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Reading Lists: American Historical Fiction
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Ames, Mildred. Grandpa Jake and the Grand Christmas . 1990. 98p. Lizzie's family is suffering hard times during the Depression until long lost Grandpa Jake appears on their doorstep and generates some needed changes. |
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Bennett, Paul. Follow the River. 1987. 190p. Growing up in a small Ohio town in the 1930s, and acutely aware of his family's struggles to make ends meet, "Lighthorse" Lee finds his fate firmly tied to that of an intriguing rich girl and her family. Best for grade 6 and up. |
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Bridgers, Sue Ellen. All We Know of Heaven. 1996. 212p. Set in Depression-era rural North Carolina, this is the story of Bethany Newell, raised by well-meaning relatives after her mother dies, but always a stranger in her own world until she meets Joel Calder, the neighbors' boy who has been away to military school. Best for ages 14 and up. |
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Burch, Robert. Ida Early Comes Over the Mountain. 1980. 145p. Tough times in rural Georgia during the Depression take a lively turn when spirited Ida Early arrives to keep house for the Suttons. Don't miss the other books about Ida! |
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Corcoran, Barbara. The Sky is Falling. 1988. 185p. In Boston during the early days of the Great Depression, Annah's affluent life-style comes to an abrupt end when her father loses his banking job. Annah is sent to live with her aunt on a New Hampshire island, where she meets a destitute but spunky girl named Dodie. Best for grades 6 and up. |
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Downing, Warwick. Kid Curry's Last Ride. 1989. 166p. Spending a summer in the 1930s with his grandmother in a small Wyoming town, Alex becomes involved with an old man who claims to be Kid Curry, a member of Butch Cassidy's gang. |
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Duey, Kathleen. Agnes May Gleason: Walsenburg, Colorado, 1933. 1998. 140p. In 1933, when her father's foot injury makes it impossible for him to do farm work for a while, thirteen-year-old Agnes steps in, proving herself and revealing her understanding of him. For ages 8 and up. |
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Hamilton, Virginia. Willie Bea and the time the Martians landed. 1983. 208p. In October of 1938, on their farm homestead in Ohio, a black family is caught up in the fear generated by the Orson Welles "Martians Have Landed" broadcast. |
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Henry, Marguerite. Born to trot. 1950. 219p. As he learns about the famous Hambletonian, sire of the American Trotter, young Gib White dreams of someday having his own filly become a champion trotter. Based on the true story of the horse, Rosalind, who won the race, the Hambletonian, in 1936. |
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Hesse, Karen. Out of the Dust. 1997. 227p. In a series of poems, 15 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. |
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Hunt, Irene. No Promises in the wind. 1970. 223p. In America during the Great Depression, fifteen-year-old Josh must make his own way through a country of angry and frightened people. This is the story of a young man's struggle to find a life for himself in the turbulent thirties. Best suited for 7th grade and up. |
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Lyon, George Ella. Borrowed Children. 1988. 154p. Having been forced to act as mother and housekeeper during Mama's illness, 12 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. |
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Myers, Walter Dean. The Glory Field. 1994. 375p. Follow a family's 241 year history, from the capture of an African boy in the 1750s through the lives of his descendents, as their dreams and circumstances lead them away from and back to the small plot of land in South Carolina they call the Glory Field. |
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Peck, Richard. A Long way from Chicago. 1998. 148p. A boy recounts his annual summer trips to rural Illinois with his sister during the Great Depression to visit their larger-than-life grandmother. 1999 Newbery Honor Book. |
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Peck, Robert Newton. The Horse Hunters. 1988. 215p. In 1932 in Florida, despite his older brother's objections, fifteen-year-old Ladd finds himself, through a series of unforeseen circumstances, traveling alone more than 100 miles to bring back wild horses for the rodeo and for breeding. Best for ages 12 and up. |
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Peck, Robert Newton. Soup. 1974. 96p. This is a very funny book about the adventures and misadventures of two boys growing up in a small Vermont town. Great read aloud for the entire family. If you loved the movie "A Christmas Story" (you know, the one where all the kid wants for Christmas is a BB gun and the mom says "you'll shoot your eye out"?), then you'll love this book and the entire series. American nostalgia and boy humor at their best. |
