LAI |
Inside Out and Back Again
(age 8-11) by Thanhha Lai historical ... identity ... war Publisher comments: No one would believe me but at times I would choose wartime in Saigon over peacetime in Alabama. For all the ten years of her life, Ha has only known Saigon: the thrills of its markets, the joy of its traditions, the warmth of her friends close by, and the beauty of her very own papaya tree. But now the Vietnam War has reached her home. Ha and her family are forced to flee as Saigon falls, and they board a ship headed toward hope. In America, Ha discovers the foreign world of Alabama: the coldness of its strangers, the dullness of its food, the strange shape of its landscape, and the strength of her very own family. This is the moving story of one girl's year of change, dreams, grief, and healing as she journeys from one country to another, one life to the next. |
MCK |
Never Forgotten
(age 8-11) by Pat McKissack family ... historical ... poetry Catalog: A lyrical story-in-verse that details the experiences of an African boy who was kidnapped and sold into slavery. |
LIT |
The Spinner's Daughter
(age 8-11) by Amy Littlesugar historical Catalog: When Elspeth, a hardworking Puritan girl, receives a cornhusk doll from a Pequot Indian, her mother fears that Elspeth will become idle. |
ACK |
The Night Crossing
(age 8-11) by Karen Ackerman survival ... historical It's hard to leave your home and friends, but the Nazis have invaded Clara's native Austria, and her Jewish family is no longer safe. Clara and her family take only what they can carry and travel by night to the Swiss border, where they hope to escape to freedom. Soldiers are everywhere, and it is Clara's heroism that carries the family across the border, their lives and few precious possessions intact. |
Samantha: an American Girl Series (age 8-11) growing up ... family ... historical Stories of Samantha, an orphan living with her grandmother in 1904. title: Meet Samantha: an American Girl by Susan S. Adler F ADL title: Samantha Learns a Lesson: a School Story by Susan S. Adler F ADL title: Changes for Samantha: a Winter Story by Valerie Tripp F TRI title: Happy Birthday, Samantha!: a Springtime Story by Valerie Tripp F TRI title: Samantha Saves the Day: a Summer Story by Valerie Tripp F TRI title: Samantha's Surprise: a Christmas Story by Maxine Rose Schur F SCH | |
TRI |
Molly: an American Girl Series (age 8-11) by Valerie Tripp growing up ... family ... historical Stories of Molly and her family during World War II. title: Meet Molly: an American Girl title: Changes for Molly: a Winter Story title: Molly Learns a Lesson: a School Story title: Molly Saves the Day: a Summer Story title: Molly's Surprise: a Christmas Story |
TRI |
Kit: an American Girl Series (age 8-11) by Valerie Tripp growing up ... family ... historical Stories about Kit and her family, running a boardinghouse during the Great Depression. title: Meet Kit: an American Girl title: Changes for Kit!: a Winter Story, 1934 title: Happy Birthday, Kit!: a Springtime Story, 1934 title: Kit Learns a Lesson: a School Story title: Kit Saves the Day!: a Summer Story, 1934 title: Kit's Surprise: a Christmas Story |
SHA |
Kirsten: an American Girl Series (age 8-11) by Janet Shaw growing up ... family ... historical Stories about Kirsten and her family, settling the frontier in Minnesota. title: Meet Kirsten: an American Girl title: Changes for Kirsten: a Winter Story title: Happy Birthday, Kirsten!: a Springtime Story title: Kirsten Learns a Lesson: a School Story title: Kirsten Saves the Day title: Kirsten's Surprise: a Christmas Story |
SHA |
Kaya: an American Girl Series (age 8-11) by Janet Shaw growing up ... family ... historical Stories about Kaya and her family, members of the Nez Perce tribe in the Pacific Northwest in the 1760s.. title: Meet Kaya: an American Girl title: Kaya's Escape!: a Survival Story |
TRI |
Felicity: an American Girl Series (age 8-11) by Valerie Tripp growing up ... family ... historical Stories about Felicity and her family, living in Williamsburg during the revolutionary war. title: Meet Felicity: an American Girl title: Changes for Felicity: a Winter Story title: Felicity Learns a Lesson: a School Story title: Felicity Saves the Day: a Summer Story title: Felicity's Surprise: a Christmas Story title: Happy Birthday, Felicity!: a Springtime Story |
POR |
Addy: an American Girl Series (age 8-11) by Connie Porter growing up ... family ... historical Stories about Addy and her mother, freed slaves living in Philadelphia during the Civil War. title: Meet Addy: an American Girl title: Addy Learns a Lesson: a School Story title: Addy Saves the Day: a Summer Story title: Addy's Surprise: a Christmas Story title: Changes for Addy: a Winter Story title: Happy Birthday, Addy!: a Springtime Story |
