Children's Book Nook
Journey Into the Past: Notable Historical Fiction
One Crazy Summer
by Rita Williams-Garcia
ISBN: 9780060760885
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In a humorous and breakout book by Williams-Garcia, the Penderwicks meet the Black Panthers in 1968 Oakland, California. 2011 Coretta Scott King Award Winner-Author
2011 Scott O'Dell Award Winner
BookPage Notable Title
2011 Newbery Honor Book
2011 Scott O'Dell Historical Fiction Award Winner
A Boy Called Dickens
by Deborah Hopkinson
ISBN: 9780375867323
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The 200th anniversary of Charles Dickens's birth is February 7, 2012, and this tale of his little-known boyhood is the perfect way to introduce kids to the great author. Full color.
Breaking Stalin's Nose
by Eugene Yelchin
ISBN: 9780805092165
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In the Stalinist era of the Soviet Union, ten-year-old Sasha idolizes his father, a devoted Communist, but when police take his father away and leave Sasha homeless, he is forced to examine his own perceptions, values, and beliefs.
The Cats in the Doll Shop
by Yona Zeldis McDonough
ISBN: 9780670012794
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With World War I raging in Europe, eleven-year-old Anna is thrilled to learn that her cousin Tania is coming from Russia to stay with Anna's family on the lower East Side of New York, and although Tania is shy and withdrawn when she arrives, her love of cats helps her adjust to her new family.
Countdown
by Deborah Wiles
ISBN: 9780545106054
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It's 1962, and it seems everyone is living in fear. Twelve-year-old Franny Chapman lives with her family in Washington, D.C., during the days surrounding the Cuban Missile Crisis. For Franny, as for all Americans, it's going to be a formative year.
Daughter of Winter
by Pat Lowery Collins
ISBN: 9780763645007
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It is 1849, and 12-year-old Addie is in shock her father has left the family's Massachusetts home to look for gold in California, and her mother and brother have just died from the much-feared flux. Typically, children in this predicament find themselves taken into the homes of strangers and often are abused or neglected, so Addie flees to the nearby woods (in spite of the snow) to try and survive on her own. But it's harder than she thought to use the limited skills her father taught her, and so she is grateful for the help offered by Nokummus, an elderly Wampanoag woman, at least until Nokummus claims to be Addie's grandmother. Collins' sense of place, incorporation of cultural and historical details, and the richly evoked winter setting make for a vividly imagined novel. An engaging survival story intertwined with a search for identity, this tale is reminiscent of Jean Craighead George's Julie of the Wolves (1972) yet clearly stands on its own as a lyrical piece of historical fiction. Copyright 2010 Booklist Reviews.
Dead End in Norvelt
by Jack Gantos
ISBN: 9780374379933
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In the historic town of Norvelt, Pennsylvania, twelve-year-old Jack Gantos spends the summer of 1962 grounded for various offenses until he is assigned to help an elderly neighbor with a most unusual chore involving the newly dead, molten wax, twisted promises, Girl Scout cookies, underage driving, lessons from history, typewriting, and countless bloody noses.
An Elephant in the Garden
by Michael Morpurgo
ISBN: 9780312593698
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Lizzie and Karl's mother is a zoo keeper; the family has become attached to an orphaned elephant named Marlene, who will be destroyed as a precautionary measure so she and the other animals don't run wild should the zoo be hit by bombs. The family persuades the zoo director to let Marlene stay in their garden instead. When the city is bombed, the family flees with thousands of others, but how can they walk the same route when they have an elephant in tow, and keep themselves safe? Along the way, they meet Peter, a Canadian navigator who risks his own capture to save the family.
Forge
by Laurie Halse Anderson
ISBN: 9781416961444
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In this sequel to "Chains," Anderson shifts perspective from Isabel to Curzon and brings to the page the tale of what it takes for runaway slaves to forge their own paths in a world of obstacles.
The Friendship Doll
by Kirby Larson
ISBN: 9780385737456
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Throughout the 20th century, Miss Kanagawa, one of 58 dolls made to serve as ambassadors from Japan to the United States, travels the country learning to love while changing the lives of those who need her.
Heart of a Samurai
by Margi Preus
ISBN: 9780810989818
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Fast-paced and full of adventure, this fascinating, true story is based on a real incident that occurred in 1841, and follows a young Japanese boy as he travels from Japan to America and back to Japan.
