Historical Novels

Below is a partial list of historical novels that you can choose from for your assignment that will be due at the end of the first 5 marking periods.

Prior to choosing your novel make sure you get approval from me before you begin the assignment.

Historical Novels
1609-1700
1609
Our Strange New Land: Elizabeth's Diary, Jamestown, Virginia, 1609 by Patricia Hermes (2000)
Nine year old Elizabeth keeps a journal of her experiences in the New World as she encounters Indians, suffers hunger and the death of friends, and helps her father build their first home. (J HERMES)
1609
The Serpent Never Sleeps: A Novel of Jamestown and Pocahontas by Scott O'Dell (1987)
In the early 17th century, Serena Lynn, determined to be with the man she has loved since childhood, travels to the New World and comes to know the hardships of colonial life and the extraordinary Princess Pocahontas. (Y ODELL)
1609
Surviving Jamestown: The Adventures of Young Sam Collier by Gail Langer Karwoski (2001)
Sam Collier, a twelve-year-old, serves as page to John Smith during the relentless hardship experienced by the founders at the first permanent English settlement in the New World. (J KARWOSK)
1609-1610
A Lion to Guard Us by Clyde Robert Bulla (1981)
Left on their own in 17th century London, three impoverished children draw upon all their resources to stay together and make their way to the Virginia colony in search of their father. (J BULLA)



1611
Season of Promise by Patricia Hermes (2002)
In 1611, ten-year-old Elizabeth continues a journal of her experiences living in Jamestown, as her brother Caleb rejoins the family, a new strict governor comes to the colony, and her father considers remarriage.
(J HERMES)
1613
Burning Issy by Melvin Burgess (1994)
In 17th century England, twelve year old Issy is accused of being a witch and struggles with the belief that she actually does have strange powers. (J BURGESS)
1614
Stink Alley by Jamie Gilson (2002)
Living in Holland in 1614 with the harsh Puritan leader, William Brewster, and working for the family of a mischievous Dutch boy named Rembrandt, a spirited twelve-year-old orphan girl struggles to do what is right. (J GILSON)
1619
The House on Stink Alley: A Story about the Pilgrims in Holland by F. N. Monjo (1977)
Young Love Brewster describes the experiences of his family and other Pilgrims living in Leyden in the years before the Mayflower sailed for the New World. (J MONJO)
1620
Constance: A Story of Early Plymouth by Patricia Clapp (1968)
Fourteen year old Constance does not share her father's enthusiasm for their new life in Plymouth, but in keeping a journal finds an appreciation for the New World. ( J CLAPP)



1620
The Dangerous Voyage by Gilbert Morris (1995)
Trapped in the year 1620 after a trip in an experimental time machine, fourteen year old twins Danny and Dixie set sail for the New World on the Mayflower and discover some surprising things about the faith and life of the pilgrims. (J MORRIS)
1620
The Journal of Jasper Jonathan Pierce, a Pilgrim Boy, Plimoth Plantation, 1620 by Ann Rinaldi (2000)
A fourteen year old indentured servant keeps a journal of his experiences on the Mayflower and during the building of Plymouth Plantation in 1620 and 1621. (J RINALDI)
1620
A Journey to the New World: The Diary of Remember Patience Whipple by Kathryn Lasky (1996)
Twelve year old Mem presents a diary account of the trip she and her family made on the Mayflower in 1620 and their first year in the New World. (J LASKY)
1620
On the Mayflower: Voyage of the Ship's Apprentice and a Passenger Girl by Kate Waters (1996)
A twelve year old apprentice and a seven year old passenger experience the first voyage of the Mayflower. (J WATERS)
1620
This New Land by G. Clifton Wisler (1987)
Ten year old Richard Woodley describes his trip to the New World aboard the Mayflower and tells about the first year spent by the Pilgrims at Plymouth. (J WISLER)


1620
Three Young Pilgrims by Cheryl Harness (1992)
Mary, Remember, and Bartholomew are among the pilgrims who survive the harsh early years in America and see New Plymouth grow into a prosperous colony. (J HARNESS)
1621
Guests by Michael Dorris (1994)
Moss and Trouble, an Algonquin boy and girl, struggle with the problems of growing up in the Massachusetts area during the time of the first Thanksgiving. (J DORRIS)
1621
Shadows in the Glasshouse by Megan McDonald (2000)
While working as an indentured servant for a Jamestown glassmaker in 1621, twelve-year-old Merry uncovers a case of sabotage. (J MCDONAL)
1628
Two Chimneys by Mary Z. Holmes (1992)
Katherine does not want to leave her family's tobacco plantation in Virginia after learning of her betrothment to an English heir. (J HOLMES)
1630
The Dark Frigate: Wherein is Told the Story of Philip Marsham… by Charles Boardman Hawes (1934)
A young man dares not return to England, in the time of King Charles and Oliver Cromwell, after his ship is taken over by pirates and he becomes a member of their crew. (J HAWES)
1630
I, Juan de Pareja by Elizabeth Borton de Trevino (1965)
Born a slave, Juan mixes colors and prepares canvases for the artist Velasquez and becomes his assistant, companion and lifelong friend. (J TREVINO)

1630
Voyage to a Free Land, 1630 by Laurie Lawlor (1999)
Based on the true story of the ship the Arbella which left England in 1630 as part of one of the largest migrations of Puritans seeking religious freedom in the New World. (J LAWLOR)
1633
The Primrose Way by Jackie French Koller (1992)
Sixteen year old Rebeka joins her missionary father in the New World in the 1630's. She befriends the Pawtucket chief's niece and begins to wonder why her friend's people need the Puritan's idea of salvation and civilization. (Y KOLLER)
1647
On the Day Peter Stuyvesant Sailed into Town by Arnold Lobel (1971)
Finding the appearance of New Amsterdam a total disgrace, Peter Stuyvesant begins issuing no-nonsense proclamations to rectify the situation. (E LOBEL)
1654
Out of Many Waters by Jacqueline Dembar Greene (1988)
Kidnapped from their parents during the Portuguese Inquisition and sent to work as slaves at a monastery in Brazil, two Jewish sisters attempt to make their way back to Europe to find their parents, but instead become part of a group founding the first Jewish settlement in the United States. (J GREENE)
1659
Witch Child by Celia Rees (2001)
In 1659, fourteen-year-old Mary Newbury keeps a journal of her voyage from England to the New World and her experiences living as a witch in a community of Puritans near Salem, Massachusetts. (Y REES)
1683
Molly Bannaky by Alice McGill (1999)
Relates how Benjamin Banneker's grandmother journeyed from England to Maryland in the late 17th century, worked as an indentured servant, began a farm of her own, and married a freed slave. (E MCGILL)
1687
The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare (1958)
Kit Tyler left her luxurious home in Barbados to visit her Puritan aunt in colonial Connecticut. While there, she became friendly with Hannah, the witch of Blackbird Pond. (J SPEARE)
1692
Beyond the Burning Time by Kathryn Lasky (1994)
When accusations of witchcraft surface in her small New England village, twelve year old Mary Chase fights to save her mother from execution. (Y LASKY)
1692
A Break with Charity: A Story about the Salem Witch Trials by Ann Rinaldi (1992)
While waiting for a church meeting, Susanna English, daughter of a wealthy Salem merchant, recalls the malice, fear, and accusations of witchcraft that tore her village apart in 1692. (Y RINALDI)
1692
Hester Bidgood: Investigatrix of Evill Deedes by E.W. Hildick (1994)
Thirteen year old Hester Bidgood and her friend, Rob Macgregor, investigate the stoning and branding of a kitten in a New England town caught in the grip of witchcraft rumors. (J HILDICK)
1692
Tituba of Salem Village by Ann Petry (1964)
Tituba, taken from her own land to be a slave in New England, finds herself at the center of the Salem Witch Trials where she is condemned for consorting with the devil. (J PETRY)
1692
Witches' Children: A Story of Salem by Patricia Clapp (1982)
During the winter of 1692, when the young girls of Salem suddenly find themselves subject to fits of screaming and strange visions, some believe that they have seen the devil and are victims of witches. (J CLAPP)
1701-1800
1701
Captain Kidd's Cat by Robert Lawson (1956)
The "true and dolorous" story of Captain William Kidd, his final voyage, his incarceration in Newgate Prison and his trial and execution as told by Kidd's cat. (J LAWSON)
1704
The Ransom of Mercy Carter by Caroline B. Cooney (2001)
In 1704, in the English settlement of Deerfield, Massachusetts, eleven-year-old Mercy and her family and neighbors are captured by Mohawk Indians and their French allies and forced to march through bitter cold to French Canada, where some adapt to new lives and some still hope to be ransomed. (Y COONEY)
1707
The Courage of Sarah Noble by Alice Dalgliesh (1954)
Remembering her mother's words, an eight year old girl finds courage to go alone with her father to build a new home in the wilderness and to stay with the Indians when her father goes back to bring the rest of the family west to Connecticut. (J DALGLIE)
1716
Under the Black Flag by Erik Christian Haugaard (1993)
Sailing from his home in Jamaica to England, fourteen year old William Bernard, the son of a plantation owner, is kidnapped by the infamous pirate Blackbeard, held for ransom and forced to become a cabin boy aboard the pirate ship, Queen Anne's Revenge. (Y HAUGAAR)
1718
The Man with the Silver Oar by Robin Moore (2002)
In 1718, fifteen-year-old Daniel leaves his guardian uncle's Quaker household to stowaway on a ship in pursuit of a pirate captain bent on raiding the coast of North America before returning to port in Hispaniola. (Y MOORE)

1732-1799
Taking Liberty: The Story of Oney Judge, George Washington's Runaway Slave by Ann Rinaldi (2002)
After serving Martha Washington for twenty years, Oney realizes that she will never be a part of General Washington's family at Mount Vernon. She must make a choice: does she stay where she is, comfortable with the family that she has known since she was born, or does she take liberty into her own hands and, like her father, become one of the Gone? (Y RINALDI)
1735
The Printer's Apprentice by Stephen Krensky (1995)
In New York City, an apprentice learns about the importance of freedom of speech when the printer Peter Zenger is arrested and tried for writing articles criticizing the government. (J KRENSKY)
1736
Charlie's House by Clyde Robert Bulla (1983)
A poor, friendless English boy, shipped to America as an indentured servant in the early 18th century runs away from a cruel master and dreams of building a house of his own. (J BULLA)
1747
Ann's Story, 1747 by Joan Lowery Nixon (2000)
Ann, a young girl in 18th century Williamsburg, wants to become a doctor like her father, but she is not allowed even to study Latin or mathematics. (J NIXON)
1752
Wayah of the Real People by William O. Steele (1964)
Wayah, a Cherokee boy from Choto leaves his wilderness home to go to Brafferton Hall, the school for Indian boys in the hopes that this would help his town gain the leadership of the Cherokee Nation. (J STEELE)


1753-1994
The Glory Field by Walter Dean Myers (1994)
A family's 250 year history is followed from the capture of an African boy in the 1750s through the lives of his descendants, as their dreams and circumstances lead them away from and back to the small plot of land in South Carolina that they call the Glory Field. (Y MYERS)
1754
Calico Captive by Elizabeth George Speare (1957)
When Miriam is captured in an Indian raid during the French and Indian War, she faces a harrowing march north, a life of slavery and a decision that will affect the rest of her life. (J SPEARE)
1755
I am Regina by Sally M. Keehn (1991)
As the French and Indian War begins, ten year old Regina is kidnapped by Indians in central Pennsylvania and must struggle to hold onto memories of her earlier life as she grows up under the name Tskinnak and learns a new way of life. (J KEEHN)
1756
The Matchlock Gun by Walter Dumaux Edmonds (1941)
When his father leaves to search for marauding Indians, ten year old Edward protects his mother and sister with an old Spanish gun. (J EDMONDS)

1758
A Stolen Life by Jane Louise Curry (1999)
In 1758, in Scotland, teenaged Jamesina MacKenzie finds her courage and resolution severely tested when she is abducted by "spiriters" and, after a harrowing voyage across the Atlantic, sold as a bond slave to a Virginia planter. (J CURRY)



1759
The Beaded Moccasins: The Story of Mary Campbell by Lynda Durrant (1998)
After being captured by a group of Delaware and given to their leader as a replacement for his dead granddaughter, twelve year old Mary Campbell must travel west with them to Ohio. (Y DURRANT)
1759
Caesar's Story, 1759 by Joan Lowery Nixon (2000)
After having been a slave on Carter's Grove plantation near Williamsburg, Virginia, since childhood, Caesar finally finds a way to plan his own future. (J NIXON)
1759
The Winter People by Joseph Bruchac (2002)
As the French and Indian War rages in October of 1759, Saxso, a fourteen-year-old Abenaki boy, pursues the English rangers who have attacked his village and taken his mother and sisters hostage. (J BRUCHAC)
1760
The Sea Robbers by Robert Kraske (1977)
When his older brother is mistaken for a doctor and kidnapped by pirates in colonial Massachusetts, fifteen year old Hugh determines to rescue him. (J KRASKE)
1763
Standing in the Light: The Captive Diary of Catherine Carey Logan by Mary Pope Osborne (1998)
A Quaker girl's diary reflects her experiences growing up in the Delaware River Valley of Pennsylvania and her capture by Lenape Indians in 1763. (J OSBORNE)



1765
King George's Head was Made of Lead by F.N. Monjo (1974)
The statue of King George III, erected in Battery Park after the repeal of the Stamp Tax, tells his version of the events leading to the American Revolution. (J MONJO)
1765
Nancy's Story, 1765 by Joan Lowery Nixon (2000)
Twelve year old Nancy worries about the effect of the British Stamp Act on her father's silversmith business in Williamsburg and about how to get along with her new stepmother. (J NIXON)
1768
Encounter at Easton by Avi (1980)
The doomed flight of two young indentured servants from their unkind master brings together an unlikely assortment of people in a mid 18th century Pennsylvania town. A sequel to: Night Journeys. (J AVI)
1768
Night Journeys by Avi (1979)
Two indentured servants escape into Pennsylvania and receive help from an unexpected source. (J AVI)
1768
The Sign of the Beaver by Elizabeth George Speare (1983)
Left alone to guard the family's wilderness home in 18th century Maine, a boy is hard-pressed to survive until local Indians teach him their skills. (J SPEARE)
1768 - 1771
Stowaway by Karen Hesse (2000)
A fictionalized journal relates the experiences of a young stowaway aboard the Endeavor which sailed around the world under Captain James Cook. (J HESSE)

1769
John Treegate's Musket by Leonard Wibberley (1959)
In 1769, just after his pro-Royalist father has sailed for England on business, 11 year old Peter Treegate of Boston unwittingly becomes involved in a dock murder. Fleeing arrest he takes refuge on an American cargo ship which is wrecked off the South Carolina coast. Peter is rescued by a Scotsman who, in 1775, helps him rejoin his father, now an embattled American patriot, ready to fight at Bunker Hill. (J WIBBERL)
1770
The Fifth of March: A Story of the Boston Massacre by Ann Rinaldi (1993)
Fourteen year old Rachel Marsh, an indentured servant in the Boston household of John and Abigail Adams, is caught up in the colonists' unrest that eventually escalates into the massacre of March 5, 1770. (Y RINALDI)
1770
A Williamsburg Household by Joan Anderson (1988)
Focuses on events in the household of a white family and its black slaves in Colonial Williamsburg in the 18th century. (J ANDERSO)
1771
Or Give Me Death: A Novel of Patrick Henry's Family by Ann Rinaldi (2003)
With their father away most of the time advocating independence for the American colonies, the children of Patrick Henry try to raise themselves, manage the family plantation, and care for their mentally ill mother. (Y RINALDI)
1772
Melitte by Fatima Shaik (1997)
In 1772, years of mistreatment force thirteen year old Melitte to decide whether or not to run away from the Frenchman who has kept her as a slave on his poor Louisiana farm and leave the young girl who is the only person who ever loved her. (Y SHAIK)

1773
Daughter of Liberty by Edna Boutwell (1967)
Amy and her doll survive a bombardment, carry out a dangerous mission and finally earn the praise of Paul Revere as true daughters of Liberty. (J BOUTWEL)
1773
The Hornet's Nest by Sally Watson (1968)
A Scottish brother and sister leave the Isle of Skye in 1773 when their decided opinions and private war against the British endanger their lives. They are sent to relations in Williamsburg, Virginia, where they again find themselves at the center of conflicting loyalties and high feelings. (J WATSON)
1773
Johnny Tremain: A Novel for Old and Young by Esther Forbes (1943)
A Bostonian silversmith's apprentice becomes a messenger for the Sons of Liberty in the days before the Revolutionary War. (J FORBES)
1773
Joining the Boston Tea Party by Diane Stanley (2001)
With the help of their grandmother's hat, the twins journey back in time to the Boston Tea Party.
(J STANLEY)
1773
Maria's Story, 1773 by Joan Lowery Nixon (2001)
In Williamsburg, Virginia, two years before the start of the American Revolution, nine-year-old Maria worries that her mother will lose her contract to publish official reports and announcements of the British government because she prints anti-British articles in their family-run newspaper. (J NIXON)



1773
Touchmark by Mildred Lawrence (1975)
An orphaned girl living in pre-Revolutionary Boston longs to be apprenticed to a pewterer. (J LAWRENC)
1774
Emma's Journal: The Story of a Colonial Girl by Marissa Moss (1999)
From 1774 to 1776, Emma describes in her journal her stay in Boston, where she witnesses the British blockade and spies for the American militia. (J MOSS)
1774
The Journal of William Thomas Emerson, a Revolutionary War Patriot by Barry Denenberg (1998)
William, a twelve year old orphan, writes of his experiences in pre-Revolutionary War Boston, where he joins the cause of the patriots who are opposed to the British rule. (J DENENBE)
1774
Love Thy Neighbor: The Tory Diary of Prudence Emerson by Ann Turner (2003)
In Greenmarsh, Massachusetts, in 1774, thirteen-year-old Prudence keeps a diary of the troubles she and her family face as Tories surrounded by American patriots at the start of the American Revolution. (J TURNER)
1774
Nabby Adams' Diary by Miriam Anne Bourne (1975)
A fictional diary of the second President's daughter detailing the ten year period of her life from 1774-1784. (J BOURNE)




1774 -1775
Meet Felicity: An American Girl by Valerie Tripp (1991)
In Williamsburg, nine year old Felicity rescues a beautiful horse which is being beaten and starved by her cruel owner. (J TRIPP) (other books in the series include Felicity Learns a Lesson: a School Story, Happy Birthday, Felicity:a Springtime Story, Felicity's Surprise: a Christmas Story, Felicity Saves the Day: a Summer Story and Changes for Felicity: a Winter Story. (J TRIPP)
1775
Adventure on the Wilderness Road, 1775 by Laurie Lawlor (1999)
Recounts a family journey from Tennessee to Daniel Boone's new settlement in Kentucky in 1775. (J LAWLOR)
1775
Early Thunder by Jean Fritz (1967)
Traces a youth's growth to maturity as he resolves his political conflicts in pre-Revolutionary Salem, a center of high feeling between the British and colonists. (J FRITZ)
1775
Guns for General Washington: A Story of the American Revolution by Seymour Reit (1990)
Frustrated with life under siege in George Washington's army, nineteen year old Will Knox and his brother, Colonel Henry Knox, undertake the task of moving 183 cannons from Fort Ticonderoga to Boston in the dead of winter. (J REIT)
1775
Mr. Revere and I by Robert Lawson (1953)
An account of episodes in the career of Paul Revere as revealed by his horse, Scheherazade. (J LAWSON)
1775
The Mystery Candlestick by Jean Bothwell (1970)
During the summer of 1775, an eleven year old boy becomes involved in the espionage work of the Colonial underground. (J BOTHWEL)
1775
Peter Treegate's War by Leonard Wibberly (1960)
The adventures of Peter Treegate during and after the Battle of Bunker Hill. (J WIBBERL)
1775
Rabbits and Redcoats by Robert Newton Peck (1976)
In May 1775, two boys participate in the capture of Fort Ticonderoga by Ethan Allen and the Green Mountain Boys and befriend a young British soldier. (J PECK)
1775
Sam, the Minuteman by Nathaniel Benchley (1969)
Sam and his father fight as minutemen against the British in the Battle of Lexington.
(E-BEG BENCHLE)
1775
Son of an Earl--Sold for a Slave by Daniel B. Weems (1993)
After being kidnapped and sold as a bond servant in colonial America, fifteen year old James, the son of a Scottish earl, struggles with his identity and his loyalty to the Revolutionary cause. (Y WEEMS)
1775
Toliver's Secret by Esther Wood Brady (1976)
During the Revolutionary War, a ten year old girl crosses enemy lines to deliver a loaf of bread containing a message for the patriots. (J BRADY)
1775
Trail Through Danger by William O. Steele (1965)
Eleven year old Lafe is afraid the Cherokees will attack his hunting party or that the men in the party will find out that his father is helping the Indians. (J STEELE)

