Historical Fiction Ages 9 - 13

Ages 9-13

J AVI Avi, Crispin and the Cross of Lead: Falsely accused of theft and murder, an orphaned peasant boy in fourteenth-century England flees his village and meets a larger-than-life juggler who holds a dangerous secret. YA AVI Avi. Midnight Magic: In Italy in 1491, Mangus the magician and his apprentice are summoned to the castle of Duke Claudio to determine if his daughter is indeed being haunted by a ghost J CARBONE Carbone, Elisa. Blood on the River: James Town 1607: Traveling to the New World in 1606 as the page to Captain John Smith, twelve-year-old orphan Samuel Collier settles in the new colony of James Town, where he must quickly learn to distinguish between friend and foe. J CHEN Chen, Jiang Hong. Little Eagle: In fifteenth-century China, a young orphan boy becomes the apprentice to a kind sage who is gifted in eagle boxing, a specialized form of kung fu. (Also in younger children’s list, recommended ages 8-10) J COLLIER Collier, James Lincoln. My Brother Sam is Dead: Recounts the tragedy that strikes the Meeker family during the Revolution, when one son joins the rebel forces while the rest of the family tries to stay neutral in a Tory town. J COOPER Cooper, Susan. Victory: Alternating chapters follow the mysterious connection between a homesick English girl living in present-day America and an eleven-year-old boy serving in the British Royal Navy in 1803, aboard the H.M.S. Victory, commanded by Admiral Horatio Nelson. YA CUSHMAN Cushman, Karen. The Ballad of Lucy Whipple: In 1849, a twelve-year-old girl who calls herself Lucy is distraught when her mother moves the family from Massachusetts to a rough California mining town, where Lucy helps run a rough boarding house and looks for comfort in books while trying to find a way to get back to Massachusetts.

J ERDRICH Erdrich, Louise. The Birchbark House: Omakayas, a seven-year-old Native American girl of the Ojibwa tribe, lives through the joys of summer and the perils of winter on an island in Lake Superior in 1847. (Sequel: The Game of Silence) J FORBES Forbes, Esther. Johnny Tremain: After injuring his hand, a silversmith's apprentice in Boston becomes a messenger for the Sons of Liberty in the days before the American Revolution. J FOX Fox, Paula. The Slave Dancer: 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 FRAZIER Frazier, Neta Lohnes. Orphaned on the Oregon Trail: Based on the account of one of the Sager children, this fast paced story recounts the adventures of the seven children, orphaned during their journey to Oregon. J GARLAND Garland, Sherry. The Buffalo Soldier: Realizing that his future lies in owning land, not just being free, a young man raised as a slave becomes a buffalo soldier--a member of an all-black cavalry regiment formed to protect white settlers from Indians, bandits, and outlaws, and that later fought in the Spanish American War. Includes historical notes (Ages 9-11, also in younger children’s list) J GEAR Gear, Kathleen O’Neil. Children of the Dawnland: Thirteen thousand years ago in the Great Lakes Region, twelve-year-old Twig, a Spirit Dreamer who can see into the future, teams up with best friend Greyhawk and the unpopular shaman Screech Owl to warn villagers of an impending natural disaster that could have devastating environmental effects. J GRIFFIN Griffin, Peni R. 11,000 Years Lost: Fascinated with the archaeological dig that is going on near her Texas home, eleven-year-old Esther magically travels back in time to the Pleistocene era and discovers first-hand how people lived at that time. J HOLM Holm, Jennifer. Our Only May Amelia: As the only girl in a Finnish American family of seven brothers, May Amelia Jackson resents being expected to act like a lady while growing up in Washington State in 1899. J HOROWITZ Horowotz, Anthony. The Devil and His Boy: In 1593, thirteen-year-old Tom travels through the English countryside to London, where he falls in with a troupe of actors and finds himself in great danger from several sources. J IBBOTSO Ibbotson, Eva. The Star of Kaazan: After twelve-year-old Annika, a foundling living in late nineteenth-century Vienna, inherits a trunk of costume jewelry, a woman claiming to be her aristocratic mother arrives and takes her to live in a strangely decrepit mansion in Germany.

