Historical Fiction:
fictional stories that take place during a particular time in the past
Crow Call
By: Lois Lowry
Picture Book
Summary: Liz and Jessica are sisters and their father has just returned home from war. Their father was away for a while, so Liz feels like she hardly knows him as well as he hardly knows her. Liz and her dad decide to go hunting, to spend some time together. Liz is in charge of calling the crows through a whistle, but as she thinks about it, she feels bad that her dad is going to kill them. As she blows the whistle crows come all over and soon they are surrounding them from all around. Liz and her father enjoy the time together and her father decides not to shoot the crows.
Interest Level: 2nd – 5th Grade
Grade Level/Reading Level: 3.8 (3rd Grade 8 Months)
By: Lois Lowry
Picture Book
Summary: Liz and Jessica are sisters and their father has just returned home from war. Their father was away for a while, so Liz feels like she hardly knows him as well as he hardly knows her. Liz and her dad decide to go hunting, to spend some time together. Liz is in charge of calling the crows through a whistle, but as she thinks about it, she feels bad that her dad is going to kill them. As she blows the whistle crows come all over and soon they are surrounding them from all around. Liz and her father enjoy the time together and her father decides not to shoot the crows.
Interest Level: 2nd – 5th Grade
Grade Level/Reading Level: 3.8 (3rd Grade 8 Months)
First Flight: The Story of Tom
Tate and the Wright Brothers
By: George Shea
Picture Book
Summary: Tom Tate lives in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. One day while Tom is on the beach he runs into two men, who do not look like they are from around that area. They introduce themselves as Orville and Wilbur. Orv and Will have a flying machine that they built and are going to test it out. Tom gets to fly in it first because he is the lightest. However, it is a bit dangerous and needs more work done. Then, Will and Orv go back home to Ohio to work on it and return to North Carolina to test it out again. Now, all it needs is an engine. With the engine built and ready to be tested Orv takes the first flight and it is successful! They were the first men to ever fly!
Interest Level: 2nd – 5th Grade
Grade Level/Reading Level: 2.9 (2nd Grade 9 Months)
By: George Shea
Picture Book
Summary: Tom Tate lives in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. One day while Tom is on the beach he runs into two men, who do not look like they are from around that area. They introduce themselves as Orville and Wilbur. Orv and Will have a flying machine that they built and are going to test it out. Tom gets to fly in it first because he is the lightest. However, it is a bit dangerous and needs more work done. Then, Will and Orv go back home to Ohio to work on it and return to North Carolina to test it out again. Now, all it needs is an engine. With the engine built and ready to be tested Orv takes the first flight and it is successful! They were the first men to ever fly!
Interest Level: 2nd – 5th Grade
Grade Level/Reading Level: 2.9 (2nd Grade 9 Months)
Freedom Summer
By: Deborah Wiles
Picture Book
Summary: Joe and John Henry Waddell are best friends. John’s mom works for Joe’s family and they are all very close! However, other people do not accept this kind of friendship because the Waddell’s are black and John’s family is white. John does not understand nor care what other people think. Instead, John and Joe spend their time making their own pool at Fiddler’s Creek and playing fun games! One night, the news informs people that the town pool is going to open the next day and everyone, no matter what skin color, is allowed to swim there. The boys are so excited, they run all of the way there to find the pool being filled with cement. John and Joe are devastated and they decide they are not going to let skin color ever get in between their friendship! The author states that this story is fiction but it was based on real events.
Interest Level: Pre-Kindergarten – 2nd Grade
Grade Level/Reading Level: 3.2 (3rd Grade 2 Months)
By: Deborah Wiles
Picture Book
Summary: Joe and John Henry Waddell are best friends. John’s mom works for Joe’s family and they are all very close! However, other people do not accept this kind of friendship because the Waddell’s are black and John’s family is white. John does not understand nor care what other people think. Instead, John and Joe spend their time making their own pool at Fiddler’s Creek and playing fun games! One night, the news informs people that the town pool is going to open the next day and everyone, no matter what skin color, is allowed to swim there. The boys are so excited, they run all of the way there to find the pool being filled with cement. John and Joe are devastated and they decide they are not going to let skin color ever get in between their friendship! The author states that this story is fiction but it was based on real events.
