What books are similar to Anthony Burns?

The 10 closest matches to Anthony Burns by Virginia Hamilton on ReadingList include Sweet Whispers, Brother Rush, M.C. Higgins, the Great, A Little Fear, Auks, Rocks, and the Odd Dinosaur, and Behind Barbed Wire. Each is scored on shared themes, shared award lists, genre, and reading level (grades 4–10), and links to the curricula, states, and grades where it is assigned in US schools, with primary sources.

Are books like Anthony Burns reading-level appropriate?

Yes — every match is a reading-level match, not just a topical one, scored on Lexile and grade band (grades 4–10), 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.

Books like Anthony Burns

If you liked Anthony Burns, read Sweet Whispers, Brother Rush, M.C. Higgins, the Great, or A Little Fear — the closest matches in our database, matched on shared award lists and reading level.

Closest match: Sweet Whispers, Brother Rush by Virginia Hamilton

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Looking for books like Anthony Burns by Virginia Hamilton (Children's · grades 4–10)? 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 4–10 reader. See how we judge text difficulty on our methodology page.

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Why each is a match

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Sweet Whispers, Brother Rushgrades 4–9: Is by Virginia Hamilton, the same author, both on the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award list, and same genre (Children's). Amazon → books like this →
M.C. Higgins, the Greatgrades 4–9: Is by Virginia Hamilton, the same author, both on the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award list, and same genre (Children's). Amazon → books like this →
A Little Feargrades 4–9: Both on the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award list, same genre (Children's), and overlapping grades (4–9). Amazon → books like this →
Auks, Rocks, and the Odd Dinosaurgrades 4–10: Both on the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award list, same genre (Children's), and overlapping grades (4–10). Amazon → books like this →
Behind Barbed Wiregrades 4–10: Both on the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award list, same genre (Children's), and overlapping grades (4–10). Amazon → books like this →
Conrad's Wargrades 4–9: Both on the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award list, same genre (Children's), and overlapping grades (4–9). Amazon → books like this →
Playing Beatie Bowgrades 4–9: Both on the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award list, same genre (Children's), and overlapping grades (4–9). Amazon → books like this →
The Friendshipgrades 4–9: Both on the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award list, same genre (Children's), and overlapping grades (4–9). Amazon → books like this →
The Moves Make the Mangrades 4–9: Both on the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award list, same genre (Children's), and overlapping grades (4–9). Amazon → books like this →
The Weaver's Giftgrades 4–10: Both on the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award list, same genre (Children's), and overlapping grades (4–10). Amazon → books like this →

Common questions

What books are similar to Anthony Burns?: The 10 closest matches to Anthony Burns by Virginia Hamilton on ReadingList include Sweet Whispers, Brother Rush, M.C. Higgins, the Great, A Little Fear, Auks, Rocks, and the Odd Dinosaur, and Behind Barbed Wire. Each is scored on shared themes, shared award lists, genre, and reading level (grades 4–10), and links to the curricula, states, and grades where it is assigned in US schools, with primary sources.
Are books like Anthony Burns reading-level appropriate?: Yes — every match is a reading-level match, not just a topical one, scored on Lexile and grade band (grades 4–10), 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.

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Books like Anthony Burns

10 books similar to Anthony Burns

Why each is a match

Common questions

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