Kids > Reading and writing > Booklists > Historical Fiction
Historical Fiction
- Prehistoric and Ancient Time
- The Middle Ages and Renaissance
- Colonial America
- The American Revolution
- Frontier and Pioneer Fiction
- The Civil War
- Early Twentieth Century
- World War II
- The Holocaust
- U.S. Civil Rights Movement
- Vietnam War
Prehistoric and Ancient Time
- Cowley
-
While living in a river valley in southern France during the Upper Paleolithic era, 13-year-old Anooka rejects the ways of her clan and sets out to make another kind of life for herself. Companion to Dar and the Spear-thrower.
- Fletcher
-
When Marjan joins the Sultan's harem in ancient Persia, she gathers for Shahrazad the stories that will save the queen's life.
- Lasky
-
Following the death of her mother, the new shaman Mishoo must find a way to help her prehistoric tribe during a drought.
- Lester
-
Egyptian princess, Batya, rescues a Hebrew infant who becomes a prophet to his people, while his sister finds her true self as a priestess to the Egyptian gods.
- McGraw
-
An ingenious Egyptian slave girl becomes a spy in the royal palace of Queen Hatshepsut.
- Scieszka
-
The Time Warp Trio is transported to ancient Rome and forced to fight as gladiators in the Collosseum. Part of The Time Warp Trio series.
- Wilson
-
After being taken as a slavethe Nineveh, 13-year-old Soulai finds his life intertwined with that of the son of King Ashurbanipal and a magnificent stallion, and he gets a chance to prove that he is not a coward.
The Middle Ages and Renaissance
- Barrett
-
In the eleventh century, the teenage princess Anna Comnena fights for her birthright, the throne to the Byzantine Empire, which she fears will be taken from her by her younger brother.
- Blackwood
-
A young orphan boy discovers the meaning of friendship and loyalty when he is ordered by his master to infiltrate Shakespeare's acting troupe in order to steal the script of Hamlet.
- Branford
-
In 1381 in England, a hunting dog recounts what happens to his beloved master and his family when they are arrested on suspicion of being part of the peasant's rebellion.
- Cadnum
-
In twelfth-century England, 17-year-old Edmund finds himself traveling to the Holy Land as squire to a knight crusader on his way to join the forces of Richard lionheart.
- Cushman
-
In this fictional journal, a thirteenth-century English girl records the events of her life, including her efforts to avoid marriage.
- Cushman
-
In medieval England, a homeless girl is taken in by the sharp-temperd village midwife.
- De Angeli
In fourteenth-century England, a disabled boy proves his courage and earns recognition from the king.- Morpurgo
While sitting on the riverbank in ancient French city of Orleans, 17-year-old Eloise hears a voice that relates the adventures and struggles of the medieval heroine, Joan of Arc.- Platt
As a page in his uncle's castle in thirteenth-century England, 11-year-old Tobias learns how to hunt, play games of skill, and behave in noble society.- Wilson
Oyuna tells her granddaughter the story of how love for her horse enabled her to win a race and bring good luck to her family living in Mongolia in 1339.Colonial America
- Bowen
-
In this fictional journal,13-year-old Christopher records the events of his first few months in the New World.
- Dalgliesh
-
Sarah and her father journey to the Connecticut wilderness in 1707 to build a home for the family.
- Hermes
-
Nine-year-old Elizabeth keeps a journal of her experiences in the New World. Part of the Dear America series.
- Kirkpatrick
-
When her family is massacred by Lenape Indians in 1643, 9-year-old Susanna is captured and raised as a Lenape.
- Nixon
-
After having been a slave since childhood on a plantation near Williamsburg, Virginia, Caesar finally finds a way to plan his own future. Part of the Young Americans series.
- O'Dell
-
A young woman journeys to the New World, where she meets Princess Pocahontas.
- Speare
-
Left alone to guard the family's wilderness home, Matt is hard-pressed to survive until local Indians teach him their skills.
- Speare
-
Kit Tyler, an outsider in her aunt's Puritan household, suddenly finds herself standing trial for witchcraft.
The American Revolution
- Borden
-
When his plan to sled down the steep hill at Boston Common is thwarted by the mess of British troops camped there, Henry complains to the royal governor.
- Collier
-
Tragedy strikes the Meeker family when one son joins the Rebel forces while the rest of the family tries to stay neutral in a Tory town.
- Denenberg
-
William, a 12-year-old orphan, writes of his experiences in Boston where he joins the cause of the patriots who are opposed to the British rule. Part of the Dear America series.
- Forbes
-
After injuring his hand, a silversmith's apprentice in Boston becomes a messenger for the Sons of Liberty.
