Are you looking for another book like Where the Crawdads Sing?
We understand! Delia Owens created a modern masterpiece of a novel that tugged at our hearts too.
Melissa resisted reading it, not sure she would love the tale of a girl growing up in a swamp. Within a few chapters, she understood that the hype was real and that it was a New York Times Best Seller for good reason.
We both loved the book so much that we didn’t want it to end and were afraid whatever we read next would be a disappointment!
We didn’t want you to have the same experience, so we’ve gathered some good books to read after Where the Crawdads Sing. We started with 9 options, but are now up to 14 great novels for you to enjoy.
Whether you’re looking for beautiful writing, stories that incorporate nature, or tales of children forced to grow up too soon, we have suggestions for you below!
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If You Liked Where the Crawdads Sing, Add These Books To Your List
Before We Were Yours
By Lisa Wingate
Similar to Kya, the characters in Before We Were Yours grow up close to the water in an isolated area. They live on a Mississippi River shanty boat until their lives are forever uprooted by the Tennessee Children's Home Society.
The book is based on the true story of Georgia Tann's "adoption" agency. The agency claimed to help orphans, but instead kidnapped poor children and trafficked them to wealthy families.
Like Kya, the children in Before We Were Yours have to learn how to survive difficult circumstances. Melissa enjoyed that the story spanned generations. Throughout the book, you experience their hard times, but also get to peek into their senior years and see how their lives evolved.
This would be a great book club pick for discussion!
Beartown: A Novel
by Fredrick Backman
Melissa was worried that whatever she read after Where the Crawdads Sing would feel like a letdown.
And then she started Beartown.
While it's a vastly different story, Fredrik Backman has the same gift of story-telling that takes a book from good to brilliant. Beartown also uses nature as a supporting character.
However, instead of focusing on one character, the book brilliantly explores the complicated relationships between many members of an isolated town whose existence revolves around the hockey club.
Melissa and Angela would both give Beartown MORE than 5 stars and consider it a must-read book.
Beasts of Extraordinary Circumstance
by Ruth Emmie Lang
This debut novel written by Ruth Emmie Lang is magical, both in story and language.
Instead of growing up in a swamp like Kya, Weylyn Grey was raised by wolves after being orphaned. After surviving on his own in nature, he has developed some supernatural abilities. In Beasts of Extraordinary Circumstance, Weylyn's story is told by those who have encountered him throughout many years.
Even if you're not normally a fan of fantasy, we think you'll love this interesting character!
A Girl of the Limberlost
By Gene Stratton-Porter
If you're looking for a similar storyline to Crawdads, check out A Girl of the Limberlost. This 1909 classic is a stand-alone sequel to the 1904 book Freckles. In A Girl of the Limberlost, Elnora is the main character who struggles with her mother and her school. She gets solace in an eastern Indiana swamp and meets a boy who shares her love of nature. She finds a way to turn her love of nature into funding for the education she craves.
This book is rated as appropriate for 3rd grade and up. It would be a fun one to read aloud with your upper elementary or middle school kids.
Educated
by Tara Westover
Were you heart-broken by Kya's lack of access to formal education too? If so, Educated would be a good book to read next and continue that theme.
This bestseller is a memoir from Tara Westover, who was raised by an isolated group of survivalists in Idaho. She didn't enter a classroom until she was 17. From that point, she was still able to earn a PhD from Cambridge.
If the Creek Don't Rise
By Leah Weiss
If the Creek Don't Rise is set in the Appalachian mountains of North Carolina, another area of the United States that shares some of the same struggles of the low-country where Kya is raised.
Sadie Blue quickly realizes that her marriage is a mistake, but doesn't see a way out until a stranger arrives in town.
Some readers find the local dialect distracting or difficult, but once they are absorbed into the story find it hard to put down.
The Snow Child
By Eowyn Ivey
In the Snow Child, you'll be transported to another hard environment - 1920s Alaska. Jack and Mabel are newcomers to the Alaska lifestyle and it is a struggle for them. During the first snowfall of the year, they decide to have some fun and build a child out of snow.
