Transport yourself to another time...
Ancient Times (Pre-800)
Cooney, Caroline. Goddess of Yesterday
Taken from her home on an Aegan island as a six-year-old girl, Anaxndra calls on the protection of her goddess as she poses as two different princesses over the next six years, before ending up as a servant in the company of Helen and Paris as they make their way to Troy.
Denzel, Justin. Boy of the Painted Cave
Forbidden to make images, fourteen-year-old Tao, the boy with the bad foot, yearns to be a cave painter, recording the figures of the mammals, rhinos, bison, and other animals of his prehistoric times.
Dickinson, Peter. The Kin: Suth's Story
When cut off from their kin and lost in the desert 200,000 years ago, Suth and five other orphans struggle to survive and to find their way to safety.
Fletcher, Susan. Alphabet of Dreams
14-year-old Mitra, of royal Persian lineage, and her five-year-old brother Babak, whose dreams foretell the future, flee for their lives in the company of the magus Melchoir and two other Zoroastrian priests, traveling through Persia as they follow star signs leading to a newly-born king in Bethlehem. Includes historical notes.
Geras, Adele. Troy
Told from the point of view of the women of Troy, portrays the last weeks of the Trojan War, when women are sick of tending the wounded, men are tired of fighting, and bored gods and goddesses find ways to stir things up.
Kindl, Patrice. Lost in the Labyrinth
14-year-old Princess Xenodice tries to prevent the death of her half-brother, the Minotaur, at the hands of the Athenian prince, Theseus, who is aided by Icarus, Daedalus, and her sister Ariadne.
Lawrence, C. Thieves of Ostia
In Rome in the year 79 A.D., a group of children from very different backgrounds work together to discover who beheaded a pet dog -- and why. First in the Series.
Lester, Julius. Pharaoh's Daughter
A fictionalized account of the Biblical tale in which a Hebrew infant, rescued by the daughter of the Pharaoh, passes through a turbulent adolescence to eventually become a prophet of his people while his sister finds her true self as a priestess to the Egyptian gods.
McCaffrey, Anne. Black Horses for the King
Galwyn, son of a Roman celt, escapes from his tyrannical uncle and joins Lord Artos, later known as King Arthur, using his talent with languages and way with horses to help secure and care for the Libyan horses that Artos hopes to use in battle against the Saxons.
McGraw, Eloise Jarvis. Mara, Daughter of the Nile
The adventures of an ingenious Egyptian slave girl who undertakes a dangerous assignment as a spy in the royal palace of Thebes, in the days when Queen Hatshepsut ruled.
Updated February 2008
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Middle Ages (800 to 1499)
Alder, Elizabeth. The King's Shadow
Evyn is orphaned and has his tongue cut out in a clash with the bullying sons of a Welsh noble. He is later sold as a slave and serves many masters, from the gracious Lady Swan Neck to the valiant Harold Godwinson, England's last Saxon king.
Avi. Crispin: the Cross of Lead
Falsely accused of theft and murder, an orphaned peasant boy in 14th-century England flees his village and meets a larger-than-life juggler who holds a dangerous secret.
Banks, Lynne Reid. The Dungeon
Driven by his grief over the loss of his family and by his longing for adventure, Bruce MacLennan sets out from Scotland for China, where he buys a young girl, who tries to ease his pain but instead is caught up in his desire for vengance.
Barrett, Tracy. Anna of Byzantium
In the 11th 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 John because he is a boy.
Bosse Malcom. The Examination
5-year-old Hong and his older brother Chen face famine, flood, pirates, and jealous rivals on their journey through 15th century China as Chen pursues his calling as a scholar and Hong becomes involved with a secret society known as the White Lotus.
Bradley, Marion Zimmer. The Mists of Avalon
Conflict of the Christian and pagan religions in this version of the legend of King Arthur, narrated by his half-sister Morgan.
Cadnum, Michael. The Book of the Lion
In 12-century England, after his master, a maker of coins for the king, is brutally punished for alleged cheating, 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.
Cadnum, Michael. Daughter of the Wind
In medieval times as various groups of Vikings fight for supremacy of the northern lands and waters, Hallgerd, Gauk, and Hego, three young people from the quiet coastal village of Spjothof, find their fates intertwined as a series of events take them into danger far from home.
Cadnum, Michael. Forbidden Forest: the Story of Little John and Robin Hood
Profiles Little John, from his quiet life before joining Robin Hood through his adventures protecting a beautiful lady when she is wrongfully accused of murdering her husband.
Cadnum, Michael. In a Dark Wood
Robin Hood legend told from the point of view of the Sheriff of Nottingham.
Cadnum, Michael. King's Arrow
In England's New Forest on the second day of August, 1100, 18-year-old Simon Foldre, delighted to be allowed to participate in a royal hunt as squire to the Anglo-Norman nobleman Walter Tirel, finds his future irrevocably altered when, during the hunt, he witnesses the possible murder of King William II.
Chaucer, Geoffrey. Canterbury Tales
Classic verse collection of the travels of a group of pilgrims, each with their own story to tell.
Cushman, Karen. Catherine, Called Birdy
The 13-year-old daughter of an English country knight keeps a journal in which she records the events of her life, particularly her longing for adventures beyond the usual role of women and her efforts to avoid being married off.
Cushman, Karen. Matilda Bone
4-year-old Matilda, an apprentice bonesetter and practitioner of medicine in a village in medieval England, tries to reconcile the various aspects of her life, both spiritual and practical.
Cushman, Karen. The Midwife's Apprentice
In medieval England, a nameless, homeless girl is taken in by a sharp-tempered midwife, and in spite of obstacles and hardship, eventually gains the three things she most wants: a full belly, a contented heart, and a place in this world.
Garden, Nancy. Dove and Sword
In 1455 in France, Gabrielle is visited by Pierre d'Arc, a brother of Joan of Arc, and with him reminisces about their childhood together in Domremy and Joan's subsequent trial and burning at the stake at Rouen twenty-four years before.
Haahr, Berit. The Minstrel's Tale
Then betrothed to a repulsive old man, 13-year-old Judith runs away, assumes the identity of a young boy, and hopes to join the King's Minstrels in 14th-century England.
Hunter, Mollie. The King's Swift Rider
Unwilling to fight but feeling a sense of duty, 16-year-old Martin joins Scotland's rebel army as a swift rider and master of espionage for the leader, Robert the Bruce.
Kelly, Eric. The Trumpeter of Krakow
A Polish family in the Middle Ages guards a great secret treasure and a boy's memory of an earlier trumpeter of Krakow makes it possible for him to save his father
Konigsburg, E. L. A Proud Taste of Scarlet and Miniver
While waiting in heaven for divine judgement to be passed on her second husband, Eleanor of Aquitaine and three of the people who knew her well recall the events of her life.
Lewin, Waldraut. Freedom Beyond the Sea
To escape the Inquisition, Esther Marchadi, the 16-year-old daughter of a murdered Jewish rabbi, disguises herself as a boy and joins the crew of Christopher Columbus's "Santa Maria."
