What books are similar to The Lost Library?

The 10 closest matches to The Lost Library by Rebecca Stead & Wendy Mass on ReadingList include The Liars Society, Goosebumps: Welcome to Dead House, A Strange Thing Happened in Cherry Hall, The Sherlock Society, and When You Reach Me. Each is scored on shared themes (mystery, books, and secrets), 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 The Lost Library 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.

Books like The Lost Library

If you liked The Lost Library, read The Liars Society, Goosebumps: Welcome to Dead House, or A Strange Thing Happened in Cherry Hall — the closest matches in our database, matched on shared themes, shared award lists, and reading level.

Looking for books like The Lost Library by Rebecca Stead & Wendy Mass (Middle Grade Mystery · grades 4–8)? It’s most often read for its themes of mystery, books, and secrets. 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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The Liars Societygrades 3–6: Shares themes of mystery, secrets, and friendship, same genre (Middle Grade Mystery), and overlapping grades (3–6). Amazon →
Goosebumps: Welcome to Dead Housegrades 3–7: Shares themes of mystery and friendship, both on the Great Lakes Great Books Award (Michigan Reading Association) list, and same genre (Middle Grade Mystery). Amazon →
A Strange Thing Happened in Cherry Hallgrades 3–6: Shares themes of mystery and friendship, same genre (Middle Grade Mystery), and overlapping grades (3–6). Amazon →
The Sherlock Societygrades 4–8: Shares themes of mystery and friendship, same genre (Middle Grade Mystery), and overlapping grades (4–8). Amazon →
When You Reach Me750L: Shares themes of mystery and friendship, both on the Great Lakes Great Books Award (Michigan Reading Association) list, and overlapping grades (4–8). Amazon →
Final Word (The Winterton Deception #1)grades 3–7: Shares themes of mystery, same genre (Middle Grade Mystery), and overlapping grades (3–7). Amazon →
Fowl Playgrades 3–6: Shares themes of mystery, same genre (Middle Grade Mystery), and overlapping grades (3–6). Amazon →
Hannah Sharpe, Cartoon Detectivegrades 3–6: Shares themes of mystery and friendship and overlapping grades (3–6). Amazon →
Magnolia Wu Unfolds It Allgrades 3–6: Shares themes of mystery and friendship and overlapping grades (3–6). Amazon →
Rulesgrades 4–7: Shares themes of friendship, both on the Great Lakes Great Books Award (Michigan Reading Association) list (+1 more shared list), and overlapping grades (4–7). Amazon →

Books like The Lost Library 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.
The Boxcar Children by Gertrude Chandler Warner · 490L — Shares themes of mystery, same genre (Middle Grade Mystery), and overlapping grades (2–4).
The Guardian Test (Legends of Lotus Island #1) by Christina Soontornvat · grades 2–5 — Shares themes of friendship, both on the Washington Sasquatch Book Award list, and overlapping grades (2–5).
Bink & Gollie by Kate DiCamillo · grades 2–8 — Shares themes of friendship, both on the Great Lakes Great Books Award (Michigan Reading Association) list, and overlapping grades (2–8).
Dog Man by Dav Pilkey · 390L — Shares themes of friendship, both on the Kentucky Bluegrass Award (KBA) list, and overlapping grades (2–5).

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

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

A Mischief of Mice by Christie Matheson · grades K–3 — Shares themes of mystery and friendship.
Wonder by R.J. Palacio · 790L — Shares themes of friendship, both on the Great Lakes Great Books Award (Michigan Reading Association) list (+1 more shared list), and overlapping grades (3–7).
Class Act by Jerry Craft · grades 4–8 — Shares themes of friendship, both on the Great Lakes Great Books Award (Michigan Reading Association) list, and overlapping grades (4–8).
From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg · 700L — Shares themes of mystery, same genre (Middle Grade Mystery), and overlapping grades (4–6).
Grounded by Aisha Saeed, S.K. Ali, Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow & Huda Al-Marashi · grades 4–8 — Shares themes of friendship, both on the Washington Sasquatch Book Award list, and overlapping grades (4–8).

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

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

Under the Surface by Diana Urban · grades 7–12 — Shares themes of mystery and friendship and overlapping grades (7–12).
What Happened to Rachel Riley? by Claire Swinarski · grades 6–8 — Shares themes of mystery, same genre (Middle Grade Mystery), and overlapping grades (6–8).
Wonder by R.J. Palacio · 790L — Shares themes of friendship, both on the Great Lakes Great Books Award (Michigan Reading Association) list (+1 more shared list), and overlapping grades (3–7).
Class Act by Jerry Craft · grades 4–8 — Shares themes of friendship, both on the Great Lakes Great Books Award (Michigan Reading Association) list, and overlapping grades (4–8).
From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg · 700L — Shares themes of mystery, same genre (Middle Grade Mystery), and overlapping grades (4–6).

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

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

The Agathas by Kathleen Glasgow · grades 9–12 — Shares themes of mystery and friendship.
Under the Surface by Diana Urban · grades 7–12 — Shares themes of mystery and friendship and overlapping grades (7–12).
Four for the Road by K.J. Reilly · grades 9–12 — Shares themes of friendship.
How to Survive Your Murder by Danielle Valentine · grades 9–12 — Shares themes of mystery.
Not Quite Dead Yet by Holly Jackson · grades 7–12 — Shares themes of mystery 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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