HISTORICAL FICTION

Middle Ages

The Executioner's Daughter 
by Laura Williams
13-year-old Lily, daughter of the town's executioner living in fifteenth-century Europe, decides whether to fight against her destiny or to rise above her fate.

Brazil

Journey to the River Sea
by Eva Ibbotson
Sent with her governess to live with her dreadful Carter family in exotic Brazil in 1910, Maia endures many hardships before fulfilling her dream of exploring the Amazon River.

Canada

Wintering
by William Durbin
In 1801, 14-year-old Pierre returns to work for the North West Fur Company and makes the long and difficult journey to a winter camp, where he learns from both the other voyageurs and from the Ojibwa Indians whose land they share.

China

Homesick, My Own Story
by Jean Fritz
The author's fictionalized account of her own childhood in China in the 1920s.

Young-Fu of the Upper Yangtze
by Elizabeth Lewis
Young Fu must pay back a debt of five dollars or face public shame.

Lady of Ch'iao Kuo: Warrior of the South
by Lawrence Yep
In 531 A.D., a 15-year-old princess of the Hsien tribe in southern China keeps a diary which describes her role as liaison between her own people and the local Chinese colonists, in times of both war and peace.

Czechoslovakia

Torn Thread
by Ann Isaacs
In an attempt to save his daughter's life, Eva's father sends her from Poland to a labor camp in Czechoslovakia, where she and her sister survive the war.

Denmark

Number the Stars
by Lois Lowry
In 1934, during the German occupation of Denmark, 10-year-old Annemarie learns how to be brave and courageous when she helps shelter her friend from the Nazis.

Egypt and Middle East, Ancient

Cleopatra, Daughter of the Nile 
by Kristiana Gregory    
While her father is hiding after attempts on his life, 12-year-old Cleopatra records in her diary how she fears for her own safety and hopes to survive to become Queen of Egypt someday.

Pharaoh's Daughter: A Novel of Ancient Egypt 
by Julius Lester
A fictionalized account of a Biblical story in which an Egyptian princess rescues a Hebrew infant who becomes a prophet of his people.

England

Shakespeare's Scribe 
by Gary Blackwood
In plague-ridden 1602 England, a 15-year-old orphan boy, who has become an apprentice actor, goes on the road with Shakespeare's troupe and finds out more about his parents along the way.

War Dog: A Novel 
by Martin Booth
After her owner is arrested while poaching, Jet is requisitioned by the British Army and sees duty on the beach at Dunkirk, searching for survivors of Germany's bombing raids on English cities, and in Italy at the end of the war.

The Copper Treasure
by Melvin Burgess
In mid-nineteenth-century London, three young boys try to retrieve a valuable roll of copper from the bottom of the Thames River.

The Playmaker
by J.B. Cheaney
While working as an apprentice in a London theatre company in 1597, 14-year-old Richard uncovers a mystery involving the disappearance of his father and a traitorous plot to overthrow Queen Elizabeth.

The Seeing Stone
by Kevin Crossley-Holland
In late twelfth-century England, a 13-year-old boy named Arthur recounts how Merlin gives him a magical seeing stone which shows him images of the legendary King Arthur, the events of whose life seem to have many parallels to his own.

Catherine, Called Birdy 
by Karen Cushman
The 13-year-old daughter of an English country knight keeps a journal in which she records the events of her life, particularly her longings for adventures beyond the usual role of women and her efforts to avoid being married off.

Matilda Bone
by Karen Cushman
14-year-old Matilda, an apprentice bonesetter and practitioner of medicine in a village in medieval England, tries to reconcile the various aspects of her life, both spiritual and practical.

The Midwife's Apprentice
by Karen Cushman
In medieval England, a nameless, homeless girl is taken in by a sharp-tempered midwife and, in spite of obstacles and hardship, eventually gains the three things she most wants:  a full belly, a contented heart, and a place in the world.

