100 books like Lost at School

By Ross W. Greene,

Here are 100 books that Lost at School fans have personally recommended if you like Lost at School. Shepherd is a community of 10,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

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Book cover of Make Social and Emotional Learning Stick!: Practical Activities to Help Your Child Manage Emotions, Navigate Social Situations & Reduce Anxiety

Rebecca Branstetter Author Of The Everything Parent's Guide to Children with Executive Functioning Disorder: Strategies to help your child achieve the time-management skills, ... needed to succeed in school and life

From my list on helping children with ADHD with executive function.

Why am I passionate about this?

Is there a Japanese or Dutch word for "One who loves to geek out on organizational strategies, productivity (and post-its) SO MUCH they focus their career on it?" If there is, um......that's me. I'm Dr. Rebecca Branstetter, and I've been a school psychologist and collector of practical strategies to support students with executive functioning challenges for over 20 years. As the author of The Everything Parents Guide to Executive Functioning and creator of the “How to Teach Children and Teens Executive Functioning Skills” masterclass, my passion is to help kids figure out how they learn, what's getting in the way of their potential, and what to do about it!

Rebecca's book list on helping children with ADHD with executive function

Rebecca Branstetter Why did Rebecca love this book?

So often, executive functioning challenges like impulse control, difficulties with attention, and trouble with organization are thought of as isolated skills to be taught as an “add on” lesson. However, there are easy ways to teach executive functioning skills as an “add IN” to what parents and educators are already doing throughout the day. I recommend this book because it helps teach executive functioning in everyday routines, like cooking, going to the store, and on the playground. I really love the colorful and ready-to-use pages in this book! The author also sells a really cool card deck you can get to take with you “on the go” to boost not only executive functioning but also emotional regulation and social communication.

By Elizabeth Sautter,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Make Social and Emotional Learning Stick! as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The Mom’s Choice Award winner, Make Social and Emotional Learning Stick! Practical activities to help your child manage their emotions, navigate social situations and decrease anxiety, Expanded and Updated, (black and white version!) has helped thousands of families boost emotional regulation, executive functioning, social communication, reduce anxiety, and so much more!

Does your child struggle to have meaningful connections, navigate social situations, and communicate with others?

Learn how to support them so that they can build on their strengths and interests to feel confident and connected in social relationships and situations.

Does your child experience high levels of anxiety or…


Book cover of Executive Skills in Children and Adolescents: A Practical Guide to Assessment and Intervention

Rebecca Branstetter Author Of The Everything Parent's Guide to Children with Executive Functioning Disorder: Strategies to help your child achieve the time-management skills, ... needed to succeed in school and life

From my list on helping children with ADHD with executive function.

Why am I passionate about this?

Is there a Japanese or Dutch word for "One who loves to geek out on organizational strategies, productivity (and post-its) SO MUCH they focus their career on it?" If there is, um......that's me. I'm Dr. Rebecca Branstetter, and I've been a school psychologist and collector of practical strategies to support students with executive functioning challenges for over 20 years. As the author of The Everything Parents Guide to Executive Functioning and creator of the “How to Teach Children and Teens Executive Functioning Skills” masterclass, my passion is to help kids figure out how they learn, what's getting in the way of their potential, and what to do about it!

Rebecca's book list on helping children with ADHD with executive function

Rebecca Branstetter Why did Rebecca love this book?

I love a book you can pick up and use right away with students with ADHD and executive functioning, which is why I love this book. Filled with practical and easy photocopying, there’s great reproducible forms and handouts. Great for educators and mental health professionals!

By Peg Dawson, Richard Guare,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Executive Skills in Children and Adolescents as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

More than 100,000 school practitioners and teachers (K-12) have benefited from the step-by-step guidelines and practical tools in this influential go-to resource, now revised and expanded with six new chapters. The third edition presents effective ways to assess students' strengths and weaknesses, create supportive instructional environments, and promote specific skills, such as organization, time management, sustained attention, and emotional control. Strategies for individualized and classwide intervention are illustrated with vivid examples and sample scripts. In a large-size format for easy photocopying, the book includes 38 reproducible forms and handouts. Purchasers get access to a Web page where they can download…


Book cover of Self-Reg: How to Help Your Child (and You) Break the Stress Cycle and Successfully Engage with Life

Beth Macgregor Author Of Helping Your Baby to Sleep: Why Gentle Techniques Work Best

From my list on for tired and frazzled parents.

Why am I passionate about this?

My passion for children’s welfare began as a psychology undergraduate over 30 years ago and burns just as fiercely today. As a trainer and author, I share with parents and professionals recent advances in research that reveal the small but powerful steps adults can take to help children flourish and thrive. This requires letting go of outdated and harmful views of children and offering them the tender care and guidance they need to come to believe that they are loved, worthy and capable. I absolutely believe that by taking these steps together we can build a more harmonious and loving society.

