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
Eight-year-old Jack and his little sister, Annie, are playing in the woods during their summer holiday, when they find a mysterious tree house full of books. But these are no ordinary books . . . And this is no ordinary tree house . . . Jack and Annie get more than they had bargined...

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

Mark of the thief
Nielsen, Jennifer A.
Audiobook

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

Ancient Rome

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

I survived the sinking of the Titanic, 1912
Tarshis, Lauren.
Audiobook

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

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

Little house in the big woods
Wilder, Laura Ingalls
Paper Book
Classic tales by Laura Ingalls Wilder about life on the frontier and America's best-loved pioneer family. Inside the little house in the Big Woods live the Ingalls family: Ma, Pa, Mary, Laura and baby Carrie. Outside the little house are the wild animals: the bears and the bees, the...

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

Allies
Gratz, Alan
Paper Book
  "A rousing and humane tribute to D-Day troops" -New York Times Book Review From Alan Gratz, the highly acclaimed, New York Times bestselling author of the blockbuster Refugee, comes another thrilling multi-perspective novel, this time centered around D-Day. D-Day,...

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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