1776
The Boston Coffee Party by Doreen Rappaport (1988)
During the Revolutionary War, two young sisters help a group of Boston women get coffee from a greedy merchant. (E-BEG RAPPAPO)
1776
Five Smooth Stones: Hope's Diary by Kristiana Gregory (2001)
In her diary, a young girl writes about her life and the events surrounding the beginning of the American Revolution in Philadelphia in 1776. (J GREGORY)
1776
George Washington's Socks by Elvira Woodruff (1991)
In the midst of a backyard campout, ten year old Matt and four other children find themselves transported back into the time of George Washington and the American Revolution, where they begin to live American history firsthand and learn the sober realities of war. (J WOODRUF)
1776
Just Jane: A Daughter of England Caught in the Struggle of the American Revolution by William Lavender (2002)
Fourteen-year-old Jane Prentice, orphaned daughter of an English earl, arrives in Charleston, South Carolina to find her family and her loyalties divided over the question of American independence. (Y LAVENDE)
1776
Katie's Trunk by Ann Turner (1992)
Katie, whose family is not sympathetic to the rebel soldiers during the American Revolution, hides under the clothes in her mother's wedding trunk when they invade her home. (E TURNER)
1776
Lorenzo's Secret Mission by Lila and Rick Guzman (2001)
In 1776, fifteen-year-old Lorenzo Bannister leaves Texas and his father's new grave to carry a letter to the Virginia grandfather he has never known, and becomes involved with the struggle of the American Continental Army and its Spanish supporters. (Y GUZMAN)
1776
Mary Geddy's Day: A Day in Colonial Williamsburg by Kate Waters (1999)
Depicts what a day in the life of a young girl might have been like in colonial times. (J WATERS)
1776
Night Raiders Along the Cape by John F. Waters (1997)
When British raids off the coast of New England become more frequent, Asa must row through the night to warn his friends on the Massachusetts coast of an impending attack. (J WATERS)
1776
Poor Richard in France by F. N. Monjo (1973)
Benjamin Franklin's seven year old grandson recounts the events of his grandfather's visit to France seeking aid for the revolutionaries in America. (J MONJO)
1776
Samuel's Choice by Richard J. Berleth (1990)
Samuel, a fourteen year old slave in Brooklyn in 1776, faces a difficult choice when the fighting between the British and the colonists reaches his doorstep and only he can help the rebels. (J BERLETH)
1776
Sarah Bishop by Scott O'Dell (1980)
Left alone after the deaths of her father and brother who take opposite sides in the War for Independence, and fleeing from the British who seek to arrest her, Sarah Bishop struggles to shape a new life for herself in the wilderness. (J ODELL)
1777
The Arrow Over the Door by Joseph Bruchac (1998)
In the year 1777, a group of Quakers and a party of Indians have a memorable meeting. (J BRUCHAC)
1777
Hannah of Fairfield by Jean Van Leeuwen (1999)
For almost nine year old Hannah Perley of Fairfield, Connecticut, growing up means facing new challenges, both great and small-from saving the life of a baby lamb to helping the family prepare to send her brother Ben to join the colonial soldiers in the American Revolutionary War. (J VAN-LEE)
1777
The Hollow Tree by Janet Lunn (1997)
Phoebe, age 15, sets off to deliver a message to the British General at Ft. Ticonderoga. (Y LUNN)
1777
My Brother Sam is Dead by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier (1974)
Recounts the tragedy that strikes the Meeker family during the Revolutionary War when one son joins the rebel forces while the rest of the family tries to stay neutral in a Tory town. (J COLLIER)
1777
Rebecca's War by Ann Finlayson (1972)
Left in charge of her brother and sister in occupied Philadelphia, fourteen year old Rebecca's life is complicated further when two British soldiers are billeted in her house. (J FINLAYS)
1777
Saratoga Secret by Betsy Sterman (1998)
As General Burgoyne and his British troops invade the Upper Hudson River Valley, sixteen year old Amity must carry a message to the Continental army to give warning of an impending attack. (J STERMAN)
1777
We Are Patriots by Kristiana Gregory (2002)
In her diary, ten-year-old Hope writes about her life as a patriot in 1777 Philadelphia, as the Redcoats try to take over her city and defeat the Continental Army. Includes historical notes. (J GREGORY)
1777
The Winter of Red Snow: The Revolutionary War Diary of Abigail Jane Stewart by Kristiana Gregory (1996)
Eleven year old Abigail presents a diary account of life in Valley Forge from December 1777 to July 1778 as General Washington prepares his troops to fight the British. (J GREGORY)
1777
The Year of the Hangman by Gary Blackwood (2002)
In 1777, having been kidnapped and taken forcibly from England to the American colonies, fifteen-year-old Creighton becomes part of developments in the political unrest there that may spell defeat for the patriots and change the course of history. (Y BLACKWO)
1777
Year of the Sevens: 1777 by Mary Z. Holmes (1992)
In 1777, thirteen year old Polly and her family face great danger after they move to the Kentucky frontier. (J HOLMES)
1778
The 18 Penny Goose by Sally M. Walker (1998)
Eight year old Letty attempts to save her pet goose from marauding British soldiers in New Jersey during the Revolutionary War. (E-BEG WALKER)
1778
The Fighting Ground by Avi (1984)
Thirteen year old Jonathan goes off to fight in the Revolutionary War and discovers the real war is being fought within himself. (J AVI)
1778
Finishing Becca: A Story About Peggy Shippen and Benedict Arnold by Ann Rinaldi (1994)
Fourteen year old Becca takes a position as a maid in a wealthy Philadelphia Quaker home and witnesses the events that lead to General Benedict Arnold's betrayal of the American forces during the Revolutionary War. (Y RINALDI)
1778
Hope's Crossing by Joan Elizabeth Goodman (1998)
During the Revolutionary War, thirteen year old Hope, seized by the band of Tories who attack her Connecticut home, finds herself enslaved in a Tory household on Long Island and uses all her resources to escape and make her way home. (J GOODMAN)
1778
Thomas by Bonnie Pryor (1998)
In the early years of the Revolutionary War, eleven year old Thomas and his family escape a bloody massacre at Wyoming Valley and endure innumerable hardships as they try to make their way to Philadelphia. (J PRYOR)
1778
War Comes to Willy Freeman by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier (1983)
A free thirteen year old black girl in Connecticut is caught up in the horror of the Revolutionary War and the danger of being returned to slavery when her patriot father is killed by the British and her mother disappears. (J COLLIER)
1778-1784
Redcoats and Petticoats by Katherine Kirkpatrick (1999)
Members of a family in the village of Setauket on Long Island are displaced by the Redcoats and serve as spies for the Revolutionary Army of George Washington. (J KIRKPAT)
1779
Hannah's Helping Hands by Jean Van Leeuwen (1999)
In 1779 in Fairfield, Connecticut, Hannah and her family try to maintain a sense of normalcy as the Revolutionary War rages around them, threatening to destroy their way of life. Sequel to: Hannah of Fairfield. (J VAN-LEE)



1779
Summer of the Burning by Frances Riker Duncombe (1976)
After their house is burned down by the British and their mother dies in childbirth, a young girl finds herself responsible for keeping her younger brothers and sisters together and somehow rebuilding their home. (J DUNCOMB)
1779
Thomas in Danger by Bonnie Pryor (1999)
Having lost their home when the Revolutionary War reached their part of rural Pennsylvania, Thomas and his family start a new life running an inn in Philadelphia, where Thomas finds new danger that takes him into captivity among the Iroquois. Sequel to: Thomas. (J PRYOR)
1780
The Bloody Country by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier (1976)
In the mid 18th century, a family moves from Connecticut to Pennsylvania and becomes involved in a property conflict between the two states. (J COLLIER)
1780
Cast Two Shadows: The American Revolution in the South by Ann Rinaldi (1998)
In South Carolina in 1780, fourteen year old Caroline sees the Revolutionary War take a terrible toll among her family and friends and comes to understand the true nature of war. (Y RINALDI)
1780
Hannah's Winter of Hope by Jean Van Leeuwen (2000)
In 1780 in Fairfield, Connecticut, Hannah worries about her brother Ben, a colonial soldier being held prisoner by the British, and joins her family in rebuilding their home and preparing for Ben's homecoming. Sequel to: Hannah's Helping Hands. (J VAN-LEE)


1780
The Keeping Room by Anna Myers (1997)
Left in charge of the family by his father who joins the Revolutionary War effort, thirteen year old Joey undergoes such great changes that he fears may be betraying his beloved parent. (J MYERS)
1780
The Secret of Van Rink's Cellar by Beverly Haskell Lee (1979)
While searching for the ghost that haunts the house in which their mother is a dressmaker for an English officer's wife, Sarah and Stephen becomes secretly involved in the Revolutionary War effort. (J LEE)
1780
Who Comes to King's Mountain? by John and Patricia Beatty (1975)
Living in the South Carolina hills in 1780, a young Scottish boy, whose own family is divided between Loyalist and rebel, must decide for himself which side he will follow. (J BEATTY)
1781
Adam and the Golden Cock by Alice Dalgliesh (1959)
When French troops under Rochambeau camp near a young boy's town in Connecticut, the boy makes the acquaintance of a young French soldier and is faced with a questionable relationship with a friend whose father is a Tory. (J DALGLIE)
1781
Betsy Zane, the Rose of Fort Henry by Lynda Durrant (2000)
In 1781, twelve year old Elizabeth Zane, great-great-aunt of novelist Zane Grey, leaves Philadelphia to return to her brothers' homestead near Fort Henry in what is now West Virginia, where she plays an important role in the final battle of the American Revolution. (J DURRANT)



1781
A Message for General Washington by Vivian Schurfranz (1998)
Twelve year old Hannah accepts the challenge of sneaking behind enemy lines to deliver a message to General Washington which will result in the British surrender at Yorktown. (J SCHURFR)
1781
A Ride Into Morning: The Story of Tempe Wick by Ann Rinaldi (1991)
When unrest spreads at the Revolutionary War Camp in Morristown, New Jersey, under the command of General Anthony Wayne, a young woman cleverly hides her horse from the mutinous soldiers who have need of it. (Y RINALDI)
1781
Second Daughter: The Story of a Slave Girl by Mildred Pitts Walter (1996) In late 18th century Massachusetts, Aissa, the fictional younger daughter of Elizabeth Freeman, relates how her sister gains freedom for herself and her family by bringing suit against their owner in court. (Y WALTER)
1783
Captain Grey by Avi (1977)
Following the Revolution, an eleven year old boy becomes the captive of a ruthless man who has set up his own "nation," supported by piracy, on a remote part of the New Jersey coast. (J AVI)
1783
Charlotte by Janet Lunn (1998)
Charlotte defies her father and says goodbye to her cousin's family, loyalists who are moving to Nova Scotia. Disowned by her father, she makes the journey with them. (J LUNN)
1784
The Cabin Faced West by Jean Fritz (1958)
It takes a visit from George Washington to make Ann Hamilton, a pioneer girl tending a vegetable garden in the hills of Western Pennsylvania, feel the challenge of her own times. (J FRITZ)
1784
Wolf Hunt by Walter Dumaux Edmonds (1970)
Two hunters pursue a wolf that has begun raiding their flocks of sheep. (J EDMONDS)
1787
Jump Ship to Freedom by James Lincoln Collier & Christopher Collier (1981)
A fourteen year old slave, anxious to buy freedom for himself and his mother, escapes from his dishonest master and tries to find help in cashing the soldier's notes received by his father for fighting in the Revolution. (J COLLIER)
1787
River of the West: The Story of the Boston Men by Armstrong Sperry (1952)
When young Robbie Haswell signed aboard the good ship Columbia he faced a ruthless captain as well as the dangers of uncharted seas in a voyage from Boston to China. (J SPERRY)
1788
A Stitch in Time by Ann Rinaldi (1994)
Shortly after the War of Independence, Hannah sees her family being torn apart by old secrets and new developments, as her sister resolves to marry a sea captain and other siblings prepare to help start a new town in the Northwestern Territory. First title in: The Quilt Trilogy. (Y RINALDI)
1789
Little House in the Highlands by Melissa Wiley (1999)
The childhood adventures in the Scottish countryside of six-year-old Martha Morse, who would grow up to become the great-grandmother of author Laura Ingalls Wilder. (J WILEY)



1791
Down to the Bonny Glen by Melissa Wiley (2001)
In Scotland in 1791, eight-year-old Martha Morse, who would grow up to become the great-grandmother of author Laura Ingalls Wilder, meets her new governess and learns the difference between growing up a laird's daughter and a child of a cottager. (J WILEY)
1793
Fever, 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson (2000)
In 1793 Philadelphia, sixteen year old Matilda Cook learns about perseverance and self-reliance when she is force to cope with the horrors of a yellow fever epidemic. (Y ANDERSO)
1793
Path of the Pale Horse by Paul Fleischman (1983)
Lep, an apprentice to a doctor, helps his master take care of yellow fever victims in Philadelphia during the epidemic of 1793. (J FLEISCH)
1797
Old Ironsides: Americans Build a Fighting Ship by David Weitzman (1997)
A fictionalized account of the design and construction of the U.S.S. Constitution, told through the eyes of a boy whose father is one of the ship's carpenters. (J WEITZMA)

1798
Witches' Sabbath by Alexander Cordell (1970)
During the Rebellion of 1798 a seventeen year old Irish boy must make sure that a rebel plot to capture an English hostage succeeds. (J CORDELL)



1800-1900
1800
Aurora Means Dawn by Scott Russell Sanders (1989)
After traveling from Connecticut to Ohio in 1800 to start a new life in the settlement of Aurora, the Sheldons find that they are the first family to arrive there and realize that they will be starting a new community by themselves. (E SANDERS)

1800
Breaking Free by Louann Gaeddert (1994)
Shortly before his twelfth birthday, Richard is sent to live with his uncle on a farm in upper New York State, where he teaches a young slave to read and encourages her to dream of freedom. (J GAEDDER)
1800
Something Upstairs: A Tale of Ghosts by Avi (1988)
When he moves from Los Angeles to Providence, Rhode Island, Kenny discovers that his new house is haunted by the spirit of a black slave boy who asks Kenny to return with him to the early nineteenth century and prevent his murder by slave traders. (J AVI)
1801-1809
Thomas Jefferson: Letters from a Philadelphia Bookworm by Jennifer Armstrong (2000)
An educated, inquisitive young girl in Philadelphia corresponds with President Thomas Jefferson about current events, including the Lewis and Clark expedition, new inventions, and life at Monticello. (J ARMSTRO)
1804
Bold Journey: West with Lewis and Clark by Charles Bohner (1985)
Private Hugh McNeal relates his experiences accompanying Captains Lewis and Clark on their expedition in search of a northwest passage to the Pacific Ocean. (J BOHNER)

1804
Streams to the River, River to the Sea: A Novel of Sacagawea by Scott O'Dell (1986)
A young Indian woman, accompanied by her infant and cruel husband, experiences joy and heartbreak when she joins the Lewis and Clark Expedition seeking a way to the Pacific. (J ODELL)
1804-1806
The Captain's Dog: My Journey with the Lewis and Clark Tribe by Roland Smith (1999)
Captain Meriwether Lewis's dog Seaman describes his experiences as he accompanies his master on the Lewis and Clark Expedition to explore the uncharted western wilderness. (Y SMITH)
1804-1806
Girl of the Shining Mountains: Sacagawea's Story by Peter and Connie Roop (1999)
Sacagawea describes how, at the age of sixteen, she becomes part of the Lewis and Clark Expedition and serves as their interpreter and guide, surviving many dangerous adventures on their trek through the wilderness. (J ROOP)
1804-1806
The Journal of Augustus Pelletier: The Lewis and Clark Expedition by Kathryn Lasky (2000)
A fictional journal kept by twelve-year-old Augustus Pelletier, the youngest member of Lewis and Clark's Corps of Discovery. (J LASKY)
1804-1806
Sacajawea: The Story of Bird Woman and the Lewis and Clark Expedition by Joseph Bruchac (2000)
Sacajawea, a Shoshoni Indian interpreter, peacemaker, and guide, and William Clark, explorer, alternate in describing their experiences on the Lewis and Clark Expedition. (Y BRUCHAC)


1805
Seaward Born by Lea Wait (2003)
In 1805, a thirteen-year-old slave and his friend make a dangerous escape fom Charleston, S.C. and stowaway to head north toward freedom. (J WAIT)
1807
Leopard's Prey by Leonard Wibberly (1971)
An orphan is pressed into service as a powderboy on a British ship and later into service on a Haitian pirate ship before he finally returns to relatives in Salem, Massachusetts. (J WIBBERL)
1810
The Clock by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier (1992)
Trapped in a grueling job in a Connecticut textile mill to help pay her father's debts, fifteen year old Annie becomes the victim of the cruel overseer and plots revenge against him. (J COLLIER)
1811
Broken Days by Ann Rinaldi (1995)
In 1811, life with her Aunt Hannah in Salem, Massachusetts, becomes even more difficult for fourteen year old Ebie with the arrival of a half-Indian girl who claims to be the daughter of Hannah's sister, Thankful, and with the threat of impending war. Second book in: The Quilt Trilogy. (Y RINALDI)
1811
The Dragon in the Cliff: A Novel Based on the Life of Mary Anning by Sheila Cole (1991)
Recounts the girlhood of Mary Anning, the woman who made many of the important fossil discoveries in the early 19th century, yet never received the credit she deserved. (J COLE)



1812
Abigail's Drum by John A. Minahan (1995)
During the War of 1812, when British soldiers threaten the town of Scituate, Massachusetts, young Rebecca Bates and her sister Abigail, daughters of the local lighthouse keeper, find a way to save both him and the town. (J MINAHAN)
1812
The Cape May Packet by Stephen W. Meader (1969)
During the War of 1812, a young boy sails with his father on dangerous missions in their boat which has been converted from a pilot and packet boat to a privateer. (J MEADER)
1812
Crossing the Panther's Path by Elizabeth Alder (2002)
Sixteen-year-old Billy Caldwell, son of a British soldier and a Mohawk woman, leaves school to join Tecumseh in his efforts to prevent the Americans from taking any more land from the Indians in the Northwest Territory. (Y ALDER)
1812
Little House by Boston Bay by Melissa Wiley (1999)
Living with her family near Boston, five-year-old Charlotte Tucker, who would grow up to become the grandmother of Laura Ingalls Wilder, feels the effects of the War of 1812. (J WILEY)
1812
On Tide Mill Lane by Melissa Wiley (2001)
Follows the experiences over the course of a year of five-year-old Charlotte Tucker, who would grow up to become the grandmother of Laura Ingalls Wilder, living with her family in Roxbury, Massachusetts, during the War of 1812. (J WILEY)


1812
Once On This Island by Gloria Whelan (1995)
Twelve year old Mary and her older brother and sister tend the family farm on Michigan's Mackinac Island while their father is away fighting the British in the War of 1812. (J WHELAN)

1813
The Battle for St. Michaels by Emily Arnold McCully
In 1813, nine-year-old Caroline, a fast runner, helps the residents of Saint Michaels, Maryland, as they defend their town against the British. (E-BEG MCCULLY)
1813
Silent Stranger by Amanda Benton (1997)
Although they do not know anything about him, the mute young man who shows up on their New York farm at Christmastime in 1813 becomes increasingly important to fourteen year old Jessie and her family. (Y BENTON)
1814
The Last Battle by Leonard Wibberley (1976)
Manly and Peter Treegate find themselves aboard the same ship off the West Indies as captain and midshipman respectively during the War of 1812. (J WIBBERL)
1814
The Star-Spangled Secret by K.M. Kimball (2001)
In 1814, as the War of 1812 threatens her Maryland home, thirteen-year-old Caroline sets out to discover the truth about the disappearance of her older brother. (J KIMBALL)



