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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70 Items found Print
Active Filters: North America, 5th grade (Ages 10-11)
Antoine of Oregon
America's Children
by James Otis
from Living Book Press
for 4th-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
Attack in the Rye Grass
Trailblazer Series
by Dave and Neta Jackson
from Bethany House
for 3rd-7th grade
in Trailblazer Books (Location: SER-TRAIL)
Attack in the Rye Grass
Trailblazer Series
by Dave and Neta Jackson
from Castle Rock Creative
for 3rd-7th grade
in Trailblazer Books (Location: SER-TRAIL)
$9.99
Bad News for Outlaws
by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson
from Carolrhoda Books, Inc.
for 5th-7th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$16.99
Ballad of Lucy Whipple
by Karen Cushman
from HarperCollins
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in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$5.09 $2.40 (1 in stock)
Battle of Seattle
by Douglas Bond
from P&R Publishing
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Benjamin of Ohio
America's Children
by James Otis
from Living Book Press
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Bite of the Gold Bug
by Barthe DeClements
from Puffin Books
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$4.99 $2.00 (2 in stock)
Blades of Freedom
Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales #10
by Nathan Hale
from Amulet Books
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$13.59
Blood on the River: James Town, 1607
by Elisa Carbone
Reprint from Puffin Books
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$8.49
Bound for Oregon
by Jean Van Leeuwen
from Puffin Books
Historical Fiction for 4th-7th grade
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$6.79 $3.20 (1 in stock)
Boy in the Alamo
by Margaret Cousins
from Corona Publishing Co.
Historical fiction for 4th-9th grade
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Boy in the Alamo
by Margaret Cousins
from Veritas Press
Historical fiction for 4th-9th grade
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$19.00
Calvert of Maryland
America's Children
by James Otis
from Living Book Press
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$6.79
Caravan to Oregon
by Herbert E. Arntson
from Binford & Mort Publishing
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Fifer of San Jacinto
by Lee McGiffin, illustrated by Frank Nicholas
from Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Books
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Gone Crazy in Alabama
by Rita Williams-Garcia
Reprint from Amistad Press
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Coretta Scott King Award
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$7.64
Half-Breed
by Evelyn Sibley Lampman
from Doubleday & Company
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Hannah of Kentucky
America's Children
by James Otis
from Living Book Press
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Island of the Blue Dolphins
by Scott O'Dell
from Houghton Mifflin
Realistic Fictio for 5th-8th grade
1961 Newbery Medal Winner
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$9.60 (1 in stock)
Island of the Blue Dolphins
by Scott O'Dell
Anv from Sandpiper Books
Realistic Fiction for 5th-8th grade
1961 Newbery Medal winner
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$8.49 $4.00 (2 in stock)
Judy's Journey
by Lois Lenski
from Open Road Publishing
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$16.15
Koom of the Tillamooks
by Margaret Watt Edwards
First Edition; Second Printing from Binford & Mort Publishing
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Lion to Guard Us
by Clyde Robert Bulla
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction for 2nd-6th grade
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Martha of California
America's Children
by James Otis
from Living Book Press
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in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
Me, Cholay & Co.
by Don Schellie
from Four Winds Press
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$5.00 (1 in stock)
Mooring Tree
by Gertrude Robinson
2020 GaTB from The Good and the Beautiful
for 4th-8th grade
in GATB Language Arts & Reading (Location: CUR-GABELA)
$3.20 (1 in stock)
Nacar the White Deer
by Elizabeth Borton de Treviño, illustrated by Enrico Arno
from Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Realistic Fiction for 4th-8th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Neeluk
by Frances Kittredge
from Alaska Northwest Books
for 3rd-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$4.80 (1 in stock)
Nootka
by Michael Hyde
from Henry Z. Walck, Inc.
for 3rd-6th grade
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On to Oregon!
by Honore Morrow
from William Morrow & Company
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On to Oregon!
by Honore Morrow
1946 Edition from William Morrow & Company
for 3rd-7th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Oregon Trail #01
Choose Your Own Trail!
by Jesse Wiley
from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
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in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$8.49
Oregon Trail #02
Choose Your Own Trail!
by Jesse Wiley
from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
for 3rd-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$8.49
Oregon Trail #03
Choose Your Own Trail!
by Jesse Wiley
from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
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$8.49
Oregon Trail #04
Choose Your Own Trail!
by Jesse Wiley
from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
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$8.49
Oregon Trail #05
Choose Your Own Trail!
by Jesse Wiley
from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
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in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$6.79
Oregon Trail #06
Choose Your Own Trail!
