Reading Themes -> HISTORICAL FICTION

Pre 1600’s

Avi. Crispin: The Cross of Lead - J Fiction Avi
Falsely accused of theft and murder, an orphaned peasant boy in fourteenth-century England flees his village and meets a larger-than-life juggler who holds a dangerous secret.

Cushman, Karen. Catherine Called Birdy - J Newbery Cushman
The thirteen-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. Midwife’s Apprentice - J Fiction Cushman
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.

Tomlinson, Theresa. Forestwife - J Fiction Tomlinson
In England during the reign of King Richard I, fifteen-year-old Marian escapes from an arranged marriage to live with a community of forest folk that includes a daring young outlaw named Robert.

1600’s

Bulla, Clyde. Lion to Guard Us - J Fiction Bulla
Left on their own in seventeenth-century London, three impoverished children draw upon all their resources to stay together and make their way to the Virginia colony in search of their father.

Clapp, Patricia. Witches’ Children: A Story of Salem - J Fiction Clapp
During the winter of 1692, when the young girls of Salem suddenly find themselves subject to fits of screaming and strange visions, some believe that they have seen the devil and are the victims of witches.

Dalgliesh, Alice. Courage of Sarah Noble - J Fiction Dalgliesh
Remembering her mother's words, an eight-year-old girl finds courage to go alone with her father to build a new home in the Connecticut wilderness and to stay with the Indians when her father goes back to bring the rest of the family.

Edmonds, Walter. Matchlock Gun - J Newbery Edmonds
In 1756, during the French and Indian War in upper New York state, ten-year-old Edward is determined to
protect his home and family with the ancient, and much too heavy, Spanish gun that his father had given him before leaving home to fight the enemy.

Harness, Cheryl. Three Young Pilgrims - J Fiction Harness
Mary, Remember, and Bartholomew are among the pilgrims who survive the harsh early years in America and see New Plymouth grow into a prosperous colony.

Speare, Elizabeth. Calico Captive - J Fiction Speare
On the brink of the French and Indian War, Indians capture a New England girl and march her north to Montreal.

Speare, Elizabeth. Witch of Blackbird Pond - J Newbery Speare
In 1687 in Connecticut, Kit Tyler, feeling out of place in the Puritan household of her aunt, befriends an old woman considered a witch by the community and suddenly finds herself standing trial for witchcraft.

1700’s

DeAngeli, Marquerite. Skippack School - J Fiction DeAngeli
A story of the Mennonite settlement in Pennsylvania about 1750, and of Little Eli who attended Skippack School.

Forbes, Esther. Johnny Tremaine-  J Newbery Forbes
A story of a Boston apprentice courier during the decisive year of the Tea Party.

Fritz, Jean. Cabin Faced West -  J Fiction Fritz
Ten-year-old Ann overcomes loneliness and learns how to appreciate the importance of her role in settling the wilderness in Pennsylvania.

Fritz, Jean. Early Thunder - J Fiction Fritz
The political conflict in Salem, Massachusetts, is shown in the agony of David, the 14-year-old son of a Tory who struggles to determine his own allegiance.

Jensen, Dorothea. Riddle of Penncroft Farm - J Fiction Jensen
Lars Olafson's move to a farm near Valley Forge brings him friendship with the ghost of an eighteenth-century ancestor, who recounts for him his adventures in that part of Pennsylvania during the American Revolution.

Lawson, Robert. Ben and Me - J Fiction Lawson
The famous book in which Amos immodestly reveals that he, Dr. Franklin's closest friend and advisor, was actually responsible for the great man's most famous accomplishments.

Platt, Richard. Pirate Diary - J Fiction Platt
The fictional diary of a ten-year-old boy who, in 1716 sets off from North Carolina to become a sailor, but ends up a pirate instead.

Rinaldi, Ann. Quilt Trilogy Series: A Stitch in Time - J Fiction Rinaldi
Shortly after the War of Independence, Hannah sees her family being torn apart by old secrets and new developments, as her sister resolves to marry a sea captain and other siblings prepare to help start a new town in the Northwestern Territory.

Turmel, Joseph. Mr Revere and I - J Fiction Turmel
An account of the Revere family as seen through the eyes of Paul Revere's horse Scheherazade.

Wisler, Clifton. King’s Mountain - J Fiction Wisler
Fourteen-year-old Frank leaves his mountain home in South Carolina to help the Patriot cause during the Revolutionary War.

1800’s

Alcott, Louisa. Little Women - J Fiction Alcott
Chronicles the joys and sorrows of the four March sisters as they grow into young ladies in nineteenth-century New England.

Armstrong, William. Sounder - J Newbery Armstrong
Angry and humiliated when his sharecropper father is jailed for stealing food for his family, a young black boy grows in courage and understanding by learning to read and with the help of the devoted dog Sounder.

Beatty, Patricia. Jayhawker - J Fiction Beatty
In the early years of the Civil War, teenage Kansan 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.

Blos, Joan. Gathering of Days - J Newbery Blos
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.

