Some of our favorite historical fiction for school-age children.
Historical Stories
Compiled by:
Children's Services Staff
Younger Elementary
(Juvenile Fiction - J Hopkins)
In Knob Creek, Kentucky, in 1816, seven-year-old Abe falls into a creek and is rescued by his best friend, Austin Gollaher. See more historical fiction by this author, such as the Klondike Kid Trilogy.
(Juvenile Fiction - J Morris)
Follow the adventures of Sir Gawain, the only undefeated knight in King Arthur's court, who eventually learns the value of friendship, courtliness, and courtesy after a challenge from the Green Knight.
(Juvenile Fiction – J Morris)
Series: The Knights' Tales
Relates tales of Sir Lancelot, the bravest knight in King Arthur's court.
(Juvenile First Chapter Books - J Alphin)
In Wyoming in the 1880s, a young boy fulfills his dream of finding a dinosaur skeleton on his father's ranch, outwits a man who would cheat him, and sells his find to a team of fossil hunters.
(Juvenile Fiction - J Myers)
Tommy, the son of a Presbyterian minister in Augusta, Georgia, during the Civil War, must search his conscience to decide whether he should help a Yankee soldier escape and return home.
(Juvenile Fiction - J Platt)
The fictional diary of a nine-year-old boy who, in 1716 sets off from North Carolina to become a sailor, but ends up a pirate instead. Look for these other historical diaries by this author: Castle Diary and Egyptian Diary.
(Juvenile Fiction - J Maclach)
Series: MacLachlan, Patricia. Sarah, plain and tall ; 1.
When Papa advertises for a new wife to join his prairie family, Sarah appears from Maine. The children, Caleb and Anna, grow to love her very much but fear she is too homesick and will soon leave them. Read more books by this author about the Witting family and their life on the frontier.
(Juvenile Fiction - J Yep)
In 1950s San Francisco Chinatown, 8 year-old Artie succeeds in fulfilling a foolish fireworks promise with the help of his Uncle Chester.
Older Elementary
(Juvenile Fiction – J Appelfe)
Adam and Thomas, two nine-year-old Jewish boys who survive World War II, take refuge in the forest where they learn to forage and survive, soon meeting and helping other fugitives fleeing for their lives.
(Juvenile Graphic Novels - J Phelan)
Challenged with circling the world at the end of the nineteenth century, three very different adventurers--avid bicyclist Thomas Stevens, fearless reporter Nellie Bly, and retired sea captain Joshua Slocum--embark on epic journeys.
(Juvenile Fiction - J Er)
Omakayas, a seven-year-old Native American girl of the Ojibwa tribe, lives through the joys of summer and the perils of winter on an island in Lake Superior in 1847. See also the sequel to this story: The Game of Silence.
(Juvenile Fiction - J Yelchin)
In the Stalinist era of the Soviet Union, ten-year-old Sasha idolizes his father, a devoted Communist, but when police take his father away and leave Sasha homeless, he is forced to examine his own perceptions, values and beliefs.
(Juvenile Fiction - J Cushman)
The thirteen-year-old daughter of an English country knight keeps a journal in which she records the events of her life, particularly her longing for adventures beyond the usual role of women and her efforts to avoid being married off. You might also like other historical novels by this author, such as The Loud Silence of Francine Green, The Midwife's Apprentice or Rodzina.
(Juvenile Fiction - J Anderso)
After being sold to a cruel couple in New York City, a slave named Isabel spies for the rebels during the Revolutionary War.
(Juvenile Fiction - J Wiles)
Series: Wiles, Deborah. Sixties trilogy ; 1.
It's 1962, and it seems the whole country is living in fear. Franny Chapman just wants some peace - but that's hard to get! Told with a visually stunning tapestry of Cold War news, ads, and “duck and cover” educational materials.
(Juvenile Fiction - J Ryan)
Esperanza and her mother are forced to leave their life of wealth and privilege in Mexico to go work in the labor camps of Southern California, where they must adapt to the harsh circumstances facing Mexican farm workers on the eve of the Great Depression.
(Juvenile Fiction - J Preus)
In 1841, rescued by an American whaler after a terrible shipwreck leaves him and his four companions castaways on a remote island, fourteen-year-old Manjiro, who dreams of becoming a samurai, learns new laws and customs as he becomes the first Japanese person to set foot in the United States.
(Juvenile Fiction - J Lai)
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.