1814
The Toad on Capitol Hill by Esther Wood Brady (1978)
Eleven year old Dorsy and her family come to understand one another better when they are caught in the path of the British Army advancing on Washington, D.C., during the War of 1812. (J BRADY)
1814
Washington City Is Burning by Harriette Gillem Robinet (1996)
In 1814 Virginia, a slave in President Madison's White House, experiences the burning of Washington by the invading British army. (J ROBINET)
1815
The Floating House by Scott Russell Sanders (1995)
In 1815, the McClures sail their flatboat from Pittsburgh down the Ohio River and settle in what would later become Indiana. (E SANDERS)
1815
Woman Chief by Rose Sobol (1976)
A fictional account based on writings of Woman Chief, chief of the Crow Indians, who struggled for recognition as a hunter, warrior and leader. (J SOBOL)
1816
A Birthday for Blue by Kerry Raines Lydon (1989)
Blue celebrates his seventh birthday traveling west with his family in a Conestoga wagon along the Cumberland Road. (E LYDON)
1818
The Stowaway: A Tale of California Pirates by Kristiana Gregory (1995)
In 1818, Carlito, an eleven year old boy in the Spanish-owned town of Monterey, California, sees his quiet life threatened when the Argentinian privateer Hippolyte de Bouchard attacks with his pirate ships. (J GREGORY)


1819
Wolf by the Ears by Ann Rinaldi (1991)
Harriet Hemings, rumored to be the daughter of Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings, one of his black slaves, struggles with the problems facing her--to escape from Monticello, or to stay and remain a slave. (Y RINALDI)
1820s
Nothing Here But Trees by Jean Van Leeuwen (1998)
A close-knit pioneer family carves out a new home amidst the densely forested land of Ohio. (E VAN-LEE)
1820-1877
Buffalo Woman by Dorothy M. Johnson (1977)
A fictionalized account of life with the Oglala Sioux from 1820 to 1877 as seen through the eyes of the woman, Whirlwind. (J JOHNSON)
1822
Bridger: The Story of a Mountain Man by David Kherdian (1987)
In 1822, eighteen year old Jim Bridger leaves civilization behind and journeys into the frontier wilderness, where he learns to trap beaver, experiences skirmishes with hostile Indians and explores new country. (J KHERDIA)
1822
The Porcelain Pagoda by F.N. Monjo (1976)
As she sails on her father's ship from New York to China in the early 19th century, sixteen year old Kitty describes in her journal the places she sees, the events occurring in them and the romantic conclusion to the trip. (J MONJO)
1824
Meet Josefina, an American Girl by Valerie Tripp (1997)
Nine year old Josefina, the youngest of four sisters living in New Mexico in 1824, tries to help run the household after her mother dies. Other books in the series include: Changes for Josefina: a Winter Story, Happy Birthday, Josefina!: a Springtime Story, Josefina Learns a Lesson: a School Story, Josefina's Surprise: a Christmas Story, and Josefina Saves the Day: a Summer Story. (J TRIPP)
1825
Legend Days by Jamake Highwater (1984)
Abandoned in the wilderness after smallpox devastates her Northern Plains tribe, eleven year old Amana acquires from Grandfather Fox a warrior's courage and a hunter's prowess, gifts that sustain her as she watches the progressive disintegration of her people. (Y HIGHWAT)
1825
Wilderness Venture by Elizabeth Howard (1973)
Sixteen year old Delia and her three brothers set out to claim land in the Michigan wilderness that their widowed mother bought sight unseen. (J HOWARD)
1826
A Right Fine Life: Kit Carson on the Santa Fe Trail by Andrew Glass (1997)
Shortly before his sixteenth birthday, Kit Carson leaves his home in Missouri, heads out for Santa Fe, and begins a series of adventures as a legendary mountain man. (J GLASS)
1830
The Bobbin Girl by Emily Arnold McCully (1996)
A ten year old bobbin girl working in a textile mill in Lowell, Massachusetts, in the 1830s, must make a difficult decision-will she participate in the first workers' strike in Lowell? (J MCCULLY)
1830
A Gathering of Days: A New England Girl's Journal, 1830-32: A Novel by Joan W. Blos (1979)
A journal of a fourteen year old girl records daily events in her small New Hampshire town, her father's remarriage and the death of her best friend. (J BLOS)


1831
Longwalker's Journey: A Novel of the Choctaw Trail of Tears by Beatrice O. Harrell (1999)
When the government removes their tribe from their sacred homeland in 1831, ten year old Minko and his father endure terrible hardships on their journey from Mississippi to Oklahoma, where Minko receives the name Longwalker. (J HARRELL)
1832
The Education of Mary: A Little Miss of Color by Ann Rinaldi (2000)
Prudence Crandall begins admitting black girls to her exclusive Connecticut school, scandalizing white society and eventually causing her arrest and the closure of her school. (Y RINALDI)
1832
The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi (1990)
As the lone "young lady" on a transatlantic voyage, Charlotte learns that the captain is murderous and the crew rebellious. (J AVI)
1835
Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell (1960)
Left alone on a beautiful but isolated island off the coast of California, a young Indian girl spends eighteen years, not only surviving through her enormous courage and self-reliance, but also finding a measure of happiness in her solitary life. (J ODELL)
1835
A Line in the Sand: The Alamo Diary of Lucinda Lawrence by Sherry Garland (1998)
In the journal she receives for the twelfth birthday in 1835, Lucinda Lawrence describes the hardships her family and other residents of the "Texas colonies" endure when they decide to face the Mexicans in a fight for their freedom. (J GARLAND)


1836
All For Texas: A Story of Texas Liberation by G. Clifton Wisler (2000)
Thomas Jefferson Byrd, 13, tells about moving west with his family from Alabama to Texas in 1836. His father has been promised land if he will join the Texas settlers fighting against Mexico. (J WISLER)
1836
Over Jordan by Norma Johnston (1999)
In 1836, fourteen year old Roxana undertakes a dangerous journey up the Ohio river to help her beloved servant, Jess, and Jess's fiance, a runaway slave, escape to freedom, aided by Roxana's former teacher Harriet Beecher Stowe. (Y JOHNSTO)
1836
See You in Heaven: 1836 by Mary Z. Holmes (1992)
In 1836, on a cotton plantation in Alabama, twelve year old Elsy and her family endure the harsh realities of slavery and keep alive their family history by remembering their ancestors. (J HOLMES)
1836
Where the Broken Heart Still Beats: The Story of Cynthia Ann Parker by Carolyn Meyer (1992)
Having been taken as a child and raised by Comanche Indians, thirty four year old Cynthia Ann Parker is forcibly returned to her white relatives, where she longs for her Indian life and her only friend is her twelve year old cousin, Lucy. (Y MEYER)
1837
The Journal of Jesse Smoke: A Cherokee Boy by Joseph Bruchac (2001)
Jesse Smoke, a sixteen-year-old Cherokee, begins a journal in 1837 to record stories of his people and their difficulties as they face removal along the Trail of Tears. Includes a historical note giving details of the removal. (J BRUCHAC)


1837
Next Spring an Oriole by Gloria Whelan (1987)
In 1837, ten year old Libby and her parents journey by covered wagon to the Michigan frontier, where they make themselves a new home near friendly Indians and other pioneers. (J WHELAN)
1837-1838
Brothers of the Heart by Joan W. Blos (1985)
Fourteen year old Shem spends six months in the Michigan wilderness alone with a dying Indian woman, who helps him, not only to survive, but to mature to the point where he can return to his family and the difficulties of being physically disabled in a frontier village. (J BLOS)
1838
On the Long Trail Home by Elisabeth Jane Stewart (1994)
Meli and her brother Tahlikwa escape from the Cherokee people being herded westward on the Trail of Tears, and are determined to return to their beloved mountain home. (J STEWART)
1839
Weasel by Cynthia DeFelice (1990)
Alone in the frontier wilderness during the winter, eleven year old Nathan runs afoul of the renegade killer known as Weasel and makes a surprising discovery about the concept of revenge. (J DEFELIC)
1840's
Under the Hawthorn Tree by Marita Conlon-McKenna (1990)
During the Great Famine in Ireland in the 1840s, three children left alone and in danger of being sent to the workhouse set out to find the great-aunts they remember from their mother's stories. (J CONLON)



1840
Adaline Falling Star by Mary Pope Osborne (2000)
Feeling abandoned by her deceased Arapaho mother and her explorer father, Adaline Falling Star runs away from the prejudiced cousins with whom she is staying and comes close to death in the wilderness, with only a mongrel dog for company. (J OSBORNE)
1840
The Blue Door by Ann Rinaldi (1996)
When her grandmother sends her alone on a difficult journey up North, fourteen year old Amanda encounters the exploitation of women in textile mills. Third book in: The Quilt Trilogy. (Y RINALDI)
1840
Night Bird: A Story of the Seminole Indians by Kathleen V. Kudlinski (1993)
Night Bird, whose clan of Seminole Indians is fighting to preserve its traditional way of life in Florida, must decide whether or not to seek land and an unknown future in distant Oklahoma. (J KUDLINS)
1840
Night of the Full Moon by Gloria Whelan (1993)
When she sneaks away to visit her friend, a young girl living on the Michigan frontier is caught up in the forced evacuation of a group of Potawatomi Indians from their tribal lands. (J WHELAN)
1840
The Slave Dancer by Paula Fox (1973)
Kidnapped by the crew of an Africa-bound ship, a thirteen year old boy discovers to his horror that he is on a slaver and his job is to play music for the exercise periods of the human cargo. (J FOX)



1841
Born in the Year of Courage by Emily Crofford (1991)
Having been shipwrecked and picked up by an American whaling ship outside Japanese territorial waters, fifteen year old Manjiro decides to go to America and work toward opening trade between his country and the West. (J CROFFOR)
1841
The No-Return Trail by Sonia Levitin (1978)
A fictionalized account of the Bidwell-Bartleson expedition which included seventeen year old Nancy Kelsey, the first American woman to journey from Missouri to California. (J LEVITIN)
1842
Letters from a Slave Girl: The Story of Harriet Jacobs by Mary E. Lyons (1992)
A fictionalized version of the life of Harriet Jacobs, told in the form of letters that she might have written during her enslavement in North Carolina and as she prepared for escape to the North. (Y LYONS)
1842
What the Dickens! by Jane Louise Curry (1991)
Eleven year old twins, whose father runs a boat on the Juniata Canal in Pennsylvania, learn of a Harrisburg bookseller's plan to steal Charles Dickens' newly finished novel while Dickens himself is touring the U.S. (J CURRY)
1843
Lyddie by Katherine Paterson (1991)
An impoverished Vermont farm girl, Lyddie Worthen, is determined to gain her independence by becoming a factory worker in Lowell, Massachusetts. (J PATERSO)
1843
Roughing it on the Oregon Trail by Diane Stanley (1999)
Twins Liz and Lenny, along with their time-traveling grandmother, join a group of pioneers journeying west on the Oregon Trail in 1843. (J STANLEY)
1844
Daniel's Walk by Michael Spooner (2001)
With little more than a bedroll, a change of clothes, and a Bible, fourteen-year-old Daniel LeBlanc begins walking the Oregon Trail in search of his father who, according to a mysterious visitor, is in big trouble and needs his son's help. (Y SPOONER)
1844
On to Oregon! by Honore Morrow (1954)
Story of the Sager family who left Missouri in 1844 to journey by covered wagon to Oregon. (J MORROW)
1844
Stout-Hearted Seven by Neta Lohnes Frazier (1973)
Recounts the adventure of the seven Sager children during their journey to Oregon where they were adopted by Marcus and Narcissa Whitman. (J FRAZIER)
1844
The Wedding Dress by Marian Wells (1982)
Orphaned while still a young girl, Rebecca's only heritage was a wedding dress and a small black book. In the hope of finding a husband, she begins her journey west in a wagon caravan. (Y WELLS)
1845
Go West, Young Women! by Kathleen Karr (1996)
When a disaster claims the men of their wagon train, spunky twelve year old Phoebe, her mother, sister, and other women rely on their own resources to complete the journey to Oregon in 1845. Sequels are: Phoebe's Folly and Oregon, Sweet Oregon. (J KARR)



1845
The Journal of Jedediah Barstow, an Imigrant on the Oregon Trail: Overland, 1845 by Ellen Levine (2002)
In his 1845 diary, thirteen-year-old orphan Jedediah describes his wagon train journey to Oregon, in which he confronts rivers and sandy plains, bears and rattlesnakes, and the challenges of living with his fellow travelers. Includes historical notes. (J LEVINE)
1845
Katie's Wish by Barbara Shook Hazen (2002)
Soon after Katie wishes for her potatoes to disappear during dinner, a potato famine ravages her native Ireland, forcing her to leave for America. (E HAZEN)
1845
Nory Ryan's Song by Patricia Reilly Giff (2000)
When a terrible blight attacks Ireland's potato crop in 1845, twelve year old Nory Ryan's courage and ingenuity help her family and neighbors survive. (J GIFF)
1845-1946
Valley of the Moon: The Diary of Maria Rosalia de Milagros by Sherry Garland (2001)
The diary of thirteen year old Maria, servant to the wealthy Spanish family which took her in when her mother died, includes an historical note about the settlement and early history of California. (J GARLAND)
1846
Carlota by Scott O'Dell (1977)
A young girl relates her feelings and experiences as a participant in the battle of San Pasqual during the last days of the war between the Californians and Americans. (J ODELL)


1846
The Coldest Winter by Elizabeth Lutzeier (1991)
When the potato blight ruins the food crop and English soldiers start turning people out of their homes, Eamonn and his family struggle to survive through the coldest winter Ireland has ever known. (J LUTZEIE)
1846
I'm Sorry, Almira Ann by Jane Kurtz (1999)
Eight year old Sarah's high spirits help make her family's long journey from Missouri to Oregon more bearable, though they do cause both her and her best friend Almira Ann some problems. (J KURTZ)
1846
Pioneer Cat by William H. Hooks (1988)
When a young pioneer girl smuggles a cat aboard the wagon train taking her family from Missouri to Oregon, it turns out to be the best thing she could have done. (J HOOKS)
1846
Red Bird of Ireland by Sondra Gordon Langford (1983)
The pleasant rhythm of life changes abruptly for thirteen year old Aderyn when her father, unjustly accused in the political upheavals of 19th century Ireland, is forced to leave his family behind and flee to the New World. (J LANGFOR)
1846
Save Queen of Sheba by Louise Moeri (1981)
After surviving a Sioux Indian raid on the trail to Oregon, a brother and sister set out with a few provisions to find the rest of the settlers. (J MOERI)
1846
Sunsets of the West by Tony Johnston
Pa and his family pack up their belongings and undertake the difficult journey to a new life in the West. (E JOHNSTO)

1846-1947
The Journal of Douglas Allen Deeds: The Donner Party Expedition by Rodman Philbrick (2001)
Douglas Deeds, a fifteen-year-old orphan, keeps a journal of his travels by wagon train as a member of the ill-fated Donner Party, which became stranded in the Sierra Nevada mountains in the winter of 1846-47. (J PHILBRI)

1846-1860
Send One Angel Down by Virginia Frances Schwartz (2000)
A young slave tries to hide the horrors of slavery from his younger cousin, a light-skinned slave who is the daughter of the plantation owner. (Y SCHWART)
1847
Across the Wide and Lonesome Prairie: The Oregon Trail Diary of Hattie Campbell by Kristiana Gregory (1997)
In her diary, thirteen year old Hattie chronicles her family's arduous 1847 journey from Missouri to Oregon on the Oregon Trail. (J GREGORY)
1847
The Haunting of Kildoran Abbey by Eve Bunting (1978)
Caught in the grip of severe famine, eight hungry homeless children in Ireland join forces for one simple mission: to steal food from the rich and feed the poor. (J BUNTING)
1847
So Far from Home: The Diary of Mary Driscoll, an Irish Mill Girl by Barry Denenberg (1997)
In the diary account of her journey from Ireland in 1847 and of her work in a mill in Lowell, Massachusetts, fourteen year old Mary reveals a great longing for her family. (J DENENBE)



1847-1849
Mr. Tucket by Gary Paulsen (1994)
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. Other books in the series: Call Me Francis Tucket, Tucket's Ride, Tucket's Gold and Tucket's Home. (J PAULSEN)
1848
Daughter of Madrugada by Frances M. Wood (2002)
After the United States wins the war with Mexico in 1848, life on her Mexican family's ranch in California is greatly changed for thirteen-year-old Cesa. (Y WOOD)
1848
Westward to Home: Joshua's Journal by Patricia Hermes (2001)
In 1848, nine-year-old Joshua Martin McCullough writes a journal of his family's journey from Missouri to Oregon in a covered wagon. Includes a historical note about westward migration. (J HERMES)
1849
The Ballad of Lucy Whipple by Karen Cushman (1996)
In 1849, twelve year old California Morning Whipple, who renames herself Lucy, is distraught when her mother moves the family from Massachusetts to a rough California mining town. (J CUSHMAN)
1849
Beyond the Divide by Kathryn Lasky (1983)
A fourteen year old Amish girl defies convention by leaving her secure home in Pennsylvania to accompany her father across the continent by wagon train. (J LASKY)



1849
A Bluebird Will Do by Loula Grace Erdman (1973)
Orphaned in San Francisco during the gold rush days, a sixteen year old girl travels east by way of the Isthmus of Panama to seek out relatives in New Orleans. (J ERDMAN)
1849
By the Great Horn Spoon by Sid Fleischman (1963)
Jake Flagg, an orphan, and Praiseworthy, a loyal butler stow away on a ship bound for the gold fields of California. (J FLEISCH)
1849
Luke: On the Golden Trail, 1849 by Bonnie Pryor (1999)
Eleven year old Luke leaves his family's farm home in Iowa, accepts his uncle's offer of a chance for an education, and travels with his relative to Boston. (J PRYOR)
1849
Quest for the West: In Search of Gold by Peter Kent (1997)
In 1849, the impoverished Hornik family decides to leave Bohemia and emigrate to California in search of gold. (J KENT)
1849
Seeds of Hope: The Gold Rush Diary of Susanna Fairchild by Kristiana Gregory (2001)
Fourteen-year-old Susanna Fairchild and her family embark on a journey that they hope will bring them good fortune. Boarding a ship sailing from New York to the West, the Fairchilds set out for Oregon where they plan to start a new life. (J GREGORY)
1850
Bandit's Moon by Sid Fleischman (1998)
Twelve year old Annyrose relates her adventures with Joaquin Murieta and his band of outlaws in the California gold-mining region during the mid-1800s. (J FLEISCH)
1850
Buffalo Thunder by Patricia Wittman (1997)
When young Karl Isaac heads west with his family in a prairie schooner, he experiences many things but longs to see buffalo. (E WITTMAN)
1850
Edward's Portrait by Barbara Morrow (1991)
A family has individual daguerreotype portraits taken in the earliest days of photography. (E MORROW)
1850
A Girl Called Boy by Belinda Hurmence (1982)
A pampered young black girl who has been mysteriously transported back to the days of slavery, struggles to escape her bondage. (J HURMENC)
1850
I, Adam by Jean Fritz (1963)
After Adam graduates from school he plans to spend his future on the new farm his family has dreamed of for years, not realizing that dreams and plans change. (J FRITZ)
1850
The Josefina Story Quilt by Eleanor Coerr (1986)
While traveling west with her family in 1850, a young girl makes a patchwork quilt chronicling the experiences of the journey and reserves a special patch for her pet hen Josefina. (E-BEG COERR)
1850
Maggie's Door by Patricia Reilly Giff (2003)
In the mid-1800s, Nory and her neighbor and friend, Sean, set out separately on a dangerous journey from famine-plagued Ireland, hoping to reach a better life in America. (J GIFF)