The Door in the Wall
by Marguerite DeAngeli
Crippled Robin proves his courage in plague-ridden 14th century London.

Adam of the Road
by Elizabeth Gray
11-year-old Adam has many adventures in thirteenth-century England when his mistral father disappears and his dog Nick is stolen.

Stowaway
by Karen Hesse
A fictionalized journal relates the experiences of a young stowaway from 1768 to 1771 aboard the Endeavor, which sailed around the world under Captain James Cook.

Spider Sparrow
by Dick King-Smith
Spider, a baby abandoned on an English farm, grows up to be mentally slower than other children but manifests a remarkable talent for communicating with animals as he comes of age during World War II.

Elizabeth I: Red Rose of the House of Tudor 
by Kathryn Lasky
In a series of diary entries, Princess Elizabeth, the 11-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.

Lord of the Nutcracker Men
by Iain Lawrence
An English boy during World War I comes to believe that the battles he enacts with his toy soldiers control the war his father is fighting on the front.

The Pirate's Son
by Geraldine McCaughrean
Left penniless in eighteenth-century England, 14-year-old Nathan Gull and his mousy sister Maud accompany Tamo, the son of a notorious pirate, to his homeland of Madagascar where they are all changed by their encounter with Tamo's dangerous past.

Beware, Princess Elizabeth 
by Carolyn Meyer
After the death of her father, King Henry VIII, in 1547, 13-year-old Elizabeth must endure the political intrigues and dangers of the reign of her half-brother Edward and her half-sister Mary before finally becoming queen of England eleven years later.

Parcifal's Page
by Gerald Morris
In medieval England, 11-year-old Pier's dream comes true when he becomes page to Parsifal, a peasant whose quest for knighthood reveals important secrets about both of their families.

The Savage Damsel and the Dwarf
by Gerald Morris
Lynet, a feisty young woman, journeys to King Arthur's court in order to find a champion to rescue her beautiful older sister, and she is joined in her quest by a clever dwarf and a bold kitchen knave, neither of whom are what they seem.

The Squire, His Knight, and His Lady
by Gerald Morris
After several years at court, Terence, as Sir Gawain's squire and friend, accompanies the knight on a perilous quest that tests all of their skills and whose successful completion could mean certain death for Gawain.

The Squire's Tale 
by Gerald Morris
In medieval England, 14-year-old Terence finds his tranquil existence suddenly changed when he becomes the squire of the young Gawain of Orkney and accompanies him on a long quest, proving Gawain's worth as a knight and revealing an important secret about his own true identity.

Sword Song
by Rosemary Sutcliff
At sixteen, Bjarni is cast out of the Norse settlement in the Angles' Land for an act of oath-breaking and spends five years sailing the west coast of Scotland and witnessing the feuds of the clan chiefs living there.

France

Young Joan
by Barbara Dana
Joan, a girl growing up in the French countryside during the Hundred Years' War, begins to hear voices telling her she is destined to reunite her torn country in opposition to the English invaders.

Dar and the Spear-thrower 
by Marjorie Cowley
A young Cro-Magnon boy living 15,000 years ago in south-eastern France is initiated into manhood by his clan and sets off on a journey to trade his valuable fire rocks for an ivory spear thrower.

Mary, Queen of Scots: Queen without a Country
by Kathryn Lasky
Mary, the young Scottish queen, is sent a diary from her mother in which she records her experiences living at the court of France's King Henry II as she awaits her marriage to Henry's son, Francis.

The Shadow Children
by Steven Schnur
While spending the summer on his grandfather's farm in the French countryside, eleven-year-old Etienne discovers a secret dating back to World War II and encounters the ghosts of Jewish children who suffered a dreadful fate under the Nazis.

A Coming Evil
by Vivian Vande Velde
During the German occupation of France in 1940, thirteen-year-old Lisette meets a ghost while living with her aunt who harbors Jewish and Gypsy children in the French countryside.