GRE |
Rebecca: an American Girl Series (age 8-11) by Jacqueline Dembar Greene growing up ... family ... historical Publisher comments: Rebecca Rubin is a lively nine-year-old girl growing up in a big Jewish family in New York in 1914. She dreams of becoming an actress, but her parents and grandparents have traditional ideas and don't think young ladies should perform. When Rebecca learns that her cousins in Russia are in great danger and must escape to America, she puts on a show to raise money--until her disapproving grandmother steps in. Unexpectedly, Rebecca finds another way to earn money. But for her plan to work, she'll have to keep it a secret. title: Meet Rebecca: an American Girl title: Changes for Rebecca title: Rebecca and Ana title: Rebecca and the Movies title: Rebecca to the Rescue |
TRI |
Josefina: an American Girl Series (age 8-11) by Valerie Tripp growing up ... family ... historical Stories about Josefina and her sisters, in New Mexico before the Mexicn-American War. title: Meet Josefina: an American Girl title: Changes for Josefina: a Winter Story title: Happy Birthday, Josefina!: a Springtime Story title: Josefina Learns a Lesson: a School Story title: Josefina Saves the Day: a Summer Story title: Josefina's Surprise: a Christmas Story |
BUL |
The Ghost of Windy Hill
(age 8-11) by Clyde Robert Bulla historical ... mystery ... spooky Catalog: A professor with a reputation for being unafraid of ghosts moves with his family into a house that is supposed to be haunted but his children find the neighbors more mysterious than the house. |
O'D |
Blackbeards Sword: The Pirate King of the Carolinas
(age 8-11) by Liam O'Donnell historical ... adventure ... action The pirate Blackbeard holds the Carolina coastline in a grip of terror. Lieutenant Maynard and his men of the Royal Navy need help piloting their way through the maze of coves and inlets to capture him, so they enlist the aid of local fishermen Jacob Webster and his father. But Maynard doesnt realize Jacob thinks Blackbeard is a hero. |
PET |
The First and Final Voyage: The Sinking of the Titanic
(age 8-11) by Stephanie True Peters voyages/journeys ... historical ... adventure On April 10, 1912, fourteen-year-old Christopher Watkins boards the Titanic with his family. While sailing across the Atlantic, the giant ship strikes an iceberg and begins to sink Christopher must quickly find a way to save his family. |
ROB |
Freedom Songs: A Tale of the Underground Railroad
(age 8-11) by Trina Robbins historical Fourteen-year-old Sarah is a slave in Maryland during the 1850s. She knows her only chance at freedom is to head North, where slavery is illegal. To get there, though, Sarah needs help from members of the Underground Railroad. But who can she trust? |
BUR |
Hot Iron: The Adventures of a Civil War Powder Boy
(age 8-11) by Michael Burgan historical Twelve-year-old Charlie O'Leary signs about the USS Varuna in order to locate his brother Johnny, and finds himself in the middle of a deadly battle in New Orleans during the Civil War. |
PEL |
Willow Wind Farm: Betsy's Story
(age 8-11) by Anne Pellowski historical ... family Follows a year in the life of seven-year-old Betsy and her large family on their Wisconsin farm. |
FAB |
Pasquala: the Story of California Indian Girl
(age 8-11) by Gail Faber historical A young Yokuts Indian girl describes her life on the shores of Old Buena Vista Lake in central California and the events that led her to a Spanish mission outside the world of her people. |
MCD |
Julie, 1974: an American Girl Series (age 8-11) by Megan McDonald growing up ... friendship ... historical Julie Albright doesn't want to move away from her San Francisco neighborhood near Chinatown, even if their new apartment is just a few miles away. Moving means leaving her best friend, Ivy, and her pet rabbit, Nutmeg. Worst of all, it means leaving Dad, now that her parents are divorced. Julie tries to make the best of it by joining the school's basketball team, but the coach won't allow girls to play. She learns that it's up to her to make positive changes in her new school--and her new life. title: Meet Julie |
LEE |
Landed
