Historical Fiction
Grades 6-8 

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1960's

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Middle Ages ( ~ 400's ~ 1500's)

Renaissance (~ 1400 - 1600, outside of Italy)

1700's

As rumors of the fever spread, the upper class begins to clear out to stay in the country. Mattie gains independence in ways she never dreamed. This is a gripping, historically accurate read.

 Civil War

1800's

The Misadventures of Maude March: or Trouble Rides a Fast Horse
Eleven-year-old Sallie tells the often laugh-out-loud tale of how her sister fifteen-year-old sister, Maude, aka "Mad Maude" became an outlaw. The two sisters had been bickering and poor Aunt Ruth had had just about enough. She just finished telling the girls that "some days it just doesn't pay to get out of bed," when she was struck dead by a stray bullet in what I guess is a pioneer version of drive-by shooting. Orphaned for a second time and homeless because aunt Ruth was behind on the mortgage of their home, they are taken in by the reverend Peasley and his wife, where the girls are treated as servants to the Peasley's large brood of children. It wouldn't be all that bad, excepting that the Peasleys are encouraging a man old enough to be Maude's grandfather to marry her. They also want to keep Sallie with them when Maude is married off. So Maude cuts off her and Sallie's hair; they become "boys" and they "borrow" some food and horses from the Peasleys and set out towards Independence, Missouri, where they last heard their Uncle Arlen headed years before.

While this book seems very different from the two other books I have read by Couloumbis. (I cried.) Getting Near to Baby and Summer's End are very different from each other. What is common to all three is the presence of interesting, believable girls as main characters that I grew to know and care about. Click on Couloumbis' name to visit her author website and click on the title of this book to visit the website that Random House has set up to promote The Misadventure of Maude March or Trouble Rides a Fast Horse.

This sequel could possibly stand alone, but the first book is so hilariously funny and there are references to events from the first adventure which might confuse a new reader. Sallie narrates this second tale equally hilariously with her dead-on observations and comments. The action is believable and broken up with fascinating descriptions of what life on a horse in the wild west must have been like. There is a very helpful map that I consulted often while I read of Maude, Sallie and Marion's journey west to find Uncle Arlen and escape the long and mistaken arm of the law. While there is no note about the historical era in the book, there is on the website for the book along with some activities and information about this wonderful author.

He ends up thrown overboard in the East River, fished out and placed on a ferry to Ellis Island. Eventually, he makes his way to Mulberry Street, where he meets a beggar who is working for the dreaded padrome and a loner named Gaetano. With a little help from a shopkeeper that Beniamino, now called Dom, befriends, the three boys find a way to earn some money.

 Early 20th Century

This historical fiction recounts the ill-fated expedition and focuses on the story of Perce Blackborow, the eighteen-year-old who stowed away on the Endurance rather than be left behind when he didn't get a job on board. Shackleton took twenty-seven men on this expedition and twenty-seven men returned nearly two grueling years later. It is a story of courage, loyalty, bravery and stamina. I laughed out loud and cried. I felt compelled to order some informational books from BCCLS to revisit the expedition.

Jake Beale, works in the mill to support his abusive, alcoholic father and does what he can to avoid beatings and survive. This includes sleeping in trash heaps in the middle of winter, which is where Jake meets Rosa as she searches the trash for shoes she had discarded.

The two separate stories come together and though the novel is bleak in that it reveals the horrible working and living conditions as well as the harsh language the various ethnic groups and mill owners referred to each other as, it is a compelling and satisfying read.

This book is often laugh-out-loud funny and filled with memorable descriptions of life at the turn of the twentieth century and peopled with interesting, likable characters.

Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy
It is 1911 and things are not going very well for Turner Buckminster III. He is a minister's son and always needs to be on his best behavior. He is especially plagued by this now that his father is the new minister of the First Congregational Church of Phippsburg, Maine. He hates Phippsburg within hours of arriving. The whole town turns out to greet the new minister and his family and a friendly invitation to play baseball turns into humiliation for Turner because they play "Maine baseball" in Phippsburg and the ball doesn't do what it supposed to do.

The town is controlled by men in "frock coats" with Mr. Stonecrop, the wealthy owner of a failing shipyard, as the self-proclaimed leader. All of the homes are painted white with green shutters, save one. The house with the yellow shutters is owned by Mrs. Hurd, who seems to be the only person in town with a mind of her own and with whom Turner is friendly.

His only other friend is Lizzie Bright Griffin, the sassy and spirited grand-daughter of Preacher Griffin of nearby Malaga Island, a settlement of former slaves and a perceived "blight" on the community by the town fathers. They intend to force the squatters off the island so they can develop it to attract tourists.

This beautiful book won both a Newbery and Printz honor medal for 2005. It is a quietly powerful coming-of-age story at once hilariously funny and bitterly sad. Turner and Lizzie are two characters I won't soon forget.

World War I

Sumiko's life changes drastically the following day with the bombing of Pearl Harbor by the Japanese and the internment of thousands of Japanese-Americans.