Interest Level: Pre-Kindergarten – 2nd Grade
Grade Level/Reading Level: 3.2 (3rd Grade 2 Months)
Number the Stars
By: Lois Lowry
Chapter Book
Summary: Annemarie Johansen and her sister Kirsti are neighbors with their best friend, Ellen Rosen. They live in Copenhagen, where the Nazi’s are attempting to capture all of the Jewish people. Ellen Rosen is Jewish and her parents decide it is best they leave her with the Johansen’s while they hide. Then, soldiers come banging on their door looking for the Rosen family. Right before they come into the bedroom, Annemarie pulls Ellen’s star necklace off. Ellen is mistaken for Lise, who was the Johansen’s oldest daughter who died. Mrs. Johansen takes the three girls to Uncle Henrik’s house because he is going to take the Rosen’s to Sweden on his boat. At Henrik’s they have a fake funeral so they can smuggle clothes and food in. Once Mrs. Johansen returns from leading the Rosen’s to Henrik’s boat she realizes she forgot to give Henrik a handkerchief that would numb the noses of any dogs making them unable to smell humans. Annemarie rushes it back to them just in time. Two years later, the war is over and Annemarie waits to be reunited with Ellen.
Interest Level: 3rd – 5th Grade
Grade Level/Reading Level: 5.1 (5th Grade 1 Month)
By: Lois Lowry
Chapter Book
Summary: Annemarie Johansen and her sister Kirsti are neighbors with their best friend, Ellen Rosen. They live in Copenhagen, where the Nazi’s are attempting to capture all of the Jewish people. Ellen Rosen is Jewish and her parents decide it is best they leave her with the Johansen’s while they hide. Then, soldiers come banging on their door looking for the Rosen family. Right before they come into the bedroom, Annemarie pulls Ellen’s star necklace off. Ellen is mistaken for Lise, who was the Johansen’s oldest daughter who died. Mrs. Johansen takes the three girls to Uncle Henrik’s house because he is going to take the Rosen’s to Sweden on his boat. At Henrik’s they have a fake funeral so they can smuggle clothes and food in. Once Mrs. Johansen returns from leading the Rosen’s to Henrik’s boat she realizes she forgot to give Henrik a handkerchief that would numb the noses of any dogs making them unable to smell humans. Annemarie rushes it back to them just in time. Two years later, the war is over and Annemarie waits to be reunited with Ellen.
Interest Level: 3rd – 5th Grade
Grade Level/Reading Level: 5.1 (5th Grade 1 Month)
Sara, Plain and Tall
By: Patricia MacLachlan
Chapter Book
Summary: Papa, Anna, and Caleb live in a small home, on a farm in the country. Anna and Caleb’s mother passed away the day after Caleb was born. Since then, Papa has not been the same because he no longer sings like he used to with his wife. One day, Papa tells them that he has written for a wife and that a woman named Sarah Wheaton from Maine has replied. The kids are so excited that they may have a new mom! Sarah finally comes with her gray cat named Seal and the kids love her instantly. But, Sarah loves the sea near her and out on the farm there is no sea. Anna and Caleb worry that Sarah will become too homesick and want to leave; especially, when she demands to be taught how to ride the buggy so she can go to town by herself. Papa teaches her and she goes off to town, returning at night with three colored pencils to bring the sea with her! Anna, Caleb, and Papa are so excited for Sarah to stay.
Interest Level: 3rd – 5th Grade
Grade Level/Reading Level: 4.2 (4th Grade 2 Months)
By: Patricia MacLachlan
Chapter Book
Summary: Papa, Anna, and Caleb live in a small home, on a farm in the country. Anna and Caleb’s mother passed away the day after Caleb was born. Since then, Papa has not been the same because he no longer sings like he used to with his wife. One day, Papa tells them that he has written for a wife and that a woman named Sarah Wheaton from Maine has replied. The kids are so excited that they may have a new mom! Sarah finally comes with her gray cat named Seal and the kids love her instantly. But, Sarah loves the sea near her and out on the farm there is no sea. Anna and Caleb worry that Sarah will become too homesick and want to leave; especially, when she demands to be taught how to ride the buggy so she can go to town by herself. Papa teaches her and she goes off to town, returning at night with three colored pencils to bring the sea with her! Anna, Caleb, and Papa are so excited for Sarah to stay.
Interest Level: 3rd – 5th Grade
Grade Level/Reading Level: 4.2 (4th Grade 2 Months)