- Goodman
-
After being kidnapped by English Loyalists, 13-year-old Hope summons every ounce of her courage to respond to the ordeal.
- Gregory
-
Eleven-year-old Abigail presents a diary account of life in Valley Forge as General Washington prepares his troops to fight the British. Part of the Dear America series.
- Moss
-
Emma describes her stay in Boston, where she witnesses the British blockade and spies for the American militia. Part of the Young American Voices series.
- Pryor
-
Eleven-year-old Thomas and his family escape a bloody massacre at Wyoming Valley and endure innumerable hardships as they try to make their way to Philadelphia. Part of the American Adventures series.
- Van Leeuwen
-
For 8-year-old Hannah, growing up means facing new challenges, such as helping the fmaily prepare to send her brother Ben to join the colonial soldiers. Part of the Pioneer Daughters series.
Frontier and Pioneer Fiction
- Porter
-
Addy and her mother escape from slavery to Philadelphia, where Addy attends school and learns a lesson in friendship. Part of the American Girls collection.
Early Twentieth Century (1900-1939)
- Curtis
-
Ten-year-old Bud, a motherless boy living in Flint, Michigan during the Great Depression, escapes a bad foster home and sets out in search of the man he believes to be his father.
- De Young
-
During the Great Depression, 11-year-old Margo writes a letter to Eleanor Roosevelt asking for help to save her family's home.
- Durbin
-
Fifteen-year-old Otto describes how he travels from Finland to America in 1905 to join his father in a dreary iron mining community in Minnesota, where he becomes involved in a union fight for better working conditions. Part of the Dear America series.
- Hesse
-
In letters to her cousin, a young Jewish gil chronicles her family's flight from Russia in 1919 and her experiences on her own, when the rest of the family emigrates to America and she is left behind in Belgium.
- Hesse
-
In a series of poems, 15-year-old Billie Jo relates the hardships of living on her family's wheat farm in Oklahoma during the dust bowl years of the Great Depression.
- Levine
-
Orphaned Dave escapes from the Hebrew Home for Boys and is welcomed into the music and culture filled world of the Harlem Renaissance.
- Peck
-
Each summer during the Great Depression, Joey and Mary Alice visit their outrageous grandmother in rural Illinois.
- Yep
-
In the early twentieth century, a young Chinese boy joins his father in San Francisco and helps him realize his dream of making a flying machine.
World War II
- Giff
-
During the summer of 1944, Lily's friendship with a young Hungarian refugee causes her to see the war and her own world differently.
- Greene
-
A Jewish girl befriends a Nazi prisoner of war in the U.S.
- Hahn
-
Eleven-year-old Margaret, whose brother is overseas fighting in the war, gets a surprising insight into the school bully when she finds him hiding an army deserter--his own brother--and decides to help him.
- Maguire
-
An old man recalls his childhood in German-occupied France, especially the summer that he and his older brother Rene befriended a young German soldier.
- Salisbury
-
Life with his Japanese family in Hawaii changes drastically for Tomikazu Nakaji after the bombing of Pearl Harbor in December 1941.
- Wolff
-
In a small Oregon town, post-World War II, 21 sixth-grade recount the story of an annual softball game, during which one girl's bigotry comes to the surface.
- Yep
-
Twelve-year-old Sachi survives the atomic bomb, but her life is forever changed.
The Holocaust
- Isaacs
-
In an attempt to save his daughter's life, Eva's father sends her from Poland to a labor camp in Czechoslovakia, where she and her sister survive the war.
- Lowry
-
In 1943 Denmark, Annemarie learns the meaning of bravery when her family hides her Jewish friend from the Nazis.
- Nolan
-
Hilary, a neo-Nazi, is transported back to 1930s Poland as a Jewish teen.
- Propp
-
When the war is over, Benjamin leaves the Christian couple with whom he has been living (and whom he thought were his parents) and is reunited with his Jewish parents, who have been in hiding.
- Yolen
-
Hannah resents the traditions of her Jewish heritage until time travel places her in the middle of a smll village in Nazi-occupied poland.
U.S. Civil Rights Movement, 1950's/1960's
- Curtis
-
The ordinary interactions and everyday routines of the Watsons, an African-American family living in Flint, Michigan, are drastically changed after they visit Grandma in Alabama in the summer of 1963.
- Hearne
- Robinet
-
Twelve-year-old Alfa Merryfield, his older sister and their grandmother struggle for rent money, food and their dignity as they participate in the Montgomery, Alabama bus boycott in the summer of 1956.
- Smothers
-
Ten-year-old Annie Rye learns about prejudice first hand when a local white girl causes Annie's sister to be unjustly punished. Sequel to Down in the Piney Woods.
Vietnam War