This book deservedly won a 2007 Newbery Honor. Hattie narrates her story but it is interspersed with her letters to Charlie, his to her and the Honyocker Homily column that she writes for the Arlington News. While the story is set in 1918, it is not a straightforward novel of World War I, but focuses on those left behind and those German-born Americans who were ill-treated by bigoted individuals under the guise of patriotism.

Morpugo wrote eloquently about "the Great War" in another book called Private Peaceful.

He thinks he is heading to the front in France, but discovers that an old friend of his father's who is still in the army, assigns him to the cavalry as a horse breaker. He soon proves his worth as a horseman, but finds himself assigned to fight in Palestine, not France. Edward grows up way too fast as he witnesses the horrible reality of war and loses friends to bullets and disease and makes some mistakes that will haunt him for the rest of his life.

This thought-provoking and engaging book had me running to the 940.3 section of our library to learn more about both Canadian soldiers and the war in Palestine.

1920's/ Prohibition

As in Jen Bryant's Ringside, 1925, the debate causes division among friends and family and the two books are a natural pairing.

The Great Depression

The Trial
The Lindburgh Baby Kidnapping was incredibly newsworthy in 1935. Lucky Lindy was an American hero having flown the Spirit of St. Louis solo across the Atlantic. The public demanded justice and when one of the marked notes that paid the ransom was traced to the Bronx and German-born Bruno Hauptman, there was really no chance that he'd get a fair trial.

This story is told from the point-of-view of twelve-year-old, fatherless Katie Flynn, who wants to become a news reporter and travel the world. Her best friends are Mike, the son of the town drunk and her uncle Jeff who is covering the trial and for whom Katie acts as a secretary because he broke his arm in a basketball game.

Reminiscent of Karen Hesse' historical fiction told in blank verse, this book is very readable.  

Al Capone Does My Shirts
Moose Flanagan is your typical twelve-year-old boy. He loves baseball and is not too sure about girls. His world is turned upside down when his father accepts a job as an electrician/ prison guard on Alcatraz Island in 1935 so that his autistic sister, Natalie might get accepted into an experimental school. Not only has he been uprooted from his grandmother and friends, but Natalie's condition makes life very difficult on the family and there are lots of rules to cope with on the prison island.

This is a very enjoyable novel, quite different from Choldenko's first novel, Notes from a Liar and her Dog. She is a very good storyteller and provides an interesting historical note on Alcatraz at the end.

The Truth about Sparrows
Twelve-year-old Sadie tells the story of her family's move from Missouri to the coast of Texas after her parents lose their home to the bank during the Great Depression. She is miserable over the loss of her best friend Wilma, whose family is moving to California, and her life of relative comfort.

Although she is thoughtful and kind, she views the other migrants she encounters as less than her and she shuns Dollie's offer of friendship because she made a promise to Wilma that they would be best friends. But when Wilma fails to answer Sadie's numerous letters and she witnesses how people gape at her Polio-disabled father and endures being picked on at school, Sadie begins to come to terms with her new reality.

Soon enough, he is caught and cooling his heels, but eating, in the sheriff's jail. O'Keefe decides that Parker will spend one month working for her to pay his debt to society.

Parker is a fictional character and Georgia O'Keefe is anything but. While at times a bit bumpy, the ranch hand character never really gets developed, the book pays homage to the beauty of New Mexico, the desert and the natives who inhabit its harsh environment.

This story is sweet and slow-moving and depicts what life was like during the Great Depression for families who barely got by, even in good economic times.

The 1930's

This is a 507 page novel but 284 pages are devoted to stunning, double-page pencil drawings and period photos. In addition to clockworks and the Paris subway, the book's historical references are to Georges Melies, an early French filmmaker, automatons and early film history.

World War II

This is the very powerful story of not only a boy who dared, but one who actually stepped back and thought for himself. He resisted the propaganda of the Nazi Regime and actually thought critically about its implications. He procured an illegal radio and listened to war broadcasts of BBC radio, which contrasted sharply with the rosy government sponsored radio broadcasts of Germany. He created leaflets and distributed them around the city in an effort to educate the public.

Code Talkers: A Novel About the Navajo Marines of World War II
Ned Begay recounts the story of his youth and the efforts of the white man to erase his knowledge of Navajo language and culture in a boarding school. He is fourteen and too young to enlist when World War II begins and the U. S. Military attempts to recruit young Navajo men who are fluent in both English and Navajo. However, his parents agree to state his age as seventeen should the war not be over in two years time.

Using a tone of understated irony, Ned reminisces about the rigors of his basic training and the discrimination he faced as well as the logistics of landing on Japanese beaches and the horrors of war.

Pair this well-researched book with Nathan Aaseng's Navajo Code Talkers which reads like a piece of fiction.  

This historical fiction is based on the very real story of the author's aunt Sylvia (Syvia) Perlmutter who was four years old in 1939 when she and her family entered the Lodz Ghetto in Poland. In stunning blank verse, Roy imagines what young Syvia must have been thinking and saying as the events leading up to her family's imprisonment in the Lodz Ghetto unfold.

