Books like The Color of a Lie

If you liked The Color of a Lie, read African Town, Butterfly Yellow, or The Hired Girl — the closest matches in our database, matched on shared award lists and reading level.

Closest match: African Town by Irene Latham

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Looking for books like The Color of a Lie by Kim Johnson? 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 9–12 reader. See how we judge text difficulty on our methodology page.

10 books similar to The Color of a Lie

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Why each is a match

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African Towngrades 7–12
Both on the Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction list, overlapping grades (7–12), and the same era (2020s). Amazon → books like this →
Butterfly Yellowgrades 9–12
Both on the Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction list and overlapping grades (9–12). Amazon → books like this →
The Hired Girlgrades 7–12
Both on the Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction list and overlapping grades (7–12). Amazon → books like this →
The Landgrades 7–12
Both on the Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction list and overlapping grades (7–12). Amazon → books like this →
The River Between Usgrades 7–12
Both on the Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction list and overlapping grades (7–12). Amazon → books like this →
A Fate So Coldgrades 7–12
Overlapping grades (7–12) and the same era (2020s). Amazon → books like this →
Ace of Spadesgrades 9–12
Overlapping grades (9–12) and the same era (2020s). Amazon → books like this →
Aisle Ninegrades 9–12
Overlapping grades (9–12) and the same era (2020s). Amazon → books like this →
All My Ragegrades 9–12
Overlapping grades (9–12) and the same era (2020s). Amazon → books like this →
All the Fighting Partsgrades 9–12
Overlapping grades (9–12) and the same era (2020s). Amazon → books like this →

Books like The Color of a Lie for elementary readers (grades 3–5)

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

  • A Sea of Lemon Trees by María Dolores Águila · grades 5–8 — Both on the Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction list and the same era (2020s).
  • All He Knew by Helen Frost · grades 5–8 — Both on the Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction list and the same era (2020s).
  • Bea and the New Deal Horse by L. M. Elliott · grades 3–5 — Both on the Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction list and the same era (2020s).
  • Finding Langston by Lesa Cline-Ransome · grades 4–7 — Both on the Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction list and the same era (2020s).
  • Ophie's Ghosts by Justina Ireland · grades 4–7 — Both on the Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction list and the same era (2020s).

Books like The Color of a Lie for middle school (grades 6–8)

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

  • A Sea of Lemon Trees by María Dolores Águila · grades 5–8 — Both on the Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction list and the same era (2020s).
  • All He Knew by Helen Frost · grades 5–8 — Both on the Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction list and the same era (2020s).
  • Finding Langston by Lesa Cline-Ransome · grades 4–7 — Both on the Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction list and the same era (2020s).
  • Ophie's Ghosts by Justina Ireland · grades 4–7 — Both on the Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction list and the same era (2020s).

Common questions

What books are similar to The Color of a Lie?
The 10 closest matches to The Color of a Lie by Kim Johnson on ReadingList include African Town, Butterfly Yellow, The Hired Girl, The Land, and The River Between Us. Each is scored on shared themes, shared award lists, genre, and reading level (grades 9–12), and links to the curricula, states, and grades where it is assigned in US schools, with primary sources.
Are books like The Color of a Lie reading-level appropriate?
Yes — every match is a reading-level match, not just a topical one, scored on Lexile and grade band (grades 9–12), 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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