What books are similar to The Lost Year?

The 10 closest matches to The Lost Year by Katherine Marsh on ReadingList include Heroes, The War That Saved My Life, Brick Dust and Bones, Operation Final Notice, and Something Like Home. Each is scored on shared themes (family, history, and perseverance), 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 The Lost Year 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 The Lost Year

If you liked The Lost Year, read Heroes, The War That Saved My Life, or Brick Dust and Bones — the closest matches in our database, matched on shared themes, shared award lists, and reading level.

Closest match: Heroes by Alan Gratz — shares history

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Looking for books like The Lost Year by Katherine Marsh (Historical Fiction (Middle Grade) · grades 6–8)? It’s most often read for its themes of family, history, and perseverance. 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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Heroesgrades 6–8: Shares themes of history, both on the Great Stone Face Book Award list (+1 more shared list), and same genre (Historical Fiction (Middle Grade)). Amazon → books like this →
The War That Saved My Life580L: Shares themes of family, both on the Garden State Children's Book Award list (+3 more shared lists), and same genre (Historical Fiction (Middle Grade)). Amazon → books like this →
Brick Dust and Bonesgrades 6–8: Shares themes of family and perseverance, both on the Sunshine State Young Readers Award list, and overlapping grades (6–8). Amazon → books like this →
Operation Final Noticegrades 4–8: Shares themes of family and perseverance, both on the Washington Sasquatch Book Award list, and overlapping grades (4–8). Amazon → books like this →
Something Like Homegrades 6–8: Shares themes of family and perseverance, both on the South Carolina Junior Book Award list, and overlapping grades (6–8). Amazon → books like this →
The Fire of Starsgrades 4–8: Shares themes of history and perseverance and overlapping grades (4–8). Amazon → books like this →
When Stars Are Scatteredgrades 5–8: Shares themes of family, both on the Garden State Children's Book Award list (+3 more shared lists), and overlapping grades (5–8). Amazon → books like this →
A Single Shard920L: Shares themes of perseverance, same genre (Historical Fiction (Middle Grade)), and overlapping grades (5–8). Amazon → books like this →
Control Freaksgrades 6–8: Shares themes of perseverance, both on the Sunshine State Young Readers Award list, and overlapping grades (6–8). Amazon → books like this →
Shinji Takahashi and the Mark of the Coatlgrades 6–8: Shares themes of perseverance, both on the Sunshine State Young Readers Award list, and overlapping grades (6–8). Amazon → books like this →

Books like The Lost Year for younger readers (K–2)

Closest matches whose grade range overlaps K–2— same scoring, different audience.

Call Me Roberto!: Roberto Clemente Goes to Bat for Latinos by Nathalie Alonso · grades 2–5 — Shares themes of perseverance and both on the Oklahoma Sequoyah Children's Book Award list.
Yoshi, Sea Turtle Genius by Lynne Cox · grades 2–5 — Shares themes of perseverance and both on the Garden State Children's Book Award list.
Hidden Hope: How a Toy and a Hero Saved Lives During the Holocaust by Elisa Boxer · grades 2–5 — Shares themes of history and both on the Garden State Children's Book Award list.
Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume · 470L — Shares themes of family and both on the Great Stone Face Book Award list (+1 more shared list).
Picture Purrfect (Bodega Cats #1) by Hilda Eunice Burgos · grades 2–5 — Shares themes of family and both on the Oklahoma Sequoyah Children's Book Award list.

Books like The Lost Year for elementary readers (grades 3–5)

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

Hoops by Matt Tavares · grades 3–5 — Shares themes of history and perseverance and both on the South Carolina Junior Book Award list.
Bea and the New Deal Horse by L. M. Elliott · grades 3–5 — Shares themes of family and perseverance and same genre (Historical Fiction (Middle Grade)).
Curveball by Pablo Cartaya · grades 3–5 — Shares themes of family and perseverance and both on the Sunshine State Young Readers Award list.
Growing Home by Beth Ferry · grades 3–5 — Shares themes of family and perseverance and both on the Sunshine State Young Readers Award list.
Call Me Roberto!: Roberto Clemente Goes to Bat for Latinos by Nathalie Alonso · grades 2–5 — Shares themes of perseverance and both on the Oklahoma Sequoyah Children's Book Award list.

Books like The Lost Year for middle school (grades 6–8)

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

Skyriders by Polly Holyoke · grades 6–8 — Shares themes of perseverance, both on the Sunshine State Young Readers Award list, and overlapping grades (6–8).
Rascal by Sterling North · grades 5–8 — Shares themes of family and perseverance, both on the Oklahoma Sequoyah Children's Book Award list, and overlapping grades (5–8).
Roller Girl by Victoria Jamieson · 440L — Shares themes of perseverance, both on the Garden State Children's Book Award list (+2 more shared lists), and overlapping grades (4–7).
Not Nothing by Gayle Forman · grades 4–8 — Shares themes of history, both on the Great Stone Face Book Award list, and overlapping grades (4–8).
Duel by Jessixa Bagley · grades 4–8 — Shares themes of family, both on the Garden State Children's Book Award list (+1 more shared list), and overlapping grades (4–8).

Books like The Lost Year for high school & teens (grades 9–12)

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

Good Different by Meg Eden Kuyatt · grades 6–9 — Both on the Garden State Children's Book Award list (+1 more shared list), overlapping grades (6–9), and the same era (2020s).
Allies by Alan Gratz · grades 5–9 — Both on the Great Stone Face Book Award list (+1 more shared list) and overlapping grades (5–9).
Murder Among Friends by Candace Fleming · grades 9–12 — Shares themes of history.
Now Let Me Fly: A Portrait of Eugene Bullard by Ronald Wimberly · grades 9–12 — Shares themes of history.
Torch by Lyn Miller-Lachmann · grades 9–12 — Shares themes of history.

Common questions

What books are similar to The Lost Year?: The 10 closest matches to The Lost Year by Katherine Marsh on ReadingList include Heroes, The War That Saved My Life, Brick Dust and Bones, Operation Final Notice, and Something Like Home. Each is scored on shared themes (family, history, and perseverance), 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 The Lost Year 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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