Brink, Carol. Caddie Woodlawn - J Newbery Brink
The adventures of an eleven-year-old tomboy growing up on the Wisconsin frontier in the mid-nineteenth century.

Bunting, Eve. Dandelions - J Fiction Bunting
Zoe and her family find strength in each other as they make a new home in the Nebraska territory.

Cannon, A. E. Charlotte’s Rose - J Fiction Cannon
As a twelve-year-old Welsh immigrant carries a motherless baby along the Mormon Trail in 1856, she comes to love the baby as her own and fear the day the baby's father will reclaim her.

Carr, Mary Jane. Children of the Covered Wagon - J Fiction Carr
The story of the wagon trains pushing westward and the courageous pioneers who made the perilous trek.

Cushman, Karen. Ballad of Lucy Whipple - J Fiction Cushman
In 1849, twelve-year-old California Morning Whipple, who renames herself Lucy, is distraught when her mother moves the family from Massachusetts to a rough California mining town.

DeAngeli, Marguerite. Copper-Toed Boots - J Fiction DeAngeli
A little boy, who wants most of all to own a pair of copper-toed boots and a dog, works hard to earn his boots and finds a dog too.

DeFelice, Cynthia. Apprenticeship of Lucas Whitaker - J Fiction Defelice
After his family dies of consumption in 1849, twelve-year-old Lucas becomes a doctor's apprentice.

Easton, Richard. A Real American - J Fiction Easton
With his older brother dead, his best friend moved away, and his father busy trying to save the family's farm in western Pennsylvania,
eleven-year-old Nathan needs a friend, but can he find one among the immigrants who have come to work in the new coal mines?

Fitzgerald, John. Great Brain - J Fiction Fitzgerald
The exploits of the Great Brain of Adenville, Utah are described by his younger brother, frequently the victim of the Great Brain's schemes for gaining prestige or money.

Fleischman, Paul. Bull Run - J Fiction Fleischman
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.

Fletcher, Susan. Walk Across the Sea - J Fiction Fletcher
In late nineteenth-century California, when Chinese immigrants are being driven out or even killed for fear they will take jobs from whites, fifteen-year-old Eliza Jane McCully defies the townspeople and her lighthouse-keeper father to help a Chinese boy who has been kind to her.

Frederick, Heather. Voyage of Patience Goodspeed - J Fiction Frederick
Following their mother's death in Nantucket, Captain Goodspeed brings twelve-year-old Patience and six-year-old Tad aboard his whaling ship, where a new crew member incites a mutiny and Patience puts her mathematical ability to good use.

Holm, Jennifer. Boston Jane: An Adventure - J Fiction Holm
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.

Hunt, Irene. Across Five Aprils - J Fiction Hunt
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.

Keith, Harold. Rifles for Watie - J Newbery Keith
A boy in service during the Civil War tries to find out where General Watie is getting his weapons.

Kimball, K. M.. Star Spangled Secret - J Mystery Kimball
In 1814, as the War of 1812 threatens her Maryland home, thirteen-year-old Caroline sets out to discover the truth about the disappearance of her older brother.

Kimmel, Elizabeth. To the Frontier - J Fiction Kimmel
After the death of his brother, eight-year-old Bill Cody and his family set out from Iowa to make a new home for themselves in the volatile Kansas Territory.

Kinsey-Warnock, Natalie. Lumber Camp Library - J Fiction Kinsey
Ruby wants to be a teacher, but after her father's death in a logging accident she must quit school to care for her ten brothers and sisters, until a chance meeting with a lonely old blind woman
transforms her life.

MacLachlan, Patricia. Sarah, Plain and Tall - J Newbery MacLachlan
When their father invites a mail-order bride to come live with them in their prairie home, Caleb and Anna are captivated by their new mother and hope that she will stay.

Myers, Laurie. Lewis and Clark and Me: A Dog’s Tale - J Fiction Myers
Seaman, Meriwether Lewis's Newfoundland dog, describes Lewis and Clark's expedition, which he accompanied from St. Louis to the Pacific Ocean.

O’Dell, Scott. Sing Down the Moon - J Fiction O’Dell
A young Navaho girl recounts the events of 1864 when her tribe was forced to march to Fort Sumner as prisoners of the white soldiers.

Panagopolis, Janie. Traders in Time - J Fiction Panagopolis
Two modern Michigan boys are transported back in time to the days of the fur trade in Northern Michigan.

Pearsall, Shelly. Trouble Don’t Last - J Fiction Pearsall
Samuel, an eleven-year-old Kentucky slave, and Harrison, the elderly slave who helped raise him, attempt to escape to Canada via the Underground Railroad.

Reeder, Carolyn. Across the Lines - J Fiction Reeder
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. Broken Days - J Fiction Rinaldi
In 1811, life with her Aunt Hannah in Salem, Massachusetts, becomes even more difficult for fourteen-year-old Ebie with the arrival of a half-Indian girl who claims to be the daughter of Hannah's sister, Thankful, and with the threat of impending war.

