Families who loved Fly on the Wall by E. Lockhart often look for books with a similar feel. These 20 recommendations were selected for their similarity in style, theme, and reading level.

Reach for this book when your middle schooler is feeling invisible, overly self conscious, or obsessively curious about what the opposite sex is really like behind closed doors. Gretchen Yee is an artist at a competitive Manhattan high school who feels like an outsider. After making a frustrated wish, she is transformed into an actual fly and spends a week observing the boys locker room. Through this high stakes, often hilarious vantage point, she discovers that the boys she idolized or feared are just as insecure and complex as she is. This story masterfully tackles themes of body image, the myth of perfection, and the realization that everyone is fighting their own internal battles. It is a secular, modern coming of age story that validates the awkwardness of puberty while encouraging empathy and self acceptance. Parents will appreciate how it deconstructs gender stereotypes through a lens of creative curiosity.