Books like The River Between Us
If you liked The River Between Us, read A Season of Gifts, A Year Down Yonder, or The Land — the closest matches in our database, matched on shared award lists and reading level.
Closest match: A Season of Gifts by Richard Peck
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Looking for books like The River Between Us by Richard Peck? 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 7–12 reader. See how we judge text difficulty on our methodology page.
10 books similar to The River Between Us
- A Season of GiftsRichard PeckA Season of GiftsRichard Peck
A Year Down YonderRichard Peck
The LandMildred D. Taylor
African TownIrene Latham
Butterfly YellowThanhhà Lại
The BombTheodore Taylor
The Color of a LieKim Johnson
The Hired GirlLaura Amy Schlitz
A Curse Dark as GoldElizabeth C. Bunce
A Hat Full of SkyTerry Pratchett
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Why each is a match
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- A Season of Giftsgrades 3–8
- Is by Richard Peck, the same author, overlapping grades (3–8), and the same era (2000s). Amazon → books like this →
- A Year Down Yondergrades 3–7
- Is by Richard Peck, the same author, overlapping grades (3–7), and the same era (2000s). Amazon → books like this →
- The Landgrades 7–12
- Both on the Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction list, overlapping grades (7–12), and the same era (2000s). Amazon → books like this →
- African Towngrades 7–12
- Both on the Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction list and overlapping grades (7–12). 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 Bombgrades 7–10
- Both on the Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction list and overlapping grades (7–10). Amazon → books like this →
- The Color of a Liegrades 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 →
- A Curse Dark as Goldgrades 9–12
- Overlapping grades (9–12) and the same era (2000s). Amazon → books like this →
- A Hat Full of Skygrades 9–12
- Overlapping grades (9–12) and the same era (2000s). Amazon → books like this →
Common questions
- What books are similar to The River Between Us?
- The 10 closest matches to The River Between Us by Richard Peck on ReadingList include A Season of Gifts, A Year Down Yonder, The Land, African Town, and Butterfly Yellow. Each is scored on shared themes, shared award lists, genre, and reading level (grades 7–12), and links to the curricula, states, and grades where it is assigned in US schools, with primary sources.
- Are books like The River Between Us reading-level appropriate?
- Yes — every match is a reading-level match, not just a topical one, scored on Lexile and grade band (grades 7–12), 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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