1850
Rachel's Journal: The Story of a Pioneer Girl by Marissa Moss (1998)
In her journal, Rachel chronicles her family's adventures traveling by covered wagon on the Oregon Trail in 1850. (J MOSS)
1850
Straight Along a Crooked Road by Marilyn Cram Donahue (1985)
As her family travels from Vermont to settle in California in the early 1850s, fourteen year old Luanna learns to accept life for what it is, no matter where. (J DONAHUE)
1850
Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt by Deborah Hopkinson (1993)
A young slave stitches a quilt with a map pattern which guides her to freedom in the North. (E HOPKINS)
1850
Westering by Alice Putnam (1990)
Traveling with his family in a wagon train from Missouri to Oregon in 1850, ten year old Jason finds a stray dog that proves useful during the dangerous journey. (J PUTNAM)
1850
Wildflower Girl by Marita Conlon-McKenna (1991)
In the 19th century, thirteen year old Peggy O'Driscoll sets out alone from Ireland to America, hoping to make a better life for herself. Sequel to: Under the Hawthorn Tree. (J CONLON)
1850
Young Pioneers by Rose Wilder Lane (1933)
Newlyweds, Molly and David struggle to found a homestead and build a life together on the South Dakota frontier. They survive poverty, harsh winters, childbirth and a plague of insects. (J LANE)

1850s
Come Morning by Leslie Davis Guccione (1995)
Twelve year old Freedom, the son of a freed slave living in Delaware in the early 1850s, takes over his father's work in the Underground Railroad when his father disappears. (J GUCCION)
1850s
Mountain Light by Laurence Yep (1985)
Swept up in one of the local rebellions against the Manchus in China, nineteen-year-old Squeaky loses his home and travels to America to seek his fortune among the gold fields of California. Sequel to: The Serpent's Children. (Y YEP)
1850s
Thee, Hannah! by Marguerite De Angeli (1940)
Nine year old Hannah, a Quaker living in Philadelphia just before the Civil War, longs to have some fashionable dresses like other girls but comes to appreciate her heritage and its plain dressing when her family saves the life of a runaway slave. (J DEANGEL)
1850s
Train to Somewhere by Eve Bunting (1996)
In the late 1800s, Marianne travels westward on the Orphan Train in hopes of being placed with a caring family. (J BUNTING)
1850s
Wagons West! by Roy Gerrard (1996)
A rhyming story of a family's move by wagon train between Missouri and Oregon in the 1850's and their daughter's role in outwitting cattle thieves. (E GERRARD)
1851
Dear Levi: Letters from the Overland Trail by Elvira Woodruff (1994)
Twelve year old Austin Ives writes letters to his younger brother describing his three-thousand-mile journey from their home in Pennsylvania to Oregon in 1851. (J WOODRUF)
1851
Hope by Louann Gaeddert (1995)
Orphans, Hope and John, are placed in a community of Shakers where they encounter a way of life that is strange yet comfortable. (J GAEDDER)
1851
Miles' Song by Alice McGill (2000)
In 1851, in South Carolina, Miles, a twelve year old slave, is sent to a "breaking ground" to have his spirit broken but endures the experience by secretly taking reading lessons from another slave. (Y MCGILL)
1851
North By Night: A Story of the Underground Railroad by Katherine Ayres (1998)
Presents the journal of a sixteen year old girl whose family operates a stop on the Underground Railroad. (J AYRES)
1851
Stealing South by Katherine Ayres (2001)
Sixteen-year-old Will Spencer leaves home to become a peddler, but gets more than he bargained for when he agrees to go to Kentucky, steal two slaves, and help them reach their brother in Canada. Companion volume to: North by Night. (J AYRES)
1852
Bound for Oregon by Jean Van Leeuwen (1994)
A fictionalized account of the journey made by nine year old Mary Ellen Todd and her family from their home in Arkansas westward over the Oregon Trail in 1852. (J VAN LEE)
1852
A Fourth of July on the Plains by Jean Van Leeuwen (1997)
Young Jesse and his family are with a wagon train traveling from Indiana to Oregon when they stop to celebrate the Fourth of July, but Jesse is too young to go hunting with the men so he comes up with his own contribution to the festivities. (E VANLEEU)
1852
Jericho's Journey by G. Clifton Wisler (1993)
As his family makes the long and difficult journey from Tennessee to their new home in Texas, twelve year old Jericho Wetherby, teased by his sister and brothers about his size, learns there are many ways to grow. (J WISLER)
1852
The Journal of Wong Ming-Chung: A Chinese Miner by Laurence Yep (2000)
A young Chinese boy nicknamed Runt records his experiences in a journal as he travels from southern China to California in 1852 to join his uncle during the Gold Rush. (J YEP)
1852
West Along the Wagon Road 1852 by Laurie Lawlor (1998)
Everyone on the wagon train knew Harriet "Duck" Scott was looking for adventure as they left Illinois for the faraway Oregon Territory, but nothing could have prepared the Scott family for the dangers they were about to meet. (J LAWLOR)
1853
Dear Austin: Letters from the Underground Railroad by Elvira Woodruff (1998)
In letters to his older brother, eleven year old Levi describes his adventures in the Pennsylvania countryside with his black friend Jupiter and his experiences with the Underground Railroad. (J WOODRUF)
1853
Fortune's Journey by Bruce Coville (1995)
Sixteen year old Fortune Plunkett faces many challenges on an overland journey to California with the acting company that she inherited from her father. (J COVILLE)


1853
Nightjohn by Gary Paulsen (1993)
Twelve year old Sarny's brutal life as a slave becomes even more dangerous when a newly arrived slave offers to teach her how to read. (J PAULSEN)
1853
Stealing Freedom by Elisa Carbone (1998)
A novel based on the events in the life of a young slave girl from Maryland who endures all kinds of mistreatment and cruelty, including being separated from her family, but who eventually escapes to freedom in Canada. (Y CARBONE)
1853
Zia by Scott O'Dell (1976)
A young Indian girl, Zia, caught between the traditional world of her mother and the present world of the Mission, is helped by her aunt Karana whose story was told in The Island of the Blue Dolphins. (J ODELL)
1853-1861
Bright Freedom's Song: A Story of the Underground Railroad by Gloria Houston (1998)
In the years before the Civil War, Bright discovers that her parents are providing a safehouse for the Underground Railroad and helps to save a runaway slave named Marcus. (J HOUSTON)
1854
Boston Jane by Jennifer L. Holm
Schooled in the lessons of etiquette for young ladies of 1854, Miss Jane Peck of Philadelphia finds little use for manners during her long sea voyage to the Pacific Northwest and while living among the American traders and Chinook Indians of Washington Territory. (J HOLM)
1854
The Legend of Jimmy Spoon by Kristiana Gregory (1990)
A young white boy lives with the Shoshoni Indians during the early frontier days. (J GREGORY)
1854
Meet Kirsten, an American Girl by Janet Shaw (1986)
Nine-year old Kirsten and her family experience many hardships as they travel from Sweden to the Minnesota frontier in 1854. Other titles in the series: Kirsten Learns a Lesson: a School Story, Kirsten's Surprise: a Christmas Story, Changes for Kirsten: a Winter Story, Happy Birthday Kirsten: a Springtime Story and Kirsten Saves the Day: a Summer Story. (J SHAW)
1854-1930
The Midnight Train Home by Erika Tamar (2000)
When their mother can no longer care for them, eleven year old Deirdre and her brothers board the Orphans' Train for placement with families out West. Deirdre, a talented singer, finds a different type of family when she joins a traveling vaudeville troupe. (J TAMAR)
1855
The Adventures of Young Buffalo Bill. In the Eye of the Storm by E. Cody Kimmel (2003)
With the threat of further violence from pro-slavery border ruffians ever-present, nine-year-old Bill must run the farm, even after his father comes home to recuperate from his knife wound, and go to school.
(J KIMMEL)
1855
Pioneer Summer by Deborah Hopkinson (2002)
In 1855, Charlie and his abolitionist family leave Massachusetts to join other New Englanders who want to create a free state in Kansas. (J HOPKINS)
1855
Running for Our Lives by Glennette Tilley Turner (1994)
A family of fugitive slaves becomes separated while traveling to freedom aboard the Underground Railroad. (J TURNER)


1855
Steal Away by Jennifer Armstrong (1992)
In 1855, two thirteen year old girls, one white and one black, run away from a southern farm and make the difficult journey north to freedom, living to recount their story forty-one years later to two similar young girls. (J ARMSTRO)
1855-1856
Jip: His Story by Katherine Paterson (1996)
While living on a Vermont poor farm during 1855 and 1856, Jip learns his identity and that of his mother and comes to understand how he arrived at this place. (J PATERSO)
1856
As Far As I Can See: Meg's Prairie Dairy, Book One by Kate McMullan (2002)
In her diary for 1856, nine-year-old Meg describes the long, dangerous journey she and her younger brother make from Missouri to Kansas, as well as the new life they find there. (J MCMULLA)
1856
Caught in the Act by Joan Lowery Nixon (1988)
Eleven year old Michael Patrick Kelly from New York City is sent to a foster home, a Missouri farm with a sadistic owner, a bullying son and a number of secrets, one of which may be murder. (J NIXON)
1856
Charlotte's Rose by A.E. Cannon (2002)
As a twelve-year-old Welsh immigrant carries a motherless baby along the Mormon Trail in 1856, she comes to love the baby as her own and fear the day the baby's father will reclaim her. (J CANNON)
1856
A Fine Start by Kate McMullan (2003)
In this book Meg brings her prairie diary to an end describing her days in the Kansas Territory, a deadly twister, and the start of school. (J MCMULLA)
1856
Grandfather's Gold Watch by Louise Garff Hubbard (1997)
Peter cherishes the watch his grandfather gives him before his family leaves Denmark for America, and even after losing the watch on the journey to Utah, he remembers its message. (E HUBBARD)
1856
Steal Away Home by Lois Ruby (1994)
In parallel stories, a Quaker family in Kansas operates a station on the Underground Railroad, while almost 150 years later twelve year old Dana moves into the same house and finds the skeleton of a black woman who helped the Quakers. (Y RUBY)
1856-1865
Dear Ellen Bee: A Civil War Scrapbook of Two Union Spies by Mary E. Lyons and
Muriel M. Branch. (2000)
A scrapbook kept by a young black girl details her experiences and those of the older white woman, "Miss Bet", who had freed her and her family, sent her north from Richmond to get an education, and then worked to bring an end to slavery. (J LYONS)
1857
Bloomers! by Rhoda Blumberg (1993)
Explains how the new-fashioned outfit, bloomers, helped Amelia Bloomer, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Susan B. Anthony spread the word about women's rights. (E BLUMBER)
1857
Freedom's Wings: Corey's Diary by Sharon Dennis Wyeth (2001)
A nine-year-old slave keeps a diary of his journey to freedom along the Underground Railroad in 1857.
(J WYETH)


1857
Soon Be Free by Lois Ruby (2000)
Thirteen-year-old Dana investigates a mystery involving the old Kansas house that her parents have turned into a bed and breakfast business; in a parallel story, a Quaker boy living in the house in 1857 sets out to help some fugitive slaves to freedom. Sequel to: Steal Away Home. (Y RUBY)
1857
The Valley In Between by Marilyn Cram Donahue (1987)
Having traveled with her family all the way from Vermont to settle in California, fourteen year old Luanna continues to grow and find new experiences in their pioneer community. Sequel to: Straight Along a Crooked Road. (J DONAHUE)
1857
You Forgot Your Skirt, Amelia Bloomer: A Very Improper Story by Shana Corey (2000)
Amelia Bloomer, who does not behave the way 19th century society tells her a proper lady should, introduces pantaloons to American women to save them from the discomfort of their heavy, tight dresses. (E COREY)
1858
Caleb's Choice by G. Clifton Wisler (1996)
While living in Texas in 1858, fourteen year old Caleb faces a dilemma in deciding whether or not to assist fugitive slaves in their run for freedom. (J WISLER)
1858
Flying Free by Sharon Dennis Wyeth (2002)
In 1858, nine-year-old Corey Birdsong and his family, fugitive slaves from Kentucky, build a new life in Amherstburg, Canada, while still hoping to help those they left behind. (J WYETH)


1859
Lightning Time: A Novel by Douglas Rees (1997)
Fourteen year old Theodore Worth struggles with the decision to leave his home in Boston and join the controversial abolitionist John Brown in the fight against slavery. (Y REES)
1859
Mine Eyes Have Seen by Ann Rinaldi (1998)
In the summer of 1859, fifteen year old Annie travels to the Maryland farm where her father, John Brown, is secretly assembling his provisional army prior to their raid on the arsenal at nearby Harpers Ferry. (Y RINALDI)
1859
A Picture of Freedom: The Diary of Clotee, a Slave Girl by Patricia C. McKissack (1997)
Twelve year old Clotee, a house slave who must conceal the fact that she can read and write, records in her diary her experiences and her struggle to decide whether to escape to freedom. (J MCKISSA)
1860s
Going West by Jean Van Leeuwen (1992)
Follows a family's emigration by prairie schooner from the East across the plains to Kansas. (E VAN-LEE)
1860
Aggie's Home by Joan Lowery Nixon (1998)
Twelve year old Aggie is sure no one will want to adopt her when she rides the orphan
train out west. Other titles in the "Orphan Train Children Series" are David's Search,
Will's Choice, and Lucy's Wish. (J NIXON)



1860
Alice Rose & Sam: A Novel by Kathryn Lasky (1998)
Alice Rose, an irrepressible twelve year old, shares adventures with Mark Twain, an outlandish reporter on her father's newspaper in Virginia City, Nevada, during the 1860s. (Y LASKY)
1860
Becca's Story by James D. Forman (1992)
Romance develops during the Civil War between a Michigan girl and the two soldiers who are rivals for her hand. (Y FORMAN)
1860
Brady by Jean Fritz (1960)
A young Pennsylvania boy takes part in the pre-Civil War anti-slavery activities. (J FRITZ)
1860
Cassie's Journey: Going West in the 1860s by Brett Harvey (1988)
A young girl relates the hardships and dangers of traveling with her family in a covered wagon from Illinois to California during the 1860s. (J HARVEY)
1860
Cezanne Pinto: A Memoir by Mary Stolz (1994)
In his old age, Cezanne Pinto recalls his youth as a slave on a Virginia plantation, his escape to a new life in the North and his adventures as a cowboy in Texas. (Y STOLZ)
1860
Dandelions by Eve Bunting (1995)
Zoe and her family find strength in each other as they make a new home in the Nebraska territory. (J BUNTING)


1860
The Dark Canoe by Scott O'Dell (1968)
A sixteen year old boy sails from 19th century Nantucket to a remote California bay with his two older brothers and finds himself in mysterious circumstances involving the death of one brother and the strange obsession of the other. (J ODELL)
1860
Evvy's Civil War by Miriam Brenaman (2002)
In Virginia in 1860, on the verge of the Civil War, fourteen-year-old Evvy chafes at the restrictions that her society places on both women and slaves. (Y BRENAMA)
1860
A Family Apart by Joan Lowery Nixon (1987)
Six siblings are sent by the Children's Aid Society of New York City to live with farm families in Missouri in 1860. The "Orphan Train Quartet" also includes: Caught in the Act, In the Face of Danger and A Place to Belong. (J NIXON)
1860
Grace's Letter to Lincoln by Connie Roop (1998)
On the eve of the 1860 presidential election, as war clouds gather and the South threatens to secede, eleven year old Grace decides to help Abraham Lincoln get elected by writing and advising him to grow a beard. (J ROOP)
1860
Impetuous: Mattie's Story by Jude Watson (1996)
Seventeen year old Mattie leaves her sister Ivy in Last Chance, California, and disguises herself as a boy in order to get a job with the Pony Express, finding adventure, facing danger, and falling in love. (Y WATSON)



1860
Jimmy Spoon and the Pony Express by Kristiana Gregory (1994)
Having returned from living with his friends, the Shoshoni, seventeen year old Jimmy Spoon grows restless again and seeks adventure by taking a job with the Pony Express. Sequel to: The Legend of Jimmy Spoon. (J GREGORY)
1860
Mr. Lincoln's Whiskers by Burke Davis (1978)
Contains humorous anecdotes of Abraham Lincoln's political life, including the story of how a young girl persuades him to grow a beard. (J DAVIS)
1860
Riding on the Wind by Brix McDonald (1997)
Set in 1860 in Wyoming, Carrie Sutton wants to ride with the Pony Express. (Y MCDONAL)
1860
Seasons of the Trail by Lynn Glaze (200)
In 1860, traveling by wagon train from Missouri to California, fourteen-year-old Lucy finds the discomfort and danger made tolerable by the presence of two handsome twin brothers. (J GLAZE)
1860
The Sweetwater Run: The Story of Buffalo Bill Cody and the Pony Express by Andrew Glass (1996)
Buffalo Bill Cody recounts his adventures as a teenaged rider for the Pony Express. Includes a history of the Pony Express and facts about Cody's life. (J GLASS)
1860
The Tin Heart by Karen Ackerman (1990)
As the onset of the Civil War causes a rift between their fathers, Mahaley and Flora find a way to preserve their friendship. (E ACKERMA)

1860
Wait for Me, Watch for Me, Eula Bee by Patricia Beatty (1978)
With his father and brother serving in the Confederate Army and the rest of his family killed in a Comanche raid on their Texas farm, thirteen year old Lewallen seeks to free himself and his sister from captivity. (J BEATTY)
1860 - 1861
A Light in the Storm: The Civil War Diary of Amelia Martin by Karen Hesse (1999)
In 1860 and 1861, while working in her father's lighthouse on an island off the coast of Delaware, fifteen year old Amelia records in her diary how the Civil War is beginning to devastate her divided state. (J HESSE)
1860 - 1865
Diary of a Drummer Boy by Marlene Targ Brill (1998)
The fictionalized diary of a twelve year old boy who joins the Union army as a drummer and ends up fighting in the Civil War. (J BRILL)
1861
Across Five Aprils by Irene Hunt (1966)
Jethro Creighton comes of age during the turbulent years of the American Civil War. (J HUNT)
1861
Before the Creeks Ran Red by Carolyn Reeder (2003)
Through the eyes of three different boys, three linked novellas explore the tumultuous times beginning with the secession of South Carolina and leading up to the first major battle of the Civil War. (Y REEDER)
1861
Bull Run by Paul Fleischman (1993)
Northerners, Southerners, generals, couriers, dreaming boys and worried sisters describe the glory, the horror, the thrill and the disillusionment of the first battle of the Civil War. (Y FLEISCH)

1861
Joseph: A Rumble of War, 1861 by Bonnie Pryor (1999)
After his stepfather becomes an abolitionist, ten year old Joseph struggles with his own thoughts about slavery as he sees its divisive power in his small Kentucky town. (J PRYOR)
1861
Joseph's Choice, 1861 by Bonnie Pryor (2000)
In the early days of the Civil War, Joseph must decide whether to defend his stepfather's abolitionist and pro-Union beliefs or side with the slave owners and Southern rights supporters in his hometown of Branson Mills, Kentucky. (J PRYOR)
1861
Promises to the Dead by Mary Downing Hahn (2000)
Twelve year old Jesse leaves his home on Maryland's Eastern Shore to help a young runaway slave find a safe haven in the early days of the Civil War. (J HAHN)
1861
Rifles for Watie by Harold Keith (1957)
Jeff Bussey becomes a scout and soldier in the West and sees the Civil War from both sides. (J KEITH)
1861
The River Between Us by Richard Peck (2003)
During the early days of the Civil War, the Pruitt family takes in two mysterious young ladies who have fled New Orleans to come north to Illinois. (Y PECK)
1861
Sound the Jubilee by Sandra Forrester (1995)
A slave and her family find refuge on Roanoke Island, North Carolina, during the Civil War. (J FORREST)