McCaffrey, Anne. Black Horses for the King
Galwyn, son of a Roman Celt, escapes from his tyrannical uncle and joins Lord Artos, later known as King Arthur, using his talent with languages and way with horses to help secure and care for the Libyan horses that Artos hopes to use in battle against the Saxons.
McCaughrean, Geraldine. The Kite Rider
In 13th-century China, after trying to save his widowed mother from a horrendous second marriage, 12-year-old Haoyou has life-changing adventures when he takes to the sky as a circus kite rider and ends up meeting the great Mongol ruler Kublai Khan.
Park, Linda Sue. A Single Shard
Tree-ear, a 13-year-old orphan in medieval Korea, lives under a bridge in a potters' village, and longs to learn how to throw the delicate celadon ceramics himself.
Paterson, Katherine. Of Nightingales that Weep
The daughter of a samurai never weeps, but Takiko, whose warrior father was killed in battle, finds this rule very hard, especially when her mother remarries a strange and ugly country potter. Set in 12th century Japan.
Paterson, Katherine. The Sign of the Chrysanthemum
Muna, an illegitimate Japanese boy, who searches for his unknown father--a samurai warrior with a chrysanthemum tattoo on his arm--during the 12th-century wars between the Genki and Heike clans.
Scott, Sir Walter. Ivanhoe
Ivanhoe, a trusted ally of Richard-the-Lion-Hearted, returns from the Crusades to reclaim the inheritance his father denied him.
White, T.H. The Once and Future King
Classic retelling of the legend of King Arthur, with humor and rich historical detail.
Wilson, Diane Lee. I Rode a Horse of Milk White Jade
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.
Yolen, Jane. Girl in a Cage
As English armies invade Scotland in 1306, 11-year-old Princess Marjorie, daughter of the newly crowned Scottish king, Robert the Bruce, is captured by England's King Edward Longshanks and held in a cage on public display
Updated February 2008
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Renaissance (1500s)
Blackwood, Gary. The Shakespeare Stealer
A young orphan boy is ordered by his master to infiltrate Shakespeares acting troupe in order to steal the script of "Hamlet," but he discovers instead the meaning of friendship and loyalty.
Cadnum, Michael. Ship of Fire
n 1587, sailing to Spain on board Sir Francis Drake's ship "Elizabeth Bonaventure," 17-year-old surgeon's apprentice Thomas Spyre finds that, with the sudden death of his master, he must take over as ship 's surgeon and prove his skill not only as a doctor but also as a fighter when he is enlisted by Drake to face battle.
Goodman, Joan. Paradise
In 1542, eager to escape the French Huguenot household of her harsh father, 16-year-old Marguerite de la Rocque sails with her equally stern uncle, the Sieur de Roberval, to the New World, where she is left alone on an island with only her young Catholic lover and her chaperone to help her survive.
Hawes, L. The Vanishing Point
Presents the story of a young girl of Bologna who worked in her father's all-male painting studio and came to enjoy more fame than any female artist before her.
Holmes, V. The Horse from the Sea
Set 1588 in western Ireland,14-year-old Nora risks her own life to rescue a boy and a stallion from a Spanish vessel shipwrecked on the beach.
Hugo, Victor. The Hunchback of Notre Dame
A haunting drama set in Medieval Paris in the cathedral of Notre-Dame, where Quasimodo, the hunchback; Esmerelda, the gypsy dancer; and Claude Frollo, the priest is tortured by the specter of his own damnation
Meyer, Carolyn. Beware Princess Elizabeth
After the death of her father, King Henry VIII, in 1547, 13-year-old Elizabeth must endure the political intrigues and dangers of the reigns of her half-brother Edward and her half-sister Mary before finally becoming Queen of England eleven years later.
Meyer, Carolyn. Mary Bloody Mary
Mary Tudor, who would reign briefly as Queen of England during the mid sixteenth century, tells the story of her troubled childhood as daughter of King Henry VIII.
Meyer, Carolyn. Patience, Princess Catherine
In 1501 15-year-old Catharine of Aragon arrives in England to marry Arthur, the eldest son of King Henry VII, but soon finds her expectations of a happy settled life radically changed when Arthur unexpectedly dies and her future becomes the subject of a bitter dispute between the kingdoms of England and Spain.
Napoli, Donna Jo. Daughter of Venice
Frustrated with the restrictions her gender imposes on her life, 14-year-old Donata, disguised as a boy, sneaks out of her noble family's house to roam the streets of late 16th-century Venice and then must confront the repercussions of her actions.
Pressler, Mirjam. Shylock's Daughter
16-year-old Jessica, who longs to be free of the restrictions of her father and life in the Jewish ghetto of 16th-century Venice, falls in love with a Christian aristocrat and must make choices which will affect her whole family. Inspired by Shakespeare's play The merchant of Venice.
Rinaldi, A. Nine Days a Queen
Lady Jane Grey, who at sixteen was Queen of England for nine days before being executed, recounts her life story from the age of nine.
Torrey, Michele. To the Edge of the World
In 1519, after the death of his parents, 14-year-old Mateo Macias becomes cabin boy to Ferdinand Magellan on a dangerous journey in search of a route to the fabled Spice Islands.
Yolen, Jane. Queen's own Fool
When 12-year-old Nicola leaves Troupe Brufort and serves as the fool for Mary, Queen of Scots, she experiences the political and religious upheavals in both France and Scotland.
Updated February 2008
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Colonial America (1600s)
Colonial America
Clapp, Patricia. Constance : a story of early Plymouth
A young girl's diary reflects life in Plymouth Colony.
Forrester, Sandra. Wheel of the Moon
In England in 1627, newly-orphaned Pen Downing leaves her country village for London where she is abducted and sent to Virginia to work as an indentured servant.
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter
Believing herself a widow, Hester has an illicit affair with a well-respected member of her Puritan New England community.
Hermes, Patricia. Salem Witch
Elizabeth and George are best friends whose differing viewpoints on the cause behind the chaos of the Salem witch trials as they see them, bringing to life the historical happenings as they might have been seen by two young people at that time.
Kelley, Nancy. The Whispering Rod
In 1659, 14-year-old Hannah Pryor is troubled by the persecution of Quakers by Puritan Boston's leading citizens, one of whom is her father, especially after learning of her deceased mother's friendship with a Quaker woman.
Kirkpatrick, K. Escape Across the Wide Sea
After escaping religious persecution in France in 1686, a young Huguenot boy and his parents travel on a slave ship to West Africa, then to the Caribbean, and finally to New York, where they help found the town of New Rochelle.
Petry, Ann. Tituba of Salem Village
Several girls have been taken with fits, and there is only one explanation: Someone in the village has been doing the devil's work.
Rees, Celia. Witch Child
In 1659, 14-year-old Mary Newbury keeps a journal of her voyage from England to the New World and her experiences living as a witch in a community of Puritans near Salem, Massachusetts.
Rinaldi, Ann. A Break with Charity
While waiting for a church meeting in 1706, Susanna English, daughter of a wealthy Salem merchant, recalls the malice, fear, and accusations of witchcraft that tore her village apart in 1692.
