What books are similar to The Hate U Give?

The 10 closest matches to The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas on ReadingList include The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, Refugee, The Poet X, Long Way Down, and The Secret Life of Bees. Each is scored on shared themes (police violence, race, and code-switching), 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 Hate U Give 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.

Books like The Hate U Give

If you liked The Hate U Give, read The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, Refugee, or The Poet X — the closest matches in our database, matched on shared themes, shared award lists, and reading level.

Looking for books like The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas (YA Contemporary · 590L · grades 9–12)? It’s most often read for its themes of police violence, race, and code-switching. 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.

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Why each is a match

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The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian600L: Shares themes of code-switching, both on the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award list (+2 more shared lists), and a close reading level (600L vs 590L). Amazon →
Refugee800L: Shares themes of family, both on the Buckeye Children's & Teen Book Award list (+1 more shared list), and a close reading level (800L vs 590L). Amazon →
The Poet X800L: Shares themes of family, both on the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award list (+1 more shared list), and a close reading level (800L vs 590L). Amazon →
Long Way Down720L: Shares themes of family, both on the Odyssey Award (Best Audiobook) list, and a close reading level (720L vs 590L). Amazon →
The Secret Life of Bees840L: Shares themes of race and family and a close reading level (840L vs 590L). Amazon →
Fencesgrades 9–12: Shares themes of race and family and overlapping grades (9–12). Amazon →
The Grapes of Wrath680L: Shares themes of family, both on the Common Core State Standards (ELA) list, and a close reading level (680L vs 590L). Amazon →
The Fault in Our Stars850L: Both on the Buckeye Children's & Teen Book Award list (+1 more shared list), overlapping grades (9–12), and the same era (2010s). Amazon →
Eleanor & Parkgrades 4–9: Both on the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award list (+1 more shared list), overlapping grades (4–9), and the same era (2010s). Amazon →
Everything We Never Hadgrades 7–12: Shares themes of family, both on the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award list, and overlapping grades (7–12). Amazon →

Books like The Hate U Give for younger readers (K–2)

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

I Survived the Sinking of the Titanic, 1912 by Lauren Tarshis · 590L — Shares themes of family and a close reading level (590L vs 590L).
Ivy and Bean by Annie Barrows · 580L — Shares themes of family, both on the Common Core State Standards (ELA) list, and a close reading level (580L vs 590L).
Flat Stanley by Jeff Brown · 540L — Shares themes of family, both on the Common Core State Standards (ELA) list, and a close reading level (540L vs 590L).
Geronimo Stilton: Lost Treasure of the Emerald Eye by Geronimo Stilton · 530L — Shares themes of family, both on the Common Core State Standards (ELA) list, and a close reading level (530L vs 590L).
Dinosaurs Before Dark (Magic Tree House #1) by Mary Pope Osborne · 510L — Shares themes of family, both on the Common Core State Standards (ELA) list, and a close reading level (510L vs 590L).

Books like The Hate U Give for elementary readers (grades 3–5)

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

Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli · 820L — Shares themes of race and family, both on the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award list (+2 more shared lists), and a close reading level (820L vs 590L).
Blended by Sharon M. Draper · 610L — Shares themes of race and family, both on the Common Core State Standards (ELA) list, and a close reading level (610L vs 590L).
Front Desk by Kelly Yang · 640L — Shares themes of race and family and a close reading level (640L vs 590L).
The War That Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley · 580L — Shares themes of family, both on the Odyssey Award (Best Audiobook) list, and a close reading level (580L vs 590L).
The Season of Styx Malone by Kekla Magoon · 510L — Shares themes of family, both on the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award list (+1 more shared list), and a close reading level (510L vs 590L).

Books like The Hate U Give for middle school (grades 6–8)

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

Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli · 820L — Shares themes of race and family, both on the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award list (+2 more shared lists), and a close reading level (820L vs 590L).
Blended by Sharon M. Draper · 610L — Shares themes of race and family, both on the Common Core State Standards (ELA) list, and a close reading level (610L vs 590L).
The Parker Inheritance by Varian Johnson · 610L — Shares themes of race, both on the Odyssey Award (Best Audiobook) list (+1 more shared list), and a close reading level (610L vs 590L).
Front Desk by Kelly Yang · 640L — Shares themes of race and family and a close reading level (640L vs 590L).
The War That Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley · 580L — Shares themes of family, both on the Odyssey Award (Best Audiobook) list, and a close reading level (580L vs 590L).

Books like The Hate U Give for high school & teens (grades 9–12)

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

Shut Up, This Is Serious by Carolina Ixta · grades 9–12 — Shares themes of family, both on the William C. Morris YA Debut Award list, and overlapping grades (9–12).
The Color Purple by Alice Walker · 670L — Shares themes of family and a close reading level (670L vs 590L).
The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton · 750L — Shares themes of family, both on the Common Core State Standards (ELA) list, and a close reading level (750L vs 590L).
I Am Malala (Young Readers Edition) by Malala Yousafzai · 830L — Shares themes of activism and a close reading level (830L vs 590L).
Black Boy by Richard Wright · 950L — Shares themes of race, both on the Common Core State Standards (ELA) list, and overlapping grades (9–12).

Book data last updated 2026-07-07. Matches are computed from each book’s cited attributes — see the methodology.

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