Read-alikes and related books

Books like The Cay

24 books recommended for fans of The Cay by Theodore Taylor, tied together by themes of Prejudice & Racism, Survival Stories, Social Topics, and African American & Black.

Prejudice & Racism Survival Stories Social Topics African American & Black People & Places Friendship Social Themes United States Action & Adventure Juvenile Nonfiction Historical Juvenile Fiction

Top related books to The Cay

Handpicked for thematic and literary overlap — the best shelf companions to The Cay.

Call Me By My Name

John Ed Bradley

Themes: Prejudice & Racism • Social Topics • African American & Black

Swim Team

Johnnie Christmas

Themes: Prejudice & Racism • Social Topics • African American & Black

Freewater

Amina Luqman-Dawson

Themes: Prejudice & Racism • Survival Stories • African American & Black

Timothy of the Cay

Theodore Taylor

Themes: Prejudice & Racism • Survival Stories • African American & Black

Skin Again

bell hooks

Themes: Prejudice & Racism • Social Topics • African American & Black

I Rise

Marie Arnold

Themes: Prejudice & Racism • Social Topics • African American & Black

Something to Say

Lisa Moore Ramée

Themes: Prejudice & Racism • Social Topics • African American & Black

The Closest I’ve Come

Fred Aceves

Themes: Prejudice & Racism • Social Topics • African American & Black

Nothing Interesting Ever Happens to Ethan Fairmont

Nick Brooks

Themes: Prejudice & Racism • Social Topics • African American & Black

#10

The Starplace

Vicki Grove

Themes: Prejudice & Racism • Social Topics • African American & Black

#11

Ways to Grow Love

Renée Watson

Themes: Prejudice & Racism • Social Topics • African American & Black

#12

Philip Hall Likes Me, I Reckon Maybe

Bette Greene

Themes: Prejudice & Racism • Social Topics • African American & Black

#13

Island of the Blue Dolphins — Scott O’Dell

Scott O'Dell

Themes: Prejudice & Racism • Survival Stories • Social Topics

#14

The Blacker the Berry Poems

Joyce Carol Thomas

Themes: Prejudice & Racism • Social Topics • African American & Black

#15

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry

Mildred D. Taylor

Themes: Prejudice & Racism • Social Topics • African American & Black

#16

The Door of No Return

Kwame Alexander

Themes: Prejudice & Racism • Survival Stories • African American & Black

#17

Lena and the Burning of Greenwood A Tulsa Race Massacre Survival Story

Nikki Shannon Smith

Themes: Prejudice & Racism • Survival Stories • African American & Black

#18

One Crazy Summer

Rita Williams-Garcia

Themes: Prejudice & Racism • Social Topics • African American & Black

#19

Mississippi Bridge

Mildred D. Taylor

Themes: Prejudice & Racism • Social Topics • African American & Black

#20

The Black Kids

Christina Hammonds Reed

Themes: Prejudice & Racism • Social Topics • African American & Black

#21

Stella by Starlight

Sharon M. Draper

Themes: Prejudice & Racism • Social Topics • African American & Black

#22

How High The Moon

Karyn Parsons

Themes: Prejudice & Racism • Social Topics • African American & Black

#23

A Lesson for Martin Luther King Jr.

Denise Lewis Patrick

Themes: Prejudice & Racism • Social Topics • African American & Black

#24

They Both Die at the End

Adam Silvera

Themes: Survival Stories • Social Topics • People & Places

The 24 books on this list are tied together by themes of Prejudice & Racism, Survival Stories, Social Topics — the same threads that run through The Cay by Theodore Taylor. Among the authors featured: John Ed Bradley, Johnnie Christmas, Amina Luqman-Dawson, Theodore Taylor, and others.