Historical Fiction

The best way to learn history is not always in a textbook. (That's probably the worst way, really, but more on that elsewhere.) While learning history through novels can be taken too far (it is fiction after all), there's much to be said for getting a feel for the Civil War through books like The Red Badge of Courage or Across Five Aprils, or learning about the deep rifts between Saxons and Normans in Medieval England through Scott's Ivanhoe.

A well-researched historical novel imparts something no list of names and dates can—a picture of life among a particular people at a particular time, the way they thought, the way they ate, who they admired, how they traveled. Sometimes readers are introduced to real historical figures and events from an intimate perspective, not the stale cardboard presentations common in schools.

There's plenty of nonsense available, of course, and just because the cover says a book takes place in Renaissance Italy or ancient Egypt doesn't mean it's a good book, or even that it's historical fiction in the true sense. A writer who simply transposes stories on different time periods isn't really saying anything about that time period, they're just trying to inflate sales with an appeal to the exotic and unfamiliar.

Such bogus historical fiction is really just fantasy. The good stuff is real and bright and dusty and loud, just like an old Roman city or a battle between Roundheads and Cavaliers. It reflects the religious sentiments of the characters as they would have been, such as in Lilli Thal's brilliant Medieval epic Mimus. It shows how one small action can lead to many much larger events, as happens frequently in C.S. Forester's Hornblower series.

Whether you're into the technical descriptions of battles found in Henty's boy-versus-the-world stories, or prefer the romance of The Scarlet Pimpernel, or like to break your heart over and over with books like Amos Fortune, Free Man, historical fiction is above all fiction of the present—not to be kept in the annals of the past, it shows us that the people of long ago (or not so long ago) are not so different than the people of today.

Review by C. Hollis Crossman
C. Hollis Crossman used to be a child. Now he's a husband and father who loves church, good food, and weird stuff. He might be a mythical creature, but he's definitely not a centaur. Read more of his reviews here.
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375 Items found Print
Active Filters: 3rd grade (Ages 8-9)
Aaron and the Green Mountain Boys
by Patricia Lee Gauch, illustrated by Margot Tomes
from Betterway Books
Historical Fiction for 3rd-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
Abandoned on the Wild Frontier
Trailblazer Books
by Dave and Neta Jackson
from Bethany House
for 3rd-7th grade
in Trailblazer Books (Location: SER-TRAIL)
Abandoned on the Wild Frontier
Trailblazer Books
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Adam of the Road
by Elizabeth Janet Gray, illustrated by Robert Lawson
1962 Printing from Viking Press
for 3rd-5th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Adam of the Road
Puffin Modern Classics
by Elizabeth Gray
from Puffin Books
Historical Fiction for 3rd-8th grade
1943 Newbery Medal winner
in Puffin Classics (Location: FIC-PUF)
$8.99
Alamo All Stars
Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales #6
by Nathan Hale
from Amulet Books
for 3rd-8th grade
in Comic Books & Graphic Novels (Location: FIC-COMIC)
$14.99
Alia's Mission
by Mark Alan Stamaty
from Dragonfly Books
for 3rd-5th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
Allen Jay and the Underground Railroad
On My Own History
by Marlene Targ Brill
from First Avenue Editions
for 3rd-5th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
Almost Home
Daughters of the Faith
by Wendy G. Lawton
from Moody Press
Historical Fiction for 3rd-6th grade
in Daughters of the Faith (Location: SER-DAU)
$7.99 $5.00 (4 in stock)
Ambushed in Jaguar Swamp
Trailblazer Books
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Ambushed in Jaguar Swamp
Trailblazer Books
by Dave and Neta Jackson
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American Army of Two
On My Own History
by Janet Greeson
Reprint from First Avenue Editions
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in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
American Twins of the Revolution
by Lucy Fitch Perkins
from Salem Ridge Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
Amon's Adventure
by Arnold Ytreeide
from Kregel Publications
Historical Fiction for 2nd-6th grade
in Easter & Lent (Location: HOLIDAY)
$18.99 $10.00 (1 in stock)
Andie's Moon
Historical House: 1969
by Linda Newbery
from Educational Development Corporation
for 3rd-6th grade