Beth's book list on for tired and frazzled parents

Beth Macgregor Why did Beth love this book?

Dr. Stuart Shanker is the rock star of Self-Regulation; what he doesn’t know about children is not worth knowing. This book lifts the lid on the many hidden and surprising sources of stress for children, and the impact stress has on their mind, behaviour, and nervous system. Packed with stories of the children he has treated and families he has helped and peppered with facts about the brain and nervous system, this book helps parents discover what could be causing their children’s behavioural, emotional, and learning problems. Best of all, it offers concrete steps parents can take to help children develop their self-regulation skills and successfully engage with life.

By Stuart Shanker,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Self-Reg as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

There's no such thing as a bad kid. That's what a lifetime of experience has taught Dr. Stuart Shanker. No matter how difficult, out of control, distracted, or exhausted a child might seem, there's a way forward: self-regulation. Overturning decades of conventional wisdom, this radical new technique allows children and the adults who care for them to regain their composure and peace of mind.

Self-Reg is a groundbreaking book that presents an entirely new understanding of your child's emotions and behavior and a practical guide for parents to help their kids engage calmly and successfully in learning and life. Grounded…


Book cover of The Classroom Mystery: A Book about ADHD

Rebecca Branstetter Author Of The Everything Parent's Guide to Children with Executive Functioning Disorder: Strategies to help your child achieve the time-management skills, ... needed to succeed in school and life

From my list on helping children with ADHD with executive function.

Why am I passionate about this?

Is there a Japanese or Dutch word for "One who loves to geek out on organizational strategies, productivity (and post-its) SO MUCH they focus their career on it?" If there is, um......that's me. I'm Dr. Rebecca Branstetter, and I've been a school psychologist and collector of practical strategies to support students with executive functioning challenges for over 20 years. As the author of The Everything Parents Guide to Executive Functioning and creator of the “How to Teach Children and Teens Executive Functioning Skills” masterclass, my passion is to help kids figure out how they learn, what's getting in the way of their potential, and what to do about it!

Rebecca's book list on helping children with ADHD with executive function

Rebecca Branstetter Why did Rebecca love this book?

This picture book for elementary-aged students is a great one because it helps shift the focus of ADHD as a “deficit” to a potential strength. I’m a big believer in educating children with ADHD and executive functioning about how their brain works differently, which can sometimes be a good thing! This book can be read to students with or without ADHD and includes a page of discussion questions to build awareness and empathy for students with ADHD.

By Tracy Packiam Alloway, Ana Sanfelippo (illustrator),

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Classroom Mystery as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 5, 6, and 7.

What is this book about?

Someone has been stealing food from Snowball, the classroom pet bunny! Can Izzy use her SEN Superpowers to track down the culprit and save the day? SEN Superpowers: The Classroom Mystery explores the topic of ADHD with an empowering story and adorable illustrations.

The SEN Superpowers series celebrates the positive traits associated with a range of common SEN (Special Education Needs) conditions, boosting the confidence and strength-awareness of children with those conditions, while also allowing for better understanding and positivity among their peers. Each book includes a page of discussion points about the story, a page of tips for how…


Book cover of Schooling the Smash Street Kids

Laura Tisdall Author Of A Progressive Education?: How Childhood Changed in Mid-Twentieth-Century English and Welsh Schools

From my list on making you question why schools exist.

Why am I passionate about this?

I attended school for fourteen years, experiencing a wide range of different school types, from an experimental child-centred school in Washington DC to a Steiner school in rural Wiltshire to an all-girls’ comprehensive school in Bath. I hated school and my teachers and peers frequently hated me. In revenge, I became a historian of childhood and education in modern Britain so I could try and work out why school was so bad, and why children and teenagers are not listened to in British society. I did my PhD in History at the University of Cambridge and am now an Academic Track Fellow in History at Newcastle University. 

Laura's book list on making you question why schools exist

Laura Tisdall Why did Laura love this book?

Plenty of sociologists have gone into schools and tried to work out what kids think, but few have written about the experience as clearly, directly, and thoughtfully as Corrigan.

Corrigan did research with teenage working-class boys who attended two different schools in Sunderland in the early 1970s. He found, in short, that these boys did not like school; they especially did not like the fact that they were forced to go. This made Corrigan question why we make young people attend institutions that they hate, and which they do not benefit from.

Despite recent ‘progressive’ reforms in education, nothing had changed: ‘they didn’t like [school] when it was all maths and exams; they now didn’t seem to like it when it was all civics and projects’.