Speare, Elizabeth. The Witch of Blackbird Pond
Uprooted from her birthplace in Barbados, Kit Tyler is treated with suspicion on the unfamiliar shores of colonial Connecticut in 1687.
Other Historical fiction -1600s
Cullen, Lynn. I am Rembrandt's Daughter
In Amsterdam in the mid-1600s, Cornelia's life as the illegitimate child of renowned painter Rembrandt is marked by plague, poverty, and despair at ever earning her father's love, until she sees hope for a better future in the eyes of a wealthy suitor.
Hooper, M. At the Sign of the Sugared Plum
In June 1665, excited at the prospect of coming to London to work at her sister Sarah's candy shop, teenaged Hannah is unconcerned about rumors of Plague until, as the hot summer advances and increasing numbers of people succumb to the disease, she and Sarah find themselves trapped in the city with no means of escape.
Hooper, M. Petals in the Ashes
Hannah and Sarah escape London, leaving behind plague and death as well as their sweets shop, and when it is safe, Hannah and her younger sister Anne return, only to face the city's Great Fire of 1666.
Turnbull, A. No Shame, No Fear
In England in 1662, a time of religious persecution, 15-year-old Susanna, a poor country girl and a Quaker, and seventeen-year-old William, a wealthy Anglican, meet and fall in love against all odds.
Updated February 2008
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American Revolution (1700s)
American Revolution (1770s)
Blackwood, Gary. The Year of the Hangman
In 1777, having been kidnapped and taken forcibly from England to the American colonies, 15-year-old Creighton becomes part of developments in the political unrest there that may spell defeat for the patriots and change the course of history.
Collier, James. My Brother Sam is Dead
Recounts the tragedy that strikes the Meeker family during the Revolution when one son joins the rebel forces while the rest of the family tries to stay neutral in a Tory town.
Fast, Howard. April Morning
The story of one day in the life of a young American boy in colonial Lexington, the day on which he joined the militia and saw his father shot down by the British.
Forbes, Esther. Johnny Tremain
After injuring his hand, a silversmith's apprentice in Boston becomes a messenger for the Sons of Liberty in the days before the American Revolution.
Lavender, William. Just Jane
14-year-old Jane Prentice, orphaned daughter of an English earl, arrives in Charleston, South Carolina, in 1776 to find her family and her loyalties divided over the question of American independence.
Lunn, Janet. The Hollow Tree
15-year-old Phoebe Olcott, distraught when her beloved cousin Gideon is hanged as a British spy, becomes caught up in the turmoil of war when she decides to deliver the secret message Gideon was carrying to the British general at Fort Ticonderoga.
O'Dell, Scott. Sarah Bishop
Left alone after the deaths of her father and brother who take opposite sides in the War for Independence, and fleeing from the British who seek to arrest her, Sarah Bishop struggles to shape a new life for herself in the wilderness.
Rinaldi, Ann. Cast Two Shadows
In South Carolina in 1780, 14-year-old Caroline sees the Revolutionary War take a terrible toll among her family and friends and comes to understand the true nature of war.
Rinaldi, Ann. Finishing Becca
14-year-old Becca takes a position as a maid in a wealthy Philadelphia Quaker home and witnesses the events that lead to General Benedict Arnold's betrayal of the American forces during the Revolutionary War.
Rinaldi, Ann. Hang a Thousand Trees with Ribbons
A fictionalized biography of the 18th-century African woman who, as a child, was brought to New England to be a slave, and after publishing her first poem when a teenager, gained renown throughout the colonies as an important black American poet.
Rinaldi, Ann. Taking Liberty
After serving Martha Washington for 20 years, Oney realizes that she will never be a part of General Washington's family at Mount Vernon. She must make a choice: does she stay where she is, comfortable with the family that she has known since she was born, or does she take liberty into her own hands and, like her father, become one of the Gone?
Rinaldi, Ann. The Secret of Sarah Revere
Paul Revere's daughter describes her father's "rides" and the intelligence network of the patriot community prior to the American Revolution.
Rinaldi, Ann. Time Enough for Drums
16-year-old Jem and her servant struggle to keep things going at home in Trenton, New Jersey, when the family men join the war for independence from the British king.
American Indians (1700s)
Cooney, Carolyn. The Ransom of Mercy Carter
In 1704, in the English settlement of Deerfield, Massachusetts, 11-year-old Mercy and her family and neighbors are captured by Mohawk Indians and their French allies, and forced to march through bitter cold to French Canada, where some adapt to new lives and some still hope to be ransomed.
Cooper, James. The Last of the Mohicans
A massacre at a colonial garrison, the kidnapping of two pioneer sisters by Iroquois tribesmen, the treachery of a renegade brave, and the ambush of innocent settlers create an unforgettable picture of American frontier life.
French Revolution (1789-1799)
Dickens, Charles. A Tale of Two Cities
The story of the French Revolution brings to life a time of terror and treason, and a starving people rising in frenzy and hate to overthrow a corrupt and decadent regime.
Maritime Exploration
Hesse, Karen. The Stowaway
A fictionalized journal relates the experiences of a young stowaway from 1768 to 1771 aboard the Endeavor which sailed around the world under Captain James Cook.
Lawrence, Iain. The Buccaneers
In the eighteenth century 16-year-old John Spencer sails from England in his schooner, the Dragon, to the Caribbean, where he and the crew encounter pirates, fierce storms, fever, and a strange man who some fear may be cursed.
Follow up with The Smugglers and The Wreckers.
Rinaldi, Ann. Mutiny's Daughter
Gives voice, as a teenager returned to the Christian family in England, to the half-Tahitian daughter of the British ship Bounty's second-in-command and mutineer, Fletcher Christian.
Other
Anderson, Laurie. Fever 1793
In 1793 Philadelphia, 16-year-old Matilda Cook, separated from her sick mother, learns about perseverance and self-reliance when she is forced to cope with the horrors of a yellow fever epidemic.
Cook, L. Flight from the Fortress
The Fortress of Louisbourg is under seige, but Philippe must enter its walls.
Gerstein, Mordicai. Victor
A novel based on the work of Dr. Jean Marc Itard who spent the years shortly after the French Revolution working with a "savage" boy whom he called Victor, trying to prove he was not an idiot and to teach him how to live in human society.
Kositsky, Lynne. Claire by Moonlight
Cultures and nationalities clash in this complicated novel set in the 1750s.
Yolen, Jane. Prince Across the Water
In 1746, a year after the Scottish clans have rallied to the call of their exiled prince, Charles Stuart, to take up arms against England's tyranny, 14-year-old, epileptic Duncan MacDonald and his cousin, Ewan, run away to join the fight at Culloden and discover the harsh reality of war.
Updated February 2008
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American Civil War & Slavery (1800s)
American Civil War 1860-1865
Armstrong, Jennifer. Becoming Mairhe Mehan
An Irish immigrant girl and her family, struggling to find their place in a country at war with itself.
Beatty, Patricia. Jayhawker
In the early years of the Civil War, teenage Kansas farm boy Lije Tulley becomes a Jayhawker, an abolitionist raider freeing slaves from the neighboring state of Missouri, and then goes undercover there as a spy.
