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The School for Whatnots

Margaret Peterson Haddix

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Similar in premise + setting

These books are ranked using the premise + setting labels extracted for The School for Whatnots. Books rank higher when they are close on every selected axis.

Premise labels used: android classmates, secret identity, friendship quest, school mystery, class inequality, privilege

Setting labels used: elementary school, middle school transition, school setting, dystopian world, near-future, technological setting, wealth-segregated society, android classroom, private schooling, controlled environment

This does not mean the books share the same plot, setting, quality, or difficulty. It means their premise + setting embeddings are close.

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The Starlight Watchmaker

Wren James, Lauren James · 2025 · The Watchmaker and the Duke

An abandoned android watchmaker and a privileged student uncover a dangerous academy mystery and a surprising friendship.

Why this is here

Premise labels: android protagonist · watchmaker · academy mystery · time-travel device · unlikely friendship · class divide · anti-discrimination

Setting labels: intergalactic academy · alien academy · university campus · distant planet · space setting · offworld society · speculative future

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.1857

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Rated

Melissa Grey · 2019

In a rating-obsessed future school, six teens from different cliques unite after a cryptic warning upends their lives.

Why this is here

Premise labels: rating system · social mobility · elite school · cryptic messages · unlikely allies · teen conspiracy · status hierarchy

Setting labels: prestigious academy · high school · future society · near-future · dystopian society · school setting

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.1861

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Klara and the Sun

Kazuo Ishiguro · 2021

A solar-powered artificial friend enters a sick teenager’s home and quietly learns what love, class, and humanity cost.

Why this is here

Premise labels: artificial friend · robot companion · near future · genetic enhancement · lonely child · humanity question · what is love · what makes a person · class inequality · distant narrator

Setting labels: near future · futuristic society · dystopian future · domestic setting · storefront · wealthy household · home schooling · unequal society

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.1888

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Behind the Gates

Eva Gray · 2011 · Tomorrow Girls

A girls' boarding school in a war-torn future hides secrets, forcing four friends to survive and trust each other.

Why this is here

Premise labels: survival · boarding school · friendship · war setting · school conspiracy · hidden agenda · identity concealment · forced isolation

Setting labels: future world · dystopian future · war-torn society · boarding school · isolated school · wilderness setting · schoolcamp

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.1900

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Ciudades de fuego

Joana Marcús · 2022 · Fuego

In a collapsing dystopian future, Alice must protect the people she loves as alliances shift and dangers mount.

Why this is here

Premise labels: android-human conflict · survival · freedom struggle · resistance · chosen family · romantic subplot

Setting labels: dystopian world · futuristic world · science-fiction world · city-state politics · postwar setting · human-android society

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.2040

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Reduce! Reuse! Recycle!

T.J. Klune · 2024

An android gets one last week of freedom before reprogramming and discovers life, friendship, and belonging.

Why this is here

Premise labels: android protagonist · one week freedom · forced reprogramming · factory labor · search for belonging · personhood question · AI autonomy · final chance · exploration of world · recycling

Setting labels: factory · urban world · human-run society · technological dystopia · android society · same universe · sci-fi world

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.2120

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Takopi's Original Sin

Taizan 5 · 2023 · タコピーの原罪 [Takopī no Genzai]

A naive alien uses time travel to try to save a bullied fourth grader, but each fix deepens a tragic spiral.

Why this is here

Premise labels: alien visitor · happiness quest · time travel · bullying · child trauma · broken home · suicide · misguided help

Setting labels: Earth · school setting · home setting · elementary school · childhood world · alien world · dystopian atmosphere · contemporary setting

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.2131

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Be More Chill

Ned Vizzini · 2005

An awkward teen swallows a tiny supercomputer that promises coolness, popularity, and a shot at his crush.

Why this is here

Premise labels: popularization tech · coolness quest · high school outsider · social transformation · desire fulfillment · peer acceptance

Setting labels: high school · teen social world · school cliques · contemporary setting

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.2162

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Life Before Legend

Marie Lu · 2013 · Legend

Two short prequel stories revisit June and Day at age 12, showing the lives that shaped them before they met.

Why this is here

Premise labels: childhood backstory · prequel vignette · dual perspective · coming-of-age snapshot · character backstory · interstitial episode

Setting labels: dystopian world · Republic · urban sectors · street survival · school setting · university setting · prequel timeline

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.2196

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Stuck

Chris Grabenstein · 2020

An 11-year-old’s wish to stay young traps him in repeating fifth grade while everyone else keeps growing up.

Why this is here

Premise labels: time loop · stuck in time · birthday wish · wish backfires · age suspension · repeating school year · growing up fear · bully avoidance · world ages without protagonist · selfish wish consequences

Setting labels: middle school · fifth grade · elementary school · school year · birthday setting · contemporary setting · time loop reality · age-progressing world

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.2197

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Bumi

Tere Liye · 2014 · Bumi

A 15-year-old girl who can disappear is pulled into a hidden world where her secret ties to larger clan conflicts.

Why this is here

Premise labels: hidden power · invisible protagonist · parallel world · secret identity · teenage adventure · gifted trio · clan conflict · coming-of-age

Setting labels: contemporary school life · parallel world · fictional clan system · secondary world

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.2215

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Faja

Petra Stehlíková · 2017 · Naslouchač

A young enslaved girl travels between worlds and uncovers buried truths that could upend everything she knows.

Why this is here

Premise labels: hidden identity · enslaved people · coming of age · secret history · friendship across conflict · mystery quest

Setting labels: secondary world · dystopian world · mountain region · lowlands · post-collapse society · technological contrast

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.2232

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