in Series Books (Location: SER-MISC)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Angel Knew Papa and the Dog
by Douglas Kaine McKelvey
from Rabbit Room Press
for 2nd-4th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$12.99
Apprentice
by Pilar Molina Llorente
Reprint from Sunburst Book
for 2nd-4th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$7.99 $5.00 (3 in stock)
Apprentice
by Pilar Molina Llorente
First American Edition from Farrar, Straus and Giroux
for 4th-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$7.00 (1 in stock)
Aquila's Drinking Gourd
by Pamela Dell
from Tradition Books
for 1st-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Arctic Son
by Jean Craighead George, illustrated by Wendell Minor
from Disney-Hyperion
for 1st-3rd grade
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Arrow Over the Door
by Joseph Bruchac
from Puffin Books
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in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$6.99 $4.00 (3 in stock)
Assassins in the Cathedral
Trailblazer Books
by Dave and Neta Jackson
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Assassins in the Cathedral
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from Castle Rock Creative
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$8.99
Attack in the Rye Grass
Trailblazer Series
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Attack in the Rye Grass
Trailblazer Series
by Dave and Neta Jackson
from Castle Rock Creative
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$8.99
Audrey of the Outback
by Christine Harris
for 1st-3rd grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
Ballad of Lucy Whipple
by Karen Cushman
from HarperCollins
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in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$5.99 $3.00 (2 in stock)
Bandit of Ashley Downs
TrailBlazer Book
by Dave & Neta Jackson
from Bethany House
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Bandit of Ashley Downs
TrailBlazer Book
by Dave & Neta Jackson
from Castle Rock Creative
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$8.99
Bay of the North
by Ronald Syme
from William Morrow & Company
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in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
Bears, Pirates and Silver Lace
by Anne B. Fisher; illustrated by Phil Nesbitt
from Binford & Mort Publishing
for 2nd-4th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$7.00 (1 in stock)
Becky and Her Brave Cat, Bluegrass
by Miriam E. Mason, illustrated by Robert MacLean
from Macmillan
for 2nd-5th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$38.00 (1 in stock)
Ben and Me
by Robert Lawson
from Little, Brown & Company
Humor/historical fiction for 2nd-5th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$8.99 $5.00 (1 in stock)
Benjamin West and His Cat Grimalkin
by Marguerite Henry & Wesley Dennis
Reprint from Aladdin Paperbacks
for 3rd-6th grade
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
$6.39
Benjamin West and His Cat Grimalkin
by Marguerite Henry & Wesley Dennis
from Bobbs-Merril Co
Biography for 1st-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
Betrayer's Fortune
by Dave & Neta Jackson
from Bethany House
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Betrayer's Fortune
by Dave & Neta Jackson
from Castle Rock Creative
for 3rd-7th grade
in Trailblazer Books (Location: SER-TRAIL)
$8.99
Big Balloon Race
An I Can Read Book Level 3
by Eleanor Coerr
from HarperCollins
Historical Fiction for 1st-3rd grade
in I Can Read Books (Location: EAR-ICR)
$4.99 $3.00 (3 in stock)
Blazing West: The Journal of Augustus Pelletier
by Kathryn Lasky
from Scholastic Inc.
for 3rd-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$3.50 (1 in stock)
Blinded by the Shining Path
Trailblazer Books
by Dave & Neta Jackson
from Bethany House
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Blinded by the Shining Path
Trailblazer Books
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from Castle Rock Creative
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$8.99
Book of Boy
by Catherine Gilbert Murdock, illustrated by Ian Schoenherr
Frist Paperback from Greenwillow Books
for 3rd-7th grade
2019 Newbery Honor Book
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$7.99
Book of Indians
by Holling C. Holling
1st edition from Platt and Munk Publishers
for 3rd-8th grade
in Native Americans (Location: HISA-19NAT)
Book of Indians
by Holling C. Holling
from Platt and Munk Publishers
for 3rd-8th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Boy of Old Prague
by S. Ish-Kishor
from Dover Publications
for 2nd-5th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$3.99
Boy of Old Prague
by Shulamith Ish-Kishor
from Scholastic Inc.