Brenaman, Miriam. Evvy's Civil War
In Virginia in 1860, on the verge of the Civil War, 14-year-old Evvy chafes at the restrictions that her society places on both women and slaves.
Collier, J. and C. Collier. With Every Drop of Blood
While trying to transport food to Richmond, Virginia, during the Civil War, 14-year-old Johnny is captured by a black Union soldier.
Crisp, Marty. Private Captain: a story of Gettysburg
In 1863 Pennsylvania, twelve-year-old Ben and his dog Captain set off in search of Ben's brother, who is missing from the Union Army.
Dann, Jack. The Silent
Mundy McDowell, whose voice rivals any in literature, bringing poignantly to life the surreal horrors of battle and its spiritual cost to human survival.
Donahue, John. An Island Far From Home
The 12-year-old son of a Union army doctor killed during the fighting in Fredericksburg comes to understand the meaning of war and the fine line between friends and enemies when he begins corresponding with a young Confederate prisoner of war.
Fleischman, Paul. Bull Run
Northerners, Southerners, generals, couriers, dreaming boys, and worried sisters describe the glory, the horror, the thrill, and the disillusionment of the first battle of the Civil War.
Hill, Pamela. Voice from the Border
Living in the border state of Missouri during the Civil War, 15-year-old Reeves tries to understand her father's decision regarding their slaves.
Hunt, Irene. Across Five Aprils
Young Jethro Creighton grows from a boy to a man when he is left to take care of the family farm in Illinois during the difficult years of the Civil War.
Johnson, Nancy. My Brother's Keeper: a Civil War Story
As a young orphaned drummer boy in the Civil War, Josh Parrish joins the 20th Maine in time to be caught up in the battle for Little Round Top.
Keith, Harold. Rifles for Watie
The story of Jeff Bussey, a farm boy living in 1861, who joins the Union army and goes on an important mission to discover how Stand Watie and his Confederate Cherokee Rebels are receiving repeating rifles from northern manufacturers.
Love, D. Anne. Three Against the Tide
After her father is called away from their plantation near Charleston, S.C., during the Civil War, 12-year-old Susanna must lead her brothers on a difficult journey in hopes of being reunited with him.
Lyons, Mary. Dear Ellen Bee
A scrapbook kept by a young black girl details her experiences and those of the older white woman, "Miss Bet," who had freed her and her family, sent her north from Richmond to get an education, and then worked to bring an end to slavery. Based on the life of Elizabeth Van Lew.
McMullan, M. How I Found the Strong
Frank Russell, known as Shanks, wishes he could have gone with his father and brother to fight for Mississippi and the Confederacy, but his experiences with the war and his changing relationship with the family slave, Buck, change his thinking.
Paulsen, Gary. Soldier's Heart
Eager to enlist, 15-year-old Charley has a change of heart after experiencing both the physical horrors and mental anguish of Civil War combat.
Peck, Richard. The River Between Us
During the early days of the Civil War, the Pruitt family takes in two mysterious young ladies who have fled New Orleans to come north to Illinois.
Reeder, Carolyn. Across the Lines
Edward, the son of a white plantation owner, and his black house servant and friend Simon witness the siege of Petersburg during the Civil War.
Rinaldi, Ann. Girl in Blue
To escape an abusive father and an arranged marriage, 14-year-old Sarah, dressed as a boy, leaves her Michigan home to enlist in the Union Army, and becomes a soldier on the battlefields of Virginia as well as a Union spy working in the house of Confederate sympathizer Rose O'Neal Greenhow in Washington, D.C.
Rinaldi, Ann. Numbering All the Bones
"It is 1864, the Civil War is moving toward an end. President Lincoln has proclaimed his 'great measure,' and Southern slaves are slowly gaining their freedom. But for 13-year-old Eulinda, a house slave on a Georgia plantation, it is the most difficult time of her life..."
Rinaldi, Ann. Sarah's Ground
In 1861, 18-year-old Sarah Tracy, from New York state, comes to work at Mount Vernon, the historic Virginia home of George Washington, where she tries to protect the safety and neutrality of the site during the Civil War, and where she encounters her future husband, Upton Herbert. Includes historical notes.
Spain, Susan. The Deep Cut
Considered "slow" by his father, Lonzo tries his best to help his family in Culpeper, Virginia, during the Civil War and, in the process, comes to some decisions about how to live his life.
Wisler, G. Clifton. The Drummer Boy of Vicksburg
In this fact-based story, 14-year-old drummer boy Orion Howe displays great bravery during a Civil War battle at Vicksburg, Mississippi.
Slavery
Ayres, Katherine. North by Night
Presents the journal of a 16-year-old girl whose family operates a stop on the Underground Railroad.
Ayres, Katherine. Stealing South
16-year-old Will Spencer leaves home to become a peddler, but gets more than he bargained for when he agrees to go to Kentucky, steal two slaves, and help them reach their brother in Canada.
Fox, Paula. Slave Dancer
Kidnapped by the crew of an Africa-bound ship, a 13-year-old boy discovers to his horror that he is on a slaver and his job is to play music for the exercise periods of the human cargo.
Hamilton, Virginia. The House of Dies Drear
A black family tries to unravel the secrets of their new home which was once a stop on the Underground Railroad.
Jacobs, Harriet. Letters from a Slave Girl
A fictionalized version of the life o Harriet Jacobs, told in the form of letters that she might have written during her slavery in North Carolina and as she prepared for escape to the North in 1842.
Lasky, Kathryn. True North
Because of the strong influence which her grandfather, an abolitionist, has in her life, 14-year-old Lucy assists a fugitive slave girl in her escape.
Rinaldi, Ann. Hang a thousand trees with ribbons
A fictionalized biography of the 18th-century African woman who, as a child, was brought to New England to be a slave, and after publishing her first poem when a teenager, gained renown throughout the colonies as an important black American poet.
Schwartz, Virginia. If I had Just Two Wings
Phoebe, 13, yearns for freedom as she works in the cotton fields as a slave on an Alabama plantation.
Stolz, Mary. Cezanne Pinto
In his old age Cezanne Pinto recalls his youth as a slave on a Virginia plantation and his escape to a new life in the North.
Taylor, Mildred. The Land
After the Civil War Paul, the son of a white father and a black mother, finds himself caught between the two worlds of colored folks and white folks as he pursues his dream of owning land of his own.
Updated February 2008
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Immigration & Emigration (1800s)
Immigration
Avi. The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle
As the lone "young lady" on a transatlantic voyage in 1832, Charlotte learns that the captain is murderous and the crew rebellious.
Frederick, H. The Education of Patience Goodspeed
When the Morning Star sets sail on the Pacific in 1836, 14-year-old Patience Goodspeed can't wait to be the assistant navigator.
Raphael, Marie. Streets of Gold: a novel
Marisia, a Polish teenager, comes to America at the turn of the 20th century and must fend for herself on New York's Lower East Side.
