Rooted in the Past

Get historical with books rooted in the past! Try one of the titles listed here for fictional takes on real events and historical figures. You can also ask a friendly Ledding librarian to show you nonfiction books on a historical subject, person, or era. Plant a seed, read!

Updated April 29, 2026
LINCC (Libraries in Clackamas County) Milwaukie Ledding Library
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True history of the Kelly gang
Carey, Peter
Paper Book
In a dazzling act of imaginative empathy, Peter Carey gives the Australian outlaw Ned Kelly a voice so wild, passionate and original that it is difficult not to believe that the infamous bushranger himself is speaking from beyond the grave. Told in the form of a journal justifying himself to the...
All the light we cannot see : a novel
Doerr, Anthony
Paper Book
*NOW A NETFLIX LIMITED SERIES--from producer and director Shawn Levy (Stranger Things) starring Mark Ruffalo, Hugh Laurie, and newcomer Aria Mia Loberti* Winner of the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award finalist, the beloved instant New York Times bestseller...
Wolf Hall : a novel
Mantel, Hilary
Paper Book
WINNER OF THE MAN BOOKER PRIZE WINNER OF THE NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD FOR FICTION In inimitable style, Hilary Mantel's New York Times bestselling Wolf Hall is "a darkly brilliant reimagining of life under Henry VIII. . . ....
Augustown
Miller, Kei
Paper Book
11 April 1982: a smell is coming down John Golding Road right alongside the boy-child, something attached to him, like a spirit but not quite. Ma Taffy is growing worried. She knows that something is going to happen. Something terrible is going to pour out into the world. But if she can hold it off...
Salt to the sea : a novel
Sepetys, Ruta
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * A journey to freedom is rocked by an epic disaster in this masterpiece of historical fiction that shines a light on one of World War II's most devastating--yet overlooked--tragedies. WINNER OF THE CARNEGIE MEDAL "Masterfully crafted."--...
The clay girl
Tucker, Heather
Ebook
Vincent Appleton smiles at his daughters, raises a gun, and blows off his head. For the Appleton sisters, life had unravelled many times before. This time it explodes. Eight-year-old Hariet, known to all as Ari, is dispatched to Cape Breton and her Aunt Mary, who is purported to eat little girls....
The underground railroad : a novel
Whitehead, Colson
Paper Book
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * PULITZER PRIZE WINNER * NATIONAL BOOK AWARD WINNER * "An American masterpiece" (NPR) that chronicles a young slave's adventures as she makes a desperate bid for freedom in the antebellum South. One of The New York Times's 10 Best Books of...

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