Did you ever wonder what was it like to live a long time ago? Here's your chance to find out! These books are fiction, meaning that most of the people are made up by the authors, but the authors did a lot of research first to make sure what they wrote was based on things that really did happen! So dive in and find out what it would have been like if you lived in the United States 30, 100, even 300 years ago!
Child fiction book. The fascinating, true story of ten-year-old Willie Johnston who, for his courage as a drummer in the Union Army during the Civil War, was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. Grade: 5+
Child fiction book, and e-book. Teased for his fair coloring, eleven-year-old Jimmy McClean travels with his maternal grandfather, Nyles High Eagle, to learn about his Lakota heritage while visiting places significant in the life of Crazy Horse, the nineteenth-century Lakota leader and warrior, in a tale that weaves the past with the present. Grade: 4+
Child fiction book, e-book, and e-audiobook. In this book of the I survived series, one boy will struggle to stay alive as the great city of Chicago burns. Grade: 3+
Child fiction book in English or Spanish, e-book, audiobook on CD, and e-audiobook. This beloved story of a pioneer girl and her family begins in 1871 in a log cabin on the edge of the Big Woods of Wisconsin. Laura lives in the little house with her pa, her ma, her sisters Mary and Carrie, and their dog, Jack. Pioneer life is sometimes hard for the family, but it is also exciting as they make their own homemade toys and treats, do the spring planting, bring in the harvest, and visit town. And every night Laura and her family are safe and warm in their little house, with the happy sound of Pa's fiddle to send them off to sleep. Grade: 3+
Child fiction book. Twelve-year-old Emily must hold down her job working twelve-hour days in a garment factory in order to keep from starving. A story that includes historical interludes about the working conditions in factories at the turn of the century. Grade: 5+
Child fiction book. Having never excelled at schoolwork, twelve-year-old Anna discovers that she may know a few things about survival when the 1888 Children's Blizzard traps her and her classmates in their Nebraska schoolhouse. Grade: 3+
Child fiction book. Days after arriving in San Francisco from Texas, eleven-year-old orphan Nicholas Dray tries to help his new neighbors survive the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and the subsequent fires. Grade: 5+
Child fiction book, e-book, audiobook on Playaway and on CD, and e-audiobook. Also available as a graphic novel and in a number of different adaptations. The story of a little red-headed orphaned girl mistakenly sent to the Cutherbert's farm on Prince Edward Island. Anne's strong character and vivid imagination both help and hinder her as she makes her way through childhood in the pretty little town of Avonlea. Book #1 in the Anne of Green Gables series. Grade: 5+
Child fiction book. Jake and Rosa, two children, form an unlikely friendship as they try to survive and understand the 1912 Bread and Roses strike of mill workers in Lawrence, Massachusetts. Grade: 5+
Child fiction book, e-book in English and Spanish, and e-audiobook. Ten-year-old Leo loves being a newsboy in San Francisco -- not only does he get to make some money to help his family, he's free to explore the amazing, hilly city as it changes and grows with the new century. Horse-drawn carriages share the streets with shiny new automobiles, new businesses and families move in every day from everywhere, and anything seems possible. But early one spring morning, everything changes. Leo's world is shaken -- literally -- and he finds himself stranded in the middle of San Francisco as it crumbles and burns to the ground. Does Leo have what it takes to survive this devastating disaster? Grade: 3+