Books like 'The Willoughbys Return'
Readers who enjoyed The Willoughbys Return by Lois Lowry also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
contemporary sc-fi humor family children friendship
-
Ada Twist, Scientist by Andrea Beaty
Rated: 4.44 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsScientist Ada has a boundless imagination and has always been hopelessly curious. Why are there pointy things stuck to a rose? Why are there hairs growing inside your nose? When her house fills with a horrific, toe-curling smell, Ada knows it’s up to her to find the source... -
![If I Built a House by Chris Van Dusen]()
If I Built a House by Chris Van Dusen
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsThe much-anticipated follow-up to the E. B. White Award-winning picture book If I Built a CarIn If I Built a Car, imaginative Jack dreamed up a whimsical fantasy ride that could do just about anything. Now he's back and ready to build the house of his dreams, complete with a racetrack, flying room, and gigantic slide... -
![Survivor In Death by J.D. Robb, Nora Roberts]()
Survivor In Death by J.D. Robb, Nora Roberts
Rated: 4.37 of 5 stars · 40 ratingsNo affairs. No criminal connections. No DNA. No clues. Eve Dallas may be the best cop in the city - not to mention having the lavish resources of her husband Roarke at her disposal - but the Swisher case has her baffled. The family members were murdered in their beds with brutal, military precision... -
![If I Built a Car by Chris Van Dusen]()
If I Built a Car by Chris Van Dusen
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsIf I built a car, it'd be totally new!Here are a few of the things that I'd do. . . .Young Jack is giving an eye-opening tour of the car he'd like to build. There's a snack bar, a pool, and even a robot named Robert to act as chauffeur... -
-
![Payback by Gordon Korman]()
Payback by Gordon Korman
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsFrom the master of middle grade, Gordon Korman, comes the final book in the bestselling Masterminds series — about a group of kids who discover they were cloned from the DNA of some of the greatest criminal masterminds in history.After a serious betrayal from one of their former friends, the clones of Project Osiris are on the run again... -
![Masterminds: Criminal Destiny by Gordon Korman]()
Masterminds: Criminal Destiny by Gordon Korman
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 18 ratings"A terrific page-turner, full of unexpected twists and revelations. Buckle up!"—James PattersonThe second book in the acclaimed, action-packed series from New York Times bestselling author Gordon Korman. Stranger Things fans, don't miss this trilogy!The clones of Project Osiris are free—but they’re being hunted... -
![Simon Sort of Says by Erin Bow]()
Simon Sort of Says by Erin Bow
Rated: 4.31 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsSimon O’Keeffe’s biggest claim to fame should be the time his dad accidentally gave a squirrel a holy sacrament. Or maybe the alpaca disaster that went viral on YouTube. But the story the whole world wants to tell about Simon is the one he’d do anything to forget: the story in which he’s the only kid in his class who survived a school shooting... -
![A Rover's Story by Jasmine Warga]()
A Rover's Story by Jasmine Warga
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsNew York Times bestseller * Best Book of the Year from The Washington Post, Publishers Weekly, New York Public Library, Chicago Public Library The One and Only Ivan meets The Wild Robot in this unique and deeply moving middle grade novel about the journey of a fictional Mars rover, from the Newbery Honor–winning author of Other Words for Home... -
![天橋上的魔術師 by Wu Ming-Yi, 吳明益]()
-
![The Bones Beneath My Skin by T.J. Klune]()
The Bones Beneath My Skin by T.J. Klune
Rated: 4.27 of 5 stars · 30 ratingsIn the spring of 1995, Nate Cartwright has lost everything: his parents are dead, his older brother wants nothing to do with him, and he's been fired from his job as a journalist in Washington DC. With nothing left to lose, he returns to his family's summer cabin outside the small mountain town of Roseland, Oregon to try and find some sense of direction. The cabin should be empty. It's not... -
![Explorer Academy by Trudi Trueit]()
Explorer Academy by Trudi Trueit
Rated: 4.35 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsAdventure, danger, and a thrilling global mission await 12-year-old Cruz Coronado as he joins an elite school for explorers.Cruz leaves his tranquil home in Hawaii to join 23 talented kids from around the globe to train at the Explorer Academy with the world's leading scientists to become the next generation of great explorers. But for Cruz, there's more at stake...Categorized as:
children family friendship action-adventure book children-books contemporary fiction -
![I Am Not a Number by Lisa Heathfield]()
I Am Not a Number by Lisa Heathfield
