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 29, 2024
LINCC (Libraries in Clackamas County) Oregon City Public Library
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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.

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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

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...

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

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 House in...

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

Al Capone does my shirts
Choldenko, Gennifer
Paper Book
The Newbery Honor Book and New York Times Bestseller that is historical fiction with a hint of mystery about living at Alcatraz not as a prisoner, but as a kid meeting some of the most famous criminals in our history. Al Capone Does My Shirts has become an instant classic for all...

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

Inside out & back again
Lai, Thanhha.
Paper Book
Through a series of poems, a young girl chronicles the life-changing year of 1975, when she, her mother, and her brothers leave Vietnam and resettle in Alabama.

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 birchbark house
Erdrich, Louise.
Paper Book
"[In this] story of a young Ojibwa girl, Omakayas, living on an island in Lake Superior around 1847, Louise Erdrich is reversing the narrative perspective used in most children's stories about nineteenth-century Native Americans. Instead of looking out at 'them' as dangers or curiosities, Erdrich,...

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

Countdown
Wiles, Deborah.
Paper Book
The story of a formative year in 12-year-old Franny Chapman's life, and the life of a nation facing the threat of nuclear war.Franny Chapman just wants some peace. But that's hard to get when her best friend is feuding with her, her sister has disappeared, and her uncle is fighting an old war in his...

The first book in Deborah Wiles' 60s trilogy zooms in on one girl's experience during the Cuban Missile Crisis. The sequels focus on the Civil Rights era in 1964 Mississippi and two cousins grappling with the Vietnam draft in 1968. (Young Teen Fiction Grades 5-7)

Cold War | 1962

The Watsons go to Birmingham--1963
Curtis, Christopher Paul.
Paper Book
Enter the hilarious world of ten-year-old Kenny and his family, the Weird Watsons of Flint, Michigan. There's Momma, Dad, little sister Joetta, Kenny and Byron, who's thirteen and an "official juvenile delinquent". When Momma and Dad decide it's time to visit Grandma, Dad comes home with an amazing...

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

The Wednesday wars
Schmidt, Gary D.
CD
From an award-winning novelist, a hilarious and poignant coming-of-age story set 1967. Seventh grader Holling Hoodhood has a tough year ahead of him. First of all, his teacher, Mrs. Baker, keeps giving him the evil eye. Second of all, the class bully keeps threatening to do Number...

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

One crazy summer
Williams-Garcia, Rita.
Paper Book
In this Newbery Honor novel, New York Times bestselling author Rita Williams-Garcia tells the story of three sisters who travel to Oakland, California, in 1968 to meet the mother who abandoned them. A strong option for summer reading--take this book along on a family road...

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

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