What books are similar to Lord of the Deep?

The 10 closest matches to Lord of the Deep by Graham Salisbury on ReadingList include Under the Blood-Red Sun, An American Plague, Commodore Perry in the Land of the Shogun, FIREBOAT, and Leon's Story. Each is scored on shared themes, shared award lists, genre, and reading level (grades 4–9), and links to the curricula, states, and grades where it is assigned in US schools, with primary sources.

Are books like Lord of the Deep reading-level appropriate?

Yes — every match is a reading-level match, not just a topical one, scored on Lexile and grade band (grades 4–9), 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 Lord of the Deep

If you liked Lord of the Deep, read Under the Blood-Red Sun, An American Plague, or Commodore Perry in the Land of the Shogun — the closest matches in our database, matched on shared award lists and reading level.

Closest match: Under the Blood-Red Sun by Graham Salisbury

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Looking for books like Lord of the Deep by Graham Salisbury (Children's · grades 4–9)? 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 4–9 reader. See how we judge text difficulty on our methodology page.

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Why each is a match

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Under the Blood-Red Sungrades 5–8: Is by Graham Salisbury, the same author and overlapping grades (5–8). Amazon → books like this →
An American Plaguegrades 4–10: Both on the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award list, same genre (Children's), and overlapping grades (4–10). Amazon → books like this →
Commodore Perry in the Land of the Shogungrades 4–10: Both on the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award list, same genre (Children's), and overlapping grades (4–10). Amazon → books like this →
FIREBOATgrades 4–10: Both on the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award list, same genre (Children's), and overlapping grades (4–10). Amazon → books like this →
Leon's Storygrades 4–10: Both on the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award list, same genre (Children's), and overlapping grades (4–10). Amazon → books like this →
Marching For Freedomgrades 4–10: Both on the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award list, same genre (Children's), and overlapping grades (4–10). Amazon → books like this →
Nationgrades 4–9: Both on the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award list, same genre (Children's), and overlapping grades (4–9). Amazon → books like this →
Some of the Kinder Planetsgrades 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 Double Life of Pocahontasgrades 4–10: Both on the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award list, same genre (Children's), and overlapping grades (4–10). Amazon → books like this →
The Fire Eatersgrades 4–9: Both on the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award list, same genre (Children's), and overlapping grades (4–9). Amazon → books like this →

Books like Lord of the Deep for elementary readers (grades 3–5)

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

The Folk Keeper by Franny Billingsley · grades 4–9 — Both on the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award list, same genre (Children's), and overlapping grades (4–9).
The Intruder by John Rowe Townsend · grades 4–9 — Both on the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award list, same genre (Children's), and overlapping grades (4–9).
The Jamie and Angus Stories by Anne Fine · grades 4–9 — Both on the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award list, same genre (Children's), and overlapping grades (4–9).
The Lincolns by Candace Fleming · grades 4–10 — Both on the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award list, same genre (Children's), and overlapping grades (4–10).
The Longitude Prize by Joan Dash · grades 4–10 — Both on the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award list, same genre (Children's), and overlapping grades (4–10).

Books like Lord of the Deep for middle school (grades 6–8)

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

The Folk Keeper by Franny Billingsley · grades 4–9 — Both on the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award list, same genre (Children's), and overlapping grades (4–9).
The Intruder by John Rowe Townsend · grades 4–9 — Both on the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award list, same genre (Children's), and overlapping grades (4–9).
The Jamie and Angus Stories by Anne Fine · grades 4–9 — Both on the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award list, same genre (Children's), and overlapping grades (4–9).
The Lincolns by Candace Fleming · grades 4–10 — Both on the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award list, same genre (Children's), and overlapping grades (4–10).
The Longitude Prize by Joan Dash · grades 4–10 — Both on the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award list, same genre (Children's), and overlapping grades (4–10).

Books like Lord of the Deep for high school & teens (grades 9–12)

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

The Folk Keeper by Franny Billingsley · grades 4–9 — Both on the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award list, same genre (Children's), and overlapping grades (4–9).
The Intruder by John Rowe Townsend · grades 4–9 — Both on the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award list, same genre (Children's), and overlapping grades (4–9).
The Jamie and Angus Stories by Anne Fine · grades 4–9 — Both on the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award list, same genre (Children's), and overlapping grades (4–9).
The Lincolns by Candace Fleming · grades 4–10 — Both on the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award list, same genre (Children's), and overlapping grades (4–10).
The Longitude Prize by Joan Dash · grades 4–10 — Both on the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award list, same genre (Children's), and overlapping grades (4–10).

Common questions

What books are similar to Lord of the Deep?: The 10 closest matches to Lord of the Deep by Graham Salisbury on ReadingList include Under the Blood-Red Sun, An American Plague, Commodore Perry in the Land of the Shogun, FIREBOAT, and Leon's Story. Each is scored on shared themes, shared award lists, genre, and reading level (grades 4–9), and links to the curricula, states, and grades where it is assigned in US schools, with primary sources.
Are books like Lord of the Deep reading-level appropriate?: Yes — every match is a reading-level match, not just a topical one, scored on Lexile and grade band (grades 4–9), 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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