What books are similar to Good Night, Mr. Tom?

The 10 closest matches to Good Night, Mr. Tom by Michelle Magorian on ReadingList include The Fighting Ground, Barbed Wire Baseball, Echo, The Devil's Arithmetic, and When. Each is scored on shared themes (child abuse, historical fiction, and world war, 1939-1945), shared award lists, genre, and reading level (grades 6–8), and links to the curricula, states, and grades where it is assigned in US schools, with primary sources.

Are books like Good Night, Mr. Tom reading-level appropriate?

Yes — every match is a reading-level match, not just a topical one, scored on Lexile and grade band (grades 6–8), 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 Good Night, Mr. Tom

If you liked Good Night, Mr. Tom, read The Fighting Ground, Barbed Wire Baseball, or Echo — the closest matches in our database, matched on shared themes, shared award lists, and reading level.

Closest match: The Fighting Ground by Avi — shares historical fiction

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Looking for books like Good Night, Mr. Tom by Michelle Magorian (Historical Fiction · grades 6–8)? It’s most often read for its themes of child abuse, historical fiction, and world war, 1939-1945. 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 6–8 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 Fighting Groundgrades 4–8: Shares themes of historical fiction, same genre (Historical Fiction), and overlapping grades (4–8). Amazon → books like this →
Barbed Wire Baseballgrades 3–8: Shares themes of historical fiction, same genre (Historical Fiction), and overlapping grades (3–8). Amazon → books like this →
Echo680L: Both on the Virginia Readers' Choice list, same genre (Historical Fiction), and overlapping grades (5–8). Amazon → books like this →
The Devil's Arithmetic730L: Same genre (Historical Fiction), overlapping grades (5–8), and the same era (1980s). Amazon → books like this →
Whengrades 6–8: Same genre (Historical Fiction), overlapping grades (6–8), and the same era (1980s). Amazon → books like this →
A Corner of the Universegrades 5–8: Same genre (Historical Fiction) and overlapping grades (5–8). Amazon → books like this →
A Long Walk to Water720L: Same genre (Historical Fiction) and overlapping grades (5–8). Amazon → books like this →
A Night Dividedgrades 5–8: Same genre (Historical Fiction) and overlapping grades (5–8). Amazon → books like this →
Alliesgrades 5–9: Same genre (Historical Fiction) and overlapping grades (5–9). Amazon → books like this →
Black Ships Before Troygrades 6–8: Same genre (Historical Fiction) and overlapping grades (6–8). Amazon → books like this →

Books like Good Night, Mr. Tom for elementary readers (grades 3–5)

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

Round Trip by Ann Jonas · grades K–3 — Shares themes of country life.
Call Me Hope by Gretchen Olson · grades 3–5 — Shares themes of child abuse.
Code Name Kingfisher by Liz Kessler · grades 4–8 — Same genre (Historical Fiction) and overlapping grades (4–8).
Don't Hurt Laurie by Willo Davis Roberts · grades 4–8 — Shares themes of child abuse and overlapping grades (4–8).
Duke by Kirby Larson · grades 3–5 — Shares themes of world war, 1939-1945.

Books like Good Night, Mr. Tom for middle school (grades 6–8)

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

Code Name Kingfisher by Liz Kessler · grades 4–8 — Same genre (Historical Fiction) and overlapping grades (4–8).
Don't Hurt Laurie by Willo Davis Roberts · grades 4–8 — Shares themes of child abuse and overlapping grades (4–8).
Don’t You Dare Read This, Mrs. Dunphrey by Margaret Peterson Haddix · grades 6–9 — Shares themes of child abuse and overlapping grades (6–9).
Dragonwings by Laurence Yep · 870L — Same genre (Historical Fiction) and overlapping grades (6–8).
Nightjohn by Gary Paulsen · grades 6–8 — Same genre (Historical Fiction) and overlapping grades (6–8).

Books like Good Night, Mr. Tom 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).
A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway · grades 11–12 — Same genre (Historical Fiction).
A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens · 1170L — Same genre (Historical Fiction).
All We Have Left by Wendy Mills · grades 9–12 — Same genre (Historical Fiction).
Antony and Cleopatra by William Shakespeare · grades 9–10 — Same genre (Historical Fiction).

Common questions

What books are similar to Good Night, Mr. Tom?: The 10 closest matches to Good Night, Mr. Tom by Michelle Magorian on ReadingList include The Fighting Ground, Barbed Wire Baseball, Echo, The Devil's Arithmetic, and When. Each is scored on shared themes (child abuse, historical fiction, and world war, 1939-1945), shared award lists, genre, and reading level (grades 6–8), and links to the curricula, states, and grades where it is assigned in US schools, with primary sources.
Are books like Good Night, Mr. Tom reading-level appropriate?: Yes — every match is a reading-level match, not just a topical one, scored on Lexile and grade band (grades 6–8), 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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