1861
A Voice from the Border by Pamela Smith Hill (1998)
Living in the border state of Missouri during the Civil War, fifteen year old Reeves tries to understand her father's decision regarding their slaves. (Y HILL)
1861 - 1862
The Last Silk Dress by Ann Rinaldi (1988)
During the Civil War, Susan finds a way to help the Confederate Army and uncovers a series of mysterious family secrets. (Y RINALDI)
1861 - 1865
Braving the Fire by John B. Severance (2002)
Jem joins the Union Army but is not sure of his motives or what he hopes to accomplish, particularly since the Civil War has divided his family and caused much violence and confusion in his life. (Y SEVERAN)
1861 - 1865
Captain Kate by Carolyn Reeder (1999)
Determined to take her father's coal-carrying barge on the C & O Canal from Cumberland, Maryland, to Georgetown in D.C., twelve year old Kate learns hurtful truths about herself. (J REEDER)
1861 - 1865
Drummer by George C. Richardson (2001)
A young slave, Johnny Jackson, escapes from a Confederate officer claiming to own him. With help, he makes his way to Philadelphia where he is permitted to join the First Pennsylvania Colored Infantry and becomes the drummer for Company A. (Y RICHARD)
1861 - 1865
Drummer Boy: Marching to the Civil War by Ann Turner (1998)
A thirteen year old soldier, coming of age during the American Civil War, beats his drum to raise tunes and spirits and muffle the sounds of the dying. (J TURNER)
1861 - 1865
Girl in Blue by Ann Rinaldi (2001)
To escape an abusive father and an arranged marriage, fourteen-year-old Sarah, dressed as a boy, leaves her Michigan home to enlist in the Union Army, and becomes a soldier on the battlefields of Virginia as well as a Union spy working in the house of Confederate sympathizer Rose O'Neal Greenhow in Washington, D.C. (Y RINALDI)
1861 - 1865
Hear the Wind Blow by Mary Downing Hahn (2003)
With their mother dead and their home burned, a thirteen-year-old boy and his little sister set out across Virginia in search of relatives during the final days of the Civil War. (J HAHN)
1861 - 1865
Jayhawker by Patricia Beatty (1991)
In the early years of the Civil War, teenage Kansan farm boy Lije Tulley becomes a Jayhawker, an abolitionist raider freeing slaves from the neighboring state of Missouri, and then goes undercover there as a spy. (J BEATTY)
1861 - 1865
No Man's Land: A Young Soldier's Story by Susan Campbell Bartoletti (1999)
Because he had been unable to fight off the gator which injured his father, fourteen year old Thrasher joins the Confederate Army hoping to prove his manhood. (Y BARTOLE)
1861 - 1865
Pink and Say by Patricia Polacco (1994)
Say Curtis describes his meeting with Pinkus Aylee, a black soldier, during the Civil War, and their capture by Southern troops. Based on a true story about the author's great-great-grandfather. (E POLACCO)


1861 - 1865
The Promise Quilt by Candice F. Ransom (1999)
After her father leaves the family farm on Lost Mountain to be General Lee's guide, Addie finds ways to remember him--even when he does not return at the end of the war. (E RANSOM)
1861 - 1865
Red Cap by G. Clifton Wisler (1991)
A young Yankee drummer boy displays great courage when he's captured and sent to Andersonville Prison. (J WISLER)
1861 - 1865
The Sacred Moon Tree: Being the True Account of the Trials and Adventures of Phoebe Sands in the Great War Between the States, 1861 - 1865 by Laura Jan Shore (1986)
Determined to see the war for herself, twelve year old Phoebe disguised as a boy, travels with her friend Jotham behind enemy lines to Richmond in hopes of rescuing Jotham's brother from a Rebel prison. (Y SHORE)
1861-1865
Soldier's Heart: A Novel of the Civil War by Gary Paulsen (1998)
Eager to enlist, fifteen year old Charley has a change of heart after experiencing both the physical horrors and mental anguish of Civil War combat. (Y PAULSEN)
1861 - 1865
Spy in the Sky by Kathleen Karr (1997)
When Northerner Thaddeus Lowe lands his huge balloon in South Carolina at the beginning of the Civil War, ten year old orphan Ridley Jones joins up with him and the two set out to find a way to use Lowe's balloon to help the North. (J KARR)



1861 - 1865
Three Against the Tide by D. Anne Love (1998)
After her father is called away from their plantation near Charleston, S.C., during the Civil War, twelve year old Susanna must lead her brothers on a difficult journey in hopes of being reunited with him. (J LOVE)
1861 - 1869
Letters from Vinnie by Maureen Stack Sappey (1999)
A fictionalized account of the Washington, D.C., Civil War years experienced by Vinnie Ream, the sculptress, best known for the statue of Abraham Lincoln that is in the Capitol building. (Y SAPPEY)
1862
All Their Names Were Courage by Sharon Phillips Denslow (2003)
In 1862, as William Burd fights in the Civil War, he exchanges letters with his sister, Sallie, who is also writing to Confederate and Union generals asking about their horses in order to write a book. (J DENSLOW)
1862
A Ballad of the Civil War by Mary Stolz (1997)
Weary of the war, a Union lieutenant recalls his life with his twin brother on their family's Virginia plantation and the events that led them to fight on different sides in the Civil War. (J STOLZ)
1862
The Bravest Girl in Sharpsburg by Kathleen Ernst (1997)
In Civil War Maryland, the friendship of two girls is tested by their conflicting loyalties. (Y ERNST)
1862
Eben Tyne, Powdermonkey by Patricia Beatty (1990)
A thirteen year old powdermonkey in the Confederate navy joins the crew of the ironclad Merrimack in a mission to break the Union blockade of Norfolk harbor. (J BEATTY)

1862
The Lost Dispatch: A Story of Antietam by Donald J. Sobol (1958)
When Wade is ordered to take a message to his Colonel's brother, he has no idea that he will spend time in the Confederate Army and play a decisive role in the Battle of Antietem and the resulting Union victory over the South. (J SOBOL)
1862
The Night Riders of Harpers Ferry by Kathleen Ernst (1996)
During the Civil War, a seventeen year old Union soldier must adjust to army life, with the additional complications peculiar to the region where the Shenandoah and Potomac Rivers come together at Harpers Ferry, West Virginia. (Y ERNST)
1862
Run the Blockade by G. Clifton Wisler (2000)
During the Civil War, fourteen year old Henry finds adventure working as a ship's boy and lookout aboard the "Banshee," a new British ship attempting to get past the Yankee blockade of the Southern coast. (J WISLER)
1862
Silent Thunder: A Civil War Story by Andrea Davis Pinkney (1999)
In 1862 eleven year old Summer and her thirteen year old brother Rosco take turns describing how life on the quiet Virginia plantation where they are slaves is affected by the Civil War. (J PINKNEY)
1862
The 290 by Scott O'Dell (1976)
A shipyard apprentice finds high adventure aboard the S.S. Alabama, a Confederate ship, which sails the Atlantic destroying Union vessels. (Y ODELL)



1862
The War Within: A Novel of the Civil War by Carol Matas (2001)
In 1862, after Union forces expel Hannah's family from Holly Springs, Mississippi, because they are Jews, Hannah reexamines her views regarding slavery and the war. (J MATAS)
1863
Abraham's Battle: A Novel of Gettysburg by Sara Harrell Banks (1999)
In 1863, as the Civil War approaches his home in Gettysburg and he realizes that a big battle is about to begin, a freed slave named Abraham decides to join the ambulance corps of the Union Army. (J BANKS)
1863
The Adventures of Midnight Son by Denise Lewis Patrick (1997)
After his parents help him escape from slavery on a cotton plantation, fourteen year old Midnight finds freedom in Mexico and becomes a cowboy on a cattle drive to Kansas. (J PATRICK)
1863
Anna Sunday by Sally M. Keehn (2002)
In 1863 twelve-year-old Anna, disguised as a boy and accompanied by her younger brother Jed, leaves their Pennsylvania home and makes the difficult journey to join their wounded father in Winchester, Virginia, where they find themselves in danger from Confederate troops. (J KEEHN)
1863
Behind the Lines by Isabelle Holland (1994)
During the New York Draft Riot, a young Irish Catholic girl helps an African-American boy escape from an angry mob. (Y HOLLAND)
1863
The Drinking Gourd by F. N. Monjo (1970)
When he is sent home alone for misbehaving in church, Tommy discovers that his house is a station on the Underground Railroad. (E-BEG MONJO)

1863
The Drummer Boy of Vicksburg by G. Clifton Wisler (1997)
In this fact-based story, fourteen year old drummer boy Orion Howe displays great bravery during a Civil War battle at Vicksburg, Mississippi. (J WISLER)
1863
Gettysburg: Tad Lincoln's Story by F. N. Monjo (1976)
Recounts the events of the Battle of Gettysburg and the dedication of the cemetery there, as seen through the eyes of Tad Lincoln. (J MONJO)
1863
Guerrilla Season by Pat Hughes (2003)
Two fifteen-year-old boys in Missouri in 1863 find friendship and family loyalty tested by Quantrell's raiders, a Rebel guerrilla band who roamed under the black flag of "no quarter to be given by Union troops." (Y HUGHES)
1863
The Journal of James Edmond Pease, a Civil War Union Soldier by Jim Murphy (1998)
James Edmond, a sixteen year old orphan, keeps a journal of his experiences and those of "G" Company, which he joined as a volunteer in the Union Army during the Civil War. (J MURPHY)
1863
The Longest Ride by Denise Lewis Patrick (1999)
At the end of the Civil War Midnight, a fourteen year old black cowboy and runaway slave who nurtures the dream of being reunited with his family, finds his destiny linked with that of two Arapaho Indians. Sequel to: The Adventures of Midnight Son. (J PATRICK)
1863
Moon Over Tennessee: A Boy's Civil War Journal by Craig Crist-Evans (1999)
A thirteen year old boy sets off with his father from their farm in Tennessee to join the Confederate forces on their way to fight at Gettysburg. (J CRIST-E)
1863
Private Captain: A Story of Gettysburg by Marty Crisp (2001)
Twelve year old Ben and his dog Captain set off in search of Ben's brother who is missing from the Union Army. (J CRISP)
1863
Three Days by Paxton Davis (1980)
Describes the battle of Gettysburg through the eyes of Robert E. Lee, following the general from his entry into Pennsylvania to the disastrous conclusion for the Confederate troops. (J DAVIS)
1863
With Every Drop of Blood by James Lincoln Collier & Christopher Collier (1994)
While trying to transport food to Richmond, Virginia, during the Civil War, fourteen year old Johnny is captured by a black Union soldier. (Y COLLIER)
1864
Across the Lines by Carolyn Reeder (1997)
Edward, the son of a white plantation owner, and his black house servant and friend Simon witness the siege of Petersburg during the Civil War. (J REEDER)
1864
Amelia's War by Ann Rinaldi (1999)
When a Confederate general threatens to burn Hagerstown, Maryland, unless it pays an exorbitant ransom, twelve year old Amelia and her friend find a way to save the town. (Y RINALDI)
1864
The Girl Who Chased Away Sorrow: The Diary of Sarah Nita, a Navajo Girl by Ann Turner (1999)
Sarah Nita, 13, tells the story of the Navajo's forced 400-mile Long Walk from their ancestral homeland through winter snow to Fort Sumner. (J TURNER)

1864
If You Please, President Lincoln by Harriette Gillem Robinet (1995)
Shortly after the Christmas of 1863, fourteen year old Moses thinks he is beginning a new free life when he becomes part of a group of other former slaves headed for a small island off the coast of Haiti. (Y ROBINET)
1864
An Island Far From Home by John Donahue (1995)
The twelve year old son of a Union army doctor killed during the fighting in Fredericksburg comes to understand the meaning of war and the fine line between friends and enemies when he begins corresponding with a young Confederate prisoner of war. (J DONAHUE)
1864
Meet Addy: An American Girl by Connie Porter (1993)
Nine year old Addy Walker escapes from a cruel life of slavery to freedom during the Civil War. Other books in the series include: Addy's Surprise: a Christmas Story, Addy Learns a Lesson: a School Story, Happy Birthday, Addy! a Springtime Story, Addy Saves the Day! a Summer Story and Changes for Addy: a Winter Story. (J PORTER)
1864
Numbering All the Bones by Ann Rinaldi (2002)
It is 1864, the Civil War is moving toward an end. President Lincoln has proclaimed his 'great measure,' and Southern slaves are slowly gaining their freedom. But for thirteen-year-old Eulinda, a house slave on a Georgia plantation, it is the most difficult time of her life. (Y RINALDI)
1864
Sing Down the Moon by Scott O'Dell (1970)
A young Navajo girl recounts the events of 1864 when her tribe was forced to march to Fort Sumner as prisoners of the white soldiers. (J ODELL)


1864
Turn Homeward, Hannalee by Patricia Beatty (1984)
Twelve year old Hannalee Reed, forced to relocate in Indiana along with other Georgia millworkers during the Civil War, leaves her mother with a promise to return home as soon as the war ends. (J BEATTY)
1864
When Will This Cruel War Be Over? : The Civil War Diary of Emma Simpson by Barry Denenberg (1996)
The diary of a fictional fourteen year old girl living in Virginia, in which she describes the hardships endured by her family and friends during one year on the Civil War. (J DENENBE)
1864
Which Way Freedom? by Joyce Hansen (1986)
Obi escapes from slavery during the Civil War, joins a black Union regiment, and soon becomes involved in the bloody fighting at Fort Pillow, Tennessee. (J HANSEN)
1865
An Acquaintance with Darkness by Ann Rinaldi (1997)
When her mother dies and her best friend's family is implicated in the assassination of President Lincoln, fourteen year old Emily Pigbush must go live with an uncle she suspects of being involved in stealing bodies for medical research. (Y RINALDI)
1865
Be Ever Hopeful, Hannalee by Patricia Beatty (1988)
In 1865 with the war recently over, fourteen year old Hannalee and her recently reunited family decide to start a new life in Atlanta where, because of the need to rebuild the devastated city, jobs are plentiful. Sequel to: Turn Homeward, Hannalee. (J BEATTY)


1865
Bigger by Patricia Calvert (1994)
When his father disappears near the Mexican border at the end of the Civil War, twelve year old Tyler decides to find him. On his journey he acquires a strange dog he names Bigger. Tyler's adventures continue in: Sooner. (J CALVERT)
1865
Charley Skedaddle by Patricia Beatty (1987)
During the Civil War, a twelve year old Bowery Boy from New York City joins the Union Army as a drummer, deserts during a battle in Virginia and meets a hostile old mountain woman. (J BEATTY)
1865
Forty Acres and Maybe a Mule by Harriette Gillem Robinet (1998)
Born with a withered leg and hand, Pascal, who is about twelve years old, joins other former slaves in a search for a farm and the freedom which it promises. (J ROBINET)
1865
Hear the Wind Blow by Mary Downing Hahn (2003)
With their mother dead and their home burned, a thirteen-year-old boy and his little sister set out across Virginia in search of relatives during the final days of the Civil War. (J HAHN)
1865
I Thought My Soul Would Rise and Fly: The Diary of Patsy, a Freed Girl by Joyce Hansen (1997)
Twelve year old Patsy keeps a diary of the confusing time following the end of the Civil War and the granting of freedom to former slaves. (J HANSEN)
1865
In My Father's House by Ann Rinaldi (1993)
For two sisters growing up surrounded by the Civil War, there is a conflict both outside and inside their house. (Y RINALDI)
1865
Mustang Flats by G. Clifton Wisler (1997)
When his father returns from the war in 1865, fourteen year old Alby finds his beloved Pa a changed man and can only hope that they will be friends again. (J WISLER)
1865
Out from this Place by Joyce Hansen (1988)
A fourteen year old girl tries to find a fellow ex-slave, who had joined the Union army during the Civil War, during the confusing times after the emancipation of the slaves. Sequel to Which Way Freedom? (J HANSEN)
1865
Secret Island by S.E. Moore (1977)
Visiting relatives in post-Civil War upper New York State, John Allen becomes involved in tracking down robbers of Union money and secret Southern sympathizers. (J MOORE)
1865
Shades of Gray by Carolyn Reeder (1989)
At the end of the Civil War, twelve year old Will, having lost all his immediate family, reluctantly leaves his city home to live in the Virginia countryside with his aunt and the uncle he considers a "traitor" because he refused to take part in the war. (J REEDER)
1865
Sparrow Jack by Mordicai Gerstein (2003)
In 1868, John Bardsley, an immigrant from England, brought one thousand sparrows from his home country back to Philadelphia, where he hoped they would help save the trees from the inch-worms that were destroying them. Based on a true story. (E GERSTEI)



1865
Watcher in the Piney Woods by Elizabeth McDavid Jones (2000)
In 1865, while helping her family keep their Virginia farm going through the end of the Civil War, twelve-year-old Cassie meets a Confederate deserter and a Yankee prisoner of war and tries to discover who has been stealing from the farm. (J JONES)
1866
The Curse of the Moonraker: A Tale of Survival by Eth Clifford (1977)
Based on an actual event, the wreck of the General Grant, this is the story of how survivors of a strange shipwreck in the Auckland Islands struggle to live under seemingly hopeless conditions. (J CLIFFOR)
1867
Betrayed! by Patricia Calvert (2002)
In 1867, after his father's death and his mother's remarriage, fourteen-year-old Tyler and his black friend Isaac set out on the Missouri River headed west to seek their fortunes, encountering an unsavory keel boat captain and a Sioux chief along the way. (J CALVERT)
1867
Dragon's Gate by Laurence Yep (1993)
When he accidentally kills a Manchu, a fifteen year old Chinese boy is sent to America to join his father, an uncle, and other Chinese working to build a tunnel for the transcontinental railroad through the Sierra Nevada mountains. Sequel to: Mountain Light. (Y YEP)
1867
Jo and the Bandit by Willo Davis Roberts (1992)
En route to stay with her uncle in Texas in the late 1860s, twelve year old Jo experiences a stagecoach robbery and becomes involved with a reluctant young outlaw aiming to change his ways. (J ROBERTS)


1868
The Great Railroad Race: The Diary of Libby West by Kristiana Gregory (1999)
As the daughter of a newspaper reporter, fourteen year old Libby keeps a diary account of the exciting events surrounding her during the building of the railroad in the West in 1868. (J GREGORY)
1868
Jim Dandy by Hadley Irwin (1994)
Living after the Civil War on a Kansas homestead with his stern stepfather, thirteen year old Caleb raises a beloved colt and becomes involved in General Custer's raids on the Cheyenne. (J IRWIN)
1869
Oh, Those Harper Girls! By Kathleen Karr (1992)
In West Texas, Lily and her five older sisters participate in a series of misguided schemes to save their father's ranch. (Y KARR)
1870s
Bluestem by Frances Arrington (2000)
With their farther away and their mother traumatized by some unknown event, eleven year old Polly and her younger sister are left to take care of themselves and their prairie homestead. (J ARRINGT)
1870s
The Gate In The Wall by Ellen Howard (1999)
In 19th century England, ten year old Emma, accustomed to long working hours at the silk mill and the poverty and hunger of her sister's house, finds her life completely changed when she inadvertently gets a job on a canal boat carrying cargoes between several northern towns. (J HOWARD)
1870s
Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan (1985)
When their father invites a mail-order bride to come live with them in their prairie home, Caleb and Anna are captivated by their new mother and hope that she will stay. (J MACLACH)
1870s
Skylark by Patricia MacLachlan (1994)
When a drought tests the commitment of a mail-order bride from Maine to her new home on the prairie, her stepchildren hope they will be able to remain a family. Sequel to: Sarah, Plain and Tall. (J MACLACH)
1870
Karen by Borghild Dahl (1947)
A Norwegian girl emigrates to the United States, begins her new life as a servant and becomes a leader in her community. (Y DAHL)
1871
Borderlands by Peter Carter (1990)
After being forced from his meager family farm in Texas, thirteen year old Ben Curtis witnesses some of the excitement and cruelty of the Old West: on a cattle drive, in a frontier town and on a buffalo hunt. (Y CARTER)
1871
Children of the Fire by Harriette Gillem Robinet (1991)
A young black girl named Hallelujah lives through the great Chicago fire with courage and resourcefulness. (J ROBINET)
1871
The Journal of Joshua Loper: A Black Cowboy by Walter Dean Myers (1999)
In 1871 Joshua Loper, a sixteen year old black cowboy, records in his journal his experiences while making his first cattle drive under an unsympathetic trail boss. (J MYERS)
1871
The Statue in the Harbor: A Story of Two Apprentices by Jeffrey Eger (1986)
Ten year old Philippe becomes apprenticed as a coppersmith to his father in the Parisian foundry where the Statue of Liberty is being constructed under the direction of Frederic Auguste Bartholdi, and the ensuing years shape the rest of his life. (J EGER)
1872
Jenny of the Tetons by Kristiana Gregory (1989)
Orphaned by an Indian raid while traveling West with a wagon train, fifteen year old Carrie Hall is befriended by the English trapper Beaver Dick and taken to live with his Indian wife and their five children. (Y GREGORY)
1872
Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder (1932)
Laura, her sister Mary, her pa and her ma lived the lives of pioneers in a small cabin in the Big Woods of Wisconsin. Others in the series are: Little House on the Prairie, Farmer Boy, On The Banks of Plum Creek, By the Shores of Silver Lake, The Long Winter, Little Town on the Prairie, These Happy Golden Years, and The First Four Years. (J WILDER)
1872
An Orphan for Nebraska by Charlene Joy Talbot (1979)
Orphaned on the journey to America, a young Irish boy finally makes his way to Nebraska where he goes to work for a newspaper editor and learns to do the work of a printer's devil. (J TALBOT)
1873
Brother Moose by Betty Levin (1990)
In the late 1800s, two orphan girls, aided by an Indian and his grandson, make a perilous trip to Maine to find a family. (Y LEVIN)
1874
The Bone Wars by Kathryn Lasky (1988)
In the mid-1870s, young teenage scout Thad Longsworth, blood brother to the Sioux visionary Black Elk, finds his destiny linked with that of three rival teams of paleontologists searching for dinosaur bones, as the Great Plains Indians prepare to go to war against the white man. (J LASKY)



