Historical Fiction
Realistic stories set in the past.
Dreaming of America By:
Eve Bunting
In this story three siblings from Ireland travel together to America. They are sad to leave but excited for America. They meet a Mr. Viktor who is kind to them and becomes their friend. By the third day on the ship no one was eating because there was a huge storm. On Christmas they opened their gifts from their aunt and uncle which were scarves and mince pies. On Annie’s birthday she opened her gift from auntie which was her double heart ring. Annie was the first one to enter through Ellis Island and got a ten dollar coin. They went and registered and then saw their parents for the first time in three years.
I thought this was a great book that shows immigration through the eyes of a young child. It helps kids see from a different perspective of immigrants.
In this story three siblings from Ireland travel together to America. They are sad to leave but excited for America. They meet a Mr. Viktor who is kind to them and becomes their friend. By the third day on the ship no one was eating because there was a huge storm. On Christmas they opened their gifts from their aunt and uncle which were scarves and mince pies. On Annie’s birthday she opened her gift from auntie which was her double heart ring. Annie was the first one to enter through Ellis Island and got a ten dollar coin. They went and registered and then saw their parents for the first time in three years.
I thought this was a great book that shows immigration through the eyes of a young child. It helps kids see from a different perspective of immigrants.
Freedom on the Menu By: Carole Boston Weatherford
In a time when whites and blacks were separate but equal, there were signs everywhere telling them what they could and couldn't do. One day four boys sat at the counter where they weren't supposed to and a cop came. When Connie asked her brother why they did this his response was that if they are going to spend money there they should be allowed to eat there. Her brother and sister joined the picketers and one day her sister got arrested. Then they were finally were allowed to sit at the counter and she got a banana split.
In a time when whites and blacks were separate but equal, there were signs everywhere telling them what they could and couldn't do. One day four boys sat at the counter where they weren't supposed to and a cop came. When Connie asked her brother why they did this his response was that if they are going to spend money there they should be allowed to eat there. Her brother and sister joined the picketers and one day her sister got arrested. Then they were finally were allowed to sit at the counter and she got a banana split.
Freedom Summer By:
Deborah Wiles
Joe and John Henry are a lot alike both love to swim, shoot marbles and both want to be firemen. Joe is white and John Henry is black and in the south that means they aren’t allowed to do everything together. When a law is passed that forbids segregation the pool is opened to everyone and they can’t wait to race each other, but they find out not even a law can change people’s minds.
A very unique way to tell a story about the south in the 1960s.
Joe and John Henry are a lot alike both love to swim, shoot marbles and both want to be firemen. Joe is white and John Henry is black and in the south that means they aren’t allowed to do everything together. When a law is passed that forbids segregation the pool is opened to everyone and they can’t wait to race each other, but they find out not even a law can change people’s minds.
A very unique way to tell a story about the south in the 1960s.
A Hero and The
Holocaust By: David A. Adler
This is about a Jewish boy who grows up to be a doctor and writer. He has always loved kids so he works at a children’s hospital and then a children’s home. He becomes so close with these children that he starts to become a father figure to them. When Hitler came to power they had to go to labor camps and live in filth and poverty. No matter what he never left the children. When the time came they all were being moved to the crematories, since he was famous he was recognized by a Nazi who offered to let him go, but he refused because he would not leave his children alone.
I liked reading this because he never left his children. I think hero was definitely the best word to describe him.
This is about a Jewish boy who grows up to be a doctor and writer. He has always loved kids so he works at a children’s hospital and then a children’s home. He becomes so close with these children that he starts to become a father figure to them. When Hitler came to power they had to go to labor camps and live in filth and poverty. No matter what he never left the children. When the time came they all were being moved to the crematories, since he was famous he was recognized by a Nazi who offered to let him go, but he refused because he would not leave his children alone.
I liked reading this because he never left his children. I think hero was definitely the best word to describe him.