(age 8-11) by Milly Lee bigotry ... historical Sun is ready to leave his village in China for America, the place known as Gum Saan, Gold Mountain. His father warns him, though, that passage will not be easy. Because of the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act, new immigrants like Sun are detained at Angel Island until they are called to take a difficult oral exam before they can "land"...leave Angel Island and go ashore. On the boat, Sun had studied maps of his village and memorized facts about his ancestors. But as the weeks pass in detainment, the map’s compass points swirl in his memory, and Sun worries that he will lose his direction and be turned away. |
MAZ |
Good Night, Maman
(age 8-11) by Norma Fox Mazer voyages/journeys ... historical "Dearest Maman, I keep all my letters to you in my notebook under my pillow. One day, when we're together again, I'll give them to you, and we'll sit and read them...." In June 1940, twelve-year-old Karin Levi's world is torn apart as the German army occupies Paris. Karin, her older brother, Marc, and their maman must flee, seeking safety wherever they can find it. But Maman falls ill and is unable to travel, forcing Karin and Marc to leave her behind. When Marc manages to obtain two coveted places aboard a ship bound for America, the distance between them grows even greater. Will Karin ever see her beloved maman again? |
PEL |
Winding Valley Farm: Annie's Story
(age 8-11) by Anne Pellowski historical A young girl shares pleasures and disappointments with the other members of a large Wisconsin farm family in the early twentieth century. |
LAF |
Worth
(age 8-11) by A. LaFaye family ... historical After breaking his leg, eleven-year-old Nate feels useless because he cannot work on the family farm in nineteenth-century Nebraska, so when his father brings home an orphan boy to help with the chores, Nate feels even worse. |
FLE |
Bandit's Moon
(age 8-11) by Sid Fleischman bigotry ... friendship ... adventure ... historical Newly orphaned, young Annyrose escapes from the villainous O.O. Mary and falls under the protection of a proud and fearless Mexican bandit, regarded as the Robin Hood of the California Gold Rush. Annyrose wants only to search for her older brother who had run off to the gold diggings, but she finds herself galloping beside the celebrated outlaw in his own quest. He is hunting down the last of a band of "Yankee" riffraff who wronged him, an event that turned the innocent young Mexican into an avenging terror of the roads. |
FIE |
Hitty: Her First Hundred Years
(age 8-11) by Rachel Field historical ... fantasy ... adventure When Phoebe Preble brings her special doll, Hitty, with her everywhere she goes, Hitty experiences wonderful adventures and makes a lot of new friends. |
LOV |
The Puppeteer's Apprentice
(age 8-11) by D. Anne Love adventure ... the arts ... historical Mouse, a timid orphan growing up in medieval England, has little happiness in the world. But then, when she comes across a puppeteer so talented that he can make the puppets talk and dance as if they were little humans, Mouse realizes that true happiness is within reach ... and the key is learning how to make the puppets dance! What she doesn't realize, however, is just how much she and her prospective mentor have in common and how much, one day, they will share. |
EDM |
The Matchlock Gun
(age 8-11) by Walter D. Edmonds war ... adventure ... historical In 1756, during the French and Indian War in upper New York state, ten-year-old Edward is determined to protect his home and family with the ancient, and much too heavy, Spanish gun that his father had given him before leaving home to fight the enemy. |
MOS |
Emma's Journal: the Story of a Colonial Girl
(age 8-11) by Marissa Moss historical ... letters/journal The year is 1774, and the British army has blockaded Boston. Ten-year-old Emma is stuck at Aunt Harmony's house in the city, far from her family. Emma desperately wants to help the American struggle for freedom. When Papa gives her a secret code the militia uses, she finally gets her chance to change the course of history. |
MOS |
Rachel's Journal: the Story of a Pioneer Girl
(age 8-11) by Marissa Moss historical ... letters/journal young Rachel and her family travel by covered wagon following the Oregon Trail from Illinois all the way to California. The terrain is rough and the seven-month trip is filled with adventure--a surprise encounter with Indians, a thunderous buffalo stampede, even the perilous crossing of a flooded river. Rachel's own handwritten journal chronicles every detail and features cherished "pasted-in" mementos--wildflowers, buttons, quilt patches--gathered along the way. |
CON |
Pedros Journal: a Voyage with Christopher Columbus, August 3 1492--February 14 1493