1874
Grasshopper Summer by Ann Turner (1989)
Eleven year old Sam and his family move from Kentucky to the southern Dakota Territory, where harsh conditions and a plague of hungry grasshoppers threaten their chances for survival. (J TURNER)
1874
Just Some Weeds from the Wilderness by Patricia Beatty (1978)
In an attempt to change the family's failing fortune, Lucinda's aunt goes into the business of producing a patent medicine. (J BEATTY)
1874
Winter Wheat by Jeanne Williams (1975)
Sixteen year old Cobie leaves Russia with her five sisters and Mennonite parents to settle on the harsh Kansas prairies to build a new life. (J WILLIAM)
1875
Jon the Unlucky by Elizabeth Coatsworth (1964)
Jon, an orphan, saves the life of Thorvald who takes him to a hidden valley where all outsiders are condemned to death unless they can prove their worth to the community. (J COATSWO)
1875
Old Town in the Green Groves: The Lost Little House Years by Cynthia Rylant (2002)
After grasshoppers ruin the crops, eight-year-old Laura Ingalls and her family leave Plum Creek and move to Burr Oak, Iowa, where they experience life in a small town and help manage a hotel. (J RYLANT)
1875
Something to Shout About by Patricia Beatty (1976)
The women of a Montana mining town disrupt life when they try to raise money for a new school. (J BEATTY)

1875
To Tame a Sister by Gillian Avery (1961)
Twelve year old Margaret hardly knows whether to look forward to a chance to mingle with the famous at her cousins' country house, or dread the mess her brothers' mischief will make of the situation. (J AVERY)
1876
All the Buffalo Returning by Dorothy M. Johnson (1979)
A fictionalized account of the Hunkpapa and Oglala Sioux following the Battle of Little Bighorn in 1876 to Wounded Knee in 1890. (J JOHNSON)
1876
A Little Bit Dead by Chap Reaver (1992)
After interfering with the attempted lynching of a young Yahi Indian named Shanti, eighteen year old Reece finds his own life in danger and becomes intimately involved in the future of Shanti's people. (Y REAVER)
1876
Only Earth and Sky Last Forever by Nathaniel Benchley (1972)
Although recognizing the end of the Indians' freedom is near, a young Cheyenne still chooses to fight with Crazy Horse at the Little Big Horn to prove himself to the girl he loves. (Y BENCHLE)
1876
Soldier Boy by Brian Burks (1997)
A boy who grew up in the slums of late nineteenth-century Chicago runs away, joins the cavalry, and fights with General Custer in the battle of Little Big Horn. (Y BURKS)
1877
Thunder Rolling in the Mountains by Scott O'Dell and Elizabeth Hall (1992)
In the late 19th century, a young Nez Perce girl relates how her people were driven off their land by the U.S. army and forced to retreat north until their eventual surrender. (J ODELL)
1878
Shadow in the North by Philip Pullman (1988)
In London, Sally, now twenty-two and established in her own business, and her companions Frederick and Jim try to solve the mystery surrounding the unexpected collapse of a shipping firm and its ties to a sinister corporation called North Star. Sequel to: Ruby in the Smoke. (Y PULLMAN)
1878
The Staircase by Ann Rinaldi (2000)
After her mother's death on the way West, thirteen year old Lizzy Enders is left by her father at a convent school in Sante Fe, where she must deal with being the only non-Catholic student and where she plays a part in what some consider a miracle. (Y RINALDI)
1879
High Trail to Danger by Joan Lowery Nixon (1991)
Seventeen year old Sarah travels from Chicago to the violent town of Leadtown, Colorado, to locate her missing father but finds that the mention of his name brings her strange looks and an attempt on her life. (Y NIXON)
1879
A Long Way to Whiskey Creek by Patricia Beatty (1971)
A thirteen year old boy, his friend, and his dog journey four hundred miles across Texas to bring back the body of an older brother for burial in the family graveyard. (J BEATTY)
1880
By Crumbs, It's Mine! By Patricia Beatty (1976)
While stranded in the Arizona territory in the 1880s a thirteen year old girl finds herself the owner of a traveling hotel. (J BEATTY)



1880
My Heart is on the Ground: The Diary of Nannie Little Rose, a Sioux Girl By Ann Rinaldi (1999)
In the diary account of her life at a government-run Pennsylvania boarding school in 1880, a twelve-year-old Sioux Indian girl reveals a great need to find a way to help her people. (J RINALDI)
1880-1889
The Coffin Quilt: The Feud Between the Hatfields and the McCoys by Ann Rinaldi (1999)
In the 1880s, young Fanny McCoy witnesses the growth of a terrible and violent feud between her Kentucky family and the West Virginia Hatfields, complicated by her older sister Roseanna's romance with a Hatfield. (Y RINALDI)
1881
A Different Kind of Hero by Ann R. Blakeslee (1997)
Twelve year old Renny, who resists his father's efforts to turn him into a rough, tough, brawling boy, earns the disapproval of the entire mining camp when he befriends a newly arrived Chinese boy. (J BLAKESL)
1881
The Great American Elephant Chase by Gillian Cross (1993)
Fifteen year old Tad helps a girl in her attempt to get a mighty Indian elephant to friends in Nebraska, while pursued by two unscrupulous villains who wish to take the elephant from her. (J CROSS)
1881
My Face to the Wind: The Diary of Sarah Jane Price, a Prairie Teacher by Jim Murphy (2001)
Following her father's death from a disease that swept through her Nebraska town in 1881, teenaged Sarah Jane must find work to support herself and records in her diary her experiences as a young school teacher. (J MURPHY)


1881
Red Rock Over the River by Patricia Beatty (1973)
When a new girl arrives at Fort Yuma, Arizona, thirteen year old Dorcas finds herself involved in the escape of an outlaw from the prison across the river. (J BEATTY)
1881
Rodzina by Karen Cushman (2003)
A twelve-year-old Polish American girl is boarded onto an orphan train in Chicago with fears about traveling to the West and a life of unpaid slavery. (J CUSHMAN)
1882
Me, California Perkins by Patricia Beatty (1968)
Appalled by conditions in the uncivilized 19th century silver mining town to which her husband has brought his family, Mrs. Perkins sends him to live in the town's bachelor quarters, until, a year later, their daughter's determination to go to high school makes reconciliation possible. (J BEATTY)
1883
The Snowbird by Patricia Calvert (1980)
Following the murder of her parents, Willana faces an uncertain future as she and her younger brother move from Tennessee to the Dakota Territory where she trains her first horse. (Y CALVERT)
1883
The Twenty-One Balloons by William Pene Du Bois (1947)
Professor Sherman left San Francisco with the intention of journeying around the world in a hot air balloon. (J DU BOIS)




1883
West to a Land of Plenty: The Diary of Teresa Angelino Viscardi by Jim Murphy (1998)
While traveling in 1883 with her Italian American family (including a meddlesome little sister) and other immigrant pioneers to a utopian community in Idaho, fourteen year old Teresa keeps a diary of her experiences along the way. (J MURPHY)
1884
Missouri Homestead by T.L. Tedrow (1992)
When Laura, Manly and their daughter Rose come from South Dakota to Mansfield, Missouri, looking for a better life, Laura's outspoken articles against a local timberman cause some problems. First in: The Days of Laura Ingalls Wilder series. (J TEDROW)
1885
Lily and Miss Liberty by Carla Stevens (1992)
A little girl makes crowns and sells them to help raise money for the pedestal needed for mounting France's gift to this country, the Statue of Liberty. (J STEVENS)
1885
My Daniel by Pam Conrad (1989)
Ellie and Stevie learn about a family legacy when their grandmother tells them stories about her brother's historical quest for dinosaur bones on their Nebraska farm. (J CONRAD)
1885
Third Girl From the Left by Ann Turner (1986)
Itching to do something different, eighteen year old Sarah leaves Maine for the harsh Montana environment as a mail-order bride, and is soon left a widow with a 2000-acre ranch to run. (Y TURNER)


1886
The Copper Lady by Alice & Kent Ross (1997)
After helping Monsieur Bartholdi build the Statue of Liberty, a Parisian orphan stows away on the ship carrying the statue to America. (E-BEG ROSS)
1886
Run Away Home by Patricia C. McKissack (1997)
In 1886 in Alabama, an eleven year old African American girl and her family befriend and give refuge to a runaway Apache boy. (J MCKISSA)
1886
Sister by Ellen Howard (1990)
Alena, the eldest child of a large family, remains hopeful despite the hardships of growing up on a farm in the late 1800s. (J HOWARD)
1886
Walk Across the Sea by Susan Fletcher (2001)
In late nineteenth-century California, when Chinese immigrants are being driven out or even killed for fear they will take jobs from whites, fifteen-year-old Eliza Jane McCully defies the townspeople and her lighthouse-keeper father to help a Chinese boy who has been kind to her. (Y FLETCHE)
1887
The Gentleman Outlaw and Me--Eli: A Story of the Old West by Mary Downing Hahn (1996)
Twelve year old Eliza, disguised as a boy and traveling towards Colorado in search of her missing father, falls in with a Gentleman Outlaw and joins him in his illegal schemes. (J HAHN)
1887
George On His Own by Laurie Lawlor (1993)
Addie's twelve year old brother, George, doesn't think anyone appreciates his musical talent, and when his father threatens to sell his trombone, George decides to run away from the family's prairie home. (J LAWLOR)

1887
Hannah by Gloria Whelan (1991)
Hannah, a blind girl living in Michigan in the late 19th century, doesn't go to school until a new teacher tells her about the Braille method of reading for the blind. (J WHELAN)
1889
I Have Heard of a Land by Joyce Carol Thomas (1998)
Describes the joys and hardships experienced by an African-American pioneer woman who staked a claim for free land in the Oklahoma territory. (J THOMAS)
1889
That's One Ornery Orphan by Patricia Beatty (1980)
After the casual adoption practices in 19th century Texas result in three unsuccessful placements for a 13 year old girl, she is finally forced to face the placement she has tried so hard to avoid. (J BEATTY)
1889-1893
Kaiulani: The People's Princess by Ellen Emerson White (2001)
Follows the life of Victoria Kaiulani Cleghorn from 1889 to 1893 as she studies to be a better princess, even as Hawaii's monarchy, and her throne, are being undermined by American businessmen. (J WHITE)
1890
Edith Herself by Ellen Howard (1987)
Orphaned by her mother's death, Edith goes to live with her older sister and her husband in their stern Christian farming household, where the strain of adjusting seems to aggravate her epileptic seizures. (J HOWARD)
1890
Radical Red by James Duffy (1993)
The life of a twelve year old Irish girl living in Albany, New York, in the 1890s, undergoes many changes when she and her mother become involved with Susan B. Anthony and her suffragists. (J DUFFY)
1892
Minuk: Ashes in the Pathway by Kirkpatrick Hill (2002)
Twelve-year-old Minuk's traditional Eskimo way of life is changed forever in 1892 with the arrival of
Christian missionaries. (J-N HILL)
1893
Exploring the Chicago World's Fair, 1893 by Laurie Lawlor (2001)
The World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago is the most fabulous sight the girls have ever seen, with its incredible sights, sounds, and crowds. But in the chaos of the White City, twelve-year-old Dora Pomeroy yearns for Nebraska and the secure life she left behind. (J LAWLOR)
1893
Fair Weather: A Novel by Richard Peck (2001)
In 1893, thirteen-year-old Rosie and members of her family travel from their Illinois farm to Chicago to visit Aunt Euterpe and attend the World's Columbian Exposition which, along with an encounter with Buffalo Bill and Lillian Russell, turns out to be a life-changing experience for everyone. (Y PECK)
1893
Hail Columbia by Patricia Beatty (1970)
Thirteen year old Louisa recounts how the visit of her suffragette aunt changed the lives of her family and the whole town. (J BEATTY)
1893
Lacy Makes a Match by Patricia Beatty (1979)
A thirteen year old living in a turn-of-the-century California mining town determines to marry off her adoptive brothers and discover the identity of her real parents. (J BEATTY)



1893
Melinda Takes a Hand by Patricia Beatty (1983)
Sensible thirteen year old Melinda, finding herself stranded in the Colorado town of Goldendale, promptly becomes involved in the townspeople's lives and assorted problems. (J BEATTY)
1893
O the Red Rose Tree by Patricia Beatty (1972)
Four girls befriend an old lady and try to find seven shades of red for the special quilt she wants to make. (J BEATTY)
1893
The Obstinate Land by Harold Keith (1977)
During a hard winter, the father of a pioneering German family settling the Cherokee strip in Oklahoma freezes to death, and his fourteen year old son must assume responsibility for the struggling family. (J KEITH)
1893
Stop the Train!: A Novel by Geraldine McCaughrean (2003)
Despite the opposition of the owner of the Red Rock Runner railroad in 1893, the new settlers of Florence, Oklahoma, are determined to build a real town. (J MCCAUGH)
1894
The Callender Papers by Cynthia Voigt (1983)
In 19th century Massachusetts, orphan Jean, employed to sort out the family papers of a reclusive artist, becomes curious about the mysterious, long-ago death of his wife and the subsequent disappearance of their young child. (J VOIGT)
1894
Jim Ugly by Sid Fleischman (1992)
Twelve year old Jake and Jim Ugly, his father's part mongrel, part wolf dog, travel through the Old West trying to find out what really happened to Jake's actor father. (J FLEISCH)
1894
Little House on Rocky Ridge by Roger Lea MacBride (1993)
Laura Ingalls Wilder, her husband and her seven year old daughter Rose leave the Ingalls family in Dakota and make the long and difficult journey to Missouri to start a new life. Others in the series are: Little Farm in the Ozarks, In the Land of the Big Red Apple, Little Town in the Ozarks, and Bachelor Girl. (J MACBRID)
1894
Wrango by Brian Burks (1999)
When young George McJunkin leaves his home in Texas and joins a cattle drive along the Chisholm Trail, he experiences the hardships of being a Black cowboy after the Civil War. (J BURKS)
1895
A Likely Lad by Gillian Avery (1994)
Pressured by his father to leave school for a career he doesn't want, a 19th century Manchester, England, boy runs away and gains a new perspective on his future. (J AVERY)
1895
Prairie Songs by Pam Conrad (1985)
Louisa's life in a loving pioneer family on the Nebraska prairie is altered by the arrival of the new doctor and his beautiful, tragically frail wife. (J CONRAD)
1895
Storm Warriors by Elisa Carbone (2001)
After his mother's death, twelve year old Nathan moves with his father and grandfather to Pea Island off the coast of North Carolina, where he hopes to join the all-black crew at the nearby lifesaving station, despite his father's objections. (J CARBONE)



1895
A Year Without Rain by D. Anne Love (2000)
Her mother's death and a year-long drought has made life difficult for twelve year old Rachel and her family on their farm in the Dakotas, but when she learns that her father plans to get married again, it is almost more than Rachel can bear. (J LOVE)
1896
A Coal Miner's Bride: The Diary of Anetka Kaminska by Susan Campbell Bartoletti (2000)
A diary account of thirteen year old Anetka's life in Poland, immigration to America, marriage to a coal miner, widowhood, and happiness in finally finding her true love. (J BARTOLE)
1897
Jason's Gold by Will Hobbs (1999)
When news of the discovery of gold in Canada's Yukon Territory reaches fifteen year old Jason, he embarks on a 10,000-mile journey to strike it rich. (Y HOBBS)
1898
Behave Yourself, Bethany Brant by Patricia Beatty (1986)
A preacher's daughter with a penchant for getting into trouble has an eventful year as all the predictions of a fortuneteller come true. (J BEATTY)
1898
The Bite of the Gold Bug: A Story of the Alaskan Gold Rush by Barthe DeClements (1992)
Bucky and his father, prospecting for gold in Alaska in 1898, must overcome storms, dangerous mountain trails, and wilderness predators before confronting the final challenge of human treachery. (J-N DECLEME)



1898
Gold Rush Fever: A Story of the Klondike, 1898 by Barbara Greenwood (2001)
Thirteen-year-old Tim accompanies his older brother on a difficult trek from Seattle to the Yukon, where they set up as miners and difficulties such as frostbite, hard labor, hard luck and cabin fever. (J-N GREENWOOD)
1898
Gold Rush Runaway: A Historical Novel of Alaska Exploration and Adventure by Douglas DeVries (1997)
Runaway Sven Olafsen, age fourteen, intends to find his father who left his family in 1896 to search for gold in Alaska. (J-N DEVRIES)
1898
The Klondike Cat by Julie Lawson (2002)
It's 1896,and gold has been discovered in the Klondike River Valley of the Yukon. Joining the gold rush are Noah and his father. Pa tells Noah that he will need to leave his beloved cat, Shadow, behind. Noah, however, has other plans and smuggles the cat aboard the steamship. (E-N LAWSON)
1899
In Care of Cassie Tucker by Ivy Ruckman (1998)
When her teenage cousin moves in with her family on their Nebraska farm, eleven year old Cassie learns a lot, including the meaning of "heathen" and "bigot." (J RUCKMAN)
1899
Down the Yukon by Will Hobbs (2001)
In the wake of Dawson City's great fire of 1899, sixteen year old Jason and his girlfriend Jamie canoe the Yukon River across Alaska in an epic race from Canada's Klondike to the new gold fields at Cape Nome. Sequel to: Jason's Gold. (J-N HOBBS)


1900-2000
1900
The Peppermint Pig by Nina Bawden (1975)
Polly finds it difficult to adjust to a sudden change in the family's fortunes until she acquires a special pet pig. (J BAWDEN)
1900
Strawberry Girl by Lois Lenski (1945)
The story of the feud between the Slaters and the Boyers in Florida during the 1900s. (J LENSKI)
1901
Hannah's Journal: The Story of an Immigrant Girl by Marissa Moss (2000)
In the Russian shtetl where she and her family live, Hannah is given a diary for her tenth birthday, and in it she records the dramatic story of her journey to America. (J MOSS)
1901
Theodore Roosevelt: Letters From a Young Coal Miner by Jennifer Armstrong (2000)
Fifteen-year-old Frank Kovacs, a Polish immigrant working in the coal mines of eastern Pennsylvania, begins a correspondence with Theodore Roosevelt after he assumes the presidency on September 14, 1901. (J ARMSTRO)
1901 - 1918
Anastasia, the Last Grand Duchess by Carolyn Meyer (2000)
A novel in diary form in which the youngest daughter of Czar Nicholas II describes the privileged life her family led up until the time of World War I and the tragic events that befell them. (J MEYER)



