-Historical Fiction books

relate to events that have

happened in the past and
are based on history.

6. (P)FreedomSummerbyDeborahWiles

This book is about a boy and his friend John Henry. They are best
friends and this book takes place during times when it was
segregated so they were not allowed to do the same things
because John Henry is African American. The two boys liked to go
swimming in the creek and eating ice pops. One day the town
pool was going to be opened for everyone no matter what color
skin you had. When they got there, the pool was being filled with
tar so nobody was allowed to swim. Instead, they went to the
store and got ice pops together because now John Henry was
allowed to do the same things as his friend because it was a law
now and segregation was coming to an end.
Interest Level: P-2
Grade Level: 3.2

7. (C)ISurvivedtheAttacksofSeptember11th,2001by
LaurenTarshis
-

This book is about a boy named Lucas who loved playing football.
He loved catching the passes that seemed impossible. His dad
was on the FDNY. One day Lucas skipped school when his parents
went to work, he went into New York City on the 7:17 train. He
went to see Uncle Benny because he was at the doctor and he
told Lucas that he cannot play football anymore due to
concussions. When he got to the fire station, he and Uncle Benny
saw the planes crash in to the Twin Towers. He ran towards the
towers and his dad saw him and they ran into a store to get away
from the top of the first tower that came collapsing down to the
ground. At the end, he learned that Uncle Benny had escaped
from the tower with another man on his back, saving both of
their lives. Lucas, Uncle Benny and his father had survived the
attacks of September 11th, 2001.
Interest Level: 2-5
Grade Level: 4.5

8. (C)MagicTreeHouse#47:AbeLincolnatLast!byMary
PopeOsborne
-

This book is about a little boy and girl named Jack and Annie who
are trying to find a magical feather that they need to help save
Penny the penguin who turned into a statue. They find a
newspaper in the tree house and a bottle with magic potion. The
note told Jack and Annie to drink it and wish for something to
help them on their mission to find the magic feather. They

wished to go to the White House where they hope to meet

Abraham Lincoln and get the feather from him that will help save
Penny. In the end, Abraham Lincoln had given them a feather and
Jack and Annie wrote him a special message on a piece of paper.
They returned home and couldnt stop talking about Abraham
Lincoln. There was still one thing needed to save Penny however
and they both agreed to wait until tomorrow because they want
to live a normal life for a day and go to school and sleep in their
own beds.
Interest Level: K-3
Grade Level: 3.0

15.
-

(C)NumbertheStarsbyLoisLowry(V)

This book is about a girl named Annemarie and her friend Ellen
during World War II. Ellen is Jewish, so when the Nazis come into
Denmark and try to take over, Ellen goes to live with Annemarie
and act like she is her sister so she doesnt get killed. She
doesnt want to get noticed in anyway so she takes off her star of
David necklace. Annemaries mom ends up taking her and Ellen
and her little sister Kirsti to visit their uncle, where they plan a
fake funeral so the Nazis dont suspect anything is going on.
When Annemaries mom and her older sisters fiance take a
bunch of Jewish people to safety, Annemarie finds out that
Ellens father was supposed to be carrying an important package
to their uncles house, but it never made it with him. Annemarie
has to take the package and hide it in a basket with food to her
uncles boat so she can help Ellen and her family escape. She
ends up making it to the boat with the package and Ellen and her
family successfully escape to Sweden. Annemarie saved Ellens
life that day and she cant wait for her to come back after the
war so she can give her back her necklace.
Interest Level: 4-7
Grade Level: 4.5

16.
-

(C)Sara,PlainandTallbyPatriciaMacLachlan

This book is about a brother and a sister, Caleb and Anna. They
dont have a mother because when she gave birth to Caleb, she
died the next day. Since Caleb never met his mother, he asks
Anna all types of questions about her so he can get a better
understanding of the type of woman she was. Anna begins by
telling him that her and papa used to sing everyday but now
papa doesnt sing anymore. Papa came home one day and Caleb
asked him why he doesnt sing anymore and he told Caleb that
he doesnt remember the songs anymore. He then tells Caleb
and Anna that he put an ad in the newspaper for a wife that can
be a great mother for his kids. He then tells them that he was
writing to a girl named Sarah, who is from Maine, who he thinks
would be a good match for him. Caleb and Anna begin to write
letters to Sarah as well, but theyre afraid that she wont want
them. Sarah agrees to come visit for a month to see how things
go and the kids get excited but are still scared that she wont
want them. Anna could tell that Sarah misses the sea, and she
thinks that she wont return to be with them. One day Sarah
went into the town with the wagon by herself and Caleb got
worried but Anna told him that she would be coming back. Sarah
ended up returning to the house later that night. She then tells
papa and Caleb and Anna that although she misses the sea, she
would miss them a whole lot more so she was going to stay. Her
and papa then get married, and Anna and Caleb now have a
mother.
Interest Level: 2-5
Grade Level: 3.4

9. (P)TheYearofthePerfectChristmasTreebyGloria
Houston
-

This book is about a girl named Ruthie who has a dad in the
military. This year was their turn to get the perfect Christmas
tree for the village. They went up to and found a perfect balsam
tree. They tied Ruthies ribbon to the top of the tree to mark it.
Ruthies dad then went to war. He wrote them a letter that said
he would be home for Christmas because the war was now over.
They got worried that the tree would not be ready by Christmas.
Ruthie and her mom went to retrieve the tree that Ruthie and her
dad had picked out. They brought it back down to the village and
went to church the next day. At the end, Ruthies dad showed up
outside of the church and they had the perfect Christmas.
Interest Level: K-3
Grade Level: 4.2

10.

(P)TheWallbyEveBunting

This book is about a little boy and his father who go to visit the
Vietnam Memorial in Washington, D.C. They go to the memorial
because the little boys father was in the Vietnam War and his
name was on the wall so they went to see if they could find his
name on the wall. They end up finding his grandfathers name
and his dad picks him up so he can see it. He then puts his
school picture underneath his grandfathers name so itll be there
with him forever. His father talked to him about his grandfather
and what the wall stands for (Honor). The little boy was trying to
find the hidden message on what the wall stood for and that is

what he did. The father also feels very accomplished that he got
a very important message across to his son.
Interest Level: 1-4
Grade Level: 2.4