Check out the selection of historical fiction books below, or visit your Learning Commons today to find more titles. If you are having trouble finding a book or logging into eBooks, we are here to help.
Cane Warriors by Alex WheatleMoa, a fourteen-year-old slave, gets caught up in the most significant slave rebellion in Jamaican history, paying homage to freedom fighters all over the world.
Clean Getaway by Nic StoneWilliam Lamar, known as "Scoob," goes on a road trip through the South with his grandmother in her recreational vehicle, visiting some of the major sites in the Civil Rights movement and learning about how people like him have been treated.
Day of Tears by Julius LesterPresents an historical fiction written in first-person format that follows Emma, the slave of Pierce Butler, through a series of events in her life as her master hosts the largest slave auction in American history in Savannah, Georgia in 1859 in order to pay off his mounting gambling debts.
Finding Langston by Lesa Cline-RansomeAfter his mother's death in 1946, eleven-year-old Langston and his father leave behind their quiet life in Alabama and move to Chicago. Struggling to fit in and missing his mother, Langston finds refuge at the local library where, unlike his library in Alabama, blacks are just as welcome as whites to use. There he discovers the poetry of Langston Hughes and a secret--he was named after this very poet whose work his mother loved.
The Door of No Return by Kwame AlexanderEleven-year-old Kofi Offin lives in the West African Asante Kingdom in 1860. Besides his family and friends, Kofi loves swimming in the nearby river and endeavors to impress a local girl named Ama.
Fire from the Rock by Sharon DraperLife is normal in Little Rock, Arkansas, but things are about to change. It's 1957, and rumors of integrating Little Rock Central High School have caused turmoil in the town. Eighth grader Sylvia thinks being the first black student at the school is an honor, but she soon realizes that the blacks who plan to attend Central will be in grave danger. When violence strikes Sylvia's family, she is torn between her parents' nonviolent stance and her brother's suggestion of revenge.
The Hero Two Doors Down by Sharon RobinsonEight-year-old Steve Satlow is thrilled when Jackie Robinson moves into his Jewish neighborhood in Brooklyn in 1948, although many of his neighbors are not, and when Steve actually meets his hero he is even more excited--and worried that a misunderstanding over a Christmas tree could damage his new friendship.
A High Five for Glenn Burke by Phil BildnerAfter researching Glenn Burke, the first major league baseball player to come out as gay, sixth-grader Silas Wade slowly comes out to his best friend Zoey, then his coach, with unexpected consequences.
Leaving Lymon by Lesa Cline-RansomeWith his mother absent and his father locked up in the Mississippi State Penitentiary, Lymon lives a happy life with his grandparents. That all changes when in 1945 he forced to go live in Chicago with a mother he's never known.
Freewater by Amina Luqman-DawsonAfter they flee the plantation where they were enslaved, twelve-year-old Homer and his sister Ada find a home with the people of Freewater, a group of escaped slaves who secretly live in the Great Dismal Swamp.
The Invincible Summer of Juniper Jones by Daven McQueenIn 1955, biracial Ethan, who was raised in Washington state, is sent to live with his grandparents in Alabama for the summer. Ethan's eyes are opened to blatant racism for the first time, but also to kindness, when a young red-head named Juniper Jones befriends him and they spend the summer exploring the town and having adventures. Their friendship becomes a lifeline for Ethan when the town's ugliness turns deadly.
One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-GarciaIn the summer of 1968, after travelling from Brooklyn to Oakland, California, to spend a month with the mother they barely know, eleven-year-old Delphine and her two younger sisters arrive to a cold welcome as they discover that their mother, a dedicatedpoet and printer, is resentful of the intrusion of their visit and wants them to attend a nearby Black Panther summer camp.
The Parker Inheritance by Varian JohnsonWhen Candice finds the letter addressed to her grandmother inside a box in the attic, she's not sure she should read it. But curiosity pulls Candice into a mystery generations before her time. And with the help of her neighbor, Brandon, she is determined to find the truth even if it means revealing her own deep secrets in the process.
Becoming Muhammad Ali by James Patterson; Kwame Alexander; Dawud Anyabwile (Illustrator)Provides a biography of the early life of boxer and activist Muhammad Ali through verse written from his perspective and first-person essays told by his best friend Lucky. Discusses what it was like growing up in segregated Louisville, Kentucky, the important family members in his life, and how he began training at the Columbia Boxing Gym at age twelve.
Riot by Walter Dean MyersIn 1863, fifteen-year-old Claire, the daughter of an Irish mother and a black father, faces ugly truths and great danger when Irish immigrants, enraged by the Civil War and a federal draft, lash out against blacks and wealthy "swells" of New York City.
Stella by Starlight by Sharon M. DraperWhen a burning cross set by the Klan causes panic and fear in 1932 Bumblebee, North Carolina, fifth-grader Stella must face prejudice and find the strength to demand change in her segregated town.
The Watsons Go to Birmingham--1963 by Christopher Paul CurtisThe ordinary interactions and everyday routines of the Watsons, an African American family living in Flint, Michigan, are drastically changed after they go to visit Grandma in Alabama in the summer of 1963.