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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96 Items found Print
Active Filters: Realistic Fiction, 5th grade (Ages 10-11), Trade Paperback
Andries
by Hilda Van Stockum
from Bethlehem Books
for 5th-8th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$14.95
Anna and the King (adapted)
by Margaret Landon
from HarperCollins
Historical Fiction for 4th-7th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$3.50 (1 in stock)
Apple and the Arrow
by Conrad & Mary Buff
from Houghton Mifflin
Realistic Fiction/Historical Fiction for 4th-6th grade
1952 Newbery Honor Book
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$9.99
Belles On Their Toes
by Frank Gilbreth & Ernestine Gilbreth Carey
from HarperCollins
Family Stories for 4th-9th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$15.99
Big John's Secret
Bethlehem Books Living History Library
by Eleanore Jewett
from Bethlehem Books
Historical Fiction for 5th-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$14.95
Birchbark House
by Louise Erdrich
1st edition from Scholastic Inc.
for 4th-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$2.50 (1 in stock)
Boy and the Samurai
by Erik Christian Haugaard
Reissue from HMH Books for Young Readers
for 5th-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$4.50 (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
Reprint from HarperCollins
for 3rd-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$9.99
Cheaper By the Dozen
by Frank Gilbreth & Ernestine Gilbreth Carey
from HarperCollins
Family Stories for 4th-9th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$16.99
Children of the Longhouse
by Joseph Bruchac
Reprint from Puffin Books
for 3rd-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$7.99
Dry Divide
Little Britches Series #7
by Ralph Moody
from University of Nebraska
Biography for 5th-9th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$16.95
Dutch Color
by Doug Jones
from Canon Press
Historical Fiction for 4th-7th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$12.00
Echo Mountain
by Lauren Wolk
from Dutton Children's Books
for 3rd-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$8.99
El Guero
by Elizabeth Borton de Treviño
from Hampton-Brown
Historical Fiction for 3rd-7th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
Elijah Of Buxton
by Christopher Paul Curtis
from Scholastic Inc.
for 4th-6th grade
2008 Coretta Scott King Author Award Winner, 2008 Newbery Honor Book
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$7.99 $5.00 (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)
$9.99
Fever 1793
by Laurie Halse Anderson
from Simon and Schuster
for 4th-9th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$8.99
Fields of Home
Little Britches Series #5
by Ralph Moody
from University of Nebraska
Biography for 5th-9th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$16.95
First Four Years
Little House Series #9
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$8.99
First Four Years
Little House Series #9
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Reprint from HarperCollins
for 3rd-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$9.99 $6.00 (1 in stock)
Flood Friday
by Lois Lenski
from Open Road Publishing
for 4th-6th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$14.99
Glory Be
by Augusta Scattergood
Reprint from Scholastic Press
for 4th-7th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$6.99
Gone Crazy in Alabama
by Rita Williams-Garcia
Reprint from Amistad Press
for 4th-7th grade
Coretta Scott King Award
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$8.99
Grandfather's Dance
by Patricia MacLachlan
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction for 3rd-6th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$6.99
Great Wheel
by Robert Lawson
from Walker and Company
Realistic fiction for 4th-8th grade
1958 Newbery Honor Book
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$9.99 $6.00 (2 in stock)
Hidden Treasure of Glaston
Bethlehem Books Living History Library
by Eleanore Jewett
from Bethlehem Books
Historical Fiction for 5th-8th grade
1947 Newbery Honor Book
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$15.95
Home Ranch
Little Britches Series #3
by Ralph Moody
from University of Nebraska
Biography for 5th-9th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$14.95
Home Ranch
Little Britches Series #3
by Ralph Moody
from Purple House Press
Biography for 5th-9th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
Horse of a Different Color
Little Britches Series #8
by Ralph Moody
from University of Nebraska
Biography for 5th-9th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$16.95
Houseboat Girl
by Lois Lenski
Reprint from Open Road Publishing
for 4th-6th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$16.99
I Am David
by Anne Holm
from Harcourt
Realistic Fiction for 3rd-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$7.99
Jar of Dreams
by Yoshiko Uchida
2nd edition from Aladdin Paperbacks
for 5th-9th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$6.99
Journey to Topaz
by Yoshiko Uchida
from Heyday Books
Historical Fiction for 4th-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
Journey to Topaz
by Yoshiko Uchida
from Heyday Books
Historical Fiction for 4th-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$12.00
Judy's Journey
by Lois Lenski
from Open Road Publishing
for 4th-6th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$15.99
Kirsten's Cook Book
American Girl
by Jodi Evert
from Scholastic Inc.
