What books are similar to A Time of Troubles?

The 10 closest matches to A Time of Troubles by Pieter Van Raven on ReadingList include Two Suns in the Sky, The Honorable Prison, Worth, Bull Run, and Jip. Each is scored on shared themes (depressions, migrant labor, and donna harsh collection), shared award lists, genre, and reading level (grades 5–9), and links to the curricula, states, and grades where it is assigned in US schools, with primary sources.

Are books like A Time of Troubles reading-level appropriate?

Yes — every match is a reading-level match, not just a topical one, scored on Lexile and grade band (grades 5–9), so the picks stay grade-appropriate. See how ReadingList judges text difficulty on the /standard methodology page.

How does ReadingList choose similar books?

Matches are ranked by shared themes, shared award and reading-program lists (two books picked for the same state award were chosen by the same committees for the same readers), same genre, comparable Lexile and grade band, and publication decade — computed from cited public curriculum data, not editorial opinion or AI-generated summaries.

Books like A Time of Troubles

If you liked A Time of Troubles, read Two Suns in the Sky, The Honorable Prison, or Worth — the closest matches in our database, matched on shared award lists and reading level.

Closest match: Two Suns in the Sky by Miriam Bat-Ami

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Looking for books like A Time of Troubles by Pieter Van Raven (Realistic Fiction · grades 5–9)? It’s most often read for its themes of depressions, migrant labor, and donna harsh collection. The 10 titles below are the closest matches in the ReadingList database — each scored on shared themes, shared award lists, genre, and reading level, and each linked to the curricula, states, and grades where it’s assigned, with primary sources.

These are reading-level matches, not just topical ones — so the picks stay grade-appropriate for a grades 5–9 reader. See how we judge text difficulty on our methodology page.

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Why each is a match

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Two Suns in the Skygrades 6–10: Both on the Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction list, same genre (Realistic Fiction), and overlapping grades (6–10). Amazon → books like this →
The Honorable Prisongrades 6–10: Both on the Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction list, same genre (Realistic Fiction), and overlapping grades (6–10). Amazon → books like this →
Worthgrades 4–8: Both on the Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction list, same genre (Realistic Fiction), and overlapping grades (4–8). Amazon → books like this →
Bull Rungrades 5–8: Both on the Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction list, overlapping grades (5–8), and the same era (1990s). Amazon → books like this →
Jipgrades 5–8: Both on the Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction list, overlapping grades (5–8), and the same era (1990s). Amazon → books like this →
Out of the Dust740L: Both on the Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction list, overlapping grades (5–8), and the same era (1990s). Amazon → books like this →
Under the Blood-Red Sungrades 5–8: Both on the Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction list, overlapping grades (5–8), and the same era (1990s). Amazon → books like this →
Blackwatergrades 6–8: Same genre (Realistic Fiction), overlapping grades (6–8), and the same era (1990s). Amazon → books like this →
Bob and Jack: A Boy and His Yakgrades 4–8: Same genre (Realistic Fiction), overlapping grades (4–8), and the same era (1990s). Amazon → books like this →
Christopher Changes His Namegrades 4–8: Same genre (Realistic Fiction), overlapping grades (4–8), and the same era (1990s). Amazon → books like this →

Common questions

What books are similar to A Time of Troubles?: The 10 closest matches to A Time of Troubles by Pieter Van Raven on ReadingList include Two Suns in the Sky, The Honorable Prison, Worth, Bull Run, and Jip. Each is scored on shared themes (depressions, migrant labor, and donna harsh collection), shared award lists, genre, and reading level (grades 5–9), and links to the curricula, states, and grades where it is assigned in US schools, with primary sources.
Are books like A Time of Troubles reading-level appropriate?: Yes — every match is a reading-level match, not just a topical one, scored on Lexile and grade band (grades 5–9), so the picks stay grade-appropriate. See how ReadingList judges text difficulty on the /standard methodology page.
How does ReadingList choose similar books?: Matches are ranked by shared themes, shared award and reading-program lists (two books picked for the same state award were chosen by the same committees for the same readers), same genre, comparable Lexile and grade band, and publication decade — computed from cited public curriculum data, not editorial opinion or AI-generated summaries.

Book data last updated 2026-09-05. Matches are computed from each book’s cited attributes — see the methodology.

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Books like A Time of Troubles

10 books similar to A Time of Troubles

Why each is a match

Common questions

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