Yep, Laurence. Mountain Light
In 19th-century China, a young girl struggles to protect her family from the threat of bandits, famine, and an ideological conflict between her father and brother.
Yolen, Jane. The Rogues
After his family is evicted from their Scottish farm, 15-year-old Roddy forms an unlikely friendship with a notorious rogue who helps him outwit a tyrant landlord in order to find a family treasure and make his way to America.
Westward Expansion 1840-1900
Brink, Carol. Caddie Woodlawn
The adventures of an 11-year-old tomboy growing up on the Wisconsin frontier in the mid-19th century.
Coville, Bruce. Fortune's Journey
16-year-old Jenny faces many challenges on an overland journey to California in 1853 with the acting company that she inherited from her father.
Cushman, Karen. The Ballad of Lucy Whipple
In 1849, 12-year-old California Mornin Whipple, who renames herself Lucy, is distraught when her mother moves the family from Massachusetts to a rough California mining town.
Derby, P. Away to the Goldfields
Yearning for adventure and tired of farm life in New Hampshire, 16-year-old Mary Margaret Malarkey journeys to California in 1848 to find her father who arrived earlier to make his fortune in the goldfields.
Durbin, William. Blackwater Ben
In the winter of 1898, a seventh-grade boy drops out of school to work with his father, the cook at Blackwater Logging Camp in Minnesota.
Gray, Dianne. Tomorrow the River
In 1896, 14-year-old Megan joins her sister and family on their steamboat for the summer riding up the Mississippi River towards St. Paul, Minnesota, and through all of their adventures, Megan realizes what is her "true calling."
Gregory, Kristiana. Jenny of the Tetons
Orphaned by an Indian raid while traveling West with a wagon train, 15-year-old Carrie Hill is befriended by the English trapper Beaver Dick and taken to live with his Indian wife Jenny and their six children.
Hite, Sid. Stick and Whittle
In 1872, while journeying from Texas to Kansas, a Civil War veteran named Melvin meets a 16-year-old orphan, another Melvin, and they give each other nicknames and become partners and traveling companions on an exciting adventure.
Holm, Jennifer. Boston Jane
Schooled in the lessons of etiquette for young ladies of 1854, Miss Jane Peck of Philadelphia finds little use for manners during her long sea voyage to the Pacific Northwest and while living among the American traders and Chinook Indians of Washington Territory.
Holm, Jennifer. Our Only May Amelia
As the only girl in a Finnish American family of seven brothers, May Amelia Jackson resents being expected to act like a lady while growing up in Washington state in 1899.
Kirkpatrick, Katherine.The Voyage of the Continental
In 1866, young orphan Emeline McCullough leaves her mill job in Lowell, Massachusetts, to head for Seattle, Washington, aboard the steamship Continental, writing in her diary about the intrigue, danger, and romance she encounters on her journey.
Lasky, Kathryn. Beyond the Divide
In 1849, a 14-year-old Amish girl defies convention by leaving her secure home in Pennsylvania to accompany her father across the continent by wagon train.
McCaughrean, Geraldine. Stop the Train
Despite the opposition of the owner of the Red Rock Runner railroad in 1893, the new settlers of Florence, Oklahoma, are determined to build a real town.
Paulsen, Gary. Tucket's Travels
The first five books in Paulsen's saga of 14-year-old Francis Tucket, who is kidnapped by Pawnees while heading west on a wagon train on the Oregon Trail, are collected in this one volume.
Seely, D. Last of the Roundup Boys
In 1885 in Kansas, 17-year-old Tom, the son of a poor farmer, is hired as a cowboy on a cattle ranch and faces the challenges of both herding work and a forbidden romance with 16-year-old Evie, the ranch owner's independently-minded daughter.
The Irish Famine (An Gorta Mor) 1845-1850
Avi. Beyond the Western Sea: The Escape From Home
Driven from their impoverished Irish village, 15-year-old Maura and her younger brother meet their landlord's runaway son in Liverpool while all three wait for a ship to America.
Avi. Beyond the Western Sea: Lord Kirkle's Money
Driven from their impoverished Irish village, 15-year-old Maura and her younger brother meet their landlord's runaway son in Liverpool while all three wait for a ship to America.
Giff, Patricia Reilly. Nory Ryan's Song
When a terrible blight attacks Irelands potato crop in 1845, 12-year-old Nory Ryan's courage and ingenuity help her family and neighbors survive.
Giff, Patricia Reilly. Maggie's Door
In the mid-1800s, Nory and her neighbor and friend, Sean, set out separately on a dangerous journey from famine-plagued Ireland, hoping to reach a better life in America.
Heneghan, James. The Grave
13-year-old Tom, an unhappy foster child in Liverpool, falls into a massive open grave and is transported to Ireland in 1847, where he finds himself in the midst of the deadly potato famine.
Neale, Cynthia. The Irish Dresser
In the late 1840s as the potato famine spreads throughout Ireland, 13-year-old Nora finds solace in the family's large wooden cupboard where she dreams of cakes and other delicious things and when her father decides that they should sail for America, the old cupboard helps make her dreams come true.
Schneider, Mical. Annie Quinn in America
To escape the Irish potato famine of the 1840s, 12-year-old Annie and her brother emigrate to New York City where they join their older sister as servants, earning money to bring the rest of their family t America, where they discover that both food and hardships abound.
New England
Alcott, Louisa May. Little Women
Chronicles the joys and sorrows of the four March sisters as they grow into young ladies in 19th-century New England.
Blos, Joan. A Gathering of Days
The journal of a 14-year-old girl, kept the last year she lived on the family farm, records daily events in her small New Hampshire town, her father's remarriage, and the death of her best friend.
Hurst, Carol. Through the Lock
Etta, a 12-year-old orphan in nineteenth-century Connecticut, meets a boy living in an abandoned cabin on the New Haven and Northampton Canal and has adventures with him while trying to be reunited with her siblings.
Paterson, Katherine. Lyddie
Impoverished Vermont farm girl Lyddie Worthen is determined to gain her independence by becoming a factory worker in Lowell, Massachusetts, in the 1840s.
Other
Bennett, Veronica. Cassandra's Sister
A fictionalized biography of Jane Austen focusing on her early life growing up with her sister Cassandra in a large country parsonage family in southern England, and the experiences and people which may have inspired the plots and characters of her famous novels.
Giff, Patricia. Water Street 1875
In the shadow of the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge, eighth-graders and new neighbors Bird Mallon and Thomas Neary make some decisions about what they want to do with their lives.
Hausman, Gerald and Loretta. Napoleon and Josephine
From her childhood in Martinique, Josephine knew that she would someday be "more than a queen," and she eventually fulfills her destiny at the side of Napoleon Bonaparte as Empress of the French.
Hughes, P. The Breaker Boys
In 1897, Nate Tanner, the hot-tempered 12-year-old son of wealthy Pennsylvania mine owners, goes against his father's wishes by befriending some of the boys who work in the mines and gets caught up in a disastrous clash between mine workers and the law.
