What books are similar to The Only Alien on the Planet?

The 10 closest matches to The Only Alien on the Planet by Kristen D. Randle on ReadingList include Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes, Tears of A Tiger, After, Perfect Chemistry, and Plague Year. Each is scored on shared themes (elective mutism, friendship, and high schools), 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 Only Alien on the Planet 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.

Books like The Only Alien on the Planet

If you liked The Only Alien on the Planet, read Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes, Tears of A Tiger, or After — the closest matches in our database, matched on shared themes, shared award lists, and reading level.

Closest match: Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes by Chris Crutcher — shares high schools

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Looking for books like The Only Alien on the Planet by Kristen D. Randle (Realistic Fiction · grades 9–12)? It’s most often read for its themes of elective mutism, friendship, and high schools. 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.

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Why each is a match

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Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnesgrades 9–12: Shares themes of high schools, both on the California Young Reader Medal list, and same genre (Realistic Fiction). Amazon → books like this →
Tears of A Tigergrades 9–12: Shares themes of high schools, same genre (Realistic Fiction), and overlapping grades (9–12). Amazon → books like this →
Aftergrades 9–12: Shares themes of high schools, both on the California Young Reader Medal list, and same genre (Realistic Fiction). Amazon → books like this →
Perfect Chemistrygrades 9–12: Shares themes of high schools, same genre (Realistic Fiction), and overlapping grades (9–12). Amazon → books like this →
Plague Yeargrades 9–12: Shares themes of high schools and overlapping grades (9–12). Amazon → books like this →
Breaking Boxesgrades 9–12: Shares themes of friendship, both on the California Young Reader Medal list, and same genre (Realistic Fiction). Amazon → books like this →
Armageddon Summergrades 9–12: Both on the California Young Reader Medal list, same genre (Realistic Fiction), and overlapping grades (9–12). Amazon → books like this →
Badgrades 9–12: Both on the California Young Reader Medal list, same genre (Realistic Fiction), and overlapping grades (9–12). Amazon → books like this →
Ironmangrades 9–12: Both on the California Young Reader Medal list, same genre (Realistic Fiction), and overlapping grades (9–12). Amazon → books like this →
Shadow of the Dragongrades 9–12: Both on the California Young Reader Medal list, same genre (Realistic Fiction), and overlapping grades (9–12). Amazon → books like this →