Children's Book Suggestions | Historical Fiction

Updated November 7, 2023
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Skunked!
Kelly, Jacqueline
Paper Book
From Newbery honor author Jacqueline Kelly comes Skunked!, a new illustrated chapter book series for younger readers featuring the beloved characters from The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate. In Calpurnia Tate, Girl Vet, Callie Vee, Travis, and Dr. Pritzker help...
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?
Anne arrives
George, K.
Paper Book
Marilla and Matthew Cuthbert need help on their farm, so they've adopted what they hope will be a sturdy, helpful boy. Instead, Matthew finds Anne awaiting him at the train station - imaginative, brash, redheaded Anne-with-an-e. With her place at the Cuthberts' at risk - particularly if nosy...
Amber & Clay
Schlitz, Laura Amy
Paper Book
The Newbery Medal-winning author of Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! gives readers a virtuoso performance in verse in this profoundly original epic pitched just right for fans of poetry, history, mythology, and fantasy. Welcome to ancient Greece as only genius storyteller Laura...
The Beatryce prophecy
DiCamillo, Kate
Paper Book
A #1 New York Times bestseller From two-time Newbery Medalist Kate DiCamillo and two-time Caldecott Medalist Sophie Blackall comes a fantastical meditation on fate, love, and the power of words to spell the world. We shall all, in the end, be led to...
Sweetie
Klimo, Kate.
Paper Book
George Washington's transformation from farmer to Father of Our Country-as told by his dog Sweetlips! Sweetie was the finest foxhound in George Washington's kennel. But Sweetie's idyllic days at Mount Vernon were cut short when her master was chosen to represent Virginia at the...
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...
The inquisitor's tale, or, The three magical children and their holy dog
Gidwitz, Adam
Paper Book
A Newbery Honor Book Winner of the Sydney Taylor Book Award An exciting and hilarious medieval adventure from the bestselling author of A Tale Dark and Grimm. Beautifully illustrated throughout by Hatem Aly! "A profound and ambitious tour de force....
Prairie lotus
Park, Linda Sue
Paper Book
Prairie Lotus is a powerful, touching, multilayered novel about a girl determined to fit in and realize her dreams: getting an education, becoming a dressmaker in her father's shop, and making at least one friend. Acclaimed, award-winning author Linda Sue Park has placed a young half-Asian...
Sarah journeys west : an Oregon Trail survival story
Smith, Nikki Shannon
Paper Book
In the midst of the California Gold Rush, twelve-year-old Sarah and her family are living in the North as free Black people. Seeking a better life, Sarah's parents decide they will venture west on the Oregon Trail. On the trail, Sarah and her family face all kinds of hardship, including racism,...
The Watsons go to Birmingham--1963
Curtis, Christopher Paul
Paper Book
A Newbery Medal NomineeA Coretta Scott King Award NomineeAn ALA Top Ten Best BookAN ALA Notable Children's BookAn IRA Young Adult's ChoiceA New York Times Book Review Best BookEnter the hilarious world of ten-year-old Kenny and his family, the Weird Watsons of Flint, Michigan. There's Momma, Dad,...
The miners' lament : a story of Latina activists in the Empire Zinc mine strike
Cummings, Judy Dodge
Paper Book
It's 1951, and workers at the Empire Zinc mine in Alba, New Mexico, have been striking for months. Among them is Ana Maria Garcia's father, who says they may need to sell her vihuela to pay rent. But her vihuela was a gift from her recently deceased mother, and her dream is to be a corridista, a...
Barefoot dreams of Petra Luna
Dobbs, Alda P.
Paper Book
2022 Pura Belpré Honor Book NYPL Best Book of 2021 Texas Bluebonnet Master List Selection NPR Best Book of 2021 Based on a true story, the tale of one girl's perilous journey to cross the U.S. border and lead her family to safety during the Mexican...
Night of soldiers and spies
Messner, Kate
Paper Book
Ranger, the time-traveling golden retriever with search-and-rescue training, travels to Colonial America to help the patriot cause!Ranger's next mission finds him in the middle of the Revolutionary War. There he meets Isaac Pope, a fisherman turned soldier for the Continental Army. When General...
Freewater
Luqman-Dawson, Amina
Paper Book
I survived the sinking of the Titanic, 1912
Tarshis, Lauren.
Paper Book
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 places to explore, but when George ventures into the first class storage cabin, a terrible boom shakes the entire...
Bea and the new deal horse
Elliott, Laura
Paper Book
This lyrical middle grade historical novel set during the Great Depression from award-winning author L. M. Elliott is a moving tale of the spirit of American persistence, found family, and the magical partnership between girl and horse. Bea wakes to Daddy's note in a hayloft,...
Front desk
Yang, Kelly
Paper Book
Mia Tang has a lot of secrets. Number 1: She lives in a motel, not a big house. Every day, while her immigrant parents clean the rooms, ten-year-old Mia manages the front desk of the Calivista Motel and tends to its guests. Number 2: Her parents hide immigrants. And if the mean motel owner, Mr. Yao,...