Germany

Don't Say a Word
by Barbara Gehrts
Living in Berlin during World War II, Anna finds herself and her family growing more and more aware of the dangerous direction in which her country is moving as her friends start to die.

When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit
by Judith Kerr
The exciting story of a German-Jewish family and their escape from Nazi Germany.

Journey to America
by Sonia Levitin
Lisa and her mother and sisters risk their lives to escape Nazi Germany and follow her father to Switzerland.

Greece

The Real Plato Jones
by Nina Bawden
Thirteen-year-old Plato Jones tries to come to terms with his mixed heritage while visiting Greece, as he finds out more about his Welsh grandfather, a World War II hero, and his Greek grandfather, a supposed traitor.

Haiti

Tonight, by Sea
by Frances Temple
As governmental brutality and poverty become unbearable, Paulie joins with others in her small Haitian village to help her uncle secretly build a boat they will use to try to escape to the United States.

India

A Group of One
by Racha Gilmore
Learning from her grandmother that her family was active in the Quit India movement of 1942, a rebellion against nearly two centuries of British occupation, gives 15-year-old Tara new pride in hr heritage, but she still objects when her teacher implies she is not a "regular Canadian."

Ireland

Nory Ryan's Song
by Patricia Reilly Giff
When a terrible blight attacks Ireland's potato crop in 1845, 12-year-old Nory Ryan's courage and ingenuity help her family and neighbors survive.

Israel

Masada: The Last Fortress
by Gloria Miklowitz
As the Roman army marches inexorably across the Judean desert toward the fortress of Masada, Simon and his family and friends prepare (along with the rest of the Jewish Zealots) to fight and never surrender.

Italy

Stones in Water
by Donna Jo Napoli
After being taken by German soldiers from a local movie theatre along with other Italian boys including his Jewish friend, Roberto is forces to work in Germany and escapes into the Ukrainian winter before desperately trying to make his way back home to Venice.

Daughter of Venice
by Donna Jo Napoli
Frustrated with the restrictions her gender imposes on her life, 14-year-old Donata, disguised as a boy, sneaks out of her noble family's house to roam the streets of late sixteenth-century Venice and then must confront the repercussions of her actions.

Jamaica

Tom Cringle: Battle on the High Seas
by Gerald Hausman
A fast-paced story of life on the high seas, of conflicting allegiances, and of finding friends where they are least expected; but most of all, it is the tale of a boy who seeks a personal code of honor to guide him through unpredictable and perilous times. 

Japan

Little Sister
by Kara Dalkey
13-year-old Fujiwara no Mitsuko, daughter of a noble family in the imperial court of twelfth-century Japan, enlists the help of a shape-shifter and other figures from Japanese mythology in her efforts to save her older sister's life.

Sword of the Samurai: Adventure Stories from Japan
by Eric A. Kimmel
Seven short stories about samurai warriors, their way of life, courage, wit, and foolishness.

So Far From the Bamboo Grove
by Yoko Kawashima Watkins
An autobiographical account of 11-year-old Yoko's escape from Korea to Japan with her mother and sister at the end of World War II.

Korea

Echoes of the White Giraffe
by Sook Nyul Choi
15-year-old Sookan adjusts to life in the refugee village of Pusan but continues to hope that the civil war will end and her family will be reunited in Seoul.

Year of Impossible Goodbyes
by Sook Nyu Choi
A young Korean girl survives the oppressive Japanese and Russian occupation of North Korea during the 1940s, to later escape to freedom in South Korea.

The Kite Flyers
by Linda Sue Park
In Korea in 1473, 11-year-old Young-sup overcomes his rivalry with his older brother Kee-sup, who as the first-born son receives special treatment from their father, and combines his kite-flying skill with Kee-sup's kite-making skill in an attempt to win the New Year kite-flying competition.

A Single Shard
by Linda Sue Park
Tree-ear, a 13-year-old orphan in medieval Korea, lives under a bridge in a potter's village, and longs to learn how to throw the delicate celadon ceramics himself.