Morgan, Niccola. Fleshmarket
In 19th-century Scotland, following the death of his mother during surgery, Robbie decides to take revenge on the surgeon who performed the operation, Dr. Robert Knox, and in the process, makes a gruesome discovery about the lengths the medical profession will go to advance its knowledge of anatomy.
Peck, Richard. Fair Weather
In 1893, 13-year-old Rosie and members of her family travel from their Illinois farm to Chicago to visit Aunt Euterpe and attend the World's Columbian Exposition which, along with an encounter with Buffalo Bill and Lillian Russell, turns out to be a life-changing experience for everyone.
Rinaldi, Ann. Acquaintance with Darkness
When her mother dies and her best friend's family is implicated in the assassination of President Lincoln, 14-year-old Emily Pigbush must go live with an uncle she suspects of being involved in stealing bodies for medical research.
Updated February 2008
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Early 20th Century (1900s)
Donnelly, Jennifer. Northern Light
In 1906, 16-year-old Mattie, determined to attend college and be a writer against the wishes of her father and fiance, takes a job at a summer inn where she discovers the truth about the death of a guest. Based on a true story.
Gutman, Dan. Race for the Sky
Ordered to practice his writing skills in the blank book his mother gave him, 14-year-old Johnny would rather go fishing near his home on North Carolina's Outer Banks and cannot think of anything important to write until two "dingbatters" from Ohio arrive in 1900 and try to build a flying machine.
Jocelyn, Marthe. Mable Riley
In 1901, 14-year-old Mable Riley dreams of being a writer and having adventures while stuck in Perth County, Ontario, assisting her sister in teaching school and secretly becoming friends with a neighbor who holds scandalous opinions on women's rights.
Karwoski, Gail. Quake 1906
Tells the story of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake as seen through the eyes of Jacob, a 13-year-old Jewish boy who lives in a boarding house with his father and younger sister.
Raphael, Marie. Streets of Gold
Marisia, a Polish teenager, comes to America at the turn of the twentieth century and must fend for herself on New York's Lower East Side.
Smith, Betty. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
A young girl's coming-of-age at the turn of the century, Betty Smith's A Tree Grows in Brooklyn is a poignant and moving tale filled with compassion and cruelty, laughter and heartache, crowded with life and people and incident.
Updated February 2008
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World War I (1910s)
Breslin, Theresa. Remembrance
The destinies of two Scottish families, one of shopkeepers and one of wealth and power, become entwined through their involvement in World War I, social causes, and love.
Bunting, Eve. S.O.S. Titanic
15-year-old Barry O'Neill, traveling from Ireland to America on the maiden voyage of the Titanic, finds his life endangered when the ship hits an iceberg and begins to sink.
Hamley, Dennis. Without Warning
During World War I, an English teenager leaves the safety of home and begins a journey of self-discovery that takes her close to the front lines to pursue her calling as a nurse.
Havill, Juanita. Eyes Like Willy's
While vacationing over the course of several summers in Austria, French siblings Guy and Sarah Masson become best friends with a German boy, until the outbreak of World War I puts them on opposing sides.
Hesse, Karen. Letters from Rifka
In letters to her cousin, a young Jewish girl chronicles her family's flight from Russia in 1919 and her own experiences when she must be left in Belgium for a while when the others emigrate to America.
Ibbotson, Eva. Journey to the River Sea
Sent with her governess to live with the dreadful Carter family in exotic Brazil in 1910, Maia endures many hardships before fulfilling her dream of exploring the Amazon River.
Larson, Kirby. Hattie Big Sky
After inheriting her uncle's homesteading claim in Montana, 16-year-old orphan Hattie Brooks travels from Iowa in 1917 to make a home for herself and encounters some unexpected problems related to the war being fought in Europe.
Lawrence, Iain. Lord of the Nutcracker Men
An English boy during World War I comes to believe that the battles he enacts with his toy soldiers control the war his father is fighting on the front.
Morpurgo, M. Private Peaceful
When Thomas Peaceful's older brother is forced to join the British Army, Thomas decides to sign up as well, although he is only 14 years old, to prove himself to his country, his family, his childhood love, Molly, and himself.
Namioka, Lensey. Ties That Bind, Ties that Break
Not quite five years old in 1911 -- a time of revolution and transformation in China -- Third Sister Ailin rebels against the torturous tradition of foot binding.
Schmidt, G. Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy
In 1911, Turner Buckminster hates his new home of Phippsburg, Maine, but things improve when he meets Lizzie Bright Griffin, a girl from a poor, nearby island community founded by former slaves that the town fathers--and Turner's--want to change into a tourist spot.
Whelan, Gloria. Angel on the Square
In 1913 Russia, 12-year-old Katya eagerly anticipates leaving her St. Petersburg home, though not her older cousin Misha, to join her mother, a lady in waiting in the household of Tsar Nicholas II, but the ensuing years bring world war, revolution, and undreamed of changes to her life.
Updated February 2008
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Roaring Twenties (1920s)
Avi. Secret School
In 1925, 14-year-old Ida Bidson secretly takes over as the teacher when the one-room schoolhouse in her remote Colorado area closes unexpectedly.
Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby
Tells the tragic love story of Gatsby and Daisy Buchanan.
Haddix, Margaret. Uprising
In 1927, at the urging of 21-year-old Harriet, Mrs. Livingston reluctantly recalls her experiences at the Triangle Shirtwaist factory, including miserable working conditions that led to a strike, then the fire that took the lives of her two best friends, when Harriet, the boss's daughter, was only five years old.
Hesse, Karen. Witness
A series of poems express the views of various people in a small Vermont town, including a young black girl and a young Jewish girl, during the early 1920s when the Ku Klux Klan is trying to infiltrate the town.
Holmes, Victoria. Heart of Fire
In 1923, Maddie's family is reunited when her brother finally comes home to England after fighting in the Great War, but when she discovers that he is an impostor, Maddie faces the loss of both her new brother and his horse, which she has grown to love.
Namioka, Lensey. An Ocean Apart
Despite the odds facing her decision to become a doctor in 1920's Nanking, China, teenaged Yanyan leaves her family to study at Cornell University where, along with hard work, she finds prejudice and loneliness as well as friendship and a new sense of accomplishment.
Schwartz, Virginia. Messenger
Based on the lives of the author's mother and grandmother, tells the story of a widowed Croatian immigrant trying to keep her family together in the mining towns of Ontario in the 1920s and 1930s.
Sullivan, Paul. Maata's Journal
Stranded on an island during a mapping expedition in 1924, a 17-year-old Inuit girl writes about her life on the tundra and the changes brought about by the Europeans who settled Canada.
Yep, Laurence. Star Fisher
15-year-old Joan Lee and her family find the adjustment hard when they move from Ohio to West Virginia in the 1920s.
Updated February 2008
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Depression Era (1930s)
Barth-Grosinger, Inge. Something Remains
In 1933, as Hitler becomes Chancellor, 12-year-old Erich and his family, who are Jewish, find they need to make changes in their everyday lives as hatred of the Jews grows.
Curtis, Christopher Paul. Bud, Not Buddy
10-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--the renowned bandleader, H.E. Calloway of Grand Rapids.