Turtle in paradise : the graphic novel
Holm, Jennifer L.
Paper Book
A graphic novel adaptation of the beloved, bestselling Newbery Honor-winning novel. Eleven-year-old Turtle is smart and tough and has seen enough of the world not to expect a Hollywood ending. After all, it's 1935 and money-and sometimes even dreams-is scarce. So when Turtle's mother...
The war that saved my life
Bradley, Kimberly Brubaker.
Paper Book
* Newbery Honor Book * #1 New York Times Bestseller * Winner of the Schneider Family Book Award * Forbes 25 Top Historical Fiction Books Of All Time selection * Wall Street Journal Best Children's Books of the Year selection * New York Public...
The blackbird girls
Blankman, Anne
Paper Book
NATIONAL JEWISH BOOK AWARD WINNER A SYDNEY TAYLOR MIDDLE GRADE HONOR BOOK   Like Ruta Sepetys for middle grade, Anne Blankman pens a poignant and timeless story of friendship that twines together moments in underexplored history. On a spring morning,...
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...
City of gold
Hobbs, Will
Paper Book
Rich in adventure, history, and humor, an odyssey set in the twilight of the Wild West spun by Will Hobbs Weeks after arriving in Colorado to start a new farm, the Hollowell family is looking at disaster when fifteen-year-old Owen witnesses the theft of their mules. Learning that Hercules...
The bronze bow
Speare, Elizabeth George.
Paper Book
In this Newbery Medal-winning novel, Daniel bar Jamin will stop at nothing to seek revenge for his father's death at the hands of the Roman Empire. After Daniel bar Jamin's father is crucified by the Roman Empire, Daniel wants nothing more than to rid his land of Israel of...
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...
Bone talk
Gourlay, Candy
Paper Book
Samkad lives in a tribe deep in the Philippine jungle at the end of the nineteenth century, and has never encountered anyone from outside his own tribe before. He's about to become a man, and while he's desperate to grow up, he's worried that this will take him away from his best friend, Little Luki...
Allies
Gratz, Alan
Paper Book
Indian no more
McManis, Charlene Willing
Paper Book
American Indian Youth Literature Award Winner - American Indian Library Association When Regina's Umpqua tribe is legally terminated and her family must relocate from Oregon to Los Angeles, she goes on a quest to understand her identity as an Indian despite being so far from home.<...
The lost year
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...
Mexikid : a graphic memoir
Martin, Pedro
Paper Book
NEWBERY HONOR AWARD WINNER * An unforgettable graphic memoir about a Mexican American boy's family and their adventure-filled road trip to bring their abuelito back from Mexico "One of those books that kids will pass to their friends as soon as they have finished it."-...
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.A Night Divided joins the Scholastic Gold line, which features award-winning and beloved novels. Includes...
Pony
Palacio, R. J.
Paper Book
Instant New York Times Bestseller The bestselling author of Wonder returns with an unforgettable adventure about a boy on a quest to rescue his father, with only a ghost as his companion and a mysterious pony as his guide. When Silas Bird wakes in the...
Not your all-American girl
Rosenberg, Madelyn
Paper Book
A multicultural story full of heart and hilarity about what it means to be all-American.Lauren and her best friend, Tara, have always done absolutely everything together. So when they don't have any classes together in sixth grade, it's disastrous. The solution? Trying out for the school play....
Isla to island
Castellanos, Alexis
Paper Book
This stunning wordless graphic novel follows a young girl in the 1960s who immigrates from Cuba to the United States and must redefine what home means to her. Marisol loves her colorful island home. Cuba is vibrant with flowers and food and people...but things are changing. The...
Big Apple diaries
Bermudez, Alyssa
Paper Book
In Big Apple Diaries, a heartfelt diary-style graphic memoir by Alyssa Bermudez, a young New Yorker doodles her way through middle school-- navigating crushes, friendship, fashion, and identity, as well as the world-changing consequences of September 11, 2001. It...
Cub
Copeland, Cynthia L.
Paper Book
"Raina Telgemeier fans will lap this up." -- Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books A laugh-out-loud funny and empowering graphic memoir about growing up and finding your voice. Twelve-year-old...
Cuba in my pocket
Cuevas, Adrianna
Paper Book
From Pura Belpré Honoree Adrianna Cuevas is a sweeping, emotional middle grade historical novel about a twelve-year-old boy who leaves his family in Cuba to immigrate to the U.S. by himself, based on the author's family history. "I don't remember. Tell me everything,...
Countdown
Wiles, Deborah
Paper Book
Four starred reviews greeted this new, groundbreaking classic from Deborah Wiles!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 head. Her saintly younger brother is no help...
How to find what you're not looking for
Hiranandani, Veera
Paper Book
New historical fiction from a Newbery Honor-winning author about how middle schooler Ariel Goldberg's life changes when her big sister elopes following the 1967 Loving v. Virginia decision, and she's forced to grapple with both her family's prejudice and the antisemitism she experiences,...
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 trip or...

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