What books are similar to Barbed Wire Baseball?

The 10 closest matches to Barbed Wire Baseball by Marissa Moss on ReadingList include The War I Finally Won, Lewis and Clark and Me, The Fighting Ground, Projekt 1065, and A Night Divided. Each is scored on shared themes (historical fiction, japanese internment camps, and japanese americans), shared award lists, genre, and reading level (grades 3–8), and links to the curricula, states, and grades where it is assigned in US schools, with primary sources.

Are books like Barbed Wire Baseball reading-level appropriate?

Yes — every match is a reading-level match, not just a topical one, scored on Lexile and grade band (grades 3–8), 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 Barbed Wire Baseball

If you liked Barbed Wire Baseball, read The War I Finally Won, Lewis and Clark and Me, or The Fighting Ground — the closest matches in our database, matched on shared themes, shared award lists, and reading level.

Closest match: The War I Finally Won by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley — shares wwii

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Looking for books like Barbed Wire Baseball by Marissa Moss (Historical Fiction · grades 3–8)? It’s most often read for its themes of historical fiction, japanese internment camps, and japanese americans. 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 3–8 reader. See how we judge text difficulty on our methodology page.

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Why each is a match

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The War I Finally Wongrades 5–8: Shares themes of wwii, both on the California Young Reader Medal list, and same genre (Historical Fiction). Amazon → books like this →
Lewis and Clark and Megrades 3–6: Shares themes of historical fiction, same genre (Historical Fiction), and overlapping grades (3–6). Amazon → books like this →
The Fighting Groundgrades 4–8: Shares themes of historical fiction, same genre (Historical Fiction), and overlapping grades (4–8). Amazon → books like this →
Projekt 1065grades 5–9: Shares themes of wwii, same genre (Historical Fiction), and overlapping grades (5–9). Amazon → books like this →
A Night Dividedgrades 5–8: Both on the California Young Reader Medal list, same genre (Historical Fiction), and overlapping grades (5–8). Amazon → books like this →
Echo680L: Both on the California Young Reader Medal list, same genre (Historical Fiction), and overlapping grades (5–8). Amazon → books like this →
Good Night, Mr. Tomgrades 6–8: Shares themes of historical fiction, same genre (Historical Fiction), and overlapping grades (6–8). Amazon → books like this →
A Long Walk to Water720L: Same genre (Historical Fiction), overlapping grades (5–8), and the same era (2010s). Amazon → books like this →
I Survived the Great Chicago Fire, 1871grades 3–6: Same genre (Historical Fiction), overlapping grades (3–6), and the same era (2010s). Amazon → books like this →
One Crazy Summer750L: Same genre (Historical Fiction), overlapping grades (5–8), and the same era (2010s). Amazon → books like this →

Books like Barbed Wire Baseball for elementary readers (grades 3–5)

Closest matches whose grade range overlaps 3–5— same scoring, different audience.

The Downstairs Girl by Stacey Lee · grades 3–8 — Same genre (Historical Fiction), overlapping grades (3–8), and the same era (2010s).
The Cats in Krasinski Square by Karen Hesse · grades 3–8 — Both on the California Young Reader Medal list, same genre (Historical Fiction), and overlapping grades (3–8).
The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis · 1000L — Both on the California Young Reader Medal list, same genre (Historical Fiction), and overlapping grades (5–8).
Refugee by Alan Gratz · 800L — Both on the California Young Reader Medal list, same genre (Historical Fiction), and overlapping grades (5–9).
A Corner of the Universe by Ann M. Martin · grades 5–8 — Same genre (Historical Fiction) and overlapping grades (5–8).

Books like Barbed Wire Baseball for middle school (grades 6–8)

Closest matches whose grade range overlaps 6–8— same scoring, different audience.

The Downstairs Girl by Stacey Lee · grades 3–8 — Same genre (Historical Fiction), overlapping grades (3–8), and the same era (2010s).
The Cats in Krasinski Square by Karen Hesse · grades 3–8 — Both on the California Young Reader Medal list, same genre (Historical Fiction), and overlapping grades (3–8).
The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis · 1000L — Both on the California Young Reader Medal list, same genre (Historical Fiction), and overlapping grades (5–8).
Refugee by Alan Gratz · 800L — Both on the California Young Reader Medal list, same genre (Historical Fiction), and overlapping grades (5–9).
A Corner of the Universe by Ann M. Martin · grades 5–8 — Same genre (Historical Fiction) and overlapping grades (5–8).

Books like Barbed Wire Baseball for high school & teens (grades 9–12)

Closest matches whose grade range overlaps 9–12— same scoring, different audience.

The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead · grades 11–12 — Shares themes of historical fiction and same genre (Historical Fiction).
All We Have Left by Wendy Mills · grades 9–12 — Both on the California Young Reader Medal list, same genre (Historical Fiction), and the same era (2010s).
The Fountains of Silence by Ruta Sepetys · grades 9–12 — Both on the California Young Reader Medal list, same genre (Historical Fiction), and the same era (2010s).
Private Peaceful by Michael Morpurgo · grades 9–12 — Both on the California Young Reader Medal list and same genre (Historical Fiction).
Torch by Lyn Miller-Lachmann · grades 9–12 — Both on the California Young Reader Medal list and same genre (Historical Fiction).

Common questions

What books are similar to Barbed Wire Baseball?: The 10 closest matches to Barbed Wire Baseball by Marissa Moss on ReadingList include The War I Finally Won, Lewis and Clark and Me, The Fighting Ground, Projekt 1065, and A Night Divided. Each is scored on shared themes (historical fiction, japanese internment camps, and japanese americans), shared award lists, genre, and reading level (grades 3–8), and links to the curricula, states, and grades where it is assigned in US schools, with primary sources.
Are books like Barbed Wire Baseball reading-level appropriate?: Yes — every match is a reading-level match, not just a topical one, scored on Lexile and grade band (grades 3–8), 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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