Showing titles in Historical Fiction

Selby hates homework. She would rather watch TV - anything to escape the tedium of school, her parents' bookshop and small-town busybodies. So Selby didn't plan to read Hamlet. She certainly never planned to meet him. This novel transports Selby, and the listener, into the cold and crime-ridden play itself. Here she meets Hamlet: heavy with grief, the young prince is overthinking and over everything. Selby can relate. But unlike Hamlet, Selby isn't afraid of making decisions.

Safiyyah loathes the brutal Nazi occupation of Paris, even though her Muslim identity keeps her safe—or, at least, safer than her Jewish neighbors. Violence lurks in the streets, her best friend has fled, and even her place of refuge—the library—has turned shadowy and confusing, as the invaders fear the power of books. Safiyyah longs to fight back and hates feeling powerless to help her Jewish friends. Worse yet, her father—who taught her to always do the right thing—is acting strangely and doing nothing to help them either.

It was one the most beautiful mountains in America - Mt. St. Helens in Washington State. But what many didn't know was that this peaceful mountain had an explosive past. Eleven-year-old Sally Tanner knew the mountain well, and, like many, she never imagined that this serene wilderness could turn deadly. But on May 10, 1980, Sally finds herself in the middle of the deadliest volcanic eruption in US history.

Miri is the non-twin child in a family with two sets of them...The family has just moved to an old farmhouse in a new town, where the only good thing seems to be Miri's ten-sided attic bedroom. But when Miri gets sent to her room after accidentally bashing her big brother on the head with a shovel, she finds herself in the same room...only not quite. Without meaning to, she has found a way to travel back in time to 1935 where she discovers Molly, a girl her own age very much in need of a loving family

Jack and Annie know they have to search for one of the four secrets of happiness to help Merlin the magician find joy in his life again. And so they head off in the magic tree house for Florence, Italy, in the early 1500s to spend the day with one of the greatest artists and inventors of all time: Leonardo da Vinci!

Many years ago, Jenny’s grandfather had been captain of the brig Amaryllis, sunk at sea during a terrible storm. Gram and Jenny’s father had stood on a bluff overlooking the sea, and watched in silent horror as the handsome ship was swallowed by merciless, churning waters. After that, Jenny’s father couldn’t get away from the sea fast enough. But Gram had stayed behind. Every night since the storm - for 30 years - Gram has combed the beach for a sign from her dead husband. Now, her ankle sprained, she needs Jenny to search for her. Every evening the two of them wander down to the shore and Jenny scans the sand for her grandmother.

It’s 1963, and things are changing for Jezebel Turner. Her beloved grandmother has just passed away. The local police deputy won’t stop harassing her family. With school integration arriving in South Carolina, Jez and her twin brother, Jay, are about to begin the school year with a bunch of new kids. But the biggest change comes when Jez and Jay turn 11 - and their uncle, Doc, tells them he’s going to train them in rootwork. And Jez soon finds out that her family’s true power goes far beyond small charms and elixirs…and not a moment too soon.

It's 1883 - only a few months after Molly Pepper; her mother, Cassandra; and her friend, Emmett, saved New York from an attack by the megalomaniacal Ambrose Rector while managing to preserve the reputations of Alexander Graham Bell and Thomas Edison, whose technology was manipulated in Rector’s scheme. Their selfless heroism will finally earn them a place in the Inventors’ Guild, alongside the greatest minds of their generation. Unless, of course, no one knows that they did any of that.

The Fellows family has joined numerous others striving to make a go of homesteading in the Oregon high desert. But the venture has been disastrous from the start. Mr. Fellows, who is not a farmer, resents any advice from his wife, who grew up on a farm. Ma is not only troubled about the farming, but 7-year-old Ellie's chronic illness has become a source of constant worry and expense.

Twelve-year-old Ebony-Grace Norfleet has lived with her beloved grandfather Jeremiah in Huntsville, Alabama ever since she was little. As one of the first black engineers to integrate NASA, Jeremiah has nurtured Ebony-Grace’s love for all things outer space and science fiction - especially Star Wars and Star Trek. But in the summer of 1984, when trouble arises with Jeremiah, it’s decided she’ll spend a few weeks with her father in Harlem.

