Books like The homework Machine

The homework Machine by Dan Gutman reads as engaging, suspenseful. These 12 books share its genome — matched by how they actually read, not just their shelf label.

What The homework Machine is like to read

A breezy middle-grade caper told in short interview-style testimonies from four mismatched fifth-graders whose homework-cheating scheme spirals into something bigger. The multi-voice structure keeps chapters quick and the tone playful, with light ethical stakes underneath the mischief. Best for: middle-grade readers who like multi-POV, testimony-style storytelling and school-based mischief with a moral.

Holes

Louis Sachar · 1998

A dryly funny, tightly plotted puzzle-box where three timelines braid into one satisfying click — deadpan prose, absurd cruelty played straight, and a friendship that anchors the mystery.

mildly eerieyounger readerscomplete story

Wonder

R.J. Palacio · 2012

A middle-grade novel told in short, first-person chapters that rotate through Auggie and the people around him — earnest, warm, and quietly devastating in its case for kindness.

younger readerscomplete story

The Lemonade War

Davies, Jacqueline · 2007

A brisk, classroom-friendly sibling rivalry told from two alternating perspectives, with business-math sidebars folded into the story.

younger readerscomplete storydeep cut

Schooled

Gordon Korman · 2007

A gentle fish-out-of-water comedy: a hippie-raised homeschooler collides with middle-school culture, played warmly rather than cruelly.

younger readerscomplete storydeep cut

The Great Greene Heist

Varian Johnson · 2014

Both explore friendship & school

When You Reach Me

Rebecca Stead · 2009

A quiet sixth-grade New York story that slowly reveals itself as a time-travel puzzle, where friendship ruptures and cryptic notes braid toward a single tragic possibility.

mildly eerieyounger readerscomplete story

Silent to the bone

E. L. Konigsburg · 2000

A tense unraveling of a family secret told through a mute boy and the friend who slowly coaxes the truth out of him, blending mystery-solving with emotional weight about trust and trauma.

mildly eerieYAcomplete story

Ted & me

Dan Gutman · 2012

A earnest, conversational time-travel adventure where a young baseball fan meets his hero Ted Williams, blending Gutman's signature lighthearted humor with historical exploration and sports passion.

younger readersdeep cut

The Wednesday Wars

Gary D. Schmidt · 2007

A warm, episodic coming-of-age tale set against the Vietnam-era backdrop, structured around a school year of Wednesday-afternoon Shakespeare lessons that gently reshape a seventh-grader's view of the world.

younger readerscomplete storydeep cut

Trash

Andy Mulligan · 2010

A fast-moving, multi-voiced mystery told through the eyes of three slum boys whose discovery of a hidden bag pulls them into danger and corruption above their world.

mildly eerieYAdeep cut