Children's Book Suggestions | Historical Fiction

Historical fiction uses relatable stories to make famous time periods and events come alive for young readers.

Browse for additional historical fiction books in the online catalog. For readers who want facts and information about different historical eras or significant events, check out the 900 section in the Children's Nonfiction collection.

Updated February 15, 2024
LINCC (Libraries in Clackamas County)Oregon City Public Library
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Dinosaurs before dark
Osborne, Mary Pope.
Other
Where did the magic tree house come from? Before Jack and Anie can find out, the mysterious tree house whisks them back to the prehistoric past. Now can they do it before dark... or will they become a dinosaur's dinner?

Technically, this series is more of a time travel story than true historical fiction, but there's no better way to introduce kids to world history than "the Jack & Annie books." (Bridging Fiction Grades 2-4)

Prehistoric

The Beatryce prophecy
DiCamillo, Kate
Paper Book

A baby with a powerful destiny is adopted by an abbey full of monks in this modern classic from beloved author Kate DiCamillo. (Children's Fiction Grades 3-5)

Medieval Europe

The door of no return
Alexander, Kwame
Paper Book

An Asante boy is captured, sold into slavery, and escapes in this novel in verse from powerhouse author Kwame Alexander. (Young Teen Fiction Grades 5-7)

Nineteenth Century Africa & US | 1860

Catherine, called Birdy
Cushman, Karen
Paper Book
NOW A MAJOR MOVIE STREAMING ON AMAZON PRIME. A funny coming-of-age novel about a fourteen-year-old girl's fight for freedom and right to self-determination in medieval England. Catherine's in trouble. Caught between a mother who is determined to turn her...

A spunky teen girl avoids her embroidery, plays pranks, and tries to avoid an arranged marriage in this Newbery Honor-winning classic. (Young Teen Fiction Grades 5-7)

Medieval England | 1290

Pony
Palacio, R. J.
Paper Book
When Silas Bird wakes in the dead of night, he watches powerlessly as three strangers take his father away. Silas is left shaken, scared and alone, except for the presence of his companion, Mittenwool . . . who happens to be a ghost. But then a mysterious pony shows up at his door, and Silas knows...

The author of Wonder crafts a masterful horse story about a boy's search for his missing father. (Young Teen Fiction Grades 5-7)

Nineteenth Century US | 1860

The war that saved my life
Bradley, Kimberly Brubaker
Paper Book
* Newbery Honor Book * #1 New York Times Bestseller * Winner of the Schneider Family Book Award  * Forbes 25 Top Historical Fiction Books Of All Time selection * Wall Street Journal Best Children's Books of the Year selection * New York...

A girl with a clubfoot blossoms when she's evacuated to the country as part of a World War II effort to move British children out of London during the Blitz. (Young Teen Fiction Grades 3-5)

World War II

Little house in the big woods
Wilder, Laura Ingalls
Paper Book
Based on the real-life adventures of Laura Ingalls Wilder, Little House in the Big Woods is the first book in the award-winning Little House series, which has captivated generations of readers. This edition features the classic black-and-white artwork from Garth Williams.  Little...

The first in the popular series of lightly fictionalized memoirs about Wilder's childhood in the upper Midwest. (Children's Fiction Grades 3-5)

Nineteenth Century US | 1871

The lost year
Marsh, Katherine
Paper Book
*A National Book Award Finalist* From the author of Nowhere Boy - called "a resistance novel for our times" by The New York Times - comes a brilliant middle-grade survival story that traces a harrowing family secret back to the Holodomor, a terrible famine that...

A modern American kid stuck at home during the pandemic learns about his Ukrainian grandmother's horrific experiences during the Holodomor famine engineered by the Stalinist Soviet government. (Children's Fiction Grades 3-5)

Twentieth Century | 1932

Inside out & back again
Lai, Thanhha.
Paper Book
Inside Out and Back Again is a #1 New York Times bestseller, a Newbery Honor Book, and a winner of the National Book Award! Inspired by the author's childhood experience as a refugee--fleeing Vietnam after the Fall of Saigon and immigrating to Alabama--this coming-of-age debut novel told...

Based on the author's experiences as a Vietnam War refugee, this novel in verse tells the story of a young girl's arrival in Alabama following the fall of Saigon in 1975. (Young Teen Fiction Grades 5-7)

Vietnam War | 1975

The night diary
Hiranandani, Veera
Paper Book
A 2019 NEWBERY HONOR BOOK "A gripping, nuanced story of the human cost of conflict appropriate for both children and adults." -Kirkus, starred review In the vein of Inside Out and Back Again and The War That Saved My Life comes a...

A mixed faith Muslim and Hindu girl chronicles her family's flight to India during the Partition of India and Pakistan. (Young Teen Fiction Grades 5-7)

Twentienth Century | 1947

How to find what you're not looking for
Hiranandani, Veera
Paper Book
New historical fiction from a Newbery Honor-winning author about how middle schooler Ariel Goldberg's life changes when her big sister elopes following the 1967 Loving v. Virginia decision, and she's forced to grapple with both her family's prejudice and the antisemitism she experiences,...

A Jewish girl feels caught in the middle when her older sister elopes with an Indian American man after interracial marriage is legalized in the US. (Young Teen Fiction Grades 5-7)

Twentieth Century | 1967
Sunny. 1, Sunny side up
Holm, Jennifer L.
Paper Book
When is a summer vacation not really a summer vacation?Sunny Lewin has been packed off to Florida to live with her grandfather for the summer. At first she thought Florida might be fun -- it is the home of Disney World, after all. But the place where Gramps lives is no amusement park....

A tween girl spends the summer at her grandparents' retirement community in Florida in this graphic novel series starter about a middle schooler in the mid-1970s. (Young Teen Graphic Novels Grades 5-7)

Twentieth Century | 1970s

World made of glass
Polonsky, Ami
Paper Book
An "inspiring" (Kirkus, starred review), "heartfelt" (The Horn Book, starred review) coming-of-age novel about a girl finding her way to activism in the early years of the AIDS pandemic, from award-winning author Ami Polonsky.   Iris tries to act normal at...

A young girl moves through grief and finds her voice after her dad dies of AIDS at the height of the mid-1980s AIDS epidemic. (Young Teen Fiction Grades 5-7)

Twentieth Century | 1987


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