What books are similar to The Girl Who Could Fly?

The 10 closest matches to The Girl Who Could Fly by Victoria Forester on ReadingList include Fourth Grade Rats, Call Me Hope, Stargirl, The Dunderheads, and Zen and the Art of Faking It. Each is scored on shared themes (individuality, flight, and ability), shared award lists, genre, and reading level (grades 4–6), and links to the curricula, states, and grades where it is assigned in US schools, with primary sources.

Are books like The Girl Who Could Fly reading-level appropriate?

Yes — every match is a reading-level match, not just a topical one, scored on Lexile and grade band (grades 4–6), 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 Girl Who Could Fly

If you liked The Girl Who Could Fly, read Fourth Grade Rats, Call Me Hope, or Stargirl — the closest matches in our database, matched on shared themes, shared award lists, and reading level.

Looking for books like The Girl Who Could Fly by Victoria Forester (Realistic Fiction · grades 4–6)? It’s most often read for its themes of individuality, flight, and ability. 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 4–6 reader. See how we judge text difficulty on our methodology page.

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Why each is a match

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Fourth Grade Ratsgrades 4–6: Shares themes of schools, both on the Maryland Black-Eyed Susan Book Award list, and same genre (Realistic Fiction). Amazon →
Call Me Hopegrades 3–5: Shares themes of schools, same genre (Realistic Fiction), and overlapping grades (3–5). Amazon →
Stargirlgrades 6–9: Shares themes of individuality, same genre (Realistic Fiction), and overlapping grades (6–9). Amazon →
The Dunderheadsgrades 3–5: Shares themes of individuality and schools and overlapping grades (3–5). Amazon →
Zen and the Art of Faking Itgrades 2–8: Shares themes of individuality, same genre (Realistic Fiction), and overlapping grades (2–8). Amazon →
Class Clowngrades 3–5: Shares themes of schools, same genre (Realistic Fiction), and overlapping grades (3–5). Amazon →
Eight Keysgrades 4–6: Shares themes of schools, same genre (Realistic Fiction), and overlapping grades (4–6). Amazon →
Flying Sologrades 4–6: Shares themes of schools, same genre (Realistic Fiction), and overlapping grades (4–6). Amazon →
Math Cursegrades 4–8: Shares themes of schools, same genre (Realistic Fiction), and overlapping grades (4–8). Amazon →
No Talkinggrades 3–8: Both on the Maryland Black-Eyed Susan Book Award list, same genre (Realistic Fiction), and overlapping grades (3–8). Amazon →

Books like The Girl Who Could Fly 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 — Same genre (Realistic Fiction), overlapping grades (2–8), and the same era (2000s).
No More Dead Dogs by Gordon Korman · grades 2–8 — Shares themes of schools and overlapping grades (2–8).
Say What? by Margaret Peterson Haddix · grades 2–8 — Same genre (Realistic Fiction), overlapping grades (2–8), and the same era (2000s).
Star in the Storm by Joan Hiatt Harlow · grades 2–8 — Same genre (Realistic Fiction), overlapping grades (2–8), and the same era (2000s).
Togo by Robert J. Blake · grades 2–8 — Same genre (Realistic Fiction), overlapping grades (2–8), and the same era (2000s).

Books like The Girl Who Could Fly for elementary readers (grades 3–5)

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

Ramona's World by Beverly Cleary · grades 4–6 — Shares themes of schools, same genre (Realistic Fiction), and overlapping grades (4–6).
Sixth Grade Can Really Kill You by Barthe DeClements · grades 3–8 — Shares themes of schools, same genre (Realistic Fiction), and overlapping grades (3–8).
The Cat Ate My Gymsuit by Paula Danziger · grades 4–6 — Shares themes of schools, same genre (Realistic Fiction), and overlapping grades (4–6).
The Perfect Score by Rob Buyea · grades 3–8 — Shares themes of schools, same genre (Realistic Fiction), and overlapping grades (3–8).
Trading Places with Tank Talbott by Dori Hillestad Butler · grades 4–6 — Both on the Maryland Black-Eyed Susan Book Award list, same genre (Realistic Fiction), and overlapping grades (4–6).

Books like The Girl Who Could Fly for middle school (grades 6–8)

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

Ramona's World by Beverly Cleary · grades 4–6 — Shares themes of schools, same genre (Realistic Fiction), and overlapping grades (4–6).
Sixth Grade Can Really Kill You by Barthe DeClements · grades 3–8 — Shares themes of schools, same genre (Realistic Fiction), and overlapping grades (3–8).
The Cat Ate My Gymsuit by Paula Danziger · grades 4–6 — Shares themes of schools, same genre (Realistic Fiction), and overlapping grades (4–6).
The Perfect Score by Rob Buyea · grades 3–8 — Shares themes of schools, same genre (Realistic Fiction), and overlapping grades (3–8).
Trading Places with Tank Talbott by Dori Hillestad Butler · grades 4–6 — Both on the Maryland Black-Eyed Susan Book Award list, same genre (Realistic Fiction), and overlapping grades (4–6).

Books like The Girl Who Could Fly for high school & teens (grades 9–12)

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

Forged by Fire by Sharon M. Draper · grades 7–10 — Same genre (Realistic Fiction) and the same era (2000s).
The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares · grades 7–10 — Same genre (Realistic Fiction) and the same era (2000s).
Touching Spirit Bear by Ben Mikaelsen · grades 6–9 — Same genre (Realistic Fiction), overlapping grades (6–9), and the same era (2000s).
A Doll's House by Henrik Ibsen · grades 11–12 — Shares themes of individuality.
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley · 870L — Shares themes of individuality.

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

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