When My Name Was Keoko
by Linda Sue Park
With national pride and occasional fear, a brother and sister face the increasingly oppressive occupation of Korea and Japan during World War II, which threatens to suppress Korean culture entirely.

Mexico

In the Shadow of the Alamo
by Sherry Garland
Conscripted in to the Mexican army, 15-year-old Lorenzo makes some unexpected alliances and learns some harsh truths about General Santa Anna as the troops move toward the battle of the Alamo.

Netherlands

The Wheel on the School
by Meindert DeJong
The storks are brought back to their island by the schoolchildren in a Dutch village.

The House on Stink Alley:  The Story of the Pilgrims in Holland
by F.N. Monjo
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.

When the Soldiers Were Gone
by Vera W. Propp
After the German occupation of the Netherlands, Benjamin leaves the Christian family with whom he had been living and reunites with his real parents who returned from hiding.

The Upstairs Room
by Johanna Reiss
Two young Jewish sisters hide form the Nazis in the upstairs room of a remote farmhouse for two and a half long years.

Pakistan

Shabanu:  Daughter of the Wind
by Suzanne Fisher Staples
When 11-year-old Shabanu, the daughter of a nomad in the Cholistan Desert of present day Pakistan, is pledged in marriage to an older man whose money will bring prestige to the family, she must either accept the decision, as is the custom, or risk the consequences of defying her father's wishes.

Poland

The Trumpeter of Krakow
by Eric P. Kelly
Mystery surrounds a precious jewel and the youthful patriot who stands watch over it in a church tower in 15th century Poland.

Romania

Lydia, Queen of Palestine
by Uri Orlev
A young Romanian Jewish girl describes her childhood in pre-World War II Romania, her struggles to understand her parents' divorce and the chaos of the war, and her life on a Kibbutz in Palestine.  Based on the life of the Israeli poet Arianna Haran.

Russia

Anastasia: The Last Grand Duchess
by Carolyn Meyer
A novel in diary form in which the youngest daughter of Tsar Nicholas II describes the privileged life in her family up until the time of World War I and the tragic events that befell them.

Scotland

Queen's Own Fool
by Jane Yolen
When 12-year-old Nicola leaves Troupe Brufort and serves as the fool for Mary, Queen of Scots, she experiences the political and religious upheavals in both France and Scotland.

Spain

Secrets in the House of Delgado
by Gloria Miklowitz
In Spain in 1492, 14-year-old Maria, a Catholic orphan, becomes a servant to a wealthy family of Conversos, converted Jews, at a time when the Jews are being expelled from the country and when the Inquisition is diligently searching for religious heretics.

I, Juan de Pareja
by Elizabeth deTrevino
Through the eyes of his devoted black slave, Juan de Pareja, the character of the artist Velaquez is revealed.

United States

Indians of North America

The Beaded Moccasins:  The Story of Mary Campbell
by Linda Durrant
After being captured by Delaware Indians, twelve-year-old Mary Campbell is forced to travel west with them to Ohio.

The Girl Who Chased Away Sorrow:  The Diary of Sarah Nita, a Navajo Girl
by Ann Warren Turner
Separated from her family, Sarah Nita suffers cold, hunger, and fear on the Long Walk, when soldiers force the Navajo to walk hundreds of miles to imprisonment at Fort Sumner.

Colonial Period - to 1774

The Shakespeare Stealer
by Gary L. Blackwood
A young orphan boy is ordered to infiltrate Shakespeare's acting troupe and steal the script of "Hamlet," but he discovers the meaning of friendship and loyalty instead.

Enemy in the Fort
by Sarah Masters Buckey
In 1754, with her own parents taken captive, twelve-year-old Rebecca must confront her fear and hatred of the Abenaki when a boy raised by members of that tribe is brought to the fort at Charleston, New Hampshire, just before a series of thefts occur.

