Historical Fiction for Kids
Great chapter book reads that bring the past to life! (Updated April 2025)
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Warrior on the Mound
In 1939 North Carolina, 12-year-old Cato wants to be a pitcher in the Negro Baseball Leagues. But when his all-Black baseball team tries out the whites-only ballfield, rampant racism leads to a showdown on the mound.
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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Lion of the Sky
Best friends Raj and Iqbal are separated when a line drawn on a map splits India in two. It’s 1947, and Partition means Raj and his Hindu family must flee and start over in a new country.
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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Botticelli's Apprentice
A young girl who works in Sandro Botticelli’s painting studio in Renaissance Italy longs to be an artist.
Format: Graphic Novel
Availability: Available
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The Luminous Life of Lucy Landry
Lucy is a French-Ojibwe orphan who has a deep-seated fear of the sea, so it’s a struggle adjusting to life with the Martins, an Anishinaabe family who are lighthouse keepers on a tiny island in Lake Superior.
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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Safiyyah's War
When her father is arrested for his Nazi resistance work during WWII, Safiyyah bravely continues his work throughout Paris.
Format: Book
Availability: All copies in use
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Land of Broken Promises
It’s the 1980s, and Ai Shi and her Taiwanese immigrant family continue to adjust to life in California – but then they discover their visas have expired.
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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Swimming With Spies
Sofiya loves helping her father at the dolphinarium in their Ukrainian hometown, and dreams of becoming a marine biologist. But when Russian forces invade the Crimean Peninsula, and want to use the dolphins on wartime missions, Sofiya is determined to save the animals she loves.
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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Onyx & Beyond
In this novel-in-verse, Onyx lives alone with his mother, who suffers from early-onset dementia. Struggling to keep it a secret while keeping his family safe and fed ends up being too much for Onyx.
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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Hope in the Valley
13-year-old Pandu fights against the demolition of the apricot orchard across the street from her California home, as it holds special memories of her mother, who died years ago.
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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Isabel in Bloom
After immigrating to San Francisco, Isabel finds new friends and community by doing things that remind her of her life in the Philippines.
Format: Book
Availability: Available