What books are similar to The First State of Being?

The 10 closest matches to The First State of Being by Erin Entrada Kelly on ReadingList include Confessions of a Class Clown, Control Freaks, Simon Sort of Says, The Whipping Boy, and Grounded. Each is scored on shared themes (friendship, identity, and courage), 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 The First State of Being 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.

Books like The First State of Being

If you liked The First State of Being, read Confessions of a Class Clown, Control Freaks, or Simon Sort of Says — the closest matches in our database, matched on shared themes, shared award lists, and reading level.

Looking for books like The First State of Being by Erin Entrada Kelly (Middle Grade Fiction · grades 6–8)? It’s most often read for its themes of friendship, identity, and courage. 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.

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Why each is a match

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Confessions of a Class Clowngrades 6–8: Shares themes of friendship and identity, both on the Sunshine State Young Readers Award list, and same genre (Middle Grade Fiction). Amazon →
Control Freaksgrades 6–8: Shares themes of friendship and identity, both on the Sunshine State Young Readers Award list, and same genre (Middle Grade Fiction). Amazon →
Simon Sort of Saysgrades 6–8: Shares themes of friendship and courage, both on the Sunshine State Young Readers Award list, and same genre (Middle Grade Fiction). Amazon →
The Whipping Boygrades 3–7: Shares themes of friendship and courage, both on the Newbery Medal list, and same genre (Middle Grade Fiction). Amazon →
Groundedgrades 4–8: Shares themes of friendship and identity, same genre (Middle Grade Fiction), and overlapping grades (4–8). Amazon →
Holes660L: Shares themes of friendship, both on the Newbery Medal list (+1 more shared list), and same genre (Middle Grade Fiction). Amazon →
Harriet the Spygrades 4–7: Shares themes of friendship and identity, same genre (Middle Grade Fiction), and overlapping grades (4–7). Amazon →
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone880L: Shares themes of friendship, identity, and courage and overlapping grades (4–7). Amazon →
Heroesgrades 6–8: Shares themes of friendship and courage, both on the Sunshine State Young Readers Award list, and overlapping grades (6–8). Amazon →
Mid-Airgrades 5–8: Shares themes of friendship, both on the Sunshine State Young Readers Award list, and same genre (Middle Grade Fiction). Amazon →

Books like The First State of Being for younger readers (K–2)

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

Buffalo Fluffalo by Bess Kalb · grades K–2 — Shares themes of friendship and identity.
How This Book Got Red by Margaret Chiu Greanias · grades K–2 — Shares themes of friendship and identity.
Just Like Millie by Lauren Castillo · grades K–3 — Shares themes of friendship and courage.
Knight Owl by Christopher Denise · grades K–3 — Shares themes of friendship and courage.
Knight Owl and Early Bird by Christopher Denise · grades K–3 — Shares themes of friendship and courage.

Books like The First State of Being for elementary readers (grades 3–5)

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

Misfit Mansion by Kay Davault · grades 3–5 — Shares themes of friendship, identity, and courage and both on the Sunshine State Young Readers Award list.
J vs. K by Kwame Alexander & Jerry Craft · grades 3–5 — Shares themes of friendship, both on the Sunshine State Young Readers Award list, and same genre (Middle Grade Fiction).
Planet Omar: Accidental Trouble Magnet by Zanib Mian · 820L — Shares themes of friendship and identity, same genre (Middle Grade Fiction), and overlapping grades (3–6).
The BFG by Roald Dahl · 720L — Shares themes of friendship and courage, same genre (Middle Grade Fiction), and overlapping grades (3–6).
The House at the Edge of Magic by Amy Sparkes · grades 3–5 — Shares themes of identity and courage and both on the Sunshine State Young Readers Award list.

Books like The First State of Being for middle school (grades 6–8)

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

Planet Omar: Accidental Trouble Magnet by Zanib Mian · 820L — Shares themes of friendship and identity, same genre (Middle Grade Fiction), and overlapping grades (3–6).
Shinji Takahashi and the Mark of the Coatl by Julie Kagawa · grades 6–8 — Shares themes of identity and courage, both on the Sunshine State Young Readers Award list, and overlapping grades (6–8).
Skyriders by Polly Holyoke · grades 6–8 — Shares themes of friendship and courage, both on the Sunshine State Young Readers Award list, and overlapping grades (6–8).
The BFG by Roald Dahl · 720L — Shares themes of friendship and courage, same genre (Middle Grade Fiction), and overlapping grades (3–6).
Hello, Universe by Erin Entrada Kelly · 690L — Shares themes of friendship, both on the Newbery Medal list, and same genre (Middle Grade Fiction).

Books like The First State of Being for high school & teens (grades 9–12)

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

Now Let Me Fly: A Portrait of Eugene Bullard by Ronald Wimberly · grades 9–12 — Shares themes of identity and courage.
Shut Up, This Is Serious by Carolina Ixta · grades 9–12 — Shares themes of friendship and identity.
Divergent by Veronica Roth · grades 8–12 — Shares themes of identity and courage and overlapping grades (8–12).
Drama by Raina Telgemeier · grades 5–9 — Shares themes of friendship and identity and overlapping grades (5–9).
Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes · 910L — Shares themes of friendship and identity and overlapping grades (8–11).

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

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