1902
Breaker by N. A. Perez (1988)
After his father's death, fourteen year old Pat is forced to go to work in the coal mines that dominate his Pennsylvania town and becomes involved in the big mine worker's strike of 1902. (Y PEREZ)
1902
How I Became an American by Karin Gundisch (2001)
In 1902, ten-year-old Johann and his family, Germans who had been living in Austria-Hungary, board a ship to immigrate to Youngstown, Ohio, where they make a new life as Americans. (J GUNDISC)
1902
Land of Dreams by Joan Lowery Nixon (1994)
Sixteen year old Kristin travels with her family from Sweden to a new life Minnesota, where she finds herself frustrated by the restrictions placed on what girls of her age are expected or allowed to do. Ellis Island Series #3 (J NIXON)
1902
Land of Promise by Joan Lowery Nixon (1993)
Fifteen year old Rose travels from Ireland to join family members in Chicago, where she must use all her resources to deal with her father's drinking and her brother's dangerous involvement in politics. Ellis Island Series #2 (J NIXON)
1902
A Real American by Richard Easton (2002)
With his older brother dead, his best friend moved away, and his father busy trying to save the family's farm in western Pennsylvania, eleven-year-old Nathan needs a friend, but can he find one among the immigrants who have come to work in the new coal mines? (J EASTON
1903
Dragonwings by Laurence Yep (1975)
In the early twentieth century a young Chinese boy joins his father in San Francisco and helps him realize his dream of making a flying machine. (J YEP)
1903
Dreams in the Golden Country: The Diary of Zipporah Feldman, a Jewish Immigrant Girl by Kathryn Lasky (1998)
Twelve-year-old Zippy, a Jewish immigrant from Russia, keeps a diary account of the first eighteen months of her family's life on the Lower East Side of New York City. (J LASKY)
1904
Buffalo Gal by Bill Wallace (1992)
Fifteen year old Amanda's refined life in early 20th century San Francisco is disrupted when she grudgingly accompanies her mother to the Oklahoma Territory on a crusade to save the buffalo. (J WALLACE)
1904
Meet Samantha, an American Girl by Susan S. Adler (1986)
Nine year old Samantha, an orphan living with her wealthy grandmother, and her friend Nellie have a midnight adventure when they try to find out what happened to the seamstress for suddenly left her job. Other books in the series include: Happy Birthday Samantha!: a Springtime Story, Samantha Learns a Lesson: a School Story, Samantha's Surprise: a Christmas Story, Changes for Samantha: a Winter Story and Samantha Saves the Day: a Summer Story. (J ADLER)
1904
Saving Damaris by Laura Leonard (1989)
Left destitute by the sudden death of their mother and the continued absence of their father, twelve year old Abby and her fourteen year old brother, Joel, try to find a way to prevent their oldest sister from marrying the rich but unsuitable Mr. Buttchenbacher. (J LEONARD)
1904
Stand Up, Lucy by Elizabeth Hall (1971)
The visit of her suffragette aunt has a marked effect on the life of a fourteen-year-old girl. (J HALL)

1905
Finding Papa by Laura Leonard (1991)
Twelve year old Abby and her older brother and sister take the train to California to be with their father. (J LEONARD)
1905
Her Own Song by Ellen Howard (1988)
When her adoptive father is hospitalized after an accident, Mellie is befriended by Geem-Wah, owner of a Chinese laundry, who holds the key to the events surrounding Mellie's birth eleven years before. (J HOWARD)
1906
Earthquake!: A Story of Old San Francisco by Kathleen V. Kudlinski (1993)
After the devastating earthquake hits San Francisco, twelve year old Phillip struggles to save the horses in his family's livery stable. (J KUDLINS)
1906
Earthquake at Dawn by Kristiana Gregory (1992)
A novelization of twenty two year old photographer Edith Irvine's experiences in the aftermath of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, as seen through the eyes of fifteen year old Daisy, a fictitious traveling companion. (J GREGORY)
1907
Good-bye to the Trees by Vicky Shiefman (1993)
Despite the excitement and confusion of her new life in America, thirteen year old Fagel can't forget the family she left behind in Russia. (J SHIEFMA)
1908
Dixie in the Big Pasture by Belinda Hurmence (1994)
Thirteen year old Dixie's new life on the Oklahoma Frontier is complicated by a war of nerves between her and John Three, a young Kiowa Indian, who insists that his pony was sold to her without his permission. (J HURMENC)

1908
A Flight of Dazzle Angels by William H. Hooks (1988)
In a small southern town, fifteen year old Annie Earle, though afflicted with a club foot and surrounded by a sick mother and brother, gains a new insight into herself and the possibilities of her life through her relationship with a young black woman and a new man in town with whom she falls in love. (Y HOOKS)
1908
Louly by Carol Ryrie Brink (1974)
In Idaho, fifteen year old Louly, left in charge during her parent's absence, has an adventurous summer with her brother, sister and her two girlfriends. (J BRINK)
1909
Red Sky at Morning by Andrea Wyman (1991)
In Indiana, Callie finds that she must grow up quickly when death and other hardships leave her alone on the family farm with her ailing grandfather Opa. (J WYMAN)
1910
The Big Burn by Jeanette Ingold (2002)
Three teenagers battle the flames of the Big Burn of 1910, one of the century's biggest wildfires. (Y INGOLD)
1910
I Be Somebody by Hadley Irwin (1984)
A young black boy hears his community talk about moving to Canada to escape the prejudices and problems they face in the United States. (J IRWIN)
1910
Through the Open Door by Joy N. Hulme (2000)
Nine year old Dora, who has been kept out of school because of her speech impediment, dreams of learning to speak normally as her family joins a group of other Mormons journeying from Utah to New Mexico. (J HULME)

1910
Words by Heart by Ouida Sebestyen (1979)
A young girl struggles to fulfill her papa's dream of a better future for their family in the southwestern town where they are the only blacks. (J SEBESTY)
1910
Year Walk by Ann Nolan Clark (1975)
A sixteen year old boy from the Spanish-Basque country comes to Idaho to help his godfather herd sheep across the Northwest frontier. (J CLARK)
1911
Ashes of Roses by Mary Jane Auch (2002)
Sixteen-year-old Margaret Rose Nolan, newly arrived from Ireland, finds work at New York City's Triangle Shirtwaist Factory shortly before the 1911 fire in which 146 employees died. (Y AUCH)
1912
Voyage on the Great Titanic: The Diary of Margaret Ann Brady, R.M.S. Titanic, 1912 by Ellen Emerson White (1998)
In her diary in 1912, thirteen-year-old Margaret Ann describes how she leaves her lonely life in a London orphanage to become a companion to a wealthy American woman, sails on the Titanic, and experiences its sinking. (J WHITE)
1913
The Girls in the Velvet Frame by Adele Geras (1980)
In Jerusalem, just before World War I, five sisters send their photograph to a New York newspaper in hope of contacting their brother from whom they have not heard for one year. (J GERAS)
1913
Penny in the Road by Katharine Wilson Precek (1989)
A boy who finds an old penny on a country road imagines the daily life of the boy who might have dropped it in 1793 and contrasts it with his own life. (E PRECEK)

1914
August the Fourth by Penelope Farmer (1975)
Meg and her family are forever changed by the First World War, which began August 4, 1914. (J FARMER)
1914
The Bet's on, Lizzie Bingman! By Rhea Beth Ross (1988)
Fourteen year old Lizzie's bet with her oldest brother about women's deserving equal rights licks off a summer of unprecedented adventure for her as she experiences things a young lady of 1914 rarely does. (J ROSS)
1914
Secrets on 26th Street by Elizabeth McDavid Jones (1999)
In New York City, eleven year old Susan encounters a mystery through an independent-minded female boarder and becomes involved in the growing suffrage movement. (J JONES)
1915
The Half Sisters by Natalie Savage Carlson (1970)
A twelve year old girl looks forward to a summer filled with many events especially showing her half-sisters, arriving from boarding school, how grown up she is. (J CARLSON)
1915
Rockbuster by Gloria Skurzynski (2001)
In 1915, after being asked to sing at the funeral of executed songwriter and member of the international union, Industrial Workers of the World, Joe Hill, eighteen-year-old Utah coal miner Tommy Quinlan begins to accept his past and make decisions about his future. (Y SKURZYN)
1916
Eight Mules from Monterey by Patricia Beatty (1982)
During the summer of 1916 thirteen year old Fayette and her brother accompany their widowed mother on a mule trip into the California mountains, where she is to establish library outposts in isolated communities. (J BEATTY)
1917
Good-bye, Billy Radish by Gloria Skurzynski (1992)
As the United States enters World War I, ten year old Hank sees change all around him in his western Pennsylvania steel mill town and feels his older Ukrainian friend Billy drifting apart from him. (J SKURZYN)
1917
A Long Way to Go by Zibby Oneal (1990)
An eight year old girl deals with the women's suffrage movement that rages during World War I. (J ONEAL)
1917
The Store That Mama Built by Robert Lehrman (1992)
Twelve year old Birdie and her siblings, the children of Jewish immigrants from Russia, help their recently widowed mother run the family store, picking up where their father left off in his struggle to succeed in America. (J LEHRMAN)
1917
A Time for Courage: The Suffragette Diary of Kathleen Bowen by Kathryn Lasky (2002)
A diary account of thirteen-year-old Kathleen Bowen's life in Washington, D.C. in 1917, as she juggles concerns about the national battle for women's suffrage, the war in Europe, and her own school work and family. Includes a historical note. (J LASKY)
1918
Fire in the Hills by Anna Myers (1996)
After her mother's death, sixteen year old Hallie faces changes in her life in the hills of eastern Oklahoma, as she takes over caring for her family and begins thinking about life as a woman. (Y MYERS)



1918
In the Kaiser's Clutch by Kathleen Karr (1995)
While starring in a series of cliffhangers for Pathmark Studios during the summer of 1918, fifteen year old twins Fitz and Nelly Dalton uncover a German saboteur. (J KARR)
1918
The Night Flyers by Elizabeth McDavid Jones (1999)
In 1918, caring for her family's homing pigeons while her father is away fighting in World War I, twelve year old Pam suspects that a mysterious stranger in her small North Carolina town is a German spy. (J JONES)
1918
The Ornament Tree by Jean Thesman (1996)
When fourteen year old Bonnie moves to her cousin's boardinghouse in Seattle in 1918, she learns about life from the boarder and progressive women who live and work there. (Y THESMAN)
1918
Pictures, 1918 by Jeanette Ingold (1998)
Coming of age in a rural Texas community in 1918, fifteen year old Asia assists in the local war effort, contemplates romance with a local boy, and expands her horizons through her pursuit of photography. (Y INGOLD)
1918
Willow Whip by Irene Bennett Brown (1979)
A young Kansas girl is determined to make it possible for her constantly moving tenant farmer family to buy a farm that she has come to love. (J BROWN)
1918
The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree: An Appalachian Story by Gloria Houston (1988)
Ruthie and her mother wonder how they will fulfill their obligation of getting the perfect Christmas tree to the town for the holiday celebration, since Papa has left the Appalachian area to go to war. (E HOUSTON)
1919
After the Dancing Days by Margaret I. Rostkowski (1986)
A forbidden friendship with a badly disfigured soldier in the aftermath of World War I forces thirteen year old Annie to redefine the word "hero" and to question ideas of patriotism. (Y ROSTKOW)
1919
Color Me Dark: The Diary of Nellie Lee Love, the Great Migration North by Patricia C. McKissack (2000)
Eleven year old Nellie Lee Love records in her diary the events of her family's move from Tennessee to Chicago, where they hope to leave the racism and hatred of the South behind. (J MCKISSA)
1919
A Place for Joey by Carol Flynn Harris (2001)
In this novel set in early 20th-century Boston, a family of Italian immigrants work hard to attain their dream--a farm in the country--but their son Joey can't bear to leave the city. (J HARRIS)
1919
Shoeless Joe & Me: A Baseball Card Adventure by Dan Gutman (2002
Joe Stoshack travels back to 1919, where he meets Shoeless Joe Jackson and tries to prevent the fixing of the World Series in which Jackson was wrongly implicated. (J GUTMAN)
1920s
Boy of the Deeps by Ian Wallace (1999)
James, the son of a coal miner, goes with his father for the first time to work in the mines of Cape Breton. (E WALLACE)
1920s
Homesick, My Own Story by Jean Fritz (1982)
The author's fictionalized version, though all the events are true, of her childhood in China in the 1920s. (J FRITZ)

1920s
The Potato Man by Megan McDonald (1991)
Grandpa tells stories of the fruit and vegetable huckster in his childhood neighborhood, a man he learns to appreciate after a rocky start. (E MCDONAL)
1920s
Uncle Jed's Barbershop by Margaree King Mitchell (1993)
Despite serious obstacles and setbacks Sarah Jean's Uncle Jed, the only black barber in the county, pursues his dream of saving enough money to open his own barbershop. (E MITCHEL)
1920
American Too by Elisa Bartone (1996)
Because Rosie, who lives in Little Italy, wants to be a modern American girl, she finds a way to make her dream come true while celebrating the feast of St. Gennaro. (E BARTONE)
1920
Tree by Leaf by Cynthia Voigt (1988)
A father's return home following World War I creates problems for his family, especially for twelve year old Clothilde, who struggles to accept her father's horrible disfigurement and opposes her mother's plan to sell Clothilde's land, a peninsula off the coast of Maine, to help pay the family's expenses. (J VOIGT)
1921
Tulsa Burning by Anna Myers (2002)
In 1921, fifteen-year-old Noble Chase hates the sheriff of Wekiwa, Oklahoma, and is more than willing to cross him to help his best friend, a black man, who is injured during race riots in nearby Tulsa. (Y MYERS)



1921
White Lilacs by Carolyn Meyer (1993)
In Dillon, Texas, twelve year old Rose Lee see trouble threatening her black community when the whites decide to take the land there for a park and forcibly relocate the black families to an ugly stretch of land outside the town. (Y MEYER)
1924
Emmy by Connie Jordan Green (1992)
When her father is disabled in a coat mining accident, eleven year old Emmy and the others in her family do what they can to help, with her fourteen year old brother taking Pa's place in the mines. (J GREEN)
1925
Justice Lion by Robert Newton Peck (1981)
Fifteen year old Muncie Bolt thinks he's lost Hem Lion's friendship forever when his father prosecutes Hem's father for operating a still in Liberty, Vermont, during the days of prohibition. (Y PECK)
1926
A Day No Pigs Would Die by Robert Newton Peck (1972)
When Robert saves a neighbor's ailing cow, he is rewarded with a newborn pig which will play an important role in the boy's passage into manhood. (Y PECK)
1927
Arly by Robert Newton Peck (1989)
Although Arly Poole seems bound to follow in his father's footsteps as a field worker in Jailtown, Florida, where his family lives in the shadow of a cruel boss, his world suddenly seems larger when a schoolteacher comes to town. (J PECK)



1929
The Amazing Thinking Machine by Dennis Haseley (2002)
During the Great Depression, while their father is away looking for work, eight-year-old Patrick and thirteen-year-old Roy create a machine to help their mother make ends meet, even as she is helping tramps. (Y HASELEY)
1929
The Babe & I by David A. Adler (1999)
While helping his families make ends meet during the Depression by selling newspapers, a boy meets Babe Ruth. (E ADLER)
1929
Borrowed Children by George Ella Lyon (1988)
Having been forced to act as mother and housekeeper during Mama's illness, twelve year old Amanda has a holiday in Memphis, far removed from the Depression drudgery of her Kentucky mountain family, and finds her world expanding even as she grows to understand and appreciate her own background. (J LYON)
1929
Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis (1999)
Ten year old Bud, a motherless boy living in Flint, Michigan, during the Great Depression, escapes a bad foster home and sets out in search of the man he believes to be his father-the renowned bandleader, H.E. Calloway of Grand Rapids. (J CURTIS)
1929
Christmas with Ida Early by Robert Burch (1983)
Ida Early, who keeps house for the Sutton family in rural Georgia during the Depression, becomes the unwitting target of the children's matchmaking schemes during the holiday season. (J BURCH)



1929
Dust for Dinner by Ann Turner (1995)
Jake narrates the story of his family's life in the Oklahoma dust bowl and the journey from their ravaged farm to California during the Great Depression. (E-BEG TURNER)
1929
Give Dad My Best by James Lincoln Collier (1976)
During the depression a young boy tries to hold his family together until his father, an unemployed musician, finds work. (J COLLIER)
1929
Grandpa's Mountain by Carolyn Reeder (1991)
During the Depression, eleven year old Carrie makes her annual summer visit to her relatives in the Blue Ridge Mountains and watches her determined grandfather fight against the government's attempt to take his farm land for a new national park. (J REEDER)
1929
Ida Early Comes Over the Mountain by Robert Burch (1980)
Tough times in rural Georgia during the Depression take a lively turn when spirited Ida Early arrives to keep house for the Suttons. (J BURCH)
1929
The Journal of C.J. Jackson: A Dust Bowl Migrant by William Durbin (2002)
Thirteen-year-old C.J. records in a journal the conditions of the Dust Bowl that cause the Jackson family to leave their farm in Oklahoma and make the difficult journey to California, where they find a harsh life as migrant workers. (J DURBIN)
1929
A Letter to Mrs. Roosevelt by C. Coco De Young (1999)
Eleven year old Margo fulfills a class assignment by writing a letter to Eleanor Roosevelt asking for help to save her family's home during the Great Depression. (J DEYOUNG)
1929
A Long Way from Chicago: A Novel in Stories by Richard Peck (1998)
A boy recounts his annual summer trips to rural Illinois with his sister during the Great Depression to visit their larger-than-life grandmother. (J PECK)
1929
Meet Kit, an American Girl by Valerie Tripp (2000)
When her father's business closes because of the Great Depression forcing Kit to make changes in her life, the nine-year-old responds with resourcefulness. Other titles about Kit are: Happy Birthday Kit!: a Springtime Story, Kit Learns a Lesson: a School Story, Kit's Surprise: a Christmas Story, Changes for Kit: a Winter Story, and Kit Saves the Day: a Summer Story. (J TRIPP)
1929
Moonshine by Gary Blackwood (1999)
During the Depression, in the Ozarks of Missouri, thirteen year old Thad has adventures selling moonshine and fishing with a rich visitor. (Y BLACKWO)
1929
Nothing to Fear by Jackie French Koller (1991)
When his father moves away to find work and his mother becomes ill, Danny struggles to help his family during the Great Depression. (J KOLLER)
1929
Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse (1997)
In a series of poems, fifteen year old Billie Jo relates the hardships of living on her family's wheat farm in Oklahoma during the dust bowl years of the Depression. (J HESSE)
1929
Red-Dirt Jessie by Anna Myers (1992)
Jessie, a young girl living in the Oklahoma dust bowl during the Depression, tries to tame a wild dog and help her father recover from a nervous breakdown. (J MYERS)

1929
Tree of Hope by Amy Littlesugar (1999)
Florrie's daddy used to be a stage actor in Harlem before the Depression forced the Lafayette Theater to close, but he gets a chance to act again when Orson Welles reopens the theater to stage an all-black version of Macbeth. (E LITTLES)
1929
Treasures in the Dust by Tracey Porter (1997)
Eleven year old Annie and her friend Violet tell of the hardships endured by their families when dust storms, drought, and the Great Depression hit rural Oklahoma. (J PORTER)
1930s
The Friendship by Mildred D. Taylor (1987)
Four children witness a confrontation between an elderly black man and a white storekeeper in rural Mississippi. (J TAYLOR)
1930s
A Matter of Pride by Emily Crofford (1981)
A young girl's opinion of her mother changes as she watches the woman display her courage during the Great Depression. (J CROFFOR)
1930s
Mississippi Bridge by Mildred D. Taylor (1990)
During a heavy rainstorm in 1930s rural Mississippi, a ten year old white boy sees a bus driver order all the black passengers off a crowded bus to make room for late-arriving white passengers and then set off across the raging Rosa Lee River. (J TAYLOR)
1930s
Sounder by William H. Armstrong (1969)
Angry and humiliated when his sharecropper father is jailed for stealing food for his family, a young black boy grows in courage and understanding by learning to read and with the help of the devoted dog, Sounder. (J ARMSTRO)
1930s
The Winter Room by Gary Paulsen (1989)
A young boy growing up on a northern Minnesota farm describes the scenes around him and recounts his Norwegian uncle's tales of an almost mythological logging past. (J PAULSEN)
1930
Letting Swift River Go by Jane Yolen (1992)
Relates Sally Jane's experience of changing times in rural America, as she lives through the drowning of the Swift River towns in western Massachusetts to form the Quabbin Reservoir. (E YOLEN)
1930
Queenie Peavy by Robert Burch (1966)
Tormented by taunts that her father is in prison, thirteen year old Queenie retaliates by causing a lot of trouble until she discovers something important about her father and herself. (J BURCH)
1932
Angels of the Swamp by Dorothy Raymond Whittaker (1992)
Taffy, a fifteen year old orphan, joins two boys who have been forced to leave their homes and the three of them try to survive the summer of 1932 on an island off the West Coast of Florida. (Y WHITTAK)
1932
The Bread Winner by Arvella Whitmore (1990)
When both her parents are unable to find work and pay the bills during the Great Depression, resourceful Sarah Ann Puckett saves the family from the poorhouse by selling her prizewinning homemade bread. (J WHITMOR)
1932
Mirror, Mirror on the Wall: The Dairy of Bess Brennan by Barry Denenberg (2002)
In 1932, a twelve-year-old girl who lost her sight in an accident keeps a diary, recorded by her twin sister, in which she describes life at Perkins School for the Blind in Watertown, Massachusetts. (J DENENBE)
1932
No Promises in the Wind by Irene Hunt (1970)
A fifteen year old boy struggles to survive and come to terms with inner conflicts in the desperate world of the Depression. (J HUNT)
1933
Macaroni Boy by Katherine Ayres (2003)
In Pittsburgh in 1933, sixth-grader Mike Costa notices a connection between several strange occurrences, but the only way he can find out the truth about what's happening is to be nice to the class bully. (J AYRES)
1933
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor (1976)
A black family living in the South during the 1930s is faced with prejudice and discrimination that their children don't understand. (J TAYLOR)
1934
Dotty's Suitcase by Constance C. Greene (1980)
During the Depression 12 year old Dotty's dream of traveling seems remote until she finds money from a bank robbery and sets off with a companion in a snowstorm to visit her best friend in a neighboring town. (J GREENE)
1934
Moxie by Phyllis Rossiter (1990)
Thirteen year old Drew, determined to help his family hold onto their farm in the drought-stricken Dust Bowl of 1934, stubbornly tends his livestock and refuses to give up hope. (J ROSSITE)
1935
The Happiest Ending by Yoshiko Uchida (1985)
When twelve year old Rinko learns that a neighbor's daughter is coming from Japan to marry a stranger twice her age, she sets out to change this arrangement and gains new insights into love and adult problems. (J UCHIDA)

