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.
Paper Book
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

Mark of the thief
Nielsen, Jennifer A.
Paper Book
Jennifer A. Nielsen, author of the NYT and USA TODAY bestselling Ascendance Trilogy, has woven an electrifying tale of greed and power, magic and destiny, and one boy's courage at the heart of it all.When Nic, a slave in the mines outside of Rome, is forced to enter a sealed cavern containing the...

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

Ancient Rome

I survived the sinking of the Titanic, 1912
Tarshis, Lauren
Paper Book
The most terrifying events in history are brought vividly to life in this New York Times-bestselling series!Ten-year-old George Calder can't believe his luck -- he and his little sister, Phoebe, are on the famous Titanic, crossing the ocean with their Aunt Daisy. The ship is full of exciting...

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

The door of no return
Alexander, Kwame
Paper Book
From the Newbery Medal and Coretta Scott King Award winning author Kwame Alexander, comes the first book in a searing, breathtaking trilogy that tells the story of a boy, a village, and the epic odyssey of an African family. In his village in Upper...

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

The inquisitor's tale : or, The three magical children and their holy dog
Gidwitz, Adam.
CD
The bestselling author of A Tale Dark and Grimm takes on medieval times in an exciting and hilarious new adventure about history, religion . . . and farting dragons.   1242. On a dark night, travelers from across France cross paths at an inn and begin to tell stories...

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

Freewater (Newbery and Coretta Scott King Award Winner)
Luqman-Dawson, Amina
Paper Book
Winner of the John Newbery Medal Winner of the Coretta Scott King Author Award  An Indiebound Bestseller A New York Times Bestseller Award-winning author Amina Luqman-Dawson pens a lyrical,...

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

Pony
Palacio, R. J.
Paper Book
INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * NAMED ONE OF THE BEST CHILDREN'S BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY THE WALL STREET JOURNAL "Perfection." -The Wall Street Journal The bestselling author of Wonder returns with an enthralling adventure about a boy...

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

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 legend of Auntie Po
Khor, Shing Yin
Paper Book
A NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST Part historical fiction, part fable, and 100 percent adventure. Thirteen-year-old Mei reimagines the myths of Paul Bunyan as starring a Chinese heroine while she works in a Sierra Nevada logging camp in 1885. Aware of the racial tumult...

A 13-year-old Chinese American girl spins her own twist on American tall tales for other workers in their post-Chinese Exclusion Act mining camp. (Young Teen Graphic Novel Grades 3-5)

Nineteenth Century US | 1885

Lost Year : A Survival Story of the Ukrainian Famine
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

Remember us
Woodson, Jacqueline
Paper Book
National Book Award winner Jacqueline Woodson brings readers a powerful story that delves deeply into life's burning questions about time and memory and what we take with us into the future. It seems like Sage's whole world is on fire the summer before she starts seventh grade....

An award-winning author tells an atmospheric summer story based on her childhood in Brooklyn, when her Bushwick neighborhood is caught between the pressures of gentrification and a wave of fires. (Young Teen Fiction Grades 5-7)

Twentieth Century | 1970s

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

Stealing home
Torres, J.
Paper Book
Sandy Saito is a happy boy who reads comic books and is obsessed with baseball - especially the Asahi team, the pride of his Japanese Canadian community. But when the Japanese attack Pearl Harbor, his life, like that of every other North American of Japanese descent, changes forever. In this...

A graphic novel about a Japanese Canadian boy whose love of baseball brings him solace while incarcerated during World War II. (Children's Graphic Novel Grades 3-5)

World War II

Allies
Gratz, Alan
Paper Book
A New York Times bestseller!Alan Gratz, bestselling author of Refugee, weaves a stunning array of voices and stories into an epic tale of teamwork in the face of tyranny -- and how just one day can change the world.June 6, 1944: The Nazis are terrorizing Europe, on their evil quest to...

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 night divided
Nielsen, Jennifer A.
Paper Book
From NYT bestselling author Jennifer A. Nielsen comes a stunning thriller about a girl who must escape to freedom after the Berlin Wall divides her family between east and west.With the rise of the Berlin Wall, twelve-year-old Gerta finds her family suddenly divided. She, her mother, and her brother...

A young girl separated from her father with the rise of the Berlin wall makes a daring escape to join him in West Berlin in one of many gripping historical fiction adventures by Jennifer A. Nielsen. (Young Teen Fiction Grades 5-7)

Cold War | 1965


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