In the morning, the snow child is gone, but they see a young girl, Faina, running through the trees. This Pulitzer Prize finalist explores Jack and Mabel's growing relationship with Faina and her past.
Ordinary Grace
By William Kent Krueger
Like Beartown, Ordinary Grace has the same moving storytelling as Crawdads. This time, the main character is Frank, a 13-year old boy in Minnesota in 1961.
When there is a town tragedy, Frank is thrust into adulthood overnight. The novel is part mystery and part coming-of-age story, told by Frank himself as an adult looking back on his life.
Magic Hour
By Kristin Hannah
The last book similar to Where the Crawdads Sing is by the bestselling author of The Nightingale & The Great Alone.
Magic Hour takes place in another rough terrain, the Pacific Northwest. A 6-year-old girl appears in the forest, alone and unable to speak. A child psychiatrist is determined to discover the truth about Alice's past, and to help her heal and prepare for a better future.
Let the Willows Weep
by Sherry Parnell
Like Kya, Birddog Harlin is a girl trying to make the most of a dysfunctional family in a rural area. This fictional coming of age story brings all the feelings, often painful and sad, but tempered with love and hope. You'll cheer for Birddog and be angry at her mom while being absorbed by the poetic and descriptive language throughout.
Cormorant Lake
by Faith Merino
Cormorant Lake is a tale of motherhood in various forms, mystical illusions, and coming home, even when home holds past tragedy.
Evelyn Van Pelt can no longer bear seeing her roommate's underfed and neglected young daughters. One night, she makes the life-changing decision to grab them from bed and drive to the isolated land she left 14 years earlier - Cormorant Lake. Thrust into motherhood and overcome by guilt, she turns to two very different women from her past - her foster mom and her biological mother.
Prodigal Summer
by Barbara Kingsolver
Set in southern Appalachia, Prodigal Summer has been called a Hymn to wilderness. Set over one summer, three stories intertwine into one nature-focused tale.
Deanna Wolfe is a wildlife biologist on a mission to save a family of coyotes.
Lusa Maluf Landowski is young widowed scientist obsessed with insects.
Nannie Land Rawley is a 70-year-old apple grower. Separately, they all have challenges with the land and with relationships throughout the summer. Before fall, you'll see their very different stories merge into one.
Where the Forest Meets the Stars
Joanna Teale has thrown herself into dawn to dusk work studying nesting birds in rural Illinois for her graduate program. It's a great distraction from the loss of her mother and her own breast cancer battle.
Out of nowhere, a bruised girl named Ursa shows up. The girl claims to have been sent from the stars to witness five miracles, but provides no other background information. Concerned about the bruises, Joanna lets the girl stay while enlisting the help of her reclusive neighbor to solve the mystery of where the girl came from.
Over the summer, miracles do occur, but as the end of summer and the 5th miracle approach, Ursa's dangerous past also gets closer.
The response to this post was so great that we made a follow-up. Click here for 11 More Books for Fans of Where the Crawdads Sing!
So glad I found this list! I feel like it was written for me. After Crawdads I never thought I’d find a good book again!
Yay! We totally understand that feeling and hope whichever you pick is another new favorite. I’m partial to Beartown! – Melissa
Educated was remarkable – hard to set down. Lead characters were unbelievable – a story of survival!
If you loved this book then you would love North of Normal… good lord what a book. Glass Castle is another great read similar to the above as well:)
I haven’t picked up a book since Where The Crawdads Sing. That was 2 months ago. I look at it longingly everyday wanting to re read it . Thank you for understanding and giving me some hope in the book section of my life !!!
It WAS the greatest book EVER !!
I have read and loved Before We Were Yours. I also read Sold on a Monday by Kristina McMorris which made me think a lot about Before We Were Yours.
Goodreads information for Sold on a Monday
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40216800-sold-on-a-monday?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=izNxy8G6lv&rank=1
Oh, I haven’t read Sold a Monday, we’ll check it out. Thanks so much!
Read a couple of these already so this guide is right on the mark for me.
