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Reading Lists: American Historical Fiction
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Antle, Nancy. Lost in the War.1998. 137p. 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. Best for ages 11 and up. |
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Christiansen, C.B. I See the Moon. 1994. 115p. In a small, 1978 old-fashioned farming community, twelve-year-old Bitte learns the answer to the question "what is love?" when her older sister decides to place her unborn child up for adoption. Best for 5th grade and up. |
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Curtis, Christopher Paul. The Watsons go to Birmingham-1963. 1995. 210p. 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. |
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Davis, Donald. Listening for the crack of dawn. 1990. 220p. These stories of growing up in the 50s and 60s in western North Carolina are funny and true, nostalgic and never sentimental. Best for 6th grade and up. |
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Davis, Terry. Mysterious Ways. 1980. 275p. This coming of age novel is about Karl Russell's sophomore year in college in 1968. Best for ages 14 and up. |
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Grimes, Nikki. Jazmin's Notebook. 1998. 102p. Jazmin, an African-American teenager who lives with her sister in a small Harlem apartment in the 1960's, finds strength in writing poetry and keeping a record of the events in her sometimes difficult life. |
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Henry, Marguerite. Mustang: Wild Spirit of the West. 1966. 222p. Fictionalized account of Wild Horse Annie's crusade to save the mustangs from extinction because of professional killers who slaughter the horses for use in dogfood. |
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LaFaye, A. Strawberry Hill. 1999. 272p. During the summer of 1976, twelve-year-old Raleia Pendle feels like a misfit with her hippie parents and begins a friendship with the town recluse. |
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Marino, Jan. The Day That Elvis Came to Town: a novel. 1991. 204p. 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. |
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Metzger, Lois. Missing Girls. 1999. 176p. During eighth grade in 1967, Carrie moves in with her grandmother, becomes friends with an indrawn classmate, and comes to terms with her mother's death. Best for 5th grade and up. |
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Moore, Yvette. Freedom Songs. 1991. 168p. In the sixties, when Sheryl's Uncle Pete joins the Freedom Riders down South, she organizes a gospel concert in Brooklyn to help him. Best for ages 12 and up. |
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Morey, Walt. Deep Trouble. 1971. 214p. Set in the late 1950s, Joey uses all his courage and skill to work Alaska's salmon traps in order to support his family after his father's death. |
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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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Nelson, Theresa. And One For All. 1989. 182p. Geraldine's close relationship with her older brother Wing and his friend Sam changes when Wing joins the Marines and Sam leaves for Washington and joins a peace march. |
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Voigt, Cynthia. David and Jonathan. 1992. 249p. The relationship bewteen two close friends, Henry and Jonathan, changes when Jonathan's cousin, David, a victim of the Holocaust, comes to live with David's family. Best for ages 14 and up. |
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Voigt, Cynthia. Tell me if the lovers are losers. 1982. 241p. In 1961, at a college for academically gifted women, three roommates who differ substantially from each other are brought together by a common interest in volleyball. Recommended for 8th grade and up. |
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Wilkinson, Brenda Scott. Ludell. 1975. 170p. A young black girl experiences the pleasures and pains of growing up during the 1950s in a small Georgia town. |
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Wilkinson, Brenda. Ludell's New York Time. 1980. 184p. Ludell moves from Georgia to New York City during the senior year and struggles to adjust to life in 1960's Harlem. Recommended for 7th grade and up. |
| If you enjoyed reading these books at the library, you may enjoy looking for the following books! |
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Bridgers, Sue Ellen. All together now: a novel. 1979. 238p. Casey spends her twelfth summer visiting her grandparents in their small town while her father serves in the Korean War and her mother works two jobs. This author was born and raised in North Carolina. Look for other books by this author! |
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Durkin, Barbara Wernecke. Oh, you Dundalk Girls, Can't you Polka? 1984. 311p. When she is four, Bebe Schmidt's family moves to Dundalk, near Baltimore, where she meets cruelty for the first time when other kids tease her about how fat she is. But Bebe, ever resourceful, learns how to use her weight and her intelligence to her advantage. Best for ages 15 and up. |
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Fleming, Susan. Trapped on the Golden Flyer. 1978. 125p. The train carying Paul through the Sierra Nevada becomes frozen to the tracks during a blizzard and the passengers are drawn together in a fight for survival. |
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Smothers, Ethel Footman. Moriah's Pond. 1995. 111p. While she and her sisters are staying with their great-grandmother, ten-year-old Annie Rye learns about prejudice first hand when a local white girl causes Annie's sister to be unjustly punished. |
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Tapp, Kathy Kennedy. The Sacred Circle of the Hula Hoop. 1989. 180p. In the early 1960s, thirteen-year-old Robin tries, in a variety of ways, to unravel the mystery behind her older sister's dramatic change of personality and attempted suicide. Best for ages 12 and up. |
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