Books like An American Plague
If you liked An American Plague, read The Boy's War, The Long Road to Gettysburg, or Almost Astronauts — the closest matches in our database, matched on shared award lists and reading level.
Closest match: The Boy's War by Jim Murphy
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Looking for books like An American Plague by Jim Murphy? 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 6–10 reader. See how we judge text difficulty on our methodology page.
10 books similar to An American Plague
The Boy's WarJim Murphy
The Long Road to GettysburgJim Murphy
Almost AstronautsTanya Lee Stone
Secrets of a Civil War SubmarineSally M. Walker
Team MoonCatherine Thimmesh
The Voice That Challenged a NationRussell Freedman
The WallPeter Sís
Black PotatoesSusan Campbell Bartoletti
Bomb: The Race to Build—and Steal—the World's Most Dangerous WeaponSteve Sheinkin · 920L
Seen and UnseenElizabeth Partridge
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Why each is a match
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- The Boy's Wargrades 4–10
- Is by Jim Murphy, the same author and overlapping grades (4–10). Amazon → books like this →
- The Long Road to Gettysburggrades 4–10
- Is by Jim Murphy, the same author and overlapping grades (4–10). Amazon → books like this →
- Almost Astronautsgrades 5–9
- Both on the Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Medal list, overlapping grades (5–9), and the same era (2000s). Amazon → books like this →
- Secrets of a Civil War Submarinegrades 6–10
- Both on the Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Medal list, overlapping grades (6–10), and the same era (2000s). Amazon → books like this →
- Team Moongrades 5–9
- Both on the Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Medal list, overlapping grades (5–9), and the same era (2000s). Amazon → books like this →
- The Voice That Challenged a Nationgrades 6–10
- Both on the Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Medal list, overlapping grades (6–10), and the same era (2000s). Amazon → books like this →
- The Wallgrades 5–9
- Both on the Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Medal list, overlapping grades (5–9), and the same era (2000s). Amazon → books like this →
- Black Potatoesgrades 6–10
- Both on the Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Medal list and overlapping grades (6–10). Amazon → books like this →
- Bomb: The Race to Build—and Steal—the World's Most Dangerous Weapon920L
- Both on the Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Medal list and overlapping grades (6–9). Amazon → books like this →
- Seen and Unseengrades 5–9
- Both on the Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Medal list and overlapping grades (5–9). Amazon → books like this →
Common questions
- What books are similar to An American Plague?
- The 10 closest matches to An American Plague by Jim Murphy on ReadingList include The Boy's War, The Long Road to Gettysburg, Almost Astronauts, Secrets of a Civil War Submarine, and Team Moon. Each is scored on shared themes, shared award lists, genre, and reading level (grades 6–10), and links to the curricula, states, and grades where it is assigned in US schools, with primary sources.
- Are books like An American Plague reading-level appropriate?
- Yes — every match is a reading-level match, not just a topical one, scored on Lexile and grade band (grades 6–10), 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.