Book cover of The Explosive Child: A New Approach for Understanding and Parenting Easily Frustrated, Chronically Inflexible Children

Dona J. Matthews Author Of Being Smart About Gifted Learning: Empowering Parents and Kids Through Challenge and Change

From my list on loving and raising challenging kids.

Why am I passionate about this?

I love prickly children. I was one myself, and I’ve quite a few of them in my family. I’ve also worked with desperate families over the years, children who are out of control, parents feeling overwhelmed, nobody knowing what to do to find the calm and loving core of connection we all yearn for. I feel the suffering these authors document—the child’s sense of being misunderstood and punished unfairly, and the parent’s desperation. So, when I read a book that offers intelligent and caring solutions driven by science, compassion, and experience, I share it with everyone who will listen. I’m delighted to have a chance here to do that.

Dona's book list on loving and raising challenging kids

Dona J. Matthews Why did Dona love this book?

One of Dr. Greene’s basic beliefs, reiterated often in this wise and compassionate book, is that “Kids do well if they can.” Instead of seeing their child as manipulative, attention-seeking, stubborn, controlling, or defiant, readers learn to understand that really, the child lacks some necessary skills: flexibility, adaptability, frustration tolerance, emotion regulation, and problem-solving. Using a combination of exposition, explanation, and stories from his decades of practice with troubled kids in many circumstances, Greene shows parents how to put the Collaborative and Proactive Solutions model into action. He reassures readers that—even if they’ve been doing it all wrong until now—there’s always room for growth and change, starting now. “Kids are resilient,” he writes. “They come around if we start doing the right thing.”

By Ross W. Greene,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked The Explosive Child as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Now in a revised and updated 6th edition, the groundbreaking, research-based approach to understanding and parenting children who frequently exhibit severe fits of temper and other challenging behaviors, from a distinguished clinician and pioneer in the field.

What's an explosive child? A child who responds to routine problems with extreme frustration-crying, screaming, swearing, kicking, hitting, biting, spitting, destroying property, and worse. A child whose frequent, severe outbursts leave his or her parents feeling frustrated, scared, worried, and desperate for help. Most of these parents have tried everything-reasoning, explaining, punishing, sticker charts, therapy, medication-but to no avail. They can't figure out…


Book cover of Meet the Austins

M. Tara Crowl Author Of Eden's Wish

From my list on middle-grade to make you feel good about the world.

Why am I passionate about this?

As a shy, dreamy kid, I relied on middle-grade books to learn about the world and feel less alone. That’s why I eventually started writing them. Growing up can be hard. Being grown-up can, too. Fiction can thrill, educate, and stimulate, and I love it for those reasons. But sometimes, I want a book to assure me things are going to be okay. In case you’d forgotten that the world can be scary and unpredictable, the last couple of years probably reminded you. I continue to find comfort in middle-grade books that make my heart feel full, tender, and hopeful. I needed books like these back then, and still need them today.

M. Tara's book list on middle-grade to make you feel good about the world

M. Tara Crowl Why did M. Tara love this book?

The Austins live in rural New England, where the four children take joy in nature, do chores cheerfully, and have a club committed to nonconformity. The family’s faith and interests in the arts and sciences are weaved seamlessly into their daily life. And although death is discussed throughout, themes of light and love permeate. 

This isn’t the most well-known of L’Engle’s books, but it’s a feel-good portrait of domestic life. If I had read it when I was young, I’m sure I would have wanted to be an Austin kid. Reading it as a mother, I want to crack the parents’ code.

By Madeleine L'Engle,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Meet the Austins as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 11, 12, 13, and 14.

What is this book about?

Book one of the Austin Family Chronicles, an award-winning young adult series from Madeleine L’Engle, author of A Wrinkle in Time, about a girl who experiences the difficulties and joys of growing up.

“Beautifully written, with integrity and warmth, and young people are bound to identify with the characters, each a person in his own right, and to read absorbed from first page to last. Thoroughly recommended.” ―Chicago Tribune

For a family with four kids, two dogs, assorted cats, and a constant stream of family and friends dropping by, life in the Austin family home has always been remarkably steady…


Book cover of Bewilderment

Jan Krause Greene Author Of I Call Myself Earth Girl

From my list on the world we're leaving to future generations.

Why am I passionate about this?

When I began writing my first novel, the words “what happens next is up to all of us” became my guiding mantra. I have just completed my second novel with the same theme, The Space Between Dark and Light. It will be released early in 2023. During the years between the two books, I have become a speaker on topics related to the environment and peace. In 2020, I received an award as a Creative Environmental and Peace Activist from Visioneers International Network. It is the thought of the world our grandchildren (and generations after them) will inherit from us that makes me care passionately about the future.

Jan's book list on the world we're leaving to future generations

Jan Krause Greene Why did Jan love this book?

