Books like The Handmaid's Tale

Looking for books like The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood (Dystopian Fiction · 750L · grades 11–12)? It’s most often read for its themes of women's rights, totalitarianism, and religion. The 10 titlesbelow are the closest matches in the ReadingList database — each scored on shared themes, 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 11–12 reader. See how we judge text difficulty on our methodology page.

10 books similar to The Handmaid's Tale

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Why each is a match

Life of Pi830L
Shares themes of religion and identity and a close reading level (830L vs 750L).
Anthem880L
Shares themes of identity, same genre (Dystopian Fiction), and a close reading level (880L vs 750L).
19841090L
Shares themes of totalitarianism, same genre (Dystopian Fiction), and overlapping grades (9–12).
Persepolis: The Story of a Childhoodgrades 9–12
Shares themes of religion and identity and overlapping grades (9–12).
The Forbidden Bookgrades 7–12
Shares themes of religion and identity and overlapping grades (7–12).
Unwindgrades 8–12
Shares themes of identity, same genre (Dystopian Fiction), and overlapping grades (8–12).
The Catcher in the Rye790L
Shares themes of identity and a close reading level (790L vs 750L).
The Poet X800L
Shares themes of identity and a close reading level (800L vs 750L).
The Color Purple670L
Shares themes of identity and a close reading level (670L vs 750L).
Beloved870L
Shares themes of identity and a close reading level (870L vs 750L).

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