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsThe powerful and heart-wrenching new novel from Lisa Heathfield, award-winning author of Seed and Paper Butterflies. Perfect for fans of Sarah Crossan, Louise O'Neill and Lisa Williamson.The Traditionals have been voted to lead the country, winning people over with talks of healing a broken society, of stronger families and safer streets. They promised a happier future for everyone... -
![The Dinosaur That Pooped a Planet! by Tom Fletcher, Dougie Poynter]()
The Dinosaur That Pooped a Planet! by Tom Fletcher, Dougie Poynter
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsFrom Tom Fletcher and Dougie Poynter of McFly comes a supersonic space adventure filled with planets, poop, and pandemonium!One boy, one space rocket, one very hungry dinosaur: the ingredients for an explosive space adventure of epic poop-portions! But when Danny realizes he’s forgotten Dino’s lunch box, the very hungry dinosaur eats everything in sight, including their only way home: the... -
![The Blur by Minh Lê]()
The Blur by Minh Lê
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsMeet a child with superhero-like abilities . . . and the parents who are racing to keep up with her in this sweetly funny picturebook about the blur of childhood, from the award-winning creators of Drawn Together.From the very beginning, there was something different about this child...An ultrasonic voice. Fantastically elastic limbs. Super-magnetic powers... -
-
![Suddenly Engaged by Julia London]()
Suddenly Engaged by Julia London
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsSingle mother Kyra Kokinos spends her days waiting tables, her nights working on her real estate license, and every spare moment with her precocious six-year-old daughter, Ruby—especially when Ruby won’t stop pestering their grumpy next-door neighbor. At first glance, Dax Bishop seems like the kind of gruff, solitary guy who’d be unlikely to offer a cup of sugar, let alone a marriage proposal... -
![The Overlord Protocol by Mark Walden]()
The Overlord Protocol by Mark Walden
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 32 ratingsHOW FAR WILL OTTO GO TO PROTECT HIS FRIENDS? Otto Malpense and his friends thought their first year at the Higher Institute of Villainous Education was the most adventurous and exciting that they would ever encounter. They were dead wrong...Categorized as:
children family friendship humor action-adventure anti-hero audiobook boarding-school -
![E. T. - The Extra-Terrestrial by William Kotzwinkle]()
E. T. - The Extra-Terrestrial by William Kotzwinkle
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsBased on the screenplay by Melissa Mathison.What do you do when you're lost, millions of miles from home, surrounded by frightening creatures?You do what the Old Botanist did when he was accidentally left behind on Earth. First you find a friend.. -
![Double Cross by Malorie Blackman, Amélie Sarn]()
Double Cross by Malorie Blackman, Amélie Sarn
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsTobey wants a better life - for him and his girlfriend Callie Rose. He wants nothing to do with the gangs that rule the world he lives in. But when he's offered the chance to earn some money just for making a few 'deliveries', just this once, would it hurt to say 'yes'?The captivating conclusion/companion Novel of the Noughts and Crosses series...Categorized as:
children family friendship action-adventure alternate-history audiobook book coming-of-age -
![Every Soul a Star by Wendy Mass]()
Every Soul a Star by Wendy Mass
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 27 ratingsAnd as streams of light fan out behind the darkened sun like the wings of a butterfly, I realize that I never saw real beauty until now.At Moon Shadow, an isolated campground, thousands have gathered to catch a glimpse of a rare and extraordinary total eclipse of the sun...Categorized as:
children family friendship action-adventure audiobook book coming-of-age contemporary -
![Leonard (My Life as a Cat) by Carlie Sorosiak]()
Leonard (My Life as a Cat) by Carlie Sorosiak
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsA wise, funny and moving story of what it means to find a family, from the best-selling author of I, Cosmo.Leonard has never had a name. Or a body. Or a best friend. But he is excited to try being a human.On their three-hundredth-birthday, every alien from Leonard’s home galaxy gets to spend a month in the body of an Earth Creature... -
![Daisy on the Outer Line by Ross Sayers]()
Daisy on the Outer Line by Ross Sayers
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsLife, Death & Time Travel on the Glasgow Subway.After selfish student Daisy makes a scene at her stepdad’s funeral, she drunkenly falls asleep on the Glasgow subway and wakes to find she has travelled back in time. And to make matters worse, she's in someone else's body.To make amends for her behaviour, she must save a life—but she doesn’t know who, how, or where to begin... -