I Survived The Attacks
of September 11th, 2001 By: Lauren Tarshis
Lucas’ favorite sport is football, but his parents want him to give it up after multiple concussions. Lucas’ father and best friend Uncle Benny are fire fighters in New York City and Lucas’ father is injured in the line of duty. Uncle Benny was the one to get Lucas first interested in football. Lucas wants them to reconsider so he skips school and goes to his father’s best friend Uncle Benny at the fire station in New York City. He talks to Uncle Benny about the situation and wants him to convince his parents to change their minds. While talking to him a plane crashes into one of the World Trade Center buildings. Uncle Benny puts Lucas inside for safety and responds.
I thought this was a great story for the age group because they were not alive when this event happened. It shows them what someone their age at the time was going through especially with a father and uncle as fire fighters.
Lucas’ favorite sport is football, but his parents want him to give it up after multiple concussions. Lucas’ father and best friend Uncle Benny are fire fighters in New York City and Lucas’ father is injured in the line of duty. Uncle Benny was the one to get Lucas first interested in football. Lucas wants them to reconsider so he skips school and goes to his father’s best friend Uncle Benny at the fire station in New York City. He talks to Uncle Benny about the situation and wants him to convince his parents to change their minds. While talking to him a plane crashes into one of the World Trade Center buildings. Uncle Benny puts Lucas inside for safety and responds.
I thought this was a great story for the age group because they were not alive when this event happened. It shows them what someone their age at the time was going through especially with a father and uncle as fire fighters.
John, Paul, George and
Ben By: Lane Smith
John had lovely penmanship and showed it by writing his name very large, Paul spent hours practicing bell ringing in the tower which caused his hearing to go a bit so that now when he spoke he had to half shout. George could not tell a lie and Ben always had a saying up his sleeve. Tom was very independent. John, Paul, George, Ben and Tom started a revolution in 1775. Paul warned everyone that the redcoats were coming, Ben said that they will all hang separately if they don’t hang together. Tom wrote the Declaration of Independence while John was the first to sign very big, and George decided that instead of being a king he would be a president instead.
I thought this was a very cute way of telling our country’s history. A book that I definitely will want to add to my collection.
John had lovely penmanship and showed it by writing his name very large, Paul spent hours practicing bell ringing in the tower which caused his hearing to go a bit so that now when he spoke he had to half shout. George could not tell a lie and Ben always had a saying up his sleeve. Tom was very independent. John, Paul, George, Ben and Tom started a revolution in 1775. Paul warned everyone that the redcoats were coming, Ben said that they will all hang separately if they don’t hang together. Tom wrote the Declaration of Independence while John was the first to sign very big, and George decided that instead of being a king he would be a president instead.
I thought this was a very cute way of telling our country’s history. A book that I definitely will want to add to my collection.
The Junk Man’s Daughter
By: Sonia Levitin
In this story a father tells his daughter that America has streets of gold. When they move there the father struggles to find a job and they struggle to make a living. The daughter gets mad at her father because he lied to her about the golden streets. One day they discover bottles, cans, and metal. They collect it because they could be sold. Children made fun of her but she made sure to hide her pain. Their business grew so much they became a huge company… a trash company.
This shows an immigrant family’s struggle to make a living. It’s good to show kids how hard it was for immigrants.
In this story a father tells his daughter that America has streets of gold. When they move there the father struggles to find a job and they struggle to make a living. The daughter gets mad at her father because he lied to her about the golden streets. One day they discover bottles, cans, and metal. They collect it because they could be sold. Children made fun of her but she made sure to hide her pain. Their business grew so much they became a huge company… a trash company.
This shows an immigrant family’s struggle to make a living. It’s good to show kids how hard it was for immigrants.