Hale, M. The Truth About Sparrows
12-year-old Sadie promises that she will always be Wilma's best friend when their families leaves drought-stricken Missouri in 1933, but once in Texas, Sadie learns that she must try to make a new home--and new friends, too.
Hesse, Karen. Out of the Dust
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 Depression.
Lee, Harper. To Kill a Mockingbird
Scout Finch has just started school; but her carefree days come to an end when a black man in town is accused of raping a white woman, and her father is the only man willing to defend him.
Mitchell, W. O. Who Has Seen the Wind
As we enter the world of 4-year-old Brian O'Connal, his father the druggist, his Uncle Sean, his mother, and his formidable Scotch grandmother, it soon becomes clear that this is no ordinary book. As we watch Brian grow up, the prairie and its surprising inhabitants like the Ben and Saint Sammy and the rich variety of small-town characters become unforgettable.
Peck, Richard. A long Way from Chicago
A boy recounts his annual summer trips to rural Illinois with his sister during the Great Depression to visit their larger-than-life grandmother.
Peck, Richard. A Year Down Yonder
During the recession of 1937, 15-year-old Mary Alice is sent to live with her feisty, larger-than-life grandmother in rural Illinois and comes to a better understanding of this fearsome woman.
Peck, Robert. A Part of the Sky
Times are difficult during the Great Depression, and 13-year-old Rob Peck must struggle to keep his family together after the death of his father.
Porter, Tracey. Treasures in the Dust
11-year-old Annie and her friend Violet tell of the hardships endured by their families when dust storms, drought, and the Great Depression hit rural Oklahoma.
Rawls, Wilson. Where the Red Fern Grows
A 10-year-old boy growing up in the Ozark mountains with his inseparable pair of coonhounds will warm the hearts of young and old alike.
Ryan, Pam. Esperanza Rising
Esperanza Rising and her mother are forced to leave their life of wealth and privilege in Mexico to go work in the labor camps of Southern California, where they must adapt to the harsh circumstances facing Mexican farm workers on the eve of the Great Depression.
Steinbeck, John. The Grapes of Wrath
the story of the Joads, a family of Oklahoma tenant farmers on a quest for a better life, as they head west to California where they become migratory workers.
Steinbeck, John. Of Mice and Men
In depression-era California, two migrant workers dream of better days on a spread of their own until an act of unintentional violence leads to tragic consequences.
Taylor, Mildred. Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
A black family living in Mississippi during the Depression of the 1930s is faced with prejudice and discrimination which its children do not understand.
Taylor, Mildred. Let the Circle Be Unbroken
The young Logan family watches as their friend is charged with murder and tried by an all-white jury.
Updated February 2008
* * *
World War II (1940s)
THE WAR FRONT
Bradley, Kimberly. Freedom: the story of a French Spy
Despite the horrors of World War II, a French teenager pursues her dream of becoming an opera singer, which takes her to places where she gains information about what the Nazis are doing--information that the French Resistance needs.
Chambers, Aidan. Postcards from No Man's Land
Alternates between two stories--comtemporarily, seventeen-year-old Jacob visits a daunting Amsterdam at the request of his English grandmother--and historically, nineteen-year-old Geertrui relates her experience of British soldiers's attempts to liberate Holland from its German occupation.
Choi, Sook Nyul. Year of Impossible Goodbyes
A young Korean girl survives the oppressive Japanese and Russian occupation of North Korea during the 1940s, to later escape to freedom in South Korea.
Chotjewitz, D. Daniel Half Human
In 1933, best friends Daniel and Armin admire Hitler, but as anti-Semitism buoys Hitler to power, Daniel learns he is half Jewish, threatening the friendship even as life in their beloved Hamburg, Germany, is becoming nightmarish. Also details Daniel and Armin's reunion in 1945 in interspersed chapters.
Mazer, Harry. A Boy at War
While fishing with his friends off Honolulu on December 7, 1941, teenaged Adam is caught in the midst of the Japanese attack and through the chaos of the subsequent days tries to find his father, a naval officer who was serving on the U.S.S. Arizona when the bombs fell.
Mazer, Harry. A Boy No More
After his father is killed in the attack on Pearl Harbor, Adam, his mother, and sister are evacuated from Hawaii to California, where he must deal with his feelings about the war, Japanese internment camps, his father, and his own identity.
Mazer, Harry. Heroes don't Run
To honor his father who died during the Japanese invasion of Pearl Harbor, 17-year-old Adam eagerly enlists in the Marines in 1944, survives boot camp, and faces combat on the tiny island of Okinawa.
Park, Linda Sue. When My Name Was Keoko
With national pride and occasional fear, a brother and sister face the increasingly oppressive occupation of Korea by Japan during World War II, which threatens to suppress Korean culture entirely.
Reuter, Bjarne. The Boys from St. Petri
In 1942, a group of young men begin a series of increasingly dangerous protests against the German invaders of their Danish homeland.
Remarque, Erich. All Quiet on the Western Front
A fictional account of the devastation and human tragedy of World War I in Europe.
Richter, Hans. I was there
A young German boy narrates his experiences in the Hitler youth movement during the early years of the Third Reich.
Ruby, Lois. Shanghai Shadows
From 1939 to 1945, a Jewish family struggles to survive in occupied China; young Ilse by remaining optimistic, her older brother by joining a resistance movement, her mother by maintaining connections to the past, and her father by playing the violin that had been his livelihood.
Tunnell, Michael. Brothers in Valor
Three German teenagers who are members of the Mormon Church join forces to create a youth resistance movement during World War II, putting their lives at risk.
Watkins, Yoko. So Far From the Bamboo Grove
A fictionalized autobiography in which 11-year-old Yoko escapes from Korea to Japan with her mother and sister at the end of World War II.
Wilson, J. Flames of the Tiger
As a boy growing up in Germany during Hitler's rise to power, Dieter has bee seduced by the pomp and the circumstance of war. But as global hostilities intensify, Dieter is called upon to fight for his country in a conflict that he doesn't fully understand.
Wolf, Joan. Someone Named Eva
From her home in Lidice, Czechoslovakia, in 1942, 11-year-old Milada is taken with other blond, blue-eyed children to a school in Poland to be trained as "proper Germans" for adoption by German families, but all the while she remembers her true name and history.
Wulffson, Dan. Soldier X
In 1943 16-year-old Erik experiences the horrors of war when he is drafted into the German army and sent to fight on the Russian front.
Yep, Laurence. Hiroshima
Describes the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, particularly as it affects Sachi, who becomes one of the Hiroshima Maidens.
THE HOME FRONT
Giff, Patricia. Lily's Crossing
During a summer spent at Rockaway Beach in 1944, Lily's friendship with a young Hungarian refugee causes her to see the war and her own world differently.
Hahn, Mary Downing. Stepping on the Cracks
In 1944, while her brother is overseas fighting in World War II, 11-year-old Margaret gets a new view of the school bully Gordy when she finds him hiding his own brother, an army deserter, and decides to help him.