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Ransom, Candice F. Fire in the Sky. 1997. 71p. More than losing at marbles, worrying about his relatives in Germany, or hearing his favorite radio hero, Jack Armstrong, nine-year-old Stenny Green is focused on getting to see the Hindenburg when it lands near his home in Lakehurst, New Jersey, in 1937. |
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Snyder, Zilpha Keatley. Cat Running. 1994. 168p. When eleven year old Cat Kinsey builds a secret hideout to escape her unhappy homelife, she slowly gets to know a poor family who have come to California after losing their Texas home to the dust storms of the 1930's. |
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Taylor, Mildred D. Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry. 1976. 276p. A black family living in the South during the 1930's are faced with prejudice and discrimination which the children don't understand. Don't miss the other books about the Logan family. Best for ages 12 and up. |
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Thesman, Jean. Rachel Chance. 1990. 175p. When Rachel's illegitimate baby brother is kidnapped by a travelling band of revivalists in 1940, she sets out with her grandfather, a hired hand, and an eccentric neighbor in a desperate attempt to steal him back. |
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Uchida, Yoshiko. A Jar of Dreams . 1981. 131p. A young girl grows up in a closely-knit Japanese American family in California during the 1930's, a time of great prejudice. |
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Uchida, Yoshiko. The Happiest Ending. 1985. 111p. When 12 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. |
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Van Raven, Pieter. A Time of Troubles. 1990. 180p. Having crossed the country with his father during the depression to find work in California, fourteen-year-old Roy encounters cruel exploitation by the Growers' Association of the desperate, impoverished people pouring into the state. Recommended for ages 12 & up. |
| If you enjoyed reading these books at the library, you may enjoy looking for the following books! |
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Brenner, Barbara. A Year in the Life of Rosie Bernard. 1971. 179p. During the year spent with relatives after her mother's death, Rosie struggles with the painful experience of accepting her father's choice of a new wife. |
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Brink, Carol Ryrie. Winter Cottage. 1939. 178p. It is the fall of 1930, the beginning of the Great Depression. Thirteen-year-old Minty Sparkes is already aware that she has a large responsibility for family's well being, for although she loves her poetry-quoting father, both he and she realize that his verses and charm will not feed or house their family. |
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Burch, Robert. Wilkin's Ghost. 1978. 152p. A boy living in rural Georgia in 1935 befriends an accused teenage thief he believes is innocent. |
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Cannon, Bettie Waddell. A Bellsong for Sarah Raines. 1987. 184p. Surrounded by the warmth of new-found relatives and friends in a small Kentucky town, fourteen-year-old Sarah is eased of the sadness of her father's suicide in Detroit during the Depression and finds a way to celebrate his life. |
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Edwards, Pat. Nelda. 1987. 178p. Eleven year old Nelda and her family have their share of hard times during the Depression, but Nelda knows it is her destiny to be rich some day and when she becomes a companion to the elderly Miss Mattie May, she knows she's taking a step in the right direction. |
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Hooks, William H. Circle of Fire. 1982. 147p. Shortly before Christmas, 1936, eleven year old Harrison overhears a notorious local bigot planning a Klu Klux Klan raid on a band of Irish tinkers camped nearby and realizes he must do something to prevent it. |
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Riddell, Ruth. Haunted Journey. 1988. 215p. To pay off the taxes on his late father's land, Obie travels to the haunted River Country in hopes of finding pearls in the mussel beds. Best for ages 10 and up. |
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Sebestyen, Ouida. Far From Home. 1980. 191p. After the death of his mother, 13-year-old Salty goes to take his place working for the Buckley Arms Hotel where he begins to learn about the complexities of love and family. Best for 6th grade and up. |
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Thrasher, Crystal. A Taste of Daylight . 1984. 204p. After her father dies, Seely and her family move to the city where her mother feels life will be easier, but city life presents a new set of problems that the family has not encountered before. Best for ages 12 and up. |
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