(age 8-11) by Pam Conrad adventure ... historical ... voyages/journeys ... letters/journal Pedro can read and write better than any boy in his small Spanish town. That's why Christopher Columbus signs him on as part of his crew of the Santa Maria. The young Pedro records his adventures in a journal, with sketches of what he has seen. A thrilling and believable re-creation of one boy's account of this epic voyage. |
COE |
Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes
(age 8-11) by Eleanor Coerr war ... folklore ... historical ... illness/loss Publisher comments: When Hiroshima-born Sadako falls gravely ill with leukemia, she recalls a Japanese legend that holds that if a sick person folds one thousand cranes, the gods will grant her wish and make her healthy again. |
BRA |
Weaver's Daughter
(age 8-11) by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley illness/loss ... historical In 1791 after her family's journey from Pennsylvania, ten-year-old Lizzie suffers from the disease of asthma in her new home in the Southwest Territory (present-day Tennessee). |
My Name Is America Series (age 8-11) war ... identity ... letters/journal ... historical Each volume in the My Name is America series recounts an exciting slice of life from America's history, told in the voice of a boy living in that time and place. title: The Journal of Biddy Owens: the Negro Leagues, Birmingham, Alabama, 1948 by Walter Dean Myers F MYE title: The Journal of Ben Uchida: Citizen 13559, Mirror Lake Internment Camp, California, 1942 by Barry Denenberg F DEN title: The Journal of James Edmond Pease: a Civil War Union Soldier, Virginia, 1863 by Jim Murphy F MUR title: The Journal of Sean Sullivan: a Transcontinental Railroad Worker, Nebraska and Points West, 1867 by William Durbin F DUR title: The Journal of Jasper Jonathan Pierce: a Pilgrim Boy, Plymouth 1620 by Ann Rinaldi F RIN title: The Journal of Joshua Loper: a Black Cowboy, The Chisholm Trail, 1871 by Walter Dean Myers F MYE title: The Journal of William Thomas Emerson: a Revolutionary War Patriot, Boston, Massachusetts, 1774 by Barry Denenberg F DEN title: The Journal of Wong Ming-Chung: a Chinese Miner, California, 1852 by Laurence Yep F YEP title: The Journal of Scott Pendleton Collins: a World War II Soldier, Normandy, France, 1944 by Walter Dean Myers F MYE title: The Journal of Douglas Allen Deeds: the Donner Party Expedition by Rodman Philbrick F PHI | |
Dear America Series (age 8-11) war ... identity ... letters/journal ... historical Each volume in the Dear America series recounts an exciting slice of life from America's history, told in the voice of a girl living in that time and place. title: A Line in the Sand: the Alamo Diary of Lucinda Lawrence, Gonzales, Texas, 1835 by Sherry Garland F GAR title: A Coal Miner's Bride: the Diary of Annetka Kaminski, Lattimer, Pennsylvania, 1896 by Susan Campbell Bartoletti F BAR title: A Light in the Storm: the Civil War Diary of Amelia Martin, Fenwick Island, Delaware, 1861 by Karen Hesse F HES title: A Picture of Freedom: the Diary of Clotee, a Slave Girl, Belmont Plantation, Virginia, 1859 by Patricia C. McKissack F MCK title: A Time for Courage: the Suffragette Diary of Kathleen Bowen, Washington, D.C., 1917 by Kathryn Lasky F LAS title: Across the Wide and Lonesome Prairie: the Oregon Trail Diary of Hattie Campbell, Booneville, Missoura, 1847 by Kristiana Gregory F GRE title: Color Me Dark: the Diary of Nellie Lee Love, the Great Migration North, Chicago, Illinois, 1919 by Patricia C. McKissack F MCK title: Early Sunday Morning: the Pearl Harbor Diary of Amber Billows, Hawaii, 1941 by Barry Denenberg F DEN title: My Heart is on the Ground: the Diary of Nannie Little Rose, a Sioux Girl, Carlisle Indian School, Pennsylvania, 1880 by Ann Rinaldi F RIN title: Valley of the Moon: the Diary of Maria Rosalia de Milagros, Sonoma Valley, Alta California, 1846 by Sherry Garland F GAR title: Christmas After All: the Diary of Minnie Swift by Kathryn Lasky F LAS title: Seeds of Hope: the Gold Rush Diary of Susanna Fairchild, California Territory, 1849 by Kristiana Gregory F GRE title: Dreams in the Golden Country: the Diary of Zipporah Feldman, a Jewish Immigrant Girl, New York City, 1903 by Kathryn Lasky F LAS title: I Thought My Soul Would Rise and Fly: the Diary of Patsy,a Freed Girl, Mars Bluff, South Carolina, 1865 by Joyce Hansen F HAN title: A Journey to the New World: the Diary of Remember Patience Whipple, Mayflower, Plimoth Colony, 1620 by Kathryn Lasky F LAS title: Land of the Buffalo Bones: the Diary of Mary Elizabeth Rodgers, an English Girl in Minnesota, New Yeovil, Minnesota, 1873 by Marion Dane Bauer F BAU title: Look to the Hills: the Diary of Lozette Moreau, a French Slave Girl, New York Colony, 1763 by Patricia C. McKissack F MCK title: Mirror, Mirror on the