Hostetter, Joyce. Blue
When teenager Ann Fay takes over as "man of the house" for her absent soldier father, she struggles to keep the family and herself together in the face of personal tragedy and the 1940s polio epidemic in North Carolina.
Mazer, Norma. Good Night, Maman
After spending years fleeing from the Nazis in war-torn Europe, 12-year-old Karin Levi and her older brother Marc find a new home in a refugee camp in Oswego, New York.
Napoli, Donna Jo. Stones in Water
Upon returning to Italy, 14-year-old Roberto struggles to survive, first on his own, then as a member of the resistance, fighting against the Nazi occupiers while yearning to reach home safely and for an end to the war.
Paulsen, Gary. The Quilt
During World War II, while his father is in Europe fighting and his mother is working in Chicago, a 5-year-old boy goes to live with his grandmother in a rural Norwegian American community in Minnesota. Based on events from the author's life.
Reeder, Carolyn. Foster's War
When his older brother joins the army during World War II in order to escape the rages of an authoritarian father, 11-year-old Foster fights his battles on the homefront.
Whelan, Gloria. Summer of the War
14-year-old Belle resents the presence of her sophisticated cousin on a family vacation in the summer of 1942, but their strained relationship is overshadowed by the war in Europe.
HOLOCAUST
Bennett, Cherie. Anne Frank and Me
After suffering a concussion while on a class trip to a Holocaust exhibit, Nicole finds herself living the life of a Jewish teenager in Paris during the Nazi occupation.
Isaacs, Anne. Torn Thread
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, Lois. Number of Stars
In 1943, during the German occupation of Denmark, ten-year-old Annemarie learns how to be brave and courageous when she helps shelter her Jewish friend from the Nazis.
Mazer, Harry. The Last Mission
In 1944 a 15-year-old Jewish boy tells his family he will travel in the West but instead, enlists in the United States Air Corps and is subsequently taken prisoner by the Germans.
Pausewang, Gudrun. The Final Journey
During World War II, 11-year-old Alice, whose life has been sheltered and comfortable, discovers some important things about herself and the people she meets when she and her grandfather board a train and begin an increasingly intolerable journey to an unknown destination.
Vande Velde, Vivian. A Coming of Evil
During the German occupation of France in 1940, 13-year-old Lisette meets a ghost while living with her aunt who harbors Jewish and Gypsy children in the French countryside.
Wiesel, Elie. Night
A chronicle of the holocaust through the eyes of a 15 year-old Hungarian Jew who survived Birkenau, Auschwitz, Buna and Buchenwald.
Yolen, Jane. Briar Rose
Rebecca has always loved listening to her grandmother's stories about Briar Rose. However, the old woman's astonishing and hard-to-believe admission that she "is" Briar Rose sets Rebecca on an unforgettable path of self-discovery that will change her life forever.
Yolen, Jane. The Devil's Arithmetic
Hannah resents the traditions of her Jewish heritage until time travel places her in the middle of a small Jewish village in Nazi-occupied Poland.
OTHER
Cushman, Karen. The Loud Silence of Francine Green
In 1949, 13-year-old Francine goes to Catholic school in Los Angeles where she becomes best friends with a girl who questions authority and is frequently punished by the nuns, causing Francine to question her own values.
Kerr, M. E. Slap your sides
Life in their Pennsylvania hometown changes for Jubal Shoemaker and his family when his older brother witnesses to his Quaker beliefs by becoming a conscientious objector during World War II.
Knowles, John. A Separate Peace
Set at an elite boarding school for boys during World War II, A Separate Peace is the story of friendship and treachery, and how a tragic accident involving two young men forever tarnishes their innocence.
Lisle, Janet. The Art of Keeping Cool
In 1942, Robert and his cousin Elliot uncover long-hidden family secrets while staying in their grandparents' Rhode Island town, where they also become involved with a German artist who is suspected of being a spy.
Updated February 2008
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1950s/1960s/1970s
1950s
Cormier, Robert. Tunes for Bears to Dance to
Eleven-year-old Henry escapes his family's problems by watching the woodcarving of Mr. Levine, an elderly Holocaust survivor, but when Henry is manipulated into betraying his friend he comes to know true evil.
Draper, Sharon. Fire From the Rock
In 1957, Sylvia Patterson's life--that of a normal African American teenager--is disrupted by the impending integration of Little Rocks Central High when she is selected to be one of the first black students to attend the previously all white school. Includes author's note and related websites.
Fuqua, J. The Willoughby Spit Wonder
In 1950s Norfolk, Virginia, as Carter and his sister watch their dying father struggle to remain cheerful, Carter decides to emulate Prince Namor, comic superhero, in order to inspire his father to stay alive.
Holt, Kimberly Willis. My Louisiana Sky
Growing up in Saitter, Louisiana, in the 1950s,12-year-old Tiger Ann struggles with her feelings about her stern, but loving grandmother, her mentally slow parents, and her good friend and neighbor, Jesse.
1960s
Curtis, Christopher Paul. The Watsons Go to Birmingham 1963
The ordinary interactions and everyday routines of the Watsons, an African American family living in Flint, Michigan, are drastically changed after they go to visit Grandma in Alabama in the summer of 1963.
Hinton, S.E. The Outsiders
The struggle of three brothers to stay together after their parent's death and their quest for identity among the conflicting values of their adolescent society.
Hobbs, Valerie. Sonny's War
In the late 1960s, 14-year-old Cori's life is greatly changed by the sudden death of her father and her brother's tour of duty in Vietnam.
Myers, Walter Dean. Fallen Angels
17-year-old Richie Perry, just out of his Harlem high school, enlists in the Army in the summer of 1967 and spends a devastating year on active duty in Vietnam.
Sherlock, P. Letters from Wolfie
Certain that he is doing the right thing by donating his dog, Wolfie,, to the Army's scout program in Vietnam, thirteen-year-old Mark begins to have second thoughts when the Army refuses to say when and if Wolfie will ever return.
Veciana-Suarez, Ana. The Flight to Freedom
Writing in the diary which her father gave her, 13-year-old Yara describes life with her family in Havana, Cuba, in 1967 as well as her experiences in Miami, Florida, after immigrating there to be reunited with some relatives while leaving others behind.
1970s
Compestine, Yang. Revolution is Not a Dinner Party
Starting in 1972 when she is nine years old, Ling, the daughter of two doctors, struggles to make sense of the communists' Cultural Revolution, which empties stores of food, homes of appliances deemed "bourgeois," and people of laughter.
Holt, Kimberly. When Zachary Beaver Came To Town
During the summer of 1971 in a small Texas town, 13-year-old Toby and his best friend Cal meet the star of a sideshow act, 600-pound Zachary, the fattest boy in the world.
LaFaye, A. Strawberry Hill
During the summer of 1976, twelve-year-old Raleia Pendle feels like a misfit with her hippie parents and begins a friendship with the town recluse.
Lynch, Chris. Gold Dust
In 1975, 12-year-old Richard befriends Napolean, a Caribbean newcomer to his Catholic school, hoping that Napolean will learn to love baseball and the Red Sox, and will win acceptance in the racially polarized Boston school.
Updated February 2008
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