Historical Fiction

These award-winning books of historical fiction range from a book set in 1285 to several books set in the 1960s, which are appropriate for upper elementary and middle school readers.

Readers Respond: Read about kids' favorite books and authors of middle grade historical fiction and then share your children's favorites

Freedom on the Menu: The Greensboro Sit-Ins is the story of the historic sit-ins in Greenboro, North Carolina, that began February 1, 1960, and impacted the Civil Rights Movement. Freedom on the Menu: The Greensboro Sit-Ins is told in picture book format by Carole Boston Weatherford, with illustrations by Jerome Lagarrigue. Freedom on the Menu is a good children's books for 7-12 year olds.

If your tween or young teen enjoys historical fiction, I recommend Escaping the Tiger by Laura Manivong, which is a novel about a 12 year old Laotian boy and hsi family in the early 1980s, their flight from Laos and their four years in a refuge camp in Thailand.

Your Guide, Liz Kennedy, takes a look at this excellent 2001 Coretta Scott King Honor Book, which highlights in text and illustrations the lives of ten outstanding African American women.

The children's book Countdown is a work of historical fiction for ages 9-12. Written by by Deborah Wiles, Countdown takes place during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Countdown is Book One in The Sixties Trilogy.

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The Dreamer is a work of historical fiction for kids. The Dreamer by Pam Munoz Ryan is based on the life of poet Pablo Neruda from Chile. Pam Munoz Ryan won the 2011 Pura Belpre Author Award for The Dreamer.

Zora and Me, historical fiction for kids, provides an introduction to the childhood and storytelling of author Zora Neale Hurston and the racial prejudice she encountered growing up in the South.

The New York Public Library's annotated list of 100 Favorite Children's Books is divided into ten, one of which is Biography and History..

An annotated list of historical fiction about pre-teens' and young teens' experiences during the western movement in the United States that should appeal to middle school and older students.

The Keene Public Library in New Hampshire has a long, briefly annotated list of historical fiction for youth, divided into a large number of categories.

While this list from the Buffalo & Erie County (NY) Public Library is not annotated, it is categorized by time period or subject.

This list of historical fiction is divided into time periods: Prehistoric and Ancient Time, The Middle Ages and Renaissance, Colonial America, The American Revolution and Revolutionary Times; The Nineteenth Century, Frontier and Pioneer Fiction; The Civil War and Slavery. It includes cover art, a very brief description and recommended grade levels, ranging from first to ninth grade, from the Multnomah County (Oregon) Library.

Articles, lesson ideas, and book reviews, from Carol Hurst's Children's Literature site.

A list of historical fiction for middle school students, organized chronologically by the date depicted, from Franklin Middle School, Fairfax County, Virginia.

Information about the Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction and the winners of this award for a work of historical fiction published by a U.S. publisher and set in the New World.

Teachers will particularly appreciate all of the lesson ideas for using historical fiction in teaching about various time periods and historical themes, from Carol Hurst's Children's Literature site.

An excellent article by Tarry Lindquist, an award winning fifth grade teacher, from the Language Arts/Social Studies section of the Scholastic web site.

Here's an interesting article by a Rutgers University professor, Kay E. Vandergrift, titled "Foregrounding Women in History in Children's and Young Adult Books."