for 3rd-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$2.00 (1 in stock)
Boy of the Pyramids
by Ruth Fosdick Jones
from Purple House Press
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in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$9.99
Brother Hugo and the Bear
by Katy Beebe
from Eerdmans
for Kindergarten-4th grade
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$17.99
Brothers in Hope
by Mary Williams, illustrated by R. Gregory Christie
from Lee & Low Books
for 1st-4th grade
2006 Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor Award
in Africa (Location: HISMC-AFR)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
By the Shores of Silver Lake
Little House Series #5
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-6th grade
1940 Newbery Honor Book
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$9.99
By the Shores of Silver Lake
Little House Series #5
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-6th grade
1940 Newbery Honor Book
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$18.99 $8.00 (2 in stock)
By the Shores of Silver Lake
Little House Series #5
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Reprint from HarperCollins
for 3rd-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$9.99
By the Shores of Silver Lake (Pictorial Cover)
Little House Series #5
by Laura Ingalls Wilder; illustrated by Garth Williams
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-6th grade
1940 Newbery Honor Book
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$9.00 (2 in stock)
By the Shores of Silver Lake - Audio Book (CD)
Little House Series #5
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-6th grade
1940 Newbery Honor Book
in Audio Books & Dramas (Location: CD-AUDIO)
Captives of the Senecas
by John Brick
from Hale-Cadmus
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Carolina's Courage
by Elizabeth Yates
from Bob Jones University Press
Historical Fiction for 3rd-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$10.00 $5.00 (1 in stock)
Casting the Gods Adrift
by Geraldine McCaughrean
from Cricket Books
for 3rd-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
Caught in the Rebel Camp
by Dave and Neta Jackson
from Bethany House
for 3rd-7th grade
in Trailblazer Books (Location: SER-TRAIL)
Caught in the Rebel Camp
by Dave and Neta Jackson
from Castle Rock Creative
for 3rd-7th grade
in Trailblazer Books (Location: SER-TRAIL)
Cecily's Portrait
Historical House: 1895
by Adele Geras
from Educational Development Corporation
for 3rd-6th grade
in Series Books (Location: SER-MISC)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Children of Summer
by Margaret J. Anderson, illustrated by Marie Le Glatin Keis
for 3rd-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
Children of the Covered Wagon
by Mary Jane Carr
2nd edition from Christian Liberty Press
Historical Fiction for 3rd-5th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$16.75
Children of the Longhouse
by Joseph Bruchac
Reprint from Puffin Books
for 3rd-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$7.99
Chimney Sweep's Ransom
by Dave & Neta Jackson
from Bethany House
for 3rd-7th grade
in Trailblazer Books (Location: SER-TRAIL)
Chimney Sweep's Ransom
by Dave & Neta Jackson
from Castle Rock Creative
for 3rd-7th grade
in Trailblazer Books (Location: SER-TRAIL)
$8.99
Clearing Weather
by Cornelia Meigs
Repint from Dover Publications
for 2nd-6th grade
1929 Newbery Honor Book
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$8.99
Coonskin for a General
by Alma B, Weber, et al., illustrated by Kurt Werth
from American Book Co.
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Cornstalks and Cannonballs
by Barbara Mitchell
from Carolrhoda Books, Inc.
