Recommended Historical Fiction Books

This article is about "Why Historical Fiction is Important for 21st Century Kids."


Recommended Historical Fiction Books

The Passion of Dolssa  added 2-4-16

Salt to the Sea added 2-4-16
http://www.amazon.com/Salt-Sea-Ruta-Sepetys/dp/0399160302
Scroll down to the book trailer under "Related Media."


The Newbery Award winner for 2011 is an historical fiction book.

Moon Over Manifest  by Clare Vanderpool (Author) 

January 2011 -- I've read Moon Over Manifest, and it is a wonderful book with action, humor, well-developed characters and relationships among characters, and the reader learns many things about the Great Depression, Prohibition, World War I, and more.

from lexile.com

March Toward the Thunder  -- Joseph Bruchac 

Fifteen-year-old Louis, an Abenaki Indian from Canada, enlists in the U.S. Army in 1864 and serves with New York’s Irish Brigade. Basing the main character on his great-grandfather, Bruchac takes readers close to the Civil War soldier’s reality, from grimy field hospitals, where the term sawbones was a horrifically accurate term for a doctor, to the grim battlefields, which experienced soldiers entered only after pinning the pieces of paper to their shirts that would identify their bodies. Although written in third person, the story includes Louis’ thoughts in italics, a device that brings readers closer to this laconic but sympathetic character. In lighter moments, Louis and his Mohawk friend, Artis, trade barbs, to the discomfort of fellow soldiers who misunderstand their brand of humor. Appended are an author’s note on his family history, another on the Irish Brigade, and a bibliography of source materials. A fine choice for readers who want war stories that include plenty of action, as well as reflection. Grades 7-10. --Carolyn Phelan --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Note:  I have not yet read all of these books.

Numbering the Bones by Rinaldi, The Midwife’s Apprentice by Cushman,  Steal Away to Freedom by Armstrong,  Sacajawea by Bruchac,  Charlotte’s Rose by Cannon, The Legend of Jimmy Spoon, Jimmy Spoon and the Pony Express, Sounder, Tucker's Travels, Run of the Arrow,

You might be interested in knowing that Lois Lowry (author of The Giver)  has written historical fiction books:
Numbering the Stars and
just out on January 1, 2011--    Like The Willow Tree (Dear America) by Lois Lowry

Before We Were Free by Julia Alvarez: Anita de la Torre never questioned her freedom living in the Dominican Republic. But by her 12th birthday in 1960, most of her relatives have emigrated to the United States, her Tío Toni has disappeared without a trace, and the government’s secret police terrorize her remaining family because of their suspected opposition of el Trujillo’s dictatorship.

Find more information about selecting books for your Book-of-the-Month at

http://cavemanenglish.pbworks.com/Recommended-Books

Feel free to use these (or others) for your individual novels:  
Remember that you can check for lexile levels at lexile.com     Generally the best book for you will be one that is somewhere form 100 lexiles below your tested level to 50 above.

I'll add to this list over the term.
Find another list of recommended historical fiction at 
 http://cavemanenglish.pbworks.com/Historical-Fiction


Rebel Hart by Hemingway and Shields -- a young female confederate spy runs away from home to join a band of rebel raiders.
Bull Run by Fleischman -- the first battle of the Civil War told by sixteen different voices
Pirates! by Celia Rees -- Did you know that there were girl pirates?


Civil War :  Shades of Gray by Reeder, (There's another Shades of Gray by James that is written primarily for adults, but is supposed to a "clean" historical romance),  True North by Katryn Lasky, The River Between Us by Peck, and more; Ballad of the Civil War by Stolz, Mary 680L: Red Moon at Sharpsburg by Wells

Communist Europe: I Am David by Holm

Disease: Fever 1793 by Anderson

Exploration: Blood on the River by Carbone: The King’s Fifth by O’Dell

Immigration;
1919 (from Russia) -- Letters from Rifka by Karen Hess (660L)

Industry and Exploitation: The Mill Girls by Selden

Israel and Palestine: Habibi by Naomi Shihab Nye,

Japanese Internment during WWII: Journey to Topaz, Farewell to Manzanar, Caged Eagles, The Journal of Ben Uchida, Bat 6, The Lucky Baseball by Lieurance,

Korea: Year of Impossible Goodbyes by Sook-Nyul Choi -- North Korea during Japanese occupation; When My Name Was Keoko and A Single Shard by Linda Sue Park

Medieval Europe : Crispin by Avi, Catherine Called Birdy, Matilda Bone

Prohibition: Black Duck by Lisle 790L

Revolutionary War: My Brother Sam is Dead, Johnny Tremain

The Russian Front: Burying the Sun and others by Gloria Whelan, The Endless Steppe by Hautzig

Slavery and Segregation in the U.S.: Witness by Hesse, True North by Katherine Lasky; : My Name is Not Angelica by O’Dell, Steal Away Home by Ruby.