![Simon Bloom, the Octopus Effect by Michael Reisman]()
Simon Bloom, the Octopus Effect by Michael Reisman
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsEver since Simon Bloom defeated deadly Sirabetta, heas been having fun with the laws of physics. Until Sirabetta sets out for revenge. Now Simon must follow her to the Order of Biologyas realm. Simon will get some wild abilities from the "Book of Biology," but that might not be enough against Sirabetta... -
![Where the World Turns Wild by Nicola Penfold]()
Where the World Turns Wild by Nicola Penfold
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsJuniper Greene lives in a walled city from which nature has been banished, following the outbreak of a deadly man-made disease many years earlier. While most people seem content to live in such a cage, she and her little brother Bear have always known about their resistance to the disease, and dream of escaping into the wild. To the one place humans have survived outside of cities... -
![The Dog Who Saved the World by Ross Welford]()
The Dog Who Saved the World by Ross Welford
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsIn this fast-paced time travel adventure into the future, a girl and her dog set out to save the world from a deadly plague. He smells terrible. He'll eat literally anything. And he's humanity's only hope.... When 12-year-old Georgie makes friends with an eccentric retired scientist, she becomes the test-subject for a thrilling new experiment: a virtual reality 3-D version of the future... -
-
![Elephant Secret by Eric Walters]()
Elephant Secret by Eric Walters
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsWe Bought a Zoo meets Jurassic Park in a gripping story set in an elephant sanctuary, featuring the perennial appeal of human-animal friendships.Samantha (Sam) lives at the elephant sanctuary her dad runs and views the elephants there as much a part of her family as her single dad is...Categorized as:
children family action-adventure animals book children-books coming-of-age contemporary -
![Boy In The Tower by Polly Ho-Yen]()
Boy In The Tower by Polly Ho-Yen
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsSHORTLISTED FOR THE BLUE PETER BOOK AWARD 2015LONGLISTED FOR THE BRANFORD BOASE AWARD 2015SHORTLISTED FOR THE REDBRIDGE AWARD 2015RUNNER UP TEACH PRIMARY NEW CHILDREN'S FICTION AWARD 2015BOOKTRUST PICKWhen they first arrived, they came quietly and stealthily as if they tip-toed into the world when we were all looking the other way. Ade loves living at the top of a tower block...Categorized as:
children family friendship action-adventure apocalyptic book children-books contemporary -
![Retreat to the Spanish Sun by Jo Thomas]()
Retreat to the Spanish Sun by Jo Thomas
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsFrom the bestselling author of Escape to the French Farmhouse comes a deliciously feel-good new story...Eliza has a full house! When her three children grew up and moved out, she downsized to a smaller property... but now they're all back. Every room in the house is taken and Eliza finds herself sharing her bed with her eldest daughter and her daughter's pug... -
![Time Traveling with a Hamster by Ross Welford]()
Time Traveling with a Hamster by Ross Welford
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsBack to the Future meets The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time in this original, poignant, race-against-time story about a boy who travels back to 1984 to save his father’s life. My dad died twice. Once when he was thirty-nine and again four years later, when he was twelve. On his twelfth birthday, Al Chaudhury receives a letter from his dead father... -
![Calling Major Tom by David M. Barnett, David Barnett]()
Calling Major Tom by David M. Barnett, David Barnett
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsCalling Major Tom is a heartwarming, quirky and ultimately life-affirming story of friendship, family and forgiveness - and the world's most unlikely astronaut. A man who has given up on the world. A family who show him how to live.Forty-something Thomas is very happy to be on his own, far away from other people and their problems... -
![Maya and the Robot by Eve L. Ewing]()
Maya and the Robot by Eve L. Ewing
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsAn illustrated middle grade novel about a forgotten homemade robot who comes to life just when aspiring fifth-grade scientist Maya needs a friend—and a science fair project.Maya’s nervous about fifth grade. She tries to keep calm by reminding herself she knows what to expect. But then she learns that this year won’t be anything like the last... -
![Despicable Me: The Junior Novel by Annie Auerbach, Annie Auerbacj]()
Despicable Me: The Junior Novel by Annie Auerbach, Annie Auerbacj
