13 Evocative Books Like Where the Crawdads Sing
These books like Where the Crawdads sing are the perfect choices for any reader who loved the book and wants a read-alike.
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Looking for books like Where the Crawdads Sing? If you loved one of 2018’s most popular books and are looking for read-alikes, look no further than this book list. These books are similar to Where the Crawdads Sing in various ways, and you’re sure to find at least one that shares what you loved about the novel.
Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens is one of the most-loved and recommended books of the past few years.
Anytime I run across someone asking for book recommendations–whether it’s online or in person–inevitably, this book is mentioned.
As of this writing, the book has almost 975,000 reviews on Goodreads–with an average rating of 4.47. That’s…staggering.
Readers LOVE this book.
As for me, Where the Crawdads Sing made my list of the best books of 2018 and the best books of the decade.
It’s a book worth reading, worth savoring, and worth sharing with your friends.
But what should you read AFTER Where the Crawdads Sing?
If you were left wanting more of Kya’s story and her life in the marsh, I can’t give you that.
But, if you’re looking for read-alikes, these books like Where the Crawdads Sing just might be your perfect next read (or the perfect gift for someone who also loved the book!).
About Where the Crawdads Sing
Where the Crawdads Sing
Author: Delia Owens
Abandoned in the marsh at a young age, Kya survives alone and becomes a local legend–the eccentric “Marsh Girl.” She finds respite in the wilds of the marsh, but long-held suspicions find their target when she is named the prime suspect in a murder.
Books Like Where the Crawdads Sing
If you just finished Where the Crawdads Sing and are looking for books to read next, try some of the books below. Whether you’re looking for authors who write like Delia Owens or for books with similar themes or settings, these books are excellent options for your next read.
The Great Alone
Author: Kristin Hannah
A teen girl’s father, struggling with PTSD and alcoholism, uproots the family to a remote community in Alaska. She and her mother attempt to build a life while facing dangers at home and from the brutal and enchanting landscape.
Elements in common with Where the Crawdads Sing:
- Nature/environment as a major theme
- Small community of interesting characters
- Teen girl mostly on her own
All the Ugly and Wonderful Things
Author: Bryn Greenwood
A neglected girl finds care and companionship with her father’s drug runner. Their relationship changes as she grows up, but the world and the ugliness of her family’s dealings creep in.
Elements in common with Where the Crawdads Sing:
- Young girl mostly on her own
- Secret relationship with someone she wants to trust
- Gray-area moral questions
The Language of Flowers
Author: Vanessa Diffenbaugh
A young woman who has aged out of foster care discovers her unique talent of matching people with exactly the right flowers. She struggles to trust but finds family and community in unexpected places.
Elements in common with Where the Crawdads Sing:
- Teen girl on her own
- Family in unexpected places
- Connection and unusual understanding of elements of nature
Educated
Author: Tara Westover
Educated is Westover’s memoir of her childhood growing up in a dysfunctional and sometimes violent survivalist family in Idaho, and her journey to awareness and an elite education.
Elements in common with Where the Crawdads Sing:
- Unusual, isolated family circumstances
- Childhood trauma
- A woman’s independent journey to education
Into the Forest
Author: Jean Hegland
When the electricity goes out, with no explanation and no signs of it returning, Nell, her father, and sister Eva must survive in their isolated forest home. In their isolation, their connection to one another and the nature that surrounds them grows stronger.
Elements in common with Where the Crawdads Sing:
- Teen girls trying to survive alone in an isolated setting
- Connection with nature
- Outside violence disturbing their isolated peace
Moloka’i
Author: Alan Brennert
A young Hawaiian girl is diagnosed with leprosy in the early 20th century and sent to Kalaupapa, the quarantined leprosy settlement on the island of Moloka’i. Presumably sent to die, she instead builds a life.
Elements in common with Where the Crawdads Sing:
- Enchanting natural setting
- Young girl rejected by society
- Community in unexpected places
Swamplandia!
Author: Karen Russell
A 12-year-old girl–whose family runs an alligator wrestling attraction in the Everglades–journeys into the swamp after her mother dies and her father disappears.
Elements in common with Where the Crawdads Sing:
- Coming-of-age story of a young girl
- Defining natural landscape
- A girl on her own in the wild
Peace Like a River
Author: Leif Enger
When Reuben’s brother Davy flees after an encounter with bullies that ends in murder, 11-year-old Reuben, his poetic sister Swede, and his father follow him into the unforgiving Badlands.
Elements in common with Where the Crawdads Sing:
- Defining natural landscape
- A murder with uncertain circumstances
- An adolescent alone in the wild
The Glass Castle
Author: Jeannette Walls
Walls’ memoir of her childhood in a family with a reckless sense of freedom and free-spirited rootlessness that ultimately devolves into breathtaking selfishness and neglect. Walls and her siblings learn to care for themselves and find the wherewithal to leave and pursue their own paths.
Elements in common with Where the Crawdads Sing:
- A family in poverty
- Neglected children forced to raise themselves
- A girl pursuing her own path and education
The Story of Edgar Sawtelle
Author: David Wroblewski
Edgar Sawtelle is a retelling of Hamlet–in the north woods of Wisconsin and with dogs. The Sawtelle dogs are an imaginary breed, and Edgar, a mute boy forced to leave his home by his uncle after the death of his father, survives with their companionship.
Elements in common with Where the Crawdads Sing:
- A child on their own after the loss of a parent
- Relationship with nature and animals
The Flight of Gemma Hardy
Author: Margot Livesay
In this retelling of Jane Eyre, a young girl is sent to Scotland after the death of her father. Following a similar path as Jane, Gemma is sent to boarding school and then gets a job as an au pair for a rich and intriguing man on the Orkney Islands.
Elements in common with Where the Crawdads Sing:
- A young girl on her own in a wild landscape
- An outcast orphan at school and in society
Saving Ruby King
Author: Catherine Adel West
A teen girl is left with an abusive father after her mother is found murdered in Chicago. The girl’s friend tries to save her, and secrets and trauma from past generations creep in.
Elements in common with Where the Crawdads Sing:
- A young girl in poverty left largely on her own
- A suspicious murder
- A vocal community
The Orchardist
Author: Amanda Coplin
A loner orchardist in the turn-of-the-century American West takes in two homeless girls. They slowly begin to trust him, but soon violence invades their peaceful lives on the orchard.
Elements in common with Where the Crawdads Sing:
- Loners connected to nature
- Young girls on their own and trying to survive
- Evocative prose about the natural world
Related: 13 Eco-Fiction Books about the Environment and Nature
What other books remind you of Where the Crawdads Sing?
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