Echohawk
by Lynda Durrant
A twelve-year-old white boy adopted and raised by Mohicans in the Hudson River Valley during the 1730's is sent with his younger brother to an English settlement for schooling.

Trouble at Fort La Point
by Kathleen Ernst
In the early 1700's, twelve-year-old Suzette, an Ojibwa-French girl, hopes that her father will win the fur-trapping contest so that he can quit being a voyageur and stay home with his family year-round, but when he is accused of stealing, Suzette must use her knowledge of both French and Ojibwa ways to find the real thief.

Our Strange New Land: Elizabeth's Diary, Jamestown, Virginia
by Patricia Hermes
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.

The Starving Time: Elizabeth's Diary, Book Two
by Patricia Hermes
Nine-year-old Elizabeth keeps a journal of her experiences in New World as she encounters Indians, suffers hunger and the death of friends, and helps her father build their first home.

Surviving Jamestown
by Gail Langer Karwoski
Sam Collier, a twelve-year-old, serves as a page to John Smith during the relentless hardship experienced by the founders at the first permanent English settlement.

Trouble's Daughter: The Story of Susanna Hutchinson, Indian Captive
by Katherine Kirkpatrick
When her family is massacred by Lenape Indians in 1643, nine-year-old Susanna, daughter of Anne Hutchinson is captured and raised as a Lenape.

A Journey to the New World: The Diary of Remember Patience Whipple
by Katherine Lasky
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.

Shadow in the Glasshouse
by Megan McDonald
While working as an indentured servant for a Jamestown glassmaker in 1621, twelve-year-old Merry uncovers a case of sabotage.

Standing in the Light: The Captive Diary of Catherine Carey
by Mary Pope Osborne
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.

Melittle
by Fatima Shaik
In 1772, years of mistreatment force thirteen-year-old Melittle 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.

1775-1783 (The Revolution)

The Winter of Red Snow: The Revolutionary War Diary of Abigail Jane Stewart
by Kristiana Gregory
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.

Thomas in Danger
by Bonne Pryor
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 a new danger that takes him into captivity among the Iroquois.

Cast Two Shadows
by Ann Rinaldi
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.

Saratoga Secret
by Betsy Sterman
In 1777, as General Burgoyne and his British troops invade the Upper Hudson River Valley, sixteen-year-old Amity must carry a secret message to the Continental army to give warning of an impending attack.

1784-1859 (Post Revolutionary Period to start of Civil War)

Fever 1793
by Laurie Halse Anderson
In August of 1793, fourteen-year-old Mattie has big plans for her future; however as a "fever" spreads and many die, not only are her future business plans in jeopardy, but so is her life.

The Devil's Highway
by Stan Applegate
In 1811, on the Natchez Road, fourteen-year-old Zeb finds ten-year-old Hannah, who has been kidnapped from her Choctaw people, and together they face natural and human threats with their combined skills and courage.

Becoming Little Women
by Jeannine Atkins
Relates events in author Louisa May Alcott's tenth year, 1843, when her family moved from Boston to a farm where, along with an odd assortment of idealists, they try to establish a community based on equality and love.

Frozen Summer
by Mary Jane AuchIn
1816, twelve-year-old Mem's new home in the wilderness of western New York is disrupted when the birth of another baby sends her mother in "spells" that disconnect her from reality.

Sacajawea: The Story of Bird Woman and the Lewis and Clark Expedition
by Joseph Bruchac
Sacajawea, a Shoshoni interpreter, peacemaker, and guide, and William Clark alternate in describing their experiences on the Lewis and Clark Expedition to the Northwest.

The Smuggler's Treasure
by Sarah Masters Buckey
Sent to live with relatives in New Orleans during the War of 1812, eleven-year-old Elisabet determines to find a smuggler's treasure to ransom her imprisoned father.

Stealing Freedom
by Elisa Carbone
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.