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsA smart, funny junior novelization of Despicable Me, an animated movie about "world's greatest villain" Gru, coming from Universal Studios in Summer 2010! Includes a color insert of stills from the... -
![Don't Forget to Smile by Kathleen Gilles Seidel, Natasha Soudek]()
Don't Forget to Smile by Kathleen Gilles Seidel, Natasha Soudek
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsIn Oregon's timber country, inside a smoky bar, stands proprietor Tory Duncan. Once a hair's breadth from the Miss America crown, she's still just as beautiful and still searching for happiness.Joe Brigham, a forthright and handsome man from a logging family, divorced, and father of one, regards her with a love deep and pure... -
![Unbelievably Boring Bart by James Patterson, Duane Swierczynski]()
Unbelievably Boring Bart by James Patterson, Duane Swierczynski
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThere's more than meets the eye in James Patterson's newest middle grade novel-a book so fun kids will actually put down their games to listen to it!Invisible creatures are attacking the school, and 12-year-old Bartholomew Bean is the only one who can stop them!Okay, so maybe Bart is only a hero in the video game app he created... -
![Double Cross by Beth McMullen, Kelsey Navarro]()
Double Cross by Beth McMullen, Kelsey Navarro
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsShannon Hale’s Princess Academy meets Stu Gibbs’s Spy School series in the third book in the Mrs. Smith’s Spy School for Girls series.Abby and her classmates have all been invited to Briar Academy to participate in The Challenge, a prep school competition where teams compete for prizes and the glory of being the best of the best... -
-
![Better Than Friends by Jill Shalvis]()
Better Than Friends by Jill Shalvis
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsOld flames reignite in Sunrise Cove in this charming enemies-to-lovers, second-chance, small-town, forced-proximity love story about family, friendships, and true love from New York Times bestselling author Jill Shalvis.When Olive Porter’s off-the-grid parents go missing, she reluctantly seeks out Noah Turner, her ex and the only person she both trusts implicitly and not at all...Categorized as:
family humor friendship romance contemporary fiction season-winter enemies-to-lovers -
![Ada Twist and the Perilous Pants by Andrea Beaty, Bahni Turpin]()
Ada Twist and the Perilous Pants by Andrea Beaty, Bahni Turpin
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsAda Twist is full of questions. A scientist to her very core, Ada asks why again and again. One question always leads to another until she’s off on a journey of discovery! When Rosie Revere’s Uncle Ned gets a little carried away wearing his famous helium pants, it’s up to Ada and friends to chase him down... -
![Hatch by Kenneth Oppel]()
Hatch by Kenneth Oppel
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsBook Two in the Bestselling Bloom TrilogyFirst the rain brought seeds. Seeds that grew into alien plants that burrowed and strangled and fed.Seth, Anaya, and Petra are strangely immune to the plants’ toxins and found a way to combat them. But just as they have their first success, the rain begins again. This rain brings eggs. That hatch into insects. Not small insects... -
![Crater Lake by Jennifer Killick]()
Crater Lake by Jennifer Killick
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsIt could be the mysterious bloodstained man who tries to stop their coach, or the fact no one seems to be around at the brand-new activity centre when Lance and the rest of his class arrive for the Year 6 school trip, but something is definitely not right at Crater Lake! What follows is a fight for survival that sees five pupils band together to save their classmates from an alien fate far worse... -
![Life on Mars by Jennifer Brown]()
Life on Mars by Jennifer Brown
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsTwelve-year-old Arcturus Betelgeuse Chambers' quest to find life on other planets seems at an end when his parents decide to move to Las Vegas, but while they look for a house he stays with his neighbor, an astronaut who soon becomes a friend... -
![The Many Worlds of Albie Bright by Christopher Edge]()
The Many Worlds of Albie Bright by Christopher Edge
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsFun science meets humor and heart in this adventure about a boy who is searching for his mother . . . in a parallel universe.Stephen Albie Bright leads a happy, normal life. Well, as normal as it gets with two astrophysicist parents who named their son after their favorite scientists, Stephen Hawking and Albert Einstein. But then Albie's mother dies of cancer, and his world is shattered... -
![Boy + Bot by Ame Dyckman]()
Boy + Bot by Ame Dyckman