This novel intrigued me because of Robin, a young boy who cares deeply about endangered animals. Powers uses the child as a device to make readers think about our earth and its inhabitants. I did the same with the character in my novel. Both children agonize over how to make adults pay attention to the crisis we face.

While the plot centers on a father’s intense devotion to his struggling son, Powers succeeds in portraying nature’s magnificence and its increasing fragility. I am in awe of his ability to create such a page-turning plot in a message-driven book.

By Richard Powers,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Bewilderment as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The astrobiologist Theo Byrne searches for life throughout the cosmos while single-handedly raising his unusual nine-year-old, Robin, following the death of his wife. Robin is a warm, kind boy who spends hours painting elaborate pictures of endangered animals. He's also about to be expelled from third grade for smashing his friend in the face. As his son grows more troubled, Theo hopes to keep him off psychoactive drugs. He learns of an experimental neurofeedback treatment to bolster Robin's emotional control, one that involves training the boy on the recorded patterns of his mother's brain...

With its soaring descriptions of the…


Book cover of Jesus Land: A Memoir

Matthew Pratt Guterl Author Of Skinfolk: A Memoir

From my list on heartbreaking memoirs of race and adoption.

Why am I passionate about this?

I was raised as one of two white kids in a large, multiracial adoptive family by loving parents who wanted to change the world. Our parents were thoughtful about adoption, ambitious about the symbolism of our family, and raised us all to be conscious about race, to see it, and to guard against it. But the world is a lot bigger than our house and racism is insidious and so, in a way, we all eventually got swallowed up. So I started thinking hard about the dynamic relationship between race and adoption and family when I was just a kid, and I’ve never really stopped. 

Matthew's book list on heartbreaking memoirs of race and adoption

Matthew Pratt Guterl Why did Matthew love this book?

When I picked up this book at a local bookstore in Indiana, I knew that it was going to take me places – the cover photo of two adorable children, one white and one black, standing in front of a yellow school bus told me that.

Julia Scheeres’s parents adopted an African American child her age named David, and the two became inseparable. Their extraordinary story – their intense commitment to each other as they move through dystopian settings ranging from the bleakness of rural Indiana to a strict religious reform school in the tropical Caribbean – was inspiring.

And the jaw-dropping ending of the book just broke me into pieces. 

By Julia Scheeres,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Jesus Land as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

"A page turner . . . heart-stopping and enraging . . . focused, justified, and without a trace of self-pity. Shot through with poignancy." ––New York Times Book Review

Over a decade after its first publication, Jesus Land remains deeply resonant with readers. Now with a new preface by the author, this New York Times bestselling memoir is a gripping tale of rage and redemption, hope and humor, morality and malice―and most of all, the truth: that being a good person takes more than just going to church.

Julia and her adopted brother, David, are sixteen years old. Julia is…


Book cover of Suffer the Little Children: The inside Story of Ireland's Industrial Schools

Dermot Bolger Author Of A Second Life

From my list on institutions run by Irish religious orders.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m a novelist and poet from a working-class Dublin suburb. The small press I started at 18 published early works by Sebastian Barry, Colm Toibin, Fintan O’Toole, etc. Because I felt that working-class life was not being written about, I became interested in hidden aspects of Irish society. Adoption was often kept secret when I was small. When I first wrote A Second Life, I was amazed by how many people told me how they were adopted but had never told anyone. I want to do justice to their stories and their mothers’ stories. Hopefully readers will think that, in some small way, my updated novel does this.

Dermot's book list on institutions run by Irish religious orders

Dermot Bolger Why did Dermot love this book?

I used my wages as an 18-year-old factory hand to establish the small press that published The God Squad. Forty-six years later, I’m still involved in publishing. In all that time, Suffer the Little Children (subtitled “The Inside Story of Ireland's Industrial Schools”) is the most important book I played any part in publishing.

It is the definitive history of all religious-run institutions. The forensic use of official documents and the diligent investigative work by the authors left no room for dispute about the cruel systems of control which religious orders exercised over women and children trapped in their care with the acquiescence of the state. It shows the world that my character, Sean Blake, is saved from by being adopted by loving parents and told nothing about his identity.

By Mary Raftery, Eoin O'Sullivan,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Suffer the Little Children as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Up until the late sixties in Ireland, thousands of young children were sent to what were called industrial schools, financed by the Department of Education, and operated by various religious orders of the Catholic Church. Popular belief held that these schools were orphanages or detention centers, when in reality most of the children ended up at the schools because their parents were too poor to care for them. Mary Raftery's award-winning three-part TV series on the industrial schools, "States of Fear", shocked Ireland when broadcast on RTE in 1999, prompting an unprecedented response in Ireland - hundreds of people phoned…


5 book lists we think you will like!

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