When she speaks of New Rochelle, her aunt and uncle chalk the crazy talk up the their niece's recent fever. The fever that killed her parents. Her aunt and uncle are preparing for her uncle's wedding. As the party from their village arrive at the village of his bride, everyone, including Chaya/ Hannah are rounded up and brought to a concentration camp. Chaya becomes friends with Rivka, who shows her the ropes and as the horrors of the camp mount, Chaya remembers less and less of her life as Hannah.

Although she is devastated at the loss of her brother and mother, she soon forms an attachment to Hans Hooberman, her "Papa." He is gentle with her where Rosa Hooberman is gruff. He responds to her each night as horrible nightmares trouble her sleep. Gradually trust builds and after she reveals The Gravedigger's Manual and the fact that she can't read to him, he begins to teach her to read.

This story is amazing on so many levels and begs to be shared and discussed. It is one of the few I will reread. It won a 2007 Printz Honor.

When Charlie Koenig brings home a mysterious Russian woman from New York, everyone assumes that Charlie married a "commie." When Franny sees a grand piano unloaded from the moving van, she is drawn to the house like a bee to honey. Only Madame Malenkov isn't interested in giving lessons. At the same time, the town's gossips have started the rumor mill running and Madame Malenkov's reclusive, standoff-ish manner doesn't help.

Her mother is fiercely overprotective- she can't go swimming for fear of Polio, her Me-Me can't cook for beans, her Pop-Pop is hard of hearing and stubborn and her dog, Scarlett O'Hara has accidents all over the house. She adores her Italian relatives- the food and hustle and bustle of people coming and going and can't understand why her mother has become estranged from them or why no one will speak of how her father died,

1960's

While Anita is fearful for the safety of her father and uncle, she is also fiercely proud of them as well as her mother.

 Vietnam War

Summer's End
This wonderful coming-of-age story features a thirteen-year-old narrator, her own family and an amazing extended family who are trying to figure out what to do about the Vietnam War. The time is 1965 and Grace is turning thirteen, about to have her first girl-boy party and her older brother, Collin, decides to burn his draft card. Her father, a Korean War veteran and Collin's stepfather, kicks him out of the house and cancels Grace's party. Her parents are arguing because Grace's mother supports Collin's actions. Collin's father was killed during the Korean War.

To escape the tension at home, Grace hitches a ride to her Grandma's farm but she cannot escape the question of whether her brother is doing the right thing. The large extended family is gathered at the farm to build a house for Uncle Milford who is disabled and unable to serve in Vietnam and who is about to be married. Another uncle is missing in action. Grace's cousin Thatcher skipped being valedictorian at graduation to flee to Canada, an action that doesn't sit too well with another cousin, Dolly's family because her older brother is serving.

The writing is absolutely spare and beautiful. The characters felt like old friends. 

Jamie is looking forward to experiencing the war through her brother's letters, but all she receives from him are rolls of film. She learns to develop the film and finds that her brother's photos are becoming increasingly devastating and she begins to realize the horror that was Vietnam and to understand her father's reluctance.

Search and Destroy
In June of 1969, Rick Ward is a young man with few prospects. He loves to read, keeps a writing journal and hopes to become a writer, but won't be going to college in the fall because his family can't afford to send him. His plan is too work to save for college, but pleasing his boss becomes so difficult that he quits his job impulsively and has no prospects for another. After his girlfriend breaks up with him because he lacks direction and his father takes every opportunity to remind him that he is a wuss, Rick enlists in the U.S.Army rather than wait to be drafted. He thinks the experience might make a man of him.

The book follows Rick through basic training where he endures the abuse of a tough drill instructor to assignment and training in Vietnam for an elite 6 man Ranger team whose mission is to "search and destroy." There is no foul language in this book but plenty of gore in the battle scenes. Thoughtful and well-written.

Holling Hoodhood lives on Long Island in a "perfect house" in a perfect family. His dad is an architect and a prominent member of the business community. He puts tremendous pressure on Holling not to alienate a single person in school or the town as they are potential clients of his architectural firm. The "Wednesday Wars" refers to the fact that as the only Presbyterean in town, he was also the only student left in Mrs. Baker's seventh grade class each Wednesday as the Jewish students left early to attend Hebrew school and the Catholic students left early to attend CCD. Holling is convinced that Mrs. Baker hates him. Mrs. Baker has a dilemma because she is unable to teach Holling during that period but wants to make the time productive and so she assigns the works of Shakespeare.

His father left seven years earlier to serve as a helicopter mechanic in Vietnam and never returned. Theo always assumed the he was MIA, Missing in Action. The few times he tried to ask his mother about it, all she did was cry, so he backed off. Now JeeBee, his grandmother, his father's mother is acting differently and Theo is suddenly angry with his best friend, Kenny because Kenny has a father, has it too easy and doesn't take anything seriously.