Open Books Challenge 2026: Set in America Between 1600-1800

The Open Books Reading Challenge is a year-long reading challenge for people interested in pushing the boundaries of their reading. For full details of the program, please check-out our page at: https://www.rplmn.org/books-more/discover-more/open-books-reading-challenge

These are some ideas that fit the 2026 category "Set in America between 1600-1800, to mark the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence."

Happy Reading!

Updated December 31, 2025
RPL Staff
Drag items up and down to your preferred order then select the "Save Order" button.
Spy ring
Durst, Sarah Beth
Paper Book
Two modern-day kids discover the truth about an American Revolutionary War-era female spy through a treasure-hunt adventure in their hometown of Setauket, New York. With codewords and secret signals perfected, best friends Rachel and Joon are ready to spend their summer...
A million quiet revolutions
Gow, Robin
Paper Book
Robin Gow's A Million Quiet Revolutions is a modern love story, told in verse, about two teenaged trans boys who name themselves after two Revolutionary War soldiers. A lyrical, aching young adult romance perfect for fans of The Poet X, Darius the Great is Not Okay, and...
Hester : a novel
Lico Albanese, Laurie
Ebook
Named a Most Anticipated Book for Fall 2022 by Goodreads * Washington Post * New York Post * BuzzFeed * PopSugar * Business Insider * An October 2022 Indie Next List Pick * An October 2022 LibraryReads Pick "A hauntingly beautiful-...
An outbreak of witchcraft : a graphic novel of the Salem Witch Trials
Noyes, Deborah
Paper Book
A gripping tale of paranoia at its worst, this bewitching narrative nonfiction graphic novel visually imagines the haunting details behind the Salem witch trials. From 1692 to 1693, fear reigned in the small village of Salem, Massachusetts. The night Abigail...
Heart of American darkness : bewilderment and horror on the early frontier
Parkinson, Robert G.
Paper Book
We are divided over the history of the United States, and one of the central dividing lines is the frontier. Was it a site of heroism? Or was it where the full force of an all-powerful empire was brought to bear on Native peoples? In this startingly original work, historian Robert Parkinson...
Taking Manhattan : the extraordinary events that created New York and shaped America
Shorto, Russell
Paper Book
A New Yorker Best Book of the Year A Kirkus Best Book of 2025 One of Literary Hub's Most Anticipated Books of 2025 The author of The Island at the Center of the World offers up a thrilling narrative of how New York--that brash, bold,...
Washington's gay general : the legends and loves of Baron von Steuben
Trujillo, Josh
Ebook
A graphic novel biography of Baron von Steuben, the soldier, immigrant, and flamboyant homosexual who influenced the course of US history during the Revolutionary War despite being omitted from our textbooks.   Author Josh Trujillo and illustrator Levi Hastings tell the true...
The Mayflower bride
Woodhouse, Kimberley
Paper Book
Can a religious separatist and an opportunistic spy make it in the New World? A brand new series for fans of all things related to history, romance, adventure, faith, and family trees. Mary Elizabeth Chapman boards the Speedwell in 1620 as...

Library staff! You can create and contribute to lists. Contact your catalog administrator or log in here.