When he loses his left hand in an accident, Norm finds that the world becomes a complicated place. But he refuses to give up the things he loves - after all, who says you need two hands to play sports or a musical instrument?

Helena is big-sister mouse to three younger siblings, living a snug and well-fed life within the ancient walls of the Cranston family home. When the Cranston humans decide to sail away to England to find a husband for one of their daughters, the Cranston mice stow away in the name of family solidarity. And so begins the scamper of their lives as Helena, her siblings, and their humans set sail on a life-changing voyage into the great world of titled humans... and titled mice, and surprise endings for all.

Karana, a Ghalas-at Indian, lives peacefully on the island with her tribe until the arrival of a Russian otter-hunting ship. In spite of the deal the Aleutian hunters make with her father, the Ghalas-at chief, in the end they prove treacherous, killing most of the tribe. Karana's younger brother, Ramo, is all that is left of her family. Fearful of the Aleuts' return, the remaining Indians decide to move to another island, and are offered safe passage by some friendly ships. But as Karana boards the ship to leave the island forever, she is unable to find Ramo.

Someone is planning to kill George Washington, and young Phoebe Fraunces is trying to save his life. Phoebe gets a job as George Washington's housekeeper, but her real job is to work as a spy. She listens and watches very carefully, and she meets her father every day to tell him what she has learned. One day Phoebe's father tells her that Washington is planning to leave town in a few days, and the person plotting against him will act before then. Phoebe is very frightened, but she is determined to figure out who is after Washington before it's too late. . . .

Miss Posterity's Academy for Practical Magic is the best kindling school in New York City - and wealthy 12-year-old Emma Harris is accustomed to the best. But when her father dies, leaving her penniless, Emma is reduced to working off her debts to Miss Posterity alongside Izzy, a daring servant girl who refuses to let her magic be snuffed out, even if society dictates she must. Emma and Izzy reluctantly form a pact: If Izzy teaches Emma how to survive as a servant, Emma will reveal to Izzy what she knows about magic.

The Marquis de Lafayette commits his sword to fight as France seeks to secretly support the American cause with spies on both sides of the Atlantic. Following Bunker Hill, George Washington faces the impossible task of driving the British from Boston with an undisciplined army and no gunpowder or cannons. As Congress debates Independence, Thomas Jefferson pens a Declaration—but it will never see the light of day if the vote isn’t unanimous.

Amos Kincaid is the son of a dowser a person gifted in knowing how to find water deep in the ground. As a young person, Amos doesnt reveal his gift to others; hes not sure he wants the burden. But through his experiences growing up and crossing the Oregon Trail, Amos learns about lifes harsh realities, especially the pain in losing loved ones. As he cares for those around him, Amos comes to accept his dowsing fate.

Anne is growing up and leaving the Island to spend four years of her life at Redmond College. She meets a wonderful new friend in Philippa Gordon, offspring to an old and exclusive "bluenose" family. Phil's family ties, combined with her beauty and charm, open the gates of all the social cliques and clubs at Redmond. And where Phil went, Anne went. Thus, Anne found her social pathway at Redmond made very easy while other freshettes were doomed to remain on the fringe of things.

When the Aldens hear that Mr. Wood's cat Spotzie is missing, they immediately help out by putting up "LOST CAT" posters and going door-to-door with a photograph of the cat. But along the way, they meet some strange characters, receive frightening phone calls, and even find a cat that looks just like Spotzie - but is it? It seems that the more they search, the more mysterious the mystery becomes!

Seventh grader Holling Hoodhood isn't happy. He is sure his new teacher, Mrs. Baker, hates his guts. Throughout the school year, Holling strives to get a handle on the Shakespeare plays Mrs. Baker assigns him to read on his own time, and to figure out the enigmatic Mrs. Baker. At home, Holling's domineering father is obsessed with his business image and disregards his family.