Molly's Pilgrim By: Barbara Cohen
Molly is a Russian who is made fun of by Elizabeth because she has an accent. They are given an assignment to make a pilgrim doll which Molly's mother is happy to help with. She makes the doll look like her which molly isn't happy about. When Elizabeth makes fun of Molly's doll the teacher teaches
Rose Blanche By: Robert
Innocenti
A girl describes World War II in her home town. Trucks of soldiers come and go. She hates watching the tanks go by because they are loud and smell bad. One day a boy jumps from a truck and runs but the mayor gets him and brings him back to the truck. She followed the truck to see where he was going. She came to an electric barbed wire fence and gave the young children her bread through it. Every day she took more and more bread, butter, jam and apples to them. She got thinner and thinner, only the mayor got fatter. Some of the children in the barbed wire had stars pinned on them. One day all the people fled town. Rose went to the camp that day when the soldiers invaded and never came home.
This book is great to read to children because it shows World War II through the eyes of a little girl in Europe. It teaches kindness, sharing and sorrow.
A girl describes World War II in her home town. Trucks of soldiers come and go. She hates watching the tanks go by because they are loud and smell bad. One day a boy jumps from a truck and runs but the mayor gets him and brings him back to the truck. She followed the truck to see where he was going. She came to an electric barbed wire fence and gave the young children her bread through it. Every day she took more and more bread, butter, jam and apples to them. She got thinner and thinner, only the mayor got fatter. Some of the children in the barbed wire had stars pinned on them. One day all the people fled town. Rose went to the camp that day when the soldiers invaded and never came home.
This book is great to read to children because it shows World War II through the eyes of a little girl in Europe. It teaches kindness, sharing and sorrow.
Sarah Plain and Tall
By: Patricia MacLachlan
Anna and Caleb are left with their father after their mother dies when they are young. Their father puts an ad in the paper looking for a mother for his children. Sarah responds to the ad and tells him she would like to come to the prairie and see how it goes. The children and Sarah write letters back and forth asking questions and she responds and they decide they want her to come. Sarah lived in Maine by the sea and the kids wonder how she feels leaving her home. She brings them souvenirs from the sea and her cat, seal. Sarah quickly becomes friends with the neighbor Maggie because she is also a wife that responded to an ad. Sarah learns to ride a horse and drive the wagon. When Sarah doesn’t return from town the one day the kids get worried she won’t come back. When she does return they share tears of happiness. She reminds them that she misses home but would miss them more if she left.
This was a cute story, but I thought it was odd that fathers put ads in the newspaper for random women to take care of their children as their wife.
Anna and Caleb are left with their father after their mother dies when they are young. Their father puts an ad in the paper looking for a mother for his children. Sarah responds to the ad and tells him she would like to come to the prairie and see how it goes. The children and Sarah write letters back and forth asking questions and she responds and they decide they want her to come. Sarah lived in Maine by the sea and the kids wonder how she feels leaving her home. She brings them souvenirs from the sea and her cat, seal. Sarah quickly becomes friends with the neighbor Maggie because she is also a wife that responded to an ad. Sarah learns to ride a horse and drive the wagon. When Sarah doesn’t return from town the one day the kids get worried she won’t come back. When she does return they share tears of happiness. She reminds them that she misses home but would miss them more if she left.
This was a cute story, but I thought it was odd that fathers put ads in the newspaper for random women to take care of their children as their wife.
Virgie Goes to School
with Us Boys By: Elizabeth Fitzgerald Howard
This book is about a young African American girl who wants to go to school with her brothers. They don’t think she’d big enough and don’t think girls need school. Their parents come to the conclusion that school is for everyone free. They allow her to go to school with her brothers and she makes it through the seven mile walk. She is so happy when she gets there and can’t wait to tell her parents about everything she’s going to learn.
It was nice to read a book about going to school from a free African American girl. Teaches how valuable school is.
This book is about a young African American girl who wants to go to school with her brothers. They don’t think she’d big enough and don’t think girls need school. Their parents come to the conclusion that school is for everyone free. They allow her to go to school with her brothers and she makes it through the seven mile walk. She is so happy when she gets there and can’t wait to tell her parents about everything she’s going to learn.
It was nice to read a book about going to school from a free African American girl. Teaches how valuable school is.