Books like Zach's Lie

If you liked Zach's Lie, read Baby-Sitting Is a Dangerous Job, Cryptid Hunters, or Shiloh — the closest matches in our database, matched on shared themes, shared award lists, and reading level.

Closest match: Baby-Sitting Is a Dangerous Job by Willo Davis Roberts — shares kidnapping

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Looking for books like Zach's Lie by Roland Smith (Realistic Fiction · grades 3–8)? It’s most often read for its themes of witness protection programs, drug dealers, and kidnapping. 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 3–8 reader. See how we judge text difficulty on our methodology page.

10 books similar to Zach's Lie

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Why each is a match

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Baby-Sitting Is a Dangerous Jobgrades 3–8
Shares themes of kidnapping, both on the Mark Twain Readers Award list (+1 more shared list), and same genre (Realistic Fiction). Amazon → books like this →
Cryptid Huntersgrades 5–8
Is by Roland Smith, the same author, both on the Nevada Young Readers' Award list, and overlapping grades (5–8). Amazon → books like this →
Shiloh890L
Both on the Mark Twain Readers Award list (+2 more shared lists), same genre (Realistic Fiction), and overlapping grades (3–6). Amazon → books like this →
Hostagegrades 3–8
Shares themes of kidnapping, both on the Nevada Young Readers' Award list, and same genre (Realistic Fiction). Amazon → books like this →
Elephant Rungrades 4–8
Is by Roland Smith, the same author and overlapping grades (4–8). Amazon → books like this →
Holes660L
Both on the Mark Twain Readers Award list (+1 more shared list), overlapping grades (4–7), and the same era (1990s). Amazon → books like this →
Maniac Magee820L
Both on the Mark Twain Readers Award list (+2 more shared lists), overlapping grades (4–7), and the same era (1990s). Amazon → books like this →
Skeleton Mangrades 3–8
Shares themes of kidnapping, both on the North Dakota Flicker Tale Children's Book Award list, and overlapping grades (3–8). Amazon → books like this →
Frindle830L
Both on the Nevada Young Readers' Award list (+1 more shared list), overlapping grades (3–7), and the same era (1990s). Amazon → books like this →
Fudge-a-Maniagrades 3–6
Both on the Nevada Young Readers' Award list (+1 more shared list), overlapping grades (3–6), and the same era (1990s). Amazon → books like this →

Books like Zach's Lie for elementary readers (grades 3–5)

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

  • Mick Harte Was Here by Barbara Park · grades 5–8 — Both on the North Dakota Flicker Tale Children's Book Award list, same genre (Realistic Fiction), and overlapping grades (5–8).
  • Shiloh Season by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor · grades 3–6 — Both on the North Dakota Flicker Tale Children's Book Award list, same genre (Realistic Fiction), and overlapping grades (3–6).
  • Loch by Paul Zindel · grades 3–8 — Both on the Nevada Young Readers' Award list, same genre (Realistic Fiction), and overlapping grades (3–8).
  • The Boys Start the War by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor · grades 3–8 — Both on the Nevada Young Readers' Award list, same genre (Realistic Fiction), and overlapping grades (3–8).
  • Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library by Chris Grabenstein · grades 4–6 — Both on the Mark Twain Readers Award list (+1 more shared list) and overlapping grades (4–6).

Books like Zach's Lie for middle school (grades 6–8)

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

  • Mick Harte Was Here by Barbara Park · grades 5–8 — Both on the North Dakota Flicker Tale Children's Book Award list, same genre (Realistic Fiction), and overlapping grades (5–8).
  • Shiloh Season by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor · grades 3–6 — Both on the North Dakota Flicker Tale Children's Book Award list, same genre (Realistic Fiction), and overlapping grades (3–6).
  • Loch by Paul Zindel · grades 3–8 — Both on the Nevada Young Readers' Award list, same genre (Realistic Fiction), and overlapping grades (3–8).
  • The Boys Start the War by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor · grades 3–8 — Both on the Nevada Young Readers' Award list, same genre (Realistic Fiction), and overlapping grades (3–8).
  • Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library by Chris Grabenstein · grades 4–6 — Both on the Mark Twain Readers Award list (+1 more shared list) and overlapping grades (4–6).

Common questions

What books are similar to Zach's Lie?
The 10 closest matches to Zach's Lie by Roland Smith on ReadingList include Baby-Sitting Is a Dangerous Job, Cryptid Hunters, Shiloh, Hostage, and Elephant Run. Each is scored on shared themes (witness protection programs, drug dealers, and kidnapping), shared award lists, genre, and reading level (grades 3–8), and links to the curricula, states, and grades where it is assigned in US schools, with primary sources.
Are books like Zach's Lie reading-level appropriate?
Yes — every match is a reading-level match, not just a topical one, scored on Lexile and grade band (grades 3–8), 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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