(Juvenile Fiction - J Park)
In Korea in 1473, eleven-year-old Young-sup overcomes his rivalry with his older brother Kee-sup and combines his kite-flying skill with Kee-sup's kite-making skill in an attempt to win the New Year kite-fighting competition for the emperor. If you like this title you may also like A Single Shard, and When My Name was Keoko by the same author.
(Juvenile Fiction - J Levine)
In 1958 Little Rock, Arkansas, painfully shy twelve-year-old Marlee sees her city and family divided over school integration, but her friendship with Liz, a new student, helps her find her voice and fight against racism.
(Juvenile Fiction - J Peck)
A boy recounts his annual summer trips to rural Illinois with his sister during the Great Depression to visit their larger-than-life grandmother. (Also read the award-winning sequel, A Year Down Yonder.)
(Juvenile Fiction - J Paterso)
Impoverished Vermont farm girl Lyddie Worthen is determined to gain her independence by becoming a factory worker in Lowell, Massachusetts, in the 1840s. Look for more historical fiction titles by this author, such as Jip: His Story, The Master Puppeteer, and Bread and Roses, Too.
(Juvenile Fiction – J Selznick)
In 1766, a boy, Billy Marvel, is shipwrecked, rescued, and goes on to found a brilliant family of actors that flourishes in London until 1900--and nearly a century later, Joseph Jervis, runs away from home, seeking refuge with his uncle in London, and is captivated by the Marvel house, with its portraits and ghostly presences.
(Juvenile Fiction - J Curtis)
With love and determination befitting the "world's greatest family," twelve-year-old Deza Malone, her older brother Jimmie, and their parents endure tough times in Gary, Indiana, and later Flint, Michigan, during the Great Depression. Look for more historical novels by this author.
(Juvenile Fiction - J Do)
Morning Girl, who loves the day, and her younger brother Star Boy, who loves the night, take turns describing their life on an island in pre-Columbian America; in Morning Girl's last narrative, she witnesses the arrival of the first Europeans to her world. You might also enjoy other historical novels by this author, such as Guests and Sees Behind Trees.
(Juvenile Fiction - J Paulsen)
In 1848, while on a wagon train headed for Oregon, fourteen-year-old Francis Tucket is kidnapped by Pawnee Indians and then falls in with a one-armed trapper who teaches him how to live in the wild.
(Juvenile Fiction - J Lowry)
In 1943, during the German occupation of Denmark, ten-year-old Annemarie learns how to be brave and courageous when she helps shelter her Jewish friend from the Nazis.
(Juvenile Fiction - J Williams)
In the summer of 1968, eleven-year-old Delphine and her sisters travel from Brooklyn to Oakland, California to spend a month with their mother whom they barely know. There they discover their mother, a dedicated poet and printer, wants them to attend a nearby Black Panther summer camp.
(Juvenile Fiction - J Holm)
As the only girl in a Finnish American family of seven brothers, May Amelia Jackson resents being expected to act like a lady while growing up in Washington state in 1899.
(Juvenile Fiction - J Frost)
Twelve-year-olds Anikwa, of the Miami village of Kekionga, and James, of the trading post outside Fort Wayne, find their friendship threatened by the rising fear and tension brought by the War of 1812.
(Juvenile Fiction - J Gar)
Twelve-year-old Smith is a denizen of the mean streets of eighteenth-century London, living hand to mouth by virtue of wit and pluck. After deftly picking the pocket of an old man, he finds himself in a tough spot, which leads Smith on a breathtaking adventure.
(Juvenile Fiction - J Avi)
In 1776, after witnessing the execution of Nathan Hale in New York City, newly occupied by the British army, young Sophia Calderwood resolves to do all she can to help the American cause, including becoming a spy. Look for more historical fiction titles by this author.
(Juvenile Fiction – J Bradley)
A young disabled girl and her brother are evacuated from London to the English countryside during World War II, where they find life to be much sweeter away from their abusive mother.
(Juvenile Classics - J Speare)
In 1687 in Connecticut, Kit Tyler, feeling out of place in the Puritan household of her aunt, befriends an old woman considered a witch by the community and suddenly finds herself standing trial for witchcraft.
(Juvenile Fiction – J Wolk)
Twelve-year-old Annabelle must learn to stand up for what's right in the face of a manipulative and violent new bully who targets people Annabelle cares about, including a homeless World War I veteran.