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Courage of Sarah Noble
by Alice Dalgliesh
from Atheneum
for 3rd-5th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$19.99
Courage of Sarah Noble
by Alice Dalgliesh
from Charles Scribner's Sons
for 3rd-5th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Danger on the Flying Trapeze
Trailblazer Books
by Dave and Neta Jackson
from Bethany House
for 3rd-7th grade
in Trailblazer Books (Location: SER-TRAIL)
Danger on the Flying Trapeze
Trailblazer Books
by Dave and Neta Jackson
from Castle Rock Creative
for 3rd-7th grade
in Trailblazer Books (Location: SER-TRAIL)
$8.99
Daniel's Duck
An I Can Read Book Level 3
by Clyde Robert Bulla & Joan Sandin
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction for 2nd-4th grade
in I Can Read Books (Location: EAR-ICR)
Daria Solves a Mystery
by Norma Jean Lutz
from Barbour Publishing
for 3rd-6th grade
in Sisters in Time (Location: SER-SIS)
Defeat of the Ghost Riders
Trailblazer Books
by Dave Jackson, Neta Jackson
from Bethany House
for 3rd-7th grade
in Trailblazer Books (Location: SER-TRAIL)
Defeat of the Ghost Riders
Trailblazer Books
by Dave Jackson, Neta Jackson
from Castle Rock Creative
for 3rd-7th grade
in Trailblazer Books (Location: SER-TRAIL)
$8.99
Doctor in Rags
by Louise A. Vernon
2nd edition from Herald Press
for 3rd-4th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$10.99
Door in the Wall
by Marguerite de Angeli
from Yearling
Realistic Fiction for 3rd-6th grade
1950 Newbery Medal winner
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$7.99
Drinking Gourd
An I Can Read Book Level 3
by F. N. Monjo
from HarperCollins
Historical Fiction for 2nd-4th grade
in I Can Read Books (Location: EAR-ICR)
$4.99
Drinking Gourd
An I Can Read Book Level 3
by F. N. Monjo
from HarperCrest
Historical Fiction for 2nd-4th grade
in I Can Read Books (Location: EAR-ICR)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Earthquake!
by Kathleen V. Kudlinski
from Scholastic Inc.
for 2nd-5th grade
in Titanic & 20th Century Disasters (Location: HISW-20DIS)
$2.00 (1 in stock)
Earthquake!
by Kate Wilson
from Steck-Vaughn Company
for 3rd-5th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Echo Mountain
by Lauren Wolk
from Dutton Children's Books
for 3rd-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$8.99
ECL: Virginian
Educator Classic Library #6
by Owen Wister, illustrated by Don Irwin
Complete and Unabridged Edition from Classic Press
in Educator Classic Library (Location: VIN-ECL)
$5.00 (2 in stock)
Education of Patience Goodspeed
by Heather Vogel Frederick
from Aladdin Paperbacks
Historical Fiction for 3rd-6th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$6.99
El Guero
by Elizabeth Borton de TreviƱo
from Hampton-Brown
Historical Fiction for 3rd-7th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
Elin's Amerika
by Marguerite de Angeli
for 3rd-5th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
Emily
by Michael Bedard
from Dell Publishing
Realistic Fiction for 1st-4th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$7.99
Escape Across the Wide Sea
by Katherine Kirkpatrick
from Holiday House
for 3rd-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
Escape Across the Wide Sea
by Katherine Kirkpatrick
Revised from Avyx, Inc.
for 3rd-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
Escape from the Slave Traders
TrailBlazer Books
from Bethany House
for 3rd-7th grade
in Trailblazer Books (Location: SER-TRAIL)
Escape from the Slave Traders
TrailBlazer Books
by Dave and Neta Jackson
from Castle Rock Creative
for 3rd-7th grade
in Trailblazer Books (Location: SER-TRAIL)
$8.99 $4.50 (1 in stock)
Exiled to the Red River
Trailblazer Books
by Dave and Neta Jackson
from Bethany House
for 3rd-7th grade
in Trailblazer Books (Location: SER-TRAIL)
Exiled to the Red River
Trailblazer Books
by Dave and Neta Jackson
from Castle Rock Creative
for 3rd-7th grade
in Trailblazer Books (Location: SER-TRAIL)
$8.99
F is for Freedom
by Roni Schotter
from Scholastic Press
for 1st-3rd grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$1.50 (1 in stock)
Farmer Boy
Little House Series #3
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$8.99
Farmer Boy
Little House Series #3
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$19.99
Farmer Boy
Little House Series #3
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$9.99
Farmer Boy
Little House Series #3
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
from Scholastic Inc.
Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
Farmer Boy (Pictorial Cover)
Little House Series #3
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
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