Schultz, Jan. Horse Sense: The Story of Will Sasse, His Horse Star, and the Outlaw Jesse James - J Fiction Schultz
When his beloved mare is stolen by the James gang after an attempted bank robbery in the nearby town of Northfield, Will joins the posse looking for the outlaws.

Speare, Elizabeth. Sign of the Beaver - J Fiction Speare
Left alone to guard the family's wilderness home in 18th-century Maine, a boy is hard-pressed to survive until local Indians teach him their skills.

Whelan, Gloria. Fruitlands: Louisa May Alcott Made Perfect - J Fiction Whelan
Whelan lives up to her reputation for insightful prose in this fictionalized account of eight months that Alcott and her family spent at Fruitlands farm. Written as two parallel diaries (one available to her parents, the other only for herself), the book recounts Louisa's experiences and thoughts as her father and his friend attempt to mold their families and friends into a Utopian community.

Whelan, Gloria. The Wanigan - J Fiction Whelan
In 1878, eleven-year-old Annabel and her parents survive a year of adventure which includes floating downriver in two shacks along with a group of Michigan lumbermen moving logs.

1900-1960’s

Armistead, John. The Return of Gabriel - J Fiction Armistead
In the summer of 1964, a thirteen-year-old white boy whose best friend is black is caught in the middle when civil rights workers and Ku Klux Klan members clash in a small town near Tupelo, Mississippi.

Bunting, Eve. Spying on Miss Muller - J Fiction Bunting
At Alveara boarding school in Belfast at the start of World War II, thirteen-year-old Jessie must deal with her suspicions about a teacher whose father was German and with her worries about her own father's drinking problem.

Burch, Robert. Ida Early Comes Over the Mountain - J Fiction Burch
Tough times in rural Georgia during the Depression take a lively turn when spirited Ida Early arrives to keep house for the Suttons.

Cleary, Beverly. Emily’s Runaway Imagination - J Fiction Cleary
About an imaginative little girl who lives on an Oregon farm in the 1920's.

Dadey, Debbie. Whistler’s Hollow - J Fiction Dadey
In 1920, eleven-year-old Lillie Mae, recently orphaned, goes to live with her loving great-aunt and great-uncle in their Kentucky farm house, where she learns the truth about several secrets.

Griffin, Adele. Hannah Divided - J Fiction Griffin
In 1934, a thirteen-year-old with a gift for numbers is offered the chance to leave her family's dairy farm to spend one term at an exclusive Philadelphia girls' school preparing for a scholarship
exam.

Gutman, Dan. Shoeless Joe & Me - J Fiction Gutman
Joe Stoshack travels back to 1919, where he meets Shoeless Joe Jackson and tries to prevent the fixing of the World Series in which Jackson was wrongly implicated.

Hahn, Mary. Stepping on the Cracks - J Fiction Hahn
In 1944, while her brother is overseas fighting in World War II, eleven-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.

Hest, Amy. Love You, Soldier - J Fiction Hest
Katie, a Jewish girl living in New York City during World War II, sees many dynamic changes in her world as she ages from seven to ten waiting for her father to return from the war.

Hest, Amy. Private Notebook of Katie Roberts - J Fiction Hest
In a series of journal entries and letters to a pen pal, Katie relates her feelings about her father's death in World War II, her mother's remarriage, and the family's move from New York City to Texas.

Ibbotson, Eva. Journey to the River Sea - J Fiction Ibbotson
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.

Kinsey-Warnock, Natalie. Doctor Like Papa - J Fiction Kinsey
When the influenza epidemic of 1918 comes to Vermont, eleven-year-old Margaret, who has always wanted to be a physician, finds out what doctoring is like.

Lawrence, Iain. Lord of the Nutcracker Men - J Fiction Lawrence
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.
Matas, Carol. Sparks Fly Upward J Fiction Matas In 1910, when a family of Russian Jews moves from Saskatchewan to Winnipeg, Canada, twelve-year-old Rebecca must live with Christians temporarily and struggles with anti-Semitism, confusion about God, and changing relationships with family and friends.

Nelson, Theresa. Devil Storm - J Fiction Nelson
A brother and sister living off the Texas Gulf Coast befriend Tom the Tramp who becomes a hero during the Great Storm of 1900.

Peck, Robert. Soup - J Fiction Peck
The adventures and misadventures of two boys growing up in a small Vermont town.

Sebestyen, Ouida. Words by Heart - J Fiction Sebestyen
A young black girl struggles to fulfill her papa's dream of a better future for their family in the southwestern town where, in 1910, they are the only blacks.

Taylor, Syndey. Ella Of All-Of-A-Kind Family - J Fiction Taylor
When Jules comes to see her after his return from the war, Ella finds it difficult to have some time alone with him.

Taylor, Mildred. Roll Of Thunder Hear My Cry - J Newbery Taylor
A black family living in the South during the 1930's are faced with prejudice and discrimination which their children don't understand.