Historical Fiction
Alligator BayouFourteen-year-old Calogero Scalise and his Sicilian uncles and cousin live in small-town Louisiana in 1898, when Jim Crow laws rule and anti-immigration sentiment is strong, so despite his attempts to be polite and to follow American customs, disaster dogs his family at every turn.
Crossing StonesEighteen-year-old Muriel Jorgensen lives on one side of Crabapple Creek; her family’s closest friends, the Normans, live on the other. Now Frank Norman—who Muriel is just beginning to think might be more than a friend—has enlisted to fight in World War I and her brother, Ollie, has lied about his age to join him. As Muriel tends to things at home with the help of Frank’s sister, Emma, she becomes more and more fascinated by the women’s suffrage movement, but she is surrounded by people who advise her to keep her opinions to herself. How can she find a way to care for those she loves while still remaining true to who she is?
Gringolandia: A NovelIn 1986, when seventeen-year-old Daniel's father arrives in Madison, Wisconsin, after five years of torture as a political prisoner in Chile, Daniel and his eighteen-year-old "gringa" girlfriend, Courtney, use different methods to help this bitter, self-destructive stranger who yearns to return home and continue his work.
LostIn 1911 New York, sixteen-year-old Essie Rosenfeld must stop taking care of her irrepressible six-year-old sister when she goes to work at the Triangle Waist Company, where she befriends a missing heiress who is in hiding from her family and who seems to understand the feelings of heartache and grief that Essie is trying desperately to escape. This is a powerful novel about friendship, loss, and the resiliency of the human spirit, set against the backdrop of the teeming crowds and scrappy landscape of the Lower East Side of Manhattan in the early 1900s.
Queen of HeartsOn the prairies of Canada during World War II, a girl and her two young siblings begin a war of their own. Stricken with tuberculosis, they are admitted to a nearby sanatorium. Teenager Marie Claire is headstrong, angry, and full of stubborn pride. In a new strange land of TB exiles she must “chase the cure,” seek privacy where there is none, and witness the slow decline of others. But it is her biggest setback—the death of her little brother—that connects Marie Claire with the one person who can help her recover.
The Rock and the RiverIn 1968 Chicago, it’s not easy for thirteen-year-old Sam to be the son of known civil rights activist Roland Childs. Especially when his older brother, Stick, starts keeping to himself. Then, one day, Sam finds something under Stick’s bed that changes everything: literature about the Black Panthers. Suddenly, nothing feels certain anymore. And when Dr. King is shot and killed, Sam’s father’s words are no longer enough to make him believe in change.
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Crogan's LoyaltyCharles and William Crogan are two brothers with very different perspectives on family, country, and loyalty. Now they find themselves on opposite sides of the brewing conflict between colonial separatists and those still determined to serve the British Crown. Will their brotherhood be washed away in the bloodshed of the War or will their own ties endure?
Dead End in NorveltIn the historic town of Norvelt, Pennsylvania, twelve-year-old Jack Gantos spends the summer of 1962 grounded by his feuding parents for various offenses, until he is assigned to help an elderly neighbor with a most unusual chore involving the newly dead, molten wax, twisted promises, Girl Scout cookies, underage driving, lessons from history, typewriting, and countless bloody noses.
In the Path of Falling ObjectsIn 1970, after their older brother is shipped off to Vietnam, sixteen-year-old Jonah and his younger brother Simon leave home to find their father, who is being released from an Arizona prison, but soon find themselves hitching a ride with a violent killer.
My Name is Not EasyIn the 1960s at Sacred Heart School, students—Eskimo, Indian, White—line up on different sides of the cafeteria like there’s some kind of war going on. Luke, who left his Iñupiaq name behind when he came to school with his brothers, struggles to survive But he’s not the only one. There’s smart-aleck Amiq, a daring leader; Chickie, blond and freckled, a different kind of outsider; and small, quiet Junior, noticing everything and writing it all down. Once their separate stories come together, things at Sacred Heart School—and the wider world—will never be the same.
The Red UmbrellaTwo years after the Communist revolution in Cuba, Lucía Álvarez leads a carefree life. But when soldiers come to her sleepy Cuban town, everything changes. Freedoms are stripped away. Neighbors disappear. Her friends feel like strangers. And her family is being watched. Finally, Lucía's parents make the heart-wrenching decision to send her and her little brother to the United States—on their own. Living in Nebraska with well-meaning strangers, Lucía struggles to adapt to a new country, a new language, a new way of life. Will she ever see her home or her parents again? And if she does, will she still be the same girl?
WarriorsSon of the Chamorro chief on the island of Saipan, Joseph has lived under Japanese occupation his entire life. Accepted by the occupiers, attending their schools, Joseph still defies their rules. As war approaches, Joseph's father is imprisoned -- and then dies in the labor camp. When American and Japanese troops approach the island, about to fight one of the largest battles in the Pacific, Joseph must take responsibility not only for his family, but for his people as well.
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