Crispin: Cross of Lead

Avi

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. Gr. 5 - 9.

Caddie Woodlawn

Carol Ryrie Brink

Chronicles the adventures of eleven-year-old Caddie growing up with her six brothers and sisters on the Wisconsin frontier in the mid-nineteenth century. Gr. 4 - 6.

Pedro's Journal: A Voyage with Christopher Columbus

Pam Conrad

The cabin boy on the "Santa Maria" keeps a diary to record his experiences when he sails with Columbus on his first voyage to the New World in 1492. Gr. 3 - 5.

Bud, Not Buddy

Christopher Paul Curtis

Ten-year-old Bud, a motherless boy living in Flint, Michigan, during the Great Depression, escapes a bad foster home and sets out in search of the man he believes to be his father--the renowned bandleader, H.E. Calloway of Grand Rapids. Gr. 5 - 7.

I Thought My Soul Would Rise and Fly

Joyce Hansen

Twelve-year-old Patsy keeps a diary of the ripe but confusing time following the end of the Civil War and the granting of freedom to former slaves. Gr. 4 - 8.

If you enjoy this title, make sure to check out the rest of the Dear America series!

Titles in this series are shelved as jDEA [DEAR AMERICA]

Wheel on the School

Meindert DeJong

The storks are brought back to their island by the schoolchildren in a Dutch village. Gr. 4 - 7.

An Island Far From Home

John Donahue

The twelve-year-old son of a Union army doctor killed during the fighting in Fredericksburg comes to understand the meaning of war and the fine line between friends and enemies when he begins corresponding with a young Confederate prisoner of war. Gr. 5 - 7.

If you enjoy this title, check out the rest of the Adventures in Time series!

Matchlock Gun

Walter Edmunds

The exciting, true story of a courageous boy who protected his mother and sister from the Indians of the Hudson Valley. Gr. 3 - 5.

Humbug Mountain

Sid Fleischman

A young boy and his wandering family foil villains and rout nasty varmints as they make a home for themselves in a beached boat on the banks of the Missouri. Gr. 4 - 6.

Johnny Tremain

Esther Forbes

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. Gr. 5 - 8.

The Slave Dancer

Paula Fox

Kidnapped by the crew of an Africa-bound ship, a boy discovers to his horror that he is on a slave ship and his job is to play music to help with the exercise periods of the human cargo. Gr. 4 - 7.

Thunder at Gettysburg

Patricia Lee Gauch

Fourteen-year-old Tillie becomes involved in the tragic battle of July 1-3, 1863. Gr. 2 - 4.

Factory Girl

Barbara Greenwood

Twelve-year-old Emily must hold down her job working twelve-hour days in a garment factory in order to keep from starving. Gr. 4 - 7.

The Day it Rained Forever: The Story of the Johnstown Flood

Virginia T. Gross

Christina Berwind and her family live in Johnstown. When the rains came, the dam that held Lake Conemaugh burst, unleashing a wall of water 125 feet high and rushing down the narrow valley at 50 miles an hour toward the town. Gr. 3 - 5.

If you enjoy this title, make sure to check out the rest of the titles in the Once Upon America series!

The Silver Donkey

Sonya Hartnett

In France during World War I, four French children learn about honesty, loyalty, and courage from an English army deserter who tells them a series of stories related to his small, silver donkey charm. Gr. 4 - 7.

Salem Witch

Patricia Hermes

In 1692, teen girls in the town of Salem begin accusing people of witchcraft and Elizabeth and George don't know what to believe. Their opinions diverge as the community begins putting these women on trial, especially after Elizabeth herself is accused of witchcraft. Gr. 4 - 6.

If you enjoy this title, make sure to check out others in the My Side of the Story series.

Out of the Dust

Karen Hesse

In a series of poems, fifteen-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. Gr. 4 - 7.

Across Five Aprils

Irene Hunt

Young Jethro Creighton grows from a boy to a man when he is left to take care of the family farm in Illinois during the difficult years of the Civil War. Gr. 5 - 8.

Number the Stars

Lois Lowry

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. Gr. 5 - 7.

Stop the Train!

Geraldine McCaughrean

Despite the opposition of the owner of the Red Rock Runner railroad in 1893, the new settlers of Florence, Oklahoma, are determined to build a real town. Gr. 4 - 7.