Westward Expansion:  Riding Freedom by Ryan

War and its effect on young people: Breadwinner (life under the Taliban in Afghanistan) and others by Ellis

World War I: All’s Quiet on the Western Front (a classic)

World War II: Soldier Boys by Hughes, Code Talker by Bruchac
Nonfiction Article:  Rosie the Riveter:

http://www.rd.com/slideshows/rosie-the-riveter-history/?trkid=NL-RANDOM-060214&_cmp=&_ebid=6/2/2014&_mid=7447&ehid=9CF05F5B5231871F8233D7EE680C4F3FA07B5964#slideshow=slide10

Holocaust: The Hiding Place, Milkweed by Spinelli, The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by Boyne; The Book Thief (for mature seventh graders or above);  The Devil’s Arithmetic, Marika; The Upstairs Room by Reiss,

Others (I can't remember if all of this set are actually historical fiction): Across the Lines by Reeder, Carolyn 1000L; Dia's Story Cloth by Cha, Dia; Long Hard Journey, A: The Story of the Pullman Porter by McKissack, Patricia C. and Frederick 1050L; Shuttered Windows by Florence Crannell Means
Cold is the Sea and others (fiction and nonfiction about submarines) by Edward L. Beach

The media center is highlighting historical fiction in a display.

Constituting American recommends these books:
Recommended Reading List Suggested Reading List Compiled by the Educational Advisory Committee of Constituting America.
http://constitutingamerica.org/reading.php
JR. HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS:
Avi: The Fighting Ground
James Collier: Bloody Country
Deborah DeFord: An Enemy Among Them
Howard Fast: April Morning
Esther Forbes: Johnny Tremain
Jean Fritz: Early Thunder
Joan Goodman: Hope’s Crossing
William Lavender: Just Jane
James Lincoln and Christopher Collier: My Brother Sam is Dead
Scott O’Dell: Sarah Bishop
Ann Rinaldi:
Cast Two Shadows
Finishing Becca
Time Enough for Drums
Elizabeth George Spear:
Calico Captive
Sign of the Beaver 

Here's another that I haven't read yet, but have seen it recommended for 7th grade and up:
PERIL ON THE SEA
by Michael Cadnum

FROM THE BOOK JACKET:

It is the summer of 1588 and the privateer "Vixen" is
sailing directly toward the Spanish Armada. At the helm is
Brandon Fletcher, one of England's most notorious pirates.
On board are the aspiring young author Sherwin Morris and
the beautiful noblewoman Katharine Westing. Although most
Englishmen are willing to battle the Spanish and defend
Queen and country to the death, Captain Fletcher is
leading Sherwin and Katharine on a voyage of a more
lucrative nature. But when the scores of heavily armed
warships of the Spanish Armada sweep in from the Atlantic,
every ship and every mariner are pressed into the fight to
save England from a foreign invasion. In spite of vowing
to avoid the conflict, Fletcher finds his ship, her crew,
and himself bracing for battle alongside other English
vessels. The fight will be harrowing and bloody, and the
unfolding tumult will challenge the character of everyone
on board--including Sherwin and Katharine, who are about
to discover the deeper meaning of both strife and honor.

The fates of a colorful cast of unlikely shipmates are
expertly interlaced in Michael Cadnum's new historical
adventure, a raucous tale of danger, mayhem, and surprise.
_________________________________________________

Do Not Use: 
You may select a book that is not on these lists, but don’t use The Diary of Anne Frank (an eighth grade class book which is also not fiction), Getting Away with Murder or Mississippi Trial, 1955 by Chris Crowe, books already on your “Do Not Read” list, any Dave Peltzer (not fiction) books, or books being read in the Reading Literature classes. Make sure the book is approved by a parent and by the teacher. You may use Words By Heart by Ouida Sebestyen since we most likely will not read that in class this year.