Inside Out & Back Again
by Thanhha Lai
ISBN: 9780061962783
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Inspired by the author's own childhood experience of fleeing Vietnam as a refugee and immigrating to Alabama, this tween novel told in verse is sure to capture young readers' hearts and open their eyes.
Just in Time, Abraham Lincoln
by Patricia Polacco
ISBN: 9780399254710
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Michael and Derek don't expect the adventure of a lifetime visiting a Civil War museum with their grandmother. But the mysterious museum keeper invites them to play a game, and before they know it, they're walking through a door straight into a very realistic depiction of 1863. Full color.
King of the Mound: My Summer with Satchel Paige
by Wes Tooke
ISBN: 9781442433465
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Twelve-year-old Nick loves baseball, so after a year in the hospital fighting polio and with a brace on one leg, Nick takes a job with the minor league team for which his father is catcher. There he gets to see the great pitcher, Satchel Paige, play during the 1935 season. Includes historical notes.
The Lily Pond
by Annika Thor
ISBN: 9780385740395
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Having left Nazi-occupied Vienna a year ago, thirteen-year-old Jewish refugee Stephie Steiner adapts to life in the cultured Swedish city of Gothenburg, where she attends school, falls in love, and worries about her parents who were not allowed to emigrate.
The Luck of the Buttons
by Anne Ylvisaker
ISBN: 9780763650667
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In Iowa circa 1929, spunky 12-year-old Tugs Button vows to turn her family's luck around, with the help of a Brownie camera and a small-town mystery.
May B.
by Caroline Starr Rose
ISBN: 9781582463933
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When a failed wheat crop nearly bankrupts the Betterly family, Pa pulls 12-year-old May from school and hires her out to a couple new to the Kansas frontier.
Moon Over Manifest
by Clare Vanderpool
ISBN: 9780375858291
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Twelve-year-old Abilene Tucker is the daughter of a drifter who, in the summer of 1936, sends her to stay with an old friend in Manifest, Kansas, where he grew up, and where she hopes to find out some things about his past.
Okay for Now
by Gary D. Schmidt
ISBN: 9780547152608
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In this stunning companion to "The Wednesday Wars," two-time Newbery Honor winner Schmidt expertly weaves multiple themes of loss and recovery in a story teeming with distinctive, unusual characters and invaluable lessons about love, creativity, and survival.
Saint Louis Armstrong Beach
by Brenda Woods
ISBN: 9780399255076
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This gripping addition to the growing body of fiction portraying Katrina's profound effect on children and families pits an 11-year-old boy, a neighborhood dog and an elderly woman against the hurricane and subsequent devastating flood.
Soldier Bear
by Bibi Dumon Tak
ISBN: 9780802853752
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Based on a true story, Tak's warm, frank, funny novel follows a cadre of Polish soldiers and an adopted bear from Italy to Iran and back again. Along the way, it exposes a little known facet of WWII and shines a light on a bit of irreverent resilience that blossomed in its shadow...Copyright 2011 Booklist Reviews.
The Storm in the Barn
by Matt Phelan
ISBN: 9780763636180
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Tall tale. Thriller. Gripping historical fiction. This artful, sparely told graphic novel -- a tale of a boy in Dust Bowl America -- will resonate with young readers today.
In Kansas in the year 1937, eleven-year-old Jack Clark faces his share of ordinary challenges: local bullies, his father's failed expectations, a little sister with an eye for trouble. But he also has to deal with the effects of the Dust Bowl, including rising tensions in his small town and the spread of a shadowy illness. Certainly a case of "dust dementia" would explain who (or what) Jack has glimpsed in the Talbot's abandoned barn -- a sinister figure with a face like rain. In a land where it never rains, it's hard to trust what you see with your own eyes -- and harder still to take heart and be a hero when the time comes. With phenomenal pacing, sensitivity, and a sure command of suspense, Matt Phelan ushers us into a world where desperation is transformed by unexpected courage.
Turtle in Paradise
by Jennifer L. Holm
ISBN: 9780375836886
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Inspired by family stories, a two-time Newbery Honor winner and "New York Times"-bestselling author beautifully blends family lore with America's past in this charming gem of a novel, rich in historical detail, humor, and the unique flavors of Key West.
The Winter Pony
by Iain Lawrence
ISBN: 9780385733779
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An account--from the point of view of a pony--of what it was like to be part of Captain Robert Scott's 1910 expedition to reach the South Pole before rival Roald Amundsen.