Soft Rain: The Story of the Cherokee Trail of Tears
by Cornelia Cornelissen
Soft Rain, a nine-year-old Cherokee girl, is forced to relocate, along with her family, from North Carolina to the West.

So Far From Home: The Diary of Mary Driscoll, an Irish Mill Girl
by Barry Denenberg
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.

The Birchbark House
by Louise Erdrich
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.

Bandit's Moon
by Sid Fleischman
Twelve-year-old Annyrose relates her adventures with Joaquin Murieta and his band of outlaws in the California gold-mining region during the mid-1800's.

A Line in the Sand: The Alamo Diary of Lucinda Lawrence
by Sherry Garland
In the journal she receives for her thirteenth birthday in 1835, Lucinda Lawrence describe 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.

In the Shadow of the Alamo
by Sherry Garland
Conscripted into the Mexican army, fifteen-year-old Lorenzo Bonifacio makes some unexpected alliances and learns some harsh truths about General Santa Anna as the troops move toward the Battle of the Alamo.

Valley of the Moon: The Diary of Maria Rosalia de Milagros, Sonoma Valley, Alta California, 1846
by Sherry Garland
The 1845-1846 diary of the thirteen-year-old Maria, servant to the wealthy Spanish family which took her in when her Indian mother died.  Includes a historical note about the settlement and early history of California.

Seasons of the Trail
by Lynn Glaze
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.

Jenny of the Tetons
by Kristiana Gregory
Orphaned by an Indian raid while traveling West with a wagon train, fifteen-year-old Carrie Hill is befriended by the English trapper Beaver Dick and taken to live with his Indian wife Jenny and their six children.

Jimmy Spoon and the Pony Express
by Kristiana Gregory
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.

The Legend of Jimmy Spoon
by Kristiana Gregory
The adventures of a young white boy living among the Shoshoni Indians during the early frontier days.

Seeds of Hope: The Gold Rush Diary of Susanna Fairchild
by Kristiana Gregory
A diary account of fourteen-year-old Susanna Fairchild's life in 1849, when her father succumbs to gold fever on the way to establish his medical practice in Oregon after losing his wife and money on their steamship journey from New York.

The Stowaway: A Tale of California Pirates
by Kristiana Gregory
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.

Hoofbeats of Danger
by Holly Hughes
In 1860, eleven-year-old Annie, who lives at the Red Buttes Pony Express station in the Nebraska Territory, asks Pony Express rider Billy Cody to help her find the person responsible for sabotaging her favorite pony, Magpie.

Over Jordan
by Norma Johnston
In 1836, fourteen-year-old Roxana undertakes a dangerous journey up the Ohio River to help her beloved servant, Joss, and Joss' fiancé, a runaway slave, escape to freedom, aided by Roxana's former teacher, Harriet Beecher Stowe.

Seaman: The Dog Who Explored the West with Lewis and Clark
by Gail Langer Karwoski
Seaman, a Newfoundland, proves his value as a hunter, navigator, and protector while serving with the Corps of Discovery when it explores the West under the leadership of Lewis and Clark.

The Journal of Augustus Pelletier
by Kathryn Lasky
A fictional journal kept by twelve-year-old Augustus Pelletier, the youngest member of Lewis and Clark's Corp of Discovery.

I Remember the Alamo
by Anne D. Love
Eleven-year-old Jessie resents her father's decision to move his family to San Antonio where they are caught up in the revolution of 1835-1836 including the siege of the Alamo.

The Poison Place
by Mary E. Lyons
A former slave named Moses reminisces about his famous owner, Charles Willson Peale, and the intrigue surrounding Peale's son's suspicious death.

Call Me Francis Tucket
by Gary Paulsen
Having separated from the one-armed trapper who taught him how to survive in the wilderness of the Old West, fifteen-year-old Francis gets lost and continues to have adventures involving dangerous men and a friendly mule.

Mr. Tucket
by Gary Paulsen
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.

