overlapping grades (9–12). Amazon → books like this →

Books like The Agathas for younger readers (K–2)

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

  • A Mischief of Mice by Christie Matheson · grades K–3 — Shares themes of mystery and friendship.
  • Down the Rabbit Hole by Peter Abrahams · grades 2–8 — Shares themes of mystery and same genre (Mystery).
  • Gibberish by Young Vo · grades K–3 — Shares themes of friendship and both on the California Young Reader Medal list.
  • Knight Owl by Christopher Denise · grades K–3 — Shares themes of friendship and both on the California Young Reader Medal list.
  • A Lot to Like! by Derek Anderson · grades 2–5 — Shares themes of friendship.

Books like The Agathas for elementary readers (grades 3–5)

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

  • Hannah Sharpe, Cartoon Detective by Janet Tashjian · grades 3–6 — Shares themes of mystery and friendship and same genre (Mystery).
  • Swindle by Gordon Korman · grades 4–7 — Shares themes of friendship and justice and same genre (Mystery).
  • The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin · 750L — Shares themes of mystery and justice and same genre (Mystery).
  • A Mischief of Mice by Christie Matheson · grades K–3 — Shares themes of mystery and friendship.
  • A Strange Thing Happened in Cherry Hall by Jasmine Warga · grades 3–6 — Shares themes of mystery and friendship.

Books like The Agathas for middle school (grades 6–8)

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

Books like The Agathas for high school & teens (grades 9–12)

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

  • Antigone by Sophocles · grades 9–12 — Shares themes of justice and overlapping grades (9–12).
  • Drama by Raina Telgemeier · grades 5–9 — Shares themes of friendship and overlapping grades (5–9).
  • Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes · 910L — Shares themes of friendship and overlapping grades (8–11).
  • Good Different by Meg Eden Kuyatt · grades 6–9 — Both on the California Young Reader Medal list, overlapping grades (6–9), and the same era (2020s).
  • Just Mercy (Adapted for Young Adults) by Bryan Stevenson · 1130L — Shares themes of justice and overlapping grades (9–12).

Common questions

What books are similar to The Agathas?
The 10 closest matches to The Agathas by Kathleen Glasgow on ReadingList include Under the Surface, How to Survive Your Murder, Not Quite Dead Yet, That's Not My Name, and The Reappearance of Rachel Price. Each is scored on shared themes (mystery, friendship, and justice), shared award lists, genre, and reading level (grades 9–12), and links to the curricula, states, and grades where it is assigned in US schools, with primary sources.
Are books like The Agathas reading-level appropriate?
Yes — every match is a reading-level match, not just a topical one, scored on Lexile and grade band (grades 9–12), 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.

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

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