by Jesse Wiley
from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
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$6.79
Oregon Trail #07: Gold Rush
Choose Your Own Trail!
by Jesse Wiley
from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
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$8.49
Oregon Trail #08
Choose Your Own Trail!
by Jesse Wiley
from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
for 3rd-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$8.49
Oregon Trail #1-4 - Boxed Set
Choose Your Own Trail!
by Jesse Wiley
from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
for 3rd-6th grade
in Boxed Sets & Literature Packages (Location: FIC-BOX)
$33.99
Patty Reed's Doll
by Rachel K. Laurgaard
from Tomato Enterprises
Historical fiction for 5th-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$5.60 (3 in stock)
Pearl Harbor is Burning!
by Kathleen V. Kudlinski, illustrated by Ronald Himler
from Viking Press
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in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
Peter of New Amsterdam
America's Children
by James Otis
from Living Book Press
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in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$6.79
Philip of Texas
America's Children
from Living Book Press
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in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
Philip of Texas (abridged)
from Notgrass Company
for 4th-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$5.91
Prairie School
by Lois Lenski
Reprint from Open Road Publishing
for 3rd-6th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$14.44
Richard of Jamestown
by James Otis
from Yesterday's Classics
for 3rd-5th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$10.16
Richard of Jamestown
by James Otis
from Living Book Press
for 3rd-5th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$6.79
Ruth of Boston
America's Children
by James Otis
from Living Book Press
for 4th-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$6.79
Serpent Never Sleeps
by Scott O'Dell
from Fawcett Books
for 3rd-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$2.80 (1 in stock)
Seth of Colorado
America's Children
by James Otis
from Living Book Press
for 4th-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
Spy in Williamsburg
by Isabelle Lawrence, illustrated by Manning de V. Lee
from Rand McNally
for 4th-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Stout-Hearted Seven
Sterling Point
by Neta Lohnes Frazier
from Sterling Publishing Co.
Non-fiction/Biography for 5th-9th grade
in Oregon Trail (Location: HISA-19OR)
Surviving Jamestown
by Gail Karwoski
from Peachtree Publishers, Ltd.
for 3rd-12th grade
in Jamestown Colony (Location: HISA-17JA)
$6.00 $4.00 (2 in stock)
This Dear-Bought Land
by Jean Lee Latham
from Bob Jones University Press
for 3rd-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$10.19
This Dear-Bought Land
by Jean Lee Latham
from Harper & Row
for 3rd-8th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$56.00 (1 in stock)
Timmy O'Dowd and the Big Ditch
by Len Hilts
from Harcourt Brace Jovanich
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
Trouble for Lucy
by Carla Stevens
from Clarion Books
Historical Fiction for 4th-5th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$6.76 $4.40 (1 in stock)
Trouble for Lucy
by Carla Stevens
from Clarion Books
Historical Fiction for 4th-5th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
We Were There at the Battle of the Alamo
We Were There #18
by Margaret Cousins, illustrated by Nicholas Eggenhofer
from Grosset & Dunlap
Historical Fiction for 5th-9th grade
in We Were There Series (Location: VIN-HIS)
We Were There at the Oklahoma Land Run
We Were There #12
by Jim Kjelgaard, illustrated by Chris A. Kenyon
from Grosset & Dunlap
Historical Fiction for 5th-9th grade
in We Were There Series (Location: VIN-HIS)
We Were There on the Oregon Trail
by William O. Steele
from American Home-School Publishing
Historical Fiction for 4th-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
We Were There on the Oregon Trail
We Were There #1
by William O. Steele, illustrated by Jo Polseno
from Grosset & Dunlap
Historical Fiction for 5th-9th grade
in We Were There Series (Location: VIN-HIS)
We Were There with Lewis & Clark
by James Munves
from American Home-School Publishing
Historical Fiction for 4th-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
We Were There with the California Forty-Niners
We Were There #9
by Stephen Holt, illustrated by Raymond Lufkin
from Grosset & Dunlap
Historical Fiction for 5th-9th grade
in We Were There Series (Location: VIN-HIS)
We Were There with The Pony Express
by William O. Steele
from American Home-School Publishing
Historical Fiction for 4th-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
When the Cherry Blossoms Fell
by Jennifer Maruno
from Napoleon Books
for 4th-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$9.34
Written in Stone
by Rosanne Parry
from Yearling
for 3rd-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$2.80 (1 in stock)
Year of Miss Agnes
by Kirkpatrick Hill
from Aladdin Paperbacks
for 3rd-6th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$5.94