Tucket's Home
by Gary Paulsen
Francis, Lottie, and Billy survive a series of hair-raising adventures while on their way west to the Oregon Trail, where they hope to find the Tucket family.

Tucket's Ride
by Gary Paulsen
When fifteen-year-old Francis and two younger children lose their way in the wilderness of the Southwest, they face capture during the Mexican War.

Trouble Don't Last
by Selley Persall
Samuel, an eleven-year-old Kentucky slave, and Harrison, the elderly slave who helped raise him, attempt to escape to Canada via the Underground Railroad.

Lightning Time
by Douglas Rees
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.

The Second Bend in the River
by Ann Rinaldi
In 1789, Rebecca, a young settler in the Ohio territory, meets the Shawnee called tecumseh and lter develops a deep friendship with him.

Washington City is Burning
by Harriette Gillem Robinet
In 1814 Virginia, a slave in President Madison's White House, experiences the burning of Washington by the invading British army.

Girl of the Shining Mountains: Sacagawea's Story
by Peter and Connie Roop
Sacagawea describes how, at the age of sixteen, she becomes part of the Lewis and Clark expedition and serves as the interpreter and guide, surviving many dangerous adventures on their trek through the wilderness.

Send One Angel Down
by Virginia Schwartz
A young slave tries to shield the horrors of slavery from his young cousin, a light-skinned slave who is the daughter of the plantation owner.

The Captain's Dog
by Roland Smith
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.

Stopping to Home
by Lea Wait
In 1806, orphaned eleven-year-old Abigail and her little brother Seth find a home with the young Widow Chase in the seaport of Wiscasset, Maine, and help her discover a way to support them all.

Danger Along the Ohio
by Patricia Willis
Lost in the Ohio River Valley in May 1793, twelve-year-old Clare and her two brothers struggle to survive in the wilderness and to avoid capture by the Shawnee Indians.

Caleb's Choice
by G. Clifton Wisler
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.

Jericho's Journey
by G. Clifton Wisler
As his family makes the long and difficult journey from Tennessee to their new home in Texas in 1852, twelve-year-old Jericho Wetherby, teased by his sister and brothers about his size, learns there are many ways to grow.

Dear Austin: Letters form the Underground Railroad 
by Elvira Woodruff 
In 1853, 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.

Freedom Wings:  Corey's Diary, Kentucky to Ohio, 1857 
by Sharon Dennis Wyeth
A nine-year-old slave keeps a diary of his journey to freedom along the Underground Railroad in 1857.

Westward Expansion and Pioneer Life

Bluestem
by Frances Arrington
With their father 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.

The Ballad of Lucy Whipple
by Karen Cushman
In 1849, a twelve-year-old girl who calls herself Lucy is distraught when her mother moves the family from Massachusetts to a small 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 "home".

The Apprenticeship of Lucas Whitaker
by Cynthia DeFelice
This fascinating novel is based on information that surfaced recently, exposing the macabre practice employed in the mid-1800's by people desperate to save their loved ones from what we now call tuberculosis.

So Far from Home: The Diary of Mary Driscoll, an Irish Mill Girl
by Barry Denenberg
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.

Across the Wide and Lonesome Prairie: The Oregon Trail Diary of Hattie Campbell
by Kristiana Gregory
In her diary, thirteen-year-old Hattie chronicles her family's arduous 1847 journey from Missouri to Oregon on the Oregon Trail.

Our Only May Amelia
by Jennifer L. Holm
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.

Boston Jane
by Jennifer L. Holm
Schooled in 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.

Lotta's Progress
by Norma Johnston
In 1848 when Lotta's family immigrates to Boston from Germany, they face all sorts of difficulties until they are befriended by the Alcott family, who have set themselves up as "missionaries to the poor".

Orphan Journey Home
by Liza Ketshum
In 1828, while traveling from Illinois to Kentucky, twelve-year-old Jesse and her two brothers and sister lose their parents to the milk sickness and must try to finish the dangerous journey by themselves.