What books are similar to The House of the Scorpion?

The 10 closest matches to The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer on ReadingList include Among the Hidden, Unwind, The Crossover, Walk Two Moons, and Anthem. Each is scored on shared themes (identity, freedom, and cloning), shared award lists, genre, and reading level (grades 7–10), and links to the curricula, states, and grades where it is assigned in US schools, with primary sources.

Are books like The House of the Scorpion reading-level appropriate?

Yes — every match is a reading-level match, not just a topical one, scored on Lexile and grade band (grades 7–10), 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 House of the Scorpion

If you liked The House of the Scorpion, read Among the Hidden, Unwind, or The Crossover — the closest matches in our database, matched on shared themes, shared award lists, and reading level.

Looking for books like The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer (Science Fiction · grades 7–10)? It’s most often read for its themes of identity, freedom, and cloning. 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 7–10 reader. See how we judge text difficulty on our methodology page.

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Why each is a match

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Among the Hiddengrades 5–8: Shares themes of identity and freedom, both on the Young Hoosier Book Award list, and same genre (Science Fiction). Amazon →
Unwindgrades 8–12: Shares themes of identity and freedom, both on the Oklahoma Sequoyah Children's Book Award list, and overlapping grades (8–12). Amazon →
The Crossover750L: Shares themes of identity, both on the Great Lakes Great Books Award (Michigan Reading Association) list (+1 more shared list), and overlapping grades (5–8). Amazon →
Walk Two Moons770L: Shares themes of identity, both on the Great Lakes Great Books Award (Michigan Reading Association) list (+1 more shared list), and overlapping grades (5–7). Amazon →
Anthem880L: Shares themes of identity and freedom and overlapping grades (8–12). Amazon →
Black Brother, Black Brothergrades 5–8: Shares themes of identity, both on the Great Lakes Great Books Award (Michigan Reading Association) list, and overlapping grades (5–8). Amazon →
Blended610L: Shares themes of identity, both on the Great Lakes Great Books Award (Michigan Reading Association) list, and overlapping grades (3–7). Amazon →
Divergentgrades 8–12: Shares themes of identity, both on the Great Lakes Great Books Award (Michigan Reading Association) list, and overlapping grades (8–12). Amazon →
Ghost730L: Shares themes of identity, both on the Great Lakes Great Books Award (Michigan Reading Association) list, and overlapping grades (5–8). Amazon →
Ghost Boys360L: Shares themes of identity, both on the Great Lakes Great Books Award (Michigan Reading Association) list, and overlapping grades (4–7). Amazon →

Books like The House of the Scorpion for younger readers (K–2)

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

Beanie the Bansheenie by Eoin Colfer · grades 2–5 — Shares themes of identity and both on the Oklahoma Sequoyah Children's Book Award list.
Nova's Ark by Kirk, David · grades 2–8 — Both on the Great Lakes Great Books Award (Michigan Reading Association) list, same genre (Science Fiction), and overlapping grades (2–8).
Buffalo Fluffalo by Bess Kalb · grades K–2 — Shares themes of identity.
How This Book Got Red by Margaret Chiu Greanias · grades K–2 — Shares themes of identity.
Millie Fleur's Poison Garden by Christy Mandin · grades K–3 — Shares themes of identity.

Books like The House of the Scorpion for elementary readers (grades 3–5)

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

A Royal Conundrum by Lisa Yee · grades 3–6 — Shares themes of identity and both on the Oklahoma Sequoyah Children's Book Award list.
Beanie the Bansheenie by Eoin Colfer · grades 2–5 — Shares themes of identity and both on the Oklahoma Sequoyah Children's Book Award list.
Invisible Isabel by Sally J. Pla · grades 3–6 — Shares themes of identity and both on the Oklahoma Sequoyah Children's Book Award list.
The Wild Robot Escapes by Peter Brown · grades 3–6 — Shares themes of freedom and same genre (Science Fiction).
Dear Mr. Henshaw by Beverly Cleary · grades 4–6 — Shares themes of identity and both on the Oklahoma Sequoyah Children's Book Award list.

Books like The House of the Scorpion for middle school (grades 6–8)

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

A Royal Conundrum by Lisa Yee · grades 3–6 — Shares themes of identity and both on the Oklahoma Sequoyah Children's Book Award list.
Invisible Isabel by Sally J. Pla · grades 3–6 — Shares themes of identity and both on the Oklahoma Sequoyah Children's Book Award list.
The Wild Robot Escapes by Peter Brown · grades 3–6 — Shares themes of freedom and same genre (Science Fiction).
Dear Mr. Henshaw by Beverly Cleary · grades 4–6 — Shares themes of identity and both on the Oklahoma Sequoyah Children's Book Award list.
Ferris by Kate DiCamillo · grades 3–6 — Both on the Great Lakes Great Books Award (Michigan Reading Association) list (+1 more shared list) and the same era (2020s).

Books like The House of the Scorpion for high school & teens (grades 9–12)

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

Michael Vey: The Prisoner of Cell 25 by Richard Paul Evans · grades 6–9 — Both on the Young Hoosier Book Award list, same genre (Science Fiction), and overlapping grades (6–9).
Scythe by Neal Shusterman · grades 7–12 — Both on the Young Hoosier Book Award list, same genre (Science Fiction), and overlapping grades (7–12).
Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson · 690L — Shares themes of identity, both on the Oklahoma Sequoyah Children's Book Award list, and overlapping grades (8–10).
The False Prince by Jennifer A. Nielsen · grades 5–9 — Shares themes of identity, both on the Oklahoma Sequoyah Children's Book Award list, and overlapping grades (5–9).
Everything We Never Had by Randy Ribay · grades 7–12 — Shares themes of identity and overlapping grades (7–12).

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

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