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Historical Fiction
Catherine, Called Birdy Catherine Cushman
YA Cushman
Catherine, whose nickname is Birdy, is the daughter of a minor lord in England during the Middle Ages. Though she is only thirteen years old, her father is already trying to marry her off to the "right" (meaning wealthy) suitor. Birdy chafes against the traditional role of women during this period in history-instead of sewing, cleaning, and cooking, she longs for the freedom to run outside and choose her own path. Told in diary form in Birdy's lively voice.
Earthquake at Dawn Kristiana Gregory
YA Gregory
Edith and her maid have big plans to travel around the world, but when the 1906 San Francisco earthquake hits, they are stranded in the city. Edith, who is a photographer, captures the event on camera as she and her maid find themselves swept up in the turmoil, helping displaced people and trying to find Edith's father. (Edith's character is based on the real photographer Edith Irvine.
A Circle Unbroken Sollace Hotze
YA Hotze
In 1838, Rachel Porter is kidnapped when renegade Indians raid the fort where she lives. She is rescued by the kind chief of the Dakota and Sioux and raised as his daughter. Because of her bright red hair, she is given the Indian name Kata Wi, which means Burning Sun. When she is 17, she is recaptured by soldiers and returned to her white family, who now live in Missouri and who are now also strangers. This is the story of how Rachel tries to reconcile the two sides of herself-white and Native American.
Ashes of Roses Mary Jane Auch
YA Auch
The Nolan family have just reached Ellis Island in hopes of starting a new life in the States, but when the baby of the family is discovered to have an eye infection, the family's dreams are shattered. Da decides to bring the baby back to Ireland until he recovers and then make the trip all over again. In the meantime, Ma and her girls must try and carve out a living in this strange, cruel land. Main character Rose is sixteen, and finds all sorts of opportunities to make money. She soon lands a job at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory, where the conditions are harsh but the money is good. She is even able to buy a new dress in the color "Ashes of Roses" and meets some new friends. Then tragedy strikes when a fire in the factory breaks out, and the owners have locked all the doors.
Lyddie Katherine Patterson
YA Patterson
The year is 1843 and after Lyddie's father abandons the family, she finds herself being hired out as a servant in a tavern. A year of hard work and misery passes, and then Lyddie runs away to Massachusetts in search of better work. Her hope is to make enough money to pay off debts and reunite her mother and siblings. Though Lyddie finds better work in a cloth factory, she is still lonely and seeks refuge in books. Then, just when things are looking up, Lyddie discovers that the rest of her family will not be reunited, because the family farm has been sold to Quaker neighbors.
A Break With Charity Ann Rinaldi
YA Rinaldi
This is a new take on the infamous Salem witch trials. Bored in her strict Puritanical town, Susannah English longs to be part of the group of popular girls. But then the girls begin crying out that they've been bewitched, and townsfolk start to die because of it. Susannah is torn. Should she reveal the truth, or will the girls turn on her and also accuse her of witchcraft?
Stealing Freedom Elisa Lynn Carbone
YA Carbone
Ann Weems is a slave working on the Price farm in Maryland. Though she does backbreaking work from sunup to sundown, she is surrounded by her loving family, and this makes life bearable. Then the Prices begin to sell Ann's family off, one by one. Ann's father finally vows that they will all be a family again in freedom. So begins the Weems's harrowing journey of escape on the Underground Railroad, where they plan to reunite in Canada.
Song of the Magdalene Donna Jo Napoli
YA Napoli
Miriam lives with her wealthy, widowed father in Magdala during the time of the New Testament. One of the servants in Miriam's household has a crippled son named Abraham, and though all the villagers assume he is slow, Miriam knows him as an intelligent, kind boy who teaches her to read. Then Miriam begins to suffer fits, an affliction that was once believed to be caused by demons.
Daughter of Twin Oaks Laurie Snelling
YA Snelling
Jesselyn's dying father asks her to take the family's thoroughbreds to her uncle's farm to escape the brutality of the Civil War. But there are deserters and vigilantes hiding in the woods-will she make it safely to her destination?
Fleshmarket Nicola Morgan
YA Morgan
In 19th century Scotland, Robbie's mother undergoes a brutal, unsuccessful surgery to remove cancer and dies. Not too long afterward, Robbie's father deserts him and his little sister, and Robbie must forage some kind of life for the both of them. To earn money, he falls in with doctors who practice the unlawful study of anatomy and the gruesome activity of grave robbing.
A Northern Light Jennifer Donnelly
YA Donnelly
Sixteen-year-old Mattie loves words and books, but she promises her dying mother to take care of her father and sisters. This leaves her stuck on the failing farm with her rebellious siblings and angry father. Though escape is possible-she has been accepted to Barnard College-Mattie remembers her promise and decides to marry a local farmboy instead. In the meantime, she gets a job at a summer resort, where she is soon involved in the murder of a young hotel guest.
Uprising Margaret Peterson Haddix
YA Haddix
Popular writer Haddix offers this engrossing historical fiction novel about the tragic Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in 1911. The story centers around three girls who are all involved in the factory in some way: Bella, an Italian immigrant working hard to send money back to her family in Italy; Yetta, a Russian Jewish immigrant who escaped persecution in her homeland and is a major part of the labor union movement, and Jane, the daughter of a corrupt businessman who has everything she wants except self-respect. The three meet during the famed union strike of the Triangle factory and stick together through all the hard obstacles they must endure, including the fire that claimed so many young lives.
