Dear LM_Net,
Thanks so much to everyone who suggested titles. This is a great list!
Websites:
http://bookgirl3.tripod.com/historicalfiction.html
http://www.fresnolibrary.org/child/bkch/bklists/hisfic.pdf
http://www.multcolib.org/kids/history.html
http://nancykeane.com/rl/ has a variety of 'lists'
http://nancykeane.com/booktalks/shistfic.htm historical fiction by dates
Books:
Redcoats and petticoats by Katherine Kirkpatrick (picture book)
The journal of William Thomas Emerson, a Revolutionary War patriot by Barry
Denenberg
Saratoga secret by Betsy Sterman
Drums at Saratoga by Lisa Banim
This time, Tempe Wick? Patricia Lee Gauch
The Fighting Ground by Avi
Sarah Bishop by Scott O'Dell
Toliver's secret Brady, Esther Wood, 1905- Cuffari, Richard, 1925-
Nabby Adams' diary by Miriam Anne Bourne
The fall of the Quaker City by Susan & John Lee
The road to Lexington and Concord by Susan and John Lee
Phoebe the Spy by Judith B. Griffin
Treegate's Raiders Wibberley, Leonard
Johnny Tremaine by Esther Forbes
My Brother Sam is Dead by James Lincoln Collier
The Winter of Red Snow by Kristiana Gregory.
Thomas in Danger by Bonnie Pryor
Clifton Wisler has a few good titles
Turner, Ann. Katie's Trunk. New York: MacMillan Publishing Company, 1992.
Katie's family is Tory, and even though she's young, she can feel the tension
growing between her family and her neighbors. One day, rebel soldiers and some of
the townspeople ransack their house while the family hides in the woods. Katie
runs back to the house before her family can stop her. This story is based on a
true incident that happened to one of the author's ancestors.
Van Leeuwen, Jean. Hannah of Fairfield. New York: Dial Books for Young Readers,
1999.
Hannah's brother Ben is itching to join the militia to fight the British Army
camped nearby on Long Island. Although, Hannah's mother and her sisters have made
tents, blankets and clothing for the militia, so far the War has not touched their
lives in Fairfield, Connecticut. Will Hannah's father relent and let Ben go off to
War?
Van Leeuwen, Jean. Hannah's Helping Hands. New York: Phyllis Fogelman Books,
1999.
In this second book of the Hannah trilogy, the British Army is more of a threat
ever since they burned the nearby town of Danbury. A horseback rider pounds past
their farm, urging them to leave because the British are coming. Hannah's father
leaves them to defend the town, and the family flees to the hills. Read what
happens when they return after two days in hiding.
Van Leeuwen, Jean. Hannah's Winter of Hope. New York: Phyllis Fogelman Books,
2000.
In the final book of the trilogy, Hannah and her family learn that Hannah's brother
Ben is being held prisoner by the British. They fear that he will die of
starvation or from disease. While they are worrying about Ben, they are busy
rebuilding their home. Will Ben return?
The following books have pretty harsh scenes in them, so the teacher will need to
use them at her discretion:
Myers, Ann. The Keeping Room. New York: Walker and Company, 1997.
In history books, we read that the British occupied towns within the colonies, but
what was that really like? What happened to the colonists who lived in those
towns? In The Keeping Room, thirteen-year-old Joseph Kershaw's father leaves to
fight the British, but this is just the beginning. Two days later, the British
arrive and Lord Cornwallis seizes the Kershaw house as his own. He declares
Joseph's family to be prisoners of war, and he forces Joseph's mother and four
siblings to live in only one bedroom in the house. (Read p 55-56, description of
building the gallows and redcoats in their dining room.) Will Joseph's father be
hanged? Will the British destroy their house? Will Joseph kill a British soldier?
You'll enjoy reading this story based on events that really happened.
Lunn, Janet. The Hollow Tree. New York: Viking, 1997.
Phoebe Olcott doesn't know what she believes. Her father marched off to fight for
the colonies and he was killed a month later. All around her, neighbors are
turning against each other as they take sides for or against the King. Then her
cousin Gideon joined the King's Army and was hanged by his own villagers as a spy.
In the hollow tree, Phoebe finds the secret message that Gideon was carrying to the
British soldiers in Canada and she decides to carry it herself. She meets up with
other Loyalist refugees, including Gideon's family, who were turned out of their
homes by the Rebels, but the refugees believe that she too is a spy. (Read pp.
91-92 when Phoebe arrives at the refugee camp.) Read The Hollow Tree to learn how
Phoebe made it to the fort despite the angry refugees.
These are not historical fiction, but they are really interesting:
O'Hara , Megan, Editor. A Colonial Quaker Girl: The Diary of Sally Wister,
1777-1778. Mankato Minnesota: Capstone Press, 2000.
Here's another primary source. Sally Wister left Philadelphia with her family when
the British seized the city. While they lived with Sally's aunt, they were visited
by soldiers on both sides who asked for food and shelter. Because they were
Quakers, Sally's family did not fight. They also never told anyone which side they
were on, but they leaned on the side of the Patriots. In this diary, Sally
describes some of her daily activities, her clothing, and her opinions of the
soldiers she meets.
Redmond, Shirley Raye. Patriots in Petticoats: Heroines of the American
Revolution. New York: Random House, 2004.
You won't believe the number of women and teenage girls who played important roles
in the American Revolution. Nancy Morgan Hart captured six Loyalist soldiers in
her home in Georgia. Lydia Darragh eavesdropped on a British conversation and then
walked many miles through the snow to deliver the information to General
Washington. You'll read about other women who wrote, sewed, nursed, cooked, spied,
and fought during the Revolutionary War.
Allen, Thomas B. George Washington, Spymaster: How the Americans Outspied the
British and Won the Revolutionary War. Washington DC: National Geographic, 2004.
We've all read what a great Commander-in-Chief George Washington was, but was he
also a spy? Yes he was! And so were Ben Franklin and Paul Revere. There were no
GPS devices, no phones or telegraph, and no other way to track the enemy and try to
figure out where they would go next. George Washington, Spymaster explains both
the British and the Continental spies and how they worked. And it tells you the
secret code the rebels used when they wrote their messages!
Roop, Connie and Peter, editors. The Diary of Joseph Plumb Martin, a Revolutionary
War Soldier. New York: Benchmark Books, 2001.
The Diary of Joseph Plumb Martin is called a primary source, because Joseph Martin
wrote it himself when he was 70 years. Connie and Peter Roop shortened his story a
little bit and changed some of the words so that it's easier for kids to read. He
explained that he only joined up for 6 months because he wasn't sure he'd like
fighting. After his first term of service ended, he decided to join up for three
years or until the war was over. He explained the battles he was in, the camps
where he spent the winters, and how he was miserable most of the time. (Read pages
47-49 about Valley Forge.) If you want a true picture of what a rebel soldier
experienced during the Revolutionary War, then read The Diary of Joseph Plumb
Martin.
Schanzer, Rosalyn. George vs. George: The American Revolution as Seen from Both
Sides. Washington DC: National Geographic Society, 2004.
Barbara Zinkovich
HEC Elementary School
Irmo, SC 29063
803.732.8175
bzinkovich@sc.rr.com
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