1935
A Jar of Dreams by Yoshiko Uchida (1981)
A young girl grows up in a closely-knit Japanese American family in California during the 1930s, a time of great prejudice. (J UCHIDA)
1935
Let the Circle Be Unbroken by Mildred D. Taylor (1981)
Four black children growing up in rural Mississippi during the Depression experience racial antagonisms and hard times but learn from their parents the pride and self-respect they need to survive. Sequel to Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry. (J TAYLOR)
1935
A Place to Belong by Emily Crofford (1994)
After his family loses their farm and is forced to move onto an Arkansas plantation, sixth grader Talmadge struggles to endure their harsh new life and fights to stay in school against his mother's wishes. (J CROFFOR)
1935
Rose's Journal: The Story of a Girl in the Great Depression by Marissa Moss (2001)
Rose keeps a journal of her family's difficult times on their farm during the days of the Dust Bowl in 1935. (J MOSS)
1935
Survival in the Storm: The Dust Bowl Diary of Grace Edwards by Katelan Janke (2002)
A twelve-year-old girl keeps a journal of her family's and friends' difficult experiences in the Texas panhandle, part of the "Dust Bowl," during the Great Depression. Includes a historical note about life in America in 1935. (J JANKE)



1936
Circle of Fire by William H. Hooks (1982)
Shortly before Christmas, eleven year old Harrison overhears a notorious local bigot planning a Ku Klux Klan raid on a band of Irish tinkers camped nearby and realizes he must do something to prevent it. (J HOOKS)
1936
Purely Rosie Pearl by Patricia A. Cochrane (1996)
Twelve year old Rosie Pearl Bush and her family endure the hardships of the Great Depression as they find work picking fruit in the California Valley. (J COCHRAN)
1937
A Year Down Yonder by Richard Peck (2000)
During the Depression, fifteen year old Mary Alice, initially apprehensive about leaving Chicago to spend a year with her fearsome, larger-than-life grandmother in rural Illinois, gradually begins to better understand and admire her grandmother's unusual qualities. Sequel to: A Long Way to Chicago: a Novel in Stories. (J PECK)
1938
One Eye Laughing, the Other Weeping: The Diary of Julie Weiss by Barry Denenberg (2000)
During the Nazi persecution of the Jews in Austria, twelve year old Julie escapes to America to live with her relatives in New York City. (J DENENBE)
1938
Someday: Novel by Jackie French Koller (2002)
In 1938, fourteen-year-old Celie must cope with leaving her Enfield, Massachusetts, home and her life-long friend, Chubby, as the day approaches when the Swift River Valley will be flooded to create a reservoir for Boston. (Y KOLLER)


1939
Benny by Barbara Cohen (1977)
A German refugee's unhappiness affords Benny Rifkind a chance to show his family that he has concerns other than baseball and the 1939 World's Fair. (J COHEN)
1939 - 1945
The Bracelet by Yoshiko Uchida (1993)
Emi, a Japanese American in the second grade, is sent with her family to an internment camp during World War II, but the loss of the bracelet her best friend has given her proves that she does not need a physical reminder of that friendship. (E UCHIDA)
1939 - 1945
The Children's War by Theodore Taylor (1971)
When the Japanese invade the isolated Alaskan outpost where he lives and take all the men prisoners, a twelve year old boy helps an Army spy gather information. (J-N TAYLOR)
1939 - 1945
I Had Seen Castles by Cynthia Rylant (1993)
Now an old man, John is haunted by memories of enlisting to fight in World War II, a decision which forced him to face the horrors of war and changed his life forever. (Y RYLANT)
1939 - 1945
The Journal of Ben Uchida, Citizen #13559, Mirror Lake Internment Camp by Barry Denenberg (1999)
Twelve year old Ben Uchida keeps a journal of his experiences as a prisoner in a Japanese internment camp in Mirror Lake, California, during World War II. (J DENENBE)



1939 - 1945
My Daddy was a Soldier by Deborah Kogan Ray (1990)
While Daddy's away fighting in the Pacific, Jeannie plants a Victory garden, collects scrap, and sends letters to her father as she anxiously awaits his return. (E RAY)
1939 - 1945
My Grandmother's Journey by John Cech (1991)
A grandmother tells the story of her eventful life in early twentieth-century Europe and her arrival in the United States after World War II. (E CECH)
1939 - 1945
Under a War-Torn Sky by L.M. Elliott (2001)
After his plane is shot down by Hitler's Luftwaffe, nineteen-year-old Henry Forester of Richmond, Virginia, strives to walk across occupied France, with the help of the French Resistance, in hopes of rejoining his unit. (Y ELLIOTT)
The Wind Is Not a River by Arnold A. Griese (1978)
As the only ones not captured when the Japanese take over their Aleutian Island village during World War II, two children must survive on their own. (J-N GRIESE)
1940
Destination Unknown by Dale Fife (1981)
A twelve year old boy stows away on a Norwegian fishing smack during World War II and shares the harrowing experiences of its occupants as they cross the Atlantic to North America. (J FIFE)
1941
Blizzard's Wake by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor (2002)
In March of 1941, when a severe blizzard suddenly hits Bismarck, North Dakota, a girl trying to save her stranded father and brother inadvertently helps the man who killed her mother four years before. (Y NAYLOR)


1941
A Boy at War: A Novel of Pearl Harbor by Harry Mazer (2001)
Teenaged Adam is caught in the midst of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and through the subsequent days tries to find his father, a naval officer who was serving on the U.S.S. Arizona. (Y MAZER)
1941
Elin's Island by Cynthia L. Copeland (2003)
Thirteen-year-old Elin can't imagine living anywhere but the island off the coast of Maine where her father is lightkeeper, until the night in 1941 when she awakes to the sound of German torpedoes while her parents are on the mainland. (Y COPELAN)
1941
The Feester Filibuster by Molly Levite Griffis (2002)
The war declared by President Roosevelt after the bombing of Pearl Harbor in December, 1941, seems remote to fifth-grader John Allan until he finds out that his classmate Rachel thinks he is a spy for the Japanese and wants him deported to another country. (J GRIFFIS)
1941
Friends and Enemies by LouAnn Gaeddert (1999)
In Kansas, as America enters World War II, fourteen year old William finds himself alienated from his friend Jim, a Mennonite who does not believe in fighting for any reason, as they argue about the war. (Y GAEDDAR)
1941
Pearl Harbor is Burning!: A Story of World War II by Kathleen V. Kudlinski (1991)
When his family moves to Hawaii, Frank feels out of place until he makes friends with a Japanese-American boy-the day before the bombing of Pearl Harbor. (J KUDLINS)


1941
The Stones by Janet Hickman (1976)
While his father is fighting in Europe, a young American boy, motivated by misguided patriotism, harasses an old man who has a German name. (J HICKMAN)
1941
Under the Blood-Red Sun by Graham Salisbury (1994)
Tomikazu Nakajis' biggest concerns are baseball, homework and a local bully until life with his Japanese family in Hawaii changes drastically after the bombing of Pearl Harbor in December 1941. (Y SALISBU)
1941-1942
The Eternal Spring of Mr. Ito by Shelia Garrigue (1985)
The fate of a two hundred year old bonsai tree is decided by a young girl and an old Japanese Canadian gardener who resists being imprisoned in an internment camp after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. (J GARRIGU)
1941-1942
My Secret War: The World War II Diary of Madeline Beck by Mary Pope Osborne (2000)
Thirteen year old Madeline's diaries reveal her experiences living on Long Island during World War II while her father is away in the Navy. (J OSBORNE)
1942
The Art of Keeping Cool by Janet Taylor Lisle (2000)
Robert and his cousin Elliot uncover long-hidden family secrets while staying in their grandparents' Rhode Island town, where they also become involved with a German artist who is suspected of being a spy. (J LISLE)
1942
Slap Your Sides: A Novel by M.E. Kerr (2001)
Life in their Pennsylvania hometown changes for Jubal Shoemaker and his family when his older brother witnesses to his Quaker beliefs by becoming a conscientious objector during World War II. (Y KERR)
1942-1945
The Moon Bridge by Marcia Savin (1992)
The friendship between San Francisco girls, Mitzi Fujimoto and Ruthie Fox, is changed when World War II begins, and Mitzi and her family are forced to go into an internment camp. (J SAVIN)
1942 - 1945
Baseball Saved Us by Ken Mochizuki (1993)
A Japanese American boy learns to play baseball when he and his family are forced to live in an internment camp during World War II. (J MOCHIZU)
1942 - 1945
Blue Jay in the Desert by Marlene Shigekawa (1993)
While living in a relocation camp during World War II, a young Japanese American boy receives a message of hope from his grandfather. (E SHIGEKA)
1943
The Champion by Maurice Gee (1993)
Twelve year old Rex sees his quiet New Zealand village dramatically changed by the arrival of a black American soldier on leave from the war. (Y GEE)
1943
The Hunted by Peter Carter (1994)
With the surrender of Italy to the Allies, Corporal Vito Salvani finds himself and the orphaned Jewish boy Juday trapped in enemy territory in France, where they must flee from an obsessed Gestapo agent. (Y CARTER)
1944
The Cookcamp by Gary Paulsen (1991)
During World War II, a little boy is sent to live with his grandma, a cook in a camp for workers building a road through the wilderness in Minnesota. (J PAULSEN)


1944
The Journal of Scott Pendleton Collins: A World War II Soldier by Walter Dean Myers (1999)
A seventeen year old soldier from central Virginia records his experiences in a journal as his regiment takes part in the D-Day invasion of Normandy and subsequent battles to liberate France. (J MYERS)
1944
Journey Home by Yoshiko Uchida (1978)
After their release from an American concentration camp, a Japanese-American girl and her family try to reconstruct their lives amidst strong anti-Japanese feelings which breed fear, distrust and violence. (J UCHIDA)
1944
Lily's Crossing by Patricia Reilly Giff (1997)
During a summer spent at Rockaway Beach, Lily's friendship with a young Hungarian refugee causes her to see the war and her own world differently. (J GIFF)
1944
Meet Molly: An American Girl by Valerie Tripp (1986)
While her father is away fighting in World War II, Molly finds her life full of change as she eats terrible vegetables from the victory garden and plans revenge on her brother for ruining her Halloween. Other titles in the series are: Molly Learns a Lesson: a School Story, Molly's Surprise: a Christmas Story, Happy Birthday, Molly!: a Springtime Story, Molly Saves the Day: a Summer Story and Changes for Molly: a Winter Story. (J TRIPP)
1944
She Flew No Flags by Joan B. Manley (1995)
As the war rages around them, an American family travels from India to the United States by ship, through the enemy waters of the Indian and Pacific Oceans. (J MANLEY)


1944
A Summer On Thirteenth Street by Charlotte Herman (1991)
World War II affects Shirley Frances Cohen, her buddy Morton, Manny (who joins the army), their parents, a German immigrant suspected of being a spy and the other people in their Chicago neighborhood. (J HERMAN)
1944-1945
Soldier Boys by Dean Hughes (2001)
Two boys, one German and one American, are eager to join their respective armies during World War II, and their paths cross at the Battle of the Bulge. (Y HUGHES)
1945
Annie's Promise by Sonia Levitin (1993)
Her experiences at a summer camp in the California mountains give twelve year old Annie Platt new insight into her over-protective family of German-Jewish immigrants. (J LEVITIN)
1945
Summer Endings by Sollace Hotze (1991)
In the summer of 1945 in Chicago, twelve year old Christine anxiously awaits, along with her mother and sister, news of the political activist father they had to leave behind when they emigrated from Poland six years before. (J HOTZE)
1946
Out of the Storm by Patricia Willis (1995)
Mandy feels trapped on her stern Aunt Bess's northern Ohio sheep farm, but as time goes on she finds herself getting involved with helping to tend the sheep. (J WILLIS)
1947
In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson by Bette Bao Lord (1984)
A Chinese child comes to Brooklyn where she becomes Americanized at school, in her apartment building, and by her love for baseball. (J LORD)

1947
Jackie and Me: A Baseball Card Adventure by Dan Gutman (1999)
With his ability to travel through time by using baseball cards, Joe goes back to 1947 to meet Jackie Robinson. (J GUTMAN)
1948
The Journal of Biddy Owens: The Negro Leagues by Walter Dean Myers (2001)
Teenager Biddy Owens' journal about working for the Birmingham Black Barons includes the games and the players, racism the team faces and his family's resistance to his becoming a professional baseball player. (J MYERS)
1948
The Year of Miss Agnes by Kirkpatrick Hill (2000)
Ten year old Fred (short for Frederika) narrates the story of school and village life among the Athapascans in Alaska when Miss Agnes arrived as the new teacher. (J-N HILL)
1953
Looking Out by Victoria Boutis (1988)
Though pleased to be a part of the "in" crowd at her new school, Ellen's growing awareness of her parents' social concerns, expressed in their support of the Rosenbergs who have been accused of being Communists, forces her to make a choice about what really matters in life. (J BOUTIS)
1955
Mississippi Trial, 1955 by Chris Crowe (2002)
In Mississippi in 1955, a sixteen-year-old finds himself at odds with his grandfather over issues surrounding the kidnapping and murder of a fourteen-year-old African American from Chicago. (Y CROWE)
1956
Walking to the Bus-Rider Blues by Harriette Gillem Robinet (2000)
Twelve year old Alfa Merryfield, his older sister, and their grandmother struggle for rent money, food, and their dignity as they participate in the Montgomery, Alabama, bus boycott. (J ROBINET)
1956
Where Heroes Hide by Helen Recorvits (1956)
During the summer of 1956 ten-year-old Junior Webster, his friends, and especially his father, a decorated World War II veteran, discover what heroism is all about. (J RECORVI)
1960s
Sonny's War by Valerie Hobbs (2002)
In the late 1960s, fourteen-year-old Cori's life is greatly changed by the sudden death of her father and her brother's tour of duty in Vietnam. (Y HOBBS)
1960
Pageant by Kathryn Lasky (1986)
Sarah Benjamin, a Jewish teenager on the brink of Kennedy's New Frontier, wonders if she can endure four more years of Stuart Hall, Indianapolis's most exclusive, very Christian and impossibly stuffy school for girls. (Y LASKY)
1961 - 1975
The Best of Friends by Margaret I. Rostkowski (1989)
Three very different teenagers, once close friends, struggle to understand the changes in their relationships and the turmoil around them during the Vietnam War era. (Y ROSTKOW)
1961 - 1975
Come in From the Cold by Marsha Qualey (1994)
The Vietnam War protest movement brings together two Minnesota teenagers. (Y QUALEY)
1961 - 1975
Lost in the War by Nancy Antle (1998)
Twelve year old Lisa Grey struggles to cope with a mother whose traumatic experiences as a nurse in Vietnam during the war are still haunting her. (J ANTLE)

1961 - 1975
My Name is San Ho by Jayne Pettit (1992)
A twelve year old Vietnamese boy relates his experiences as he tries to adjust to his new life in the United States with his mother and American marine stepfather. (J PETTIT)
1961 - 1975
Park's Quest by Katherine Paterson (1988)
Eleven year old Park makes some startling discoveries when he travels to his grandfather's farm in Virginia to learn about his father who died in the Vietnam War. (J PATERSON)
1963
Freedom Songs by Yvette Moore (1991)
When Sheryl's Uncle Pete joins the Freedom Riders down south, she organizes a gospel concert in Brooklyn to help him. (Y MOORE)
1963
Just Like Martin by Ossie Davis (1992)
Following the deaths of two classmates in a bomb explosion at his Alabama church, fourteen year old Stone organizes a children's march for civil rights. (J DAVIS)
1963
The Watsons Go to Birmingham--1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis (1995)
The ordinary interactions and everyday routines of the Watsons, an African-American family living in Flint, Michigan, are drastically changed after they go to visit Grandma in Alabama in the summer of 1963. (J CURTIS)
1964
The Day That Elvis Came to Town by Jan Marino (1991)
Wanda feels betrayed when her parents' glamorous boarder doesn't introduce her to Elvis Presley, and it takes a near tragedy to reunite them and to help her face the truth about her family and herself. (Y MARINO)

1964
The Return of Gabriel by John Armistead (2002)
In the summer of 1964, a thirteen-year-old white boy whose best friend is black is caught in the middle when civil rights workers and Ku Klux Klan members clash in a small town near Tupelo, Mississippi. (Y ARMISTE)
1967
And One For All by Theresa Nelson (1989)
Geraldine's close relationship with her older brother Wing and his friend Sam changes when Wing joins the Marines and is sent to Vietnam and Sam leaves joins a peace march in Washington. (Y NELSON)
1967
Fallen Angels by Walter Dean Myers (1988)
Seventeen year old Richie Perry, just out of his Harlem high school, enlists in the Army in the summer of 1967 and spends a devastating year on active duty in Vietnam. (Y MYERS)
1967
Flight to Freedom by Ana Veciana-Suarez (2002)
Writing in the diary which her father gave her, thirteen-year-old Yara describes life with her family in Havana, Cuba, in 1967 as well as her experiences in Miami, Florida, after immigrating there to be reunited with some relatives while leaving others behind. (Y VECIANA)
1967
The Purple Heart by Marc Talbert (1992)
When his wounded father is sent home from Vietnam, Luke finds it difficult to adjust to the troubled, emotionally shaken man who seems to unlike the fearless hero of his dreams. (J TALBERT)



1968
The Journal of Patrick Seamus Flaherty, United States Marine Corps by Ellen Emerson White (2002)
An eighteen-year-old Marine records in his journal his experiences in Vietnam during the siege of Khe Sanh, 1967-1968. Includes a history of Vietnam, war timeline, glossary, and related military information. (J WHITE)
1968
Outside In by Karen Romano Young (2002)
In 1968, as the Vietnam War continues and violence erupts throughout America, twelve-year-old Cherie tries to understand the changing nature of her relationship with the two teenage brothers across the street, as well as other aspects of her unpredictable world. (Y YOUNG)
1968
The Road Home by Ellen Emerson White (1995)
Rebecca, a young nurse stationed in Vietnam during the war, must come to grips with her wartime experiences once she returns home to the United States. (Y WHITE)
1968
Where Have All the Flowers Gone?: The Diary of Molly Mackenzie Flaherty by Ellen Emerson White (2002)
In 1968 Massachusetts, after her brother Patrick goes to fight in Vietnam, fifteen-year-old Molly records in her diary how she misses her brother, volunteers at a Veterans' Administration Hospital, and tries to make sense of the war in Vietnam and the tumultuous events in the United States. (J WHITE)
1972
Beacon Hill Boys by Ken Mochizuki (2002)
In 1972 in Seattle, a teenager in a Japanese American family struggles for his own identity, along with a group of three friends who share his anger and confusion. (Y MOCHIZU)


1982
The Wall by Eve Bunting (1990)
A boy and his father come from far away to visit the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington and find the name of the boy's grandfather who was killed in the conflict. (E BUNTING)