We’re thrilled to hear that! We hope you love whatever else you choose to read from the list.
Hillbilly Elegy would be another great book to add to this list. Thanks for complaining it.
Ah! Left a comment with a typo! So sorry! This is why I shouldn’t leave comments while doing early morning baby feeds:)
I had said “thanks for compiling” and auto correct changed it to “complaining”.
Ha! Autocorrect is dangerous. No worries!
Before We Were Yours was soooo good! The Clockmaker’s daughter is another great one.
Ordinary Grace is one of the best books I’ve read. Wonderful story!
I keep hearing that! I just got another of his books, This Tender Land, delivered and can’t wait to dig in!
I read the Snow Child a while back…then Crawdads….and just finished Educated. Am now stumbling upon this list. Definitely going to look into some of these. The Snow Child was so heartbreakingly beautiful.
I loved the Snow Child – what a find that book was… remind me of Lori Lansens “Rush Home Road” beautiful and Heartbreaking- pick it up… you won’t regret it!
I just finished reading “Girl of the Limberlost” – for the third time! The first time was when I was in 4th grade and finished my math ahead of the rest of the students. The teacher handed me this book and said to read it. That was 54 years ago!! Where did you find this book? How did it ever get on this list? I’m amazed!!
That’s amazing! We try to do a ton of research to make sure we’re recommending great books for our lists. They’re usually a mix of books we’ve read and others we find and want to read, and Girl of the Limberlost was in that category. I’m thrilled to read your first hand recommendation that it’s a winner! I hope you found something else new-to-you to read in the post too!
Of course! This is a great list. I’ve read a few of them already, but put a few of the others on my list.
My mother gifted me a second hand set of 5 Gene Stratton Porter novels that her brother had bought her in the 50s. I have treasured and loved them my whole life. Strangely all the way through Crawdads all I could think of was Limber lost.
Here are a couple more great books.
The Girl with the Louding Voice by Abi Dare’
The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes
I really enjoyed the scent keeper!
I recently read The Scent Keeper and I think it has a similar vibe to Where the Crawdads Sing.
We’ve heard great things about that one! Thanks for the recommendation!
I have read, Where the Crawdads Sing” and “Something in the Water” and almost finished with “The Knightingale.” Think l will change things up a bit and read “Camino Winds” next.
Thanks so much for posting this! I can sometimes be very picky and easily pigeonholed into a certain genre but his helps with finding similar books to ones I already love so much!!
In reviewing the books suggested I was thinking of a book I read a few years back called North of Normal – a very very good book; similar to Educated – also as a side bar, loved the Snow Child and Educated!!
I just read This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger & loved it! It was the first book I have read since Where the Crawdads Sing.
I’m so excited to read that one! – Melissa
I wondered why Wm Kent Kreuger’s name sounded familiar. I’ve read most of his Cork O’Connor series.
“Where the Crawdads Sing” is on my list.
I loved “Magic Hour”. If you’re into Kristen Hannah, try “Winter Garden”.
“Winter Garden” (Kristen Hannah) was stunning, and shocking.
I loved crawdads & educated so I was so excited to find this list— I just finished Beartown & agree with all you said about it & it is definitely right up there with my fave books ever with crawdads!! Thanks for leading me to it, never a book I would have picked up to read it so glad I did!
The Marsh Kings Daughter , another great read .
Let the Willows Weep by Sherry Parnell is also a similar and remarkable read.
I’m so glad you included Girl of the Limberlost! I thought about it all the way through Where the Crawdads Sing, and so few people have discovered Gene Stratton Porter. I was luck enough to be given five of her books by my mother, who received them from her older brother as a child, from a used book store. They are falling apart after so many reads.
We love books being passed down between generations, that’s so cool!
I loved Crawdads and Educated. Another favourite is The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah. Looking forward to reading some of the others on this list.
Where The Forest Meets The Stars…so good and very reminiscent of subject book.
Read it on Amazon do not delay!
Author – Glendy Vanderah
I loved Where the Crawdads sing and Educated. Can’t wait to try some of the others on this list!