J JACKSON Jackson, Dave. Abandoned on Wild Frontier: His friendship with Peter Cartwright, a Methodist circuit-rider evangelist, enables thirteen-year-old Gil to pursue his dream of locating his mother, who was kidnapped by the Sauk Indians during the War of 1812. (Trailblazer Series) J KARR Karr, Kathleen. The Great Turkey Walk: In 1860, a somewhat simple-minded fifteen-year-old boy attempts to herd one thousand turkeys from Missouri to Denver, Colorado, in hopes of selling them at a profit. J LOWRY Lowry, Lois. Number the Stars: In 1943, during the German occupation of Denmark, ten-year-old Annemarie learns how to be brave and courageous when she helps shelter her Jewish friend from the Nazis. J LYONS Lyons, Mary E. Letters from a Slave Boy: A fictionalized look at the life of Joseph Jacobs, son of a slave, told in the form of letters that he might have written during his life in pre-Civil War North Carolina, on a whaling expedition, in New York, New England, and finally in California during the Gold Rush. J MOLINA Llorente, Molina, Pilar. The Apprentice: Working as an artist's apprentice in Renaissance Florence, thirteen-year-old Arduino makes a horrifying discovery which may cost him the chance to become a painter. YA NAPOLI Napoli, Donna Jo. The King of Mulberry Street: In 1892, Dom, a nine-year old stowaway from Naples, Italy, arrives in New York and must learn to survive the perils of street life in the big city. J OROARK Dowell, Francis O’Roark. Shooting the Moon: When her brother is sent to fight in Vietnam, twelveyear-old Jamie begins to reconsider the army world that she has grown up in. J POPE Pope, Elizabeth Pope. The Perilous Gard: In 1558 while imprisoned in a remote castle, a young girl becomes involved in a series of events that leads to an underground labyrinth peopled by the last practitioners of druidic magic. This well written story describes the time of druids in excellent detail, is a crossover with fantasy and should appeal to Harry Potter fans. J RAY Ray, Delia. Singing Hands: In the late 1940s, twelve-year-old Gussie, a minister's daughter, learns the definition of integrity while helping with a celebration at the Alabama School for the Deaf - her punishment for misdeeds against her deaf parents and their boarders. J ROYAL LASKY Lasky, Kathryn. Elizabeth 1, Red Rose of the House of Tudor: In a series of diary entries, Princess Elizabeth, the eleven-year-old daughter of King Henry VIII, celebrates holidays and birthdays, relives her mother's execution, revels in her studies, and agonizes over her father's health. (The Royal Diaries series)

J RUSSELL Russell, Christopher. Dogboy: In 1346, twelve-year-old Brind, an orphaned kennel boy raised with hunting dogs at an English manor, accompanies his master, along with half of the manor's prized mastiffs, to France, where he must fend for himself when both his master and the dogs are lost at the decisive battle of Crécy. (Sequel: Hunted) YA RYAN Muñoz, Pam Ryan. Esperanza Rising: Esperanza and her mother are forced to leave their life of wealth and privilege in Mexico to go work in the labor camps of Southern California, where they must adapt to the harsh circumstances facing Mexican farm workers on the eve of the Great Depression. J SALISBU Graham Salisbury. Under the Blood Red Sun: Tomikazu Nakaji's 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. P SHULEVI Shulevitz , Uri. How I Learned Geography: As he spends hours studying his father's world map, a young boy escapes the hunger and misery of refugee life. Based on the author's childhood in Kazakhstan, where he lived as a Polish refugee during World War II (Recommended ages 9-10, also in younger children’s list) J SPEARE Speare, Elizabeth George. The Witch of Blackbird Pond: 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 WHELAN Whelan, Gloria. Listening for Lions: Left an orphan after the influenza epidemic in British East Africa in 1918, thirteen-year-old Rachel is tricked into assuming a deceased neighbor's identity to travel to England, where her only dream is to return to Africa and rebuild her parents' mission hospital. J WILEY Wiley, Melissa. Little House by Boston Bay: 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. (Series) J WILSON Wilson, Diane Lee. I Rode a Horse of Milk White Jade: Oyuna tells her granddaughter the story of how love for her horse enabled her to win a race and bring good luck to her family living in Mongolia in 1339. J WOODSON Woodson, Jacqueline. Feathers: When a new, white student nicknamed "The Jesus Boy" joins her sixth grade class in the winter of 1971, Frannie's growing friendship with him makes her start to see some things in a new light.