Discover the magic of historical fiction
Discover the magic of historical fiction with our curated list of captivating books. Journey through time with tales that blend rich history and imaginative storytelling for an unforgettable reading experience.
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The Raging Quiet
by Sherryl Jordan
Suspicious of sixteen-year-old Marnie, a newcomer to their village, the residents accuse her of witchcraft when she discovers that the village madman is not crazy but deaf, and she begins to communicate with him through hand gestures.
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Time Enough for Drums
by Ann Rinaldi
Sixteen-year-old Jem struggles to maintain the status quo at home in Trenton, New Jersey, when the family men join the war for independence. There are signs of rebellion in the Emerson household several years before the actual American Revolution hits in 1776! Brought up in a relatively liberal household, Jemima Emerson is quite a challenge for her tutor, John Reid, who is known as a Tory with strong ties to England. How could Jem's parents be friends with a man who opposes American freedom? Jem longs for freedom on every level, in the home and her homeland--and John represents the forces that restrict her. Jem and her family soon find themselves fighting for freedom in whatever ways they can in the Revolutionary War. Before long, Jem discovers that there is much more to Mr. Reid than she ever imagined. Her feelings about him change when Jem realizes that John shares her love of freedom--and will risk his life to defend it.
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A Coal Miner's Bride
by Susan Campbell Bartoletti
Sent from Poland to Pennsylvania to be married to a coal miner, thirteen-year-old Anetka lives a totally new life in a harsh environment she doesn't understand, in this latest addition to the Dear America series.
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H&d 4: Carrie: Heart Cou
by Cameron Dokey
Doubting that she has inherited any of the spirit and bravery of her mother and great-grandmother, Carrie decides not to compete against her best friend for the man she admires, but as a fire rages through Chicago, she is determined to help and save lives no matter what the cost, in a novel set in 1871. Original.
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Washington Avalanche, 1910
by Cameron Dokey
Ginny meets a desperate heiress on a train and on impulse they switch identities but as an avalanche engulfs the train, the limits of human endurance and loyalty are tested.
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Snowfall
by K. M. Peyton
Desperate to see the world beyond her grandfather's vicarage, sixteen-year-old Charlotte convinces her older brother to take her along on a mountain-climbing trip to Switzerland, where her life becomes intertwined with an assortment of people in Victorian society.
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Just Ella
by Margaret Peterson Haddix
It's a familiar story: In spite of the obstacles put in her way by her wicked stepmother, Ella goes to the ball, sweeps Prince Charming off his feet, and is chosen to be his bride. Now she's comfortably ensconced in the palace, awaiting marriage to the man of her dreams. It's happily ever after time, right? Wrong! Life for Ella has become an endless round of lessons and restrictions; even worse, Prince Charming turns out to be more like Prince Boring. Why can't she talk with him the way she can with Jed, her earnest young tutor? Slowly, Ella comes to realize she doesn't want the life she fought so hard to win. But breaking her engagement proves more difficult -- and dangerous -- than escaping her stepmother's tyranny.
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The Midwife's Apprentice (rpkg)
by Karen Cushman
'Like Cushman's 1995 Newbery Honor Book, Catherine, Called Birdy, this novel is about a strong young woman in medieval England who finds her own way home. This is a world, like Chaucer's, that's . . . dangerous, primitive and raucous. From the first page you're caught by the spirit of the homeless, nameless waif, somewhere around 12 years old. She gets the village midwife to take her in, befriends a cat, names herself Alyce, and learns something about delivering babies. When she fails, she runs away, but she picks herself up again and returns to work and independence.' --ALA Booklist (starred review). '. . .A fascinating view of a far distant time.' -- The Horn Book (starred review)
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Boston Jane: An Adventure
by Jennifer L. Holm
Sixteen-year-old Jane Peck has ventured to the unknown wilds of the Northwest to wed her childhood idol, William Baldt. But her impeccable training at Miss Hepplewhite's Young Ladies Academy in Philadelphia is hardly preparation for the colorful characters and crude life that await her in Washington Territory. Thrown upon her wits in the wild, Jane must determine for herself whether she is truly proper Miss Jane Peck of Philadelphia, faultless young lady and fiancée, or Boston Jane, as the Chinook dub her, fearless and loyal woman of the frontier. An exciting new novel from Jennifer L. Holm, author of the Newbery Honor Book Our Only May Amelia.
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Across the Wide and Lonesome Prairie
by Kristiana Gregory
In her diary, thirteen-year-old Hattie chronicles her family's arduous 1847 journey from Missouri to Oregon on the Oregon Trail.
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The Second Bend in the River
by Ann Rinaldi
In 1798 Rebecca, a young settler in the Ohio territory, meets the Shawnee chief called Tecumseh whom she grows to love and then must choose a future on her family homestead or one with the man she loves. Reprint.
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Spinners
by Donna Jo Napoli
A reinvention of the Rumplestiltskin story -- one spinner uses a stolen wheel, crippling his leg as he makes straw into a glittering dress for his beloved, whom he loses. A second spinner named Saskia becomes a master spinner -- until she too is forced to spin straw into gold. When they meet, a new tale must be spun.
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Fever 1793
by Laurie Halse Anderson
An epidemic of fever sweeps through the streets of 1793 Philadelphia in this novel from Laurie Halse Anderson where "the plot rages like the epidemic itself" (The New York Times Book Review). During the summer of 1793, Mattie Cook lives above the family coffee shop with her widowed mother and grandfather. Mattie spends her days avoiding chores and making plans to turn the family business into the finest Philadelphia has ever seen. But then the fever breaks out. Disease sweeps the streets, destroying everything in its path and turning Mattie's world upside down. At her feverish mother's insistence, Mattie flees the city with her grandfather. But she soon discovers that the sickness is everywhere, and Mattie must learn quickly how to survive in a city turned frantic with disease.
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Hindenburg, 1937
by Cameron Dokey
From her dying grandfather, Anna Becker mistakenly takes the tickets for a trip aboard the ill-fated Hindenburg believing it offers her an escape to America.
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Marie Antoinette, Princess of Versailles
by Kathryn Lasky
Austria-France, 1769. Marie Antonia of Vienna has her whole life mapped out ahead of her. She is to marry Dauphin Louis Auguste, eldest grandson of King Louis XV. As his wife, she will be called Marie Antoinette and will be the highest princess of France. Upon the death of the King, she will become Queen Marie Antoinette. But she dreads both new roles.
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Girl in Blue
by Ann Rinaldi
As a teen, Sarah Wheelock has vowed never to let a man control her. With this conviction, she leaves her life on a Michigan farm, disguises herself as a boy, and fights in the Civil War.
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Seeds of Hope
by Kristiana Gregory
A diary account of fourteen-year-old Susanna Fairchild's life in 1849, when her father succumbs to gold fever on the way to establish his medical practice in Oregon after losing his wife and money on their steamship journey from New York. Includes a historical note.