Books like The Scarlet Letter
Looking for books like The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne (Historical Fiction · 1420L · grades 10–12)? It’s most often read for its themes of sin and guilt, public shame vs private conscience, and Puritan society. The 5 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 10–12 reader. See how we judge text difficulty on our methodology page.
5 books similar to The Scarlet Letter
Why each is a match
- A Tale of Two Cities1170L
- Same genre (Historical Fiction), a close reading level (1170L vs 1420L), and the same era (1850s).
- My Ántonia1010L
- Same genre (Historical Fiction) and overlapping grades (10–12).
- The Book Thief730L
- Same genre (Historical Fiction) and overlapping grades (8–11).
- Salt to the Sea560L
- Same genre (Historical Fiction) and overlapping grades (8–12).
- Little Women1300L
- A close reading level (1300L vs 1420L).