Wall: the Diary of Bess Brennan, The Perkins School for the Blind, 1932 by Barry Denenberg F DEN title: My Face to the Wind: the Diary of Sarah Jane Price, a Prairie Teacher, Broken Bow, Nebraska, 1881 by Jim Murphy F MUR title: My Secret War: the World War II Diary of Madeline Beck, Long Island, New York, 1941 by Mary Pope Osborne F OSB title: One Eye Laughing, the Other Weeping: the Diary of Julie Weiss, Vienna, Austria to New York, 1938 by Barry Denenberg F DEN title: So Far from Home: the Diary of Mary Driscoll, an Irish Mill Girl, Lowell, Massachusetts, 1847 by Barry Denenberg F DEN title: Standing in the Light: the Captive Diary of Catherine Carey Logan, Delaware Valley, Pennsylvania, 1763 by Mary Pope Osborne F OSB title: Survival in the Storm: the Dust Bowl Diary of Grace Edwards, Dalhart, Texas, 1935 by Katelan Janke F JAN title: The Girl Who Chased Away Sorrow: the Diary of Sarah Nita, a Navajo Girl, New Mexico, 1864 by Ann Turner F TUR title: The Great Railroad Race: the Diary of Libby West, Utah Territory, 1868 by Kristiana Gregory F GRE title: Voyage on the Great Titanic: the Diary of Margaret Ann Brady, R.M.S. Titanic, 1912 by Ellen Emerson White F WHI title: When Will This Cruel War Be Over?: the Civil War Diary of Emma Simpson, Gordonsville, Virginia, 1864 by Barry Denenberg F DEN title: The Winter of Red Snow: the Diary of Abigail Jane Stewart, Valley Forge, Pennsylvania 1777-1778 by Kristiana Gregory F GRE title: West to a Land of Plenty: the Diary of Teresa Angelino Viscardi, New York to Idaho Territory, 1883 by Jim Murphy F MUR | |
TAY |
The Friendship
(age 8-11) by Mildred D. Taylor historical ... bigotry Cassie Logan and her brothers have been warned never to go to the Wallace store, so they know to expect trouble there. What they don't expect is to hear Mr. Tom Bee, an elderly black man, daring to call the white storekeeper by his first name. The year is 1933, the place is Mississippi, and any child knows that some things just aren't done... |
TAY |
Song of the Trees
(age 8-11) by Mildred D. Taylor historical ... nature With the depression bearing down on her family and food in short supply, Cassie Logan isn't sure where her next meal will come from. But there is one thing that she knows will always be there-the whispering trees outside her window. Cassie's trees are a steady source of comfort to her, but they also happen to be worth a lot of money. When Mr. Andersen tries to force Big Ma to sell their valuable trees, Cassie can't just sit by and let it happen. She knows that her family needs the money, but something tells her that they need the trees just as much. |
LAW |
Ben and Me
(age 8-11) by Robert Lawson humor ... historical The true story of Ben Franklin, as told by his closest friend and advisor, Amos the mouse. According to Amos, it was really he who was responsible for Ben Franklin's inventions and discoveries. |
UCH |
A Jar of Dreams
(age 8-11) by Yoshiko Uchida bigotry ... identity ... historical ... family Eleven-year-old Rinko grows up in a closely-knit Japanese American family in Northern California during the Depression, a time of great prejudice. |
GIF |
Lily's Crossing
(age 8-11) by Patricia Reilly Giff war ... illness/loss ... friendship ... historical Every summer Lily and her father go to her family's house in Rockaway, near the Atlantic Ocean. But the summer of 1944 is different. World War II has called Lily's father overseas, Lily's best friend Margaret had to move with her family to a wartime factory town, and Lily is forced to live with her grandmother. But then a boy named Albert, a refugee from Hungary, comes to live in Rockaway. He has lost most of his family to the war. Soon he and Lily form a special friendship, and they have secrets to share. But they have both told lies, and Lily's lie may cost Albert his life. |
WIL |
Little House on the Prairie Series (age 8-11) by Laura Ingalls Wilder family ... historical A family travels from the big woods of Wisconsin to a new home on the prairie, where they build a new life, hewn from the rough prairie and supported by their hopes, dreams, and heart. title: Little House on the Prairie title: Little House in the Big Woods title: By the Shores of Silver Lake title: Farmer Boy title: On the Banks of Plum Creek title: The First Four Years title: The Long Winter title: Little Town on the Prairie title: These Happy Golden Years |
PFE |
Portraits of Little Women Series (age 8-11) by Susan Beth Pfeffer family ... friendship ... historical Based on Louisa May Alcott's Little Women, this charming series shares stories of friendship and sisterhood. title: Portraits of Little Women. Meg's Story |