Books like African Town

If you liked African Town, read The Color of a Lie, Butterfly Yellow, or The Bomb — the closest matches in our database, matched on shared award lists and reading level.

Closest match: The Color of a Lie by Kim Johnson

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Looking for books like African Town by Irene Latham? 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 7–12 reader. See how we judge text difficulty on our methodology page.

10 books similar to African Town

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Why each is a match

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The Color of a Liegrades 9–12
Both on the Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction list, overlapping grades (9–12), and the same era (2020s). Amazon → books like this →
Butterfly Yellowgrades 9–12
Both on the Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction list and overlapping grades (9–12). Amazon → books like this →
The Bombgrades 7–10
Both on the Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction list and overlapping grades (7–10). Amazon → books like this →
The Hired Girlgrades 7–12
Both on the Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction list and overlapping grades (7–12). Amazon → books like this →
The Landgrades 7–12
Both on the Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction list and overlapping grades (7–12). Amazon → books like this →
The River Between Usgrades 7–12
Both on the Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction list and overlapping grades (7–12). Amazon → books like this →
A Face for Picassogrades 6–12
Overlapping grades (6–12) and the same era (2020s). Amazon → books like this →
A Fate So Coldgrades 7–12
Overlapping grades (7–12) and the same era (2020s). Amazon → books like this →
A Game of Fox & Squirrelsgrades 5–12
Overlapping grades (5–12) and the same era (2020s). Amazon → books like this →
A Snake Falls to Earthgrades 5–12
Overlapping grades (5–12) and the same era (2020s). Amazon → books like this →

Common questions

What books are similar to African Town?
The 10 closest matches to African Town by Irene Latham on ReadingList include The Color of a Lie, Butterfly Yellow, The Bomb, The Hired Girl, and The Land. Each is scored on shared themes, shared award lists, genre, and reading level (grades 7–12), and links to the curricula, states, and grades where it is assigned in US schools, with primary sources.
Are books like African Town reading-level appropriate?
Yes — every match is a reading-level match, not just a topical one, scored on Lexile and grade band (grades 7–12), 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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