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsOne day, a boy and a robot meet in the woods. They play. They have fun.But when Bot gets switched off, Boy thinks he's sick. The usual remedies—applesauce, reading a story—don't help, so Boy tucks the sick Bot in, then falls asleep.Bot is worried when he powers on and finds his friend powered off. He takes Boy home with him and tries all his remedies: oil, reading an instruction manual...Categorized as:
children friendship humor 21st-century book children-books contemporary female-author -
![See You in the Cosmos by Jack Cheng]()
See You in the Cosmos by Jack Cheng
Rated: 4.04 of 5 stars · 24 ratings"I haven't read anything that has moved me this much since Wonder." --Jennifer Niven, author of All the Bright Places A space-obsessed boy and his dog, Carl Sagan, take a journey toward family, love, hope, and awe in this funny and moving novel for fans of Counting by 7s, Walk Two Moons, and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time... -
![Saves the Future by James Patterson, Chris Grabenstein]()
Saves the Future by James Patterson, Chris Grabenstein
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsAlbert Einstein + James Patterson = A Must Read! The world's #1 bestselling author has teamed up with the world's most famous genius to entertain, educate and inspire a generation of kids--with the first and only kids' book series officially approved by the Albert Einstein Archives... -
![Freefall by Jacqueline Harvey]()
Freefall by Jacqueline Harvey
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsBack at Alexandria with their friend Curtis Pepper visiting, Kensy and Max are enjoying the school break... -
-
![Out of Sight by Jacqueline Harvey]()
Out of Sight by Jacqueline Harvey
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsKensy and Max are gearing up for their first Pharos review, a rite of passage with no room for failure. But juggling studies and the spy life isn't without its complications. As the dust settles from their last mission, and family members find their place in the new world order, old tensions rise to the surface. There's also the school play to prepare for - in rather different ways for each twin... -
![Undercover by Jacqueline Harvey]()
Undercover by Jacqueline Harvey
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsKensy and Max are back in London for no time at all before things begin to heat up - quite literally. As a result, Granny Cordelia ships them off to Australia on an undercover mission. The twins find themselves planted in a posh Sydney school where first appearances prove to be deceiving. What seems like a straightforward assignment turns into something so much bigger... -
![H.I.V.E. Higher Institute of Villainous Education by Mark Walden]()
H.I.V.E. Higher Institute of Villainous Education by Mark Walden
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 36 ratingsHIGHER INSTITUTE OF VILLAINOUS EDUCATIONOtto Malpense may only be thirteen years old, but so far he has managed to run the orphanage where he lives, and he has come up with a plan clever enough to trick the most powerful man in the country. He is the perfect candidate to become the world's next supervillain.That is why he ends up at H.I.V.E., handpicked to become a member of the incoming class...Categorized as:
children family friendship humor action-adventure anti-hero audiobook boarding-school -
![Rosie Revere and the Raucous Riveters by Andrea Beaty]()
Rosie Revere and the Raucous Riveters by Andrea Beaty
Rated: 4.16 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsRosie Revere is no stranger to flops and fails, kerfuffles and catastrophes. After all, engineering is all about perseverance! But this time, Rosie has a really important project to tackle—one that feels much bigger than herself. Rosie’s beloved Aunt Rose and her friends, the Raucous Riveters—a group of fun-loving gals who built airplanes during World War II—need help inventing something new... -
![Ungifted by Gordon Korman]()
Ungifted by Gordon Korman
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 27 ratingsThe word gifted has never been applied to a kid like Donovan Curtis. It's usually more like Don't try this at home. So when the troublemaker pulls a major prank at his middle school, he thinks he's finally gone too far... -
![96 Miles by J.L. Esplin]()
96 Miles by J.L. Esplin
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 17 ratingsDad always said if things get desperate, it’s okay to drink the water in the toilet. I never thought it would come to that. I thought I’d sooner die than let one drop of toilet water touch my lips. Yet here I am, kneeling before a porcelain throne, holding a tin mug for scooping in one hand, and my half-gallon canteen in the other. The Lockwood brothers are supposed to be able to survive anything...Categorized as:
children family friendship action-adventure apocalyptic audiobook book children-books
Or - use our amazing romance book finder to get recommendations based on your favorite content tropes and themes. Mix and match at will.
