Children's Book Suggestions | Historical FictionUnpublished

Share

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

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

A fast-paced fantasy epic set in ancient Rome that fuses archaeology, history, and mythological magic. (Young Teen Fiction Grades 5-7)

Ancient Rome

A Deaf educator uses a real-life historical Deaf community on Martha's Vineyard, in which 25% of the population was Deaf and all residents spoke a unique sign language, as the setting for this suspenseful tale about a scientist's visit to the island. (Young Teen Fiction Grades 5-7)

Nineteenth Century US | 1805

The first book in the popular I Survived series about surviving famous historical disasters from a child's point of view features one of the most dramatic moments in modern history: the sinking of the Titanic. (Children's Fiction Grades 3-5)

Twentieth Century US | 1912

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

A monk, a Jewish refugee, and a psychic peasant join forces in this medieval road trip story loosely inspired by Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. (Young Teen Fiction Grades 5-7)

Medieval France | 1242

A Chinese American girl who dreams of being a dressmaker and her white father try to make their home in pioneer era LaForge, South Dakota in a story inspired by the author's childhood love of Little House on the Prairie. (Children's Fiction Grades 3-5)

Nineteenth Century US | 1880

A story of the American Revolution from children's literary legend Avi, in which a boy from a Loyalist family must choose sides in the burgeoning War for Independence. (Young Teen Fiction Grades 5-7)

American Revolution | 1775

Based on the author's childhood experiences, a Muslim boy escapes to the US after ethnic tensions erupt into genocide in his Bosnian homeland in this rare exploration of Balkan history in children's literature. (Young Teen Fiction Grades 5-7)

Twentieth Century | 1992

LAFAYETTE! Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales, written by a modern graphic novel artist who shares his name with a famous revolutionary war spy, tells engaging true stories from US history--including this tale of the Marquis de Lafayette, French solider and Revolutionary War hero.

American Revolution | 1777

Two enslaved children escape plantation life and take refuge among an off-the-grid community of formerly enslaved Black Americans in the Great Dismal Swamp. (Children's Fiction Grades 3-5)

Nineteenth Century US

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

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

A young girl, grandmother, and baby brother survive a harrowing desert journey as they flee to safety in the US during the Mexican Revolution, inspired by the author's grandmother's own immigration journey. (Children's Fiction Grades 3-5)

Twentieth Century US | 1910

The true story of the bear was adopted by a Canadian regiment in World War I and inspired Christopher Robin Milne to name his stuffed bear--who would later go on to star in his father's classic children's books--Winnie the Pooh. (Children's Fiction Grades 3-5)

World War I

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

A tween boy moves to Alcatraz when his father becomes a guard at the famous prison. (Young Teen Fiction Grades 5-7)

Great Depression | 1935

National Book Award and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Louise Erdrich draws on her Ojibwe heritage in this series of books inspired by 19th-century Indigenous communities in northern Minnesota. (Children's Fiction Grades 3-5)

Nineteenth Century US | 1847

An American teenage boy lies about his age to join the Allied forces for the D-Day invasion of Normandy in this pulse-pounding adventure from bestselling author Alan Gratz. (Young Teen Fiction Grades 5-7) World War II | 1944

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

A family road trip to Birmingham in September 1963 brings a Michigan family a little too close to one of the most devastating tragedies of the Civil Rights Era. Introduces kids to a difficult historical era with humor and grace. (Children's Fiction Grades 3-5)

Civil Rights Era | 1963

A classic novel from Gary D. Schmidt about a Protestant boy who learns to love Shakespeare during an independent study class held while his Catholic and Jewish classmates take religious studies classes. (Young Teen Fiction Grades 5-7)

Twentieth Century | 1967

A trio of sisters spend the summer of 1968 with their estranged activist mother in Berkeley, where she tries to repair their relationship and sends the girls to a Black Panther-run summer camp. (Young Teen Fiction Grades 5-7)

Twentieth Century | 1968

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

This entry in the popular Girls Survive series focuses on the Mt. St. Helens eruption of 1984, featuring a young girl escaping the eruption in a fast-paced survival story. A great choice for kids who've read all of the I Survived books and are looking for more short, approachable historical fiction survival stories. (Children's Fiction Grades 3-5)

Twentieth Century | 1984