for 2nd-5th grade
in Cooking for Kids (Location: COOK-KID)
$2.40 (1 in stock)
Letters from Rifka
by Karen Hesse
from Square Fish Publishing
Realistic Fiction for 3rd-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$7.99 $4.50 (1 in stock)
Lily's Crossing
by Patricia Reilly Giff
from Yearling
for 4th-6th grade
1997 Newbery Honor Book
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$7.99
Little Britches
Little Britches Series #1
by Ralph Moody
from University of Nebraska
Biography for 5th-9th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$16.95
Little House - Full Color Trade Paper Set
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
from HarperCollins
for 3rd-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$75.11
Little House in the Big Woods
Little House Series #1
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$8.99 $5.00 (2 in stock)
Little House in the Big Woods
Little House Series #1
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Full Color from HarperCollins
for 4th-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$12.99
Little House on Rocky Ridge
Rocky Ridge Years Book 1
by Roger Lea MacBride
from HarperCollins
for 3rd-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Little House on the Prairie
Little House Series #2
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$8.99
Little House on the Prairie
Little House Series #2
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
1st. from HarperCollins
for 4th-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$9.99
Little Town in the Ozarks
Rocky Ridge Years / Rose Years Book 5
by Roger Lea MacBride
from HarperCollins
for 4th-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
Little Town on the Prairie
Little House Series #7
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-8th grade
1942 Newbery Honor Book
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$8.99
Little Town on the Prairie
Little House Series #7
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-8th grade
1942 Newbery Honor Book
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$9.99
Long Winter
Little House Series #6
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-8th grade
1941 Newbery Honor Book
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$9.99
Long Winter
Little House Series #6
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-8th grade
1941 Newbery Honor Book
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$10.99
Macaroni Boy
by Katherine Ayres
Reprint from Yearling
for 4th-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$2.50 (1 in stock)
Man of the Family
Little Britches Series #2
by Ralph Moody
from University of Nebraska
Biography for 5th-9th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$16.95 $10.00 (1 in stock)
Mary Emma and Company
Little Britches Series #4
by Ralph Moody
from University of Nebraska
Biography for 5th-9th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$14.95
More Stories from Grandma's Attic
by Arleta Richardson
from Cook Communications
for 3rd-6th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$6.99
Nacar the White Deer
by Elizabeth Borton de Treviño
from Bethlehem Books
Realistic Fiction for 4th-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$10.95
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)
Night Journey
by Kathryn Lasky
from Puffin Books
Historical Fiction for 4th-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$5.99
Number the Stars
by Lois Lowry
Reissue from Sandpiper Books
for 5th-8th grade
1990 Newbery Medal winner
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$9.99
Ocean-Born Mary
by Lois Lenski
1st Edition Thus from Purple House Press
for 3rd-10th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$17.99
On the Banks of Plum Creek
Little House Series #4
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Full Color Collector's Edition from HarperCollins
for 3rd-6th grade
1938 Newbery Honor Book
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$9.99
On the Wings of Heroes
by Richard Peck
from Puffin Books
for 4th-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$7.99
One Crazy Summer
by Rita Williams-Garcia
Reprint from Amistad Press
for 4th-7th grade
2011 Newbery Honor Book, National Book Award, Coretta Scott King Award, Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$9.99
P.S. Be Eleven
by Rita Williams-Garcia
Reprint from Amistad Press
for 4th-7th grade
Coretta Scott King Award
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$8.99
Playing Atari with Saddam Hussein
by Jennifer Rozines Roy with Ali Fadhil
from Clarion Books
for 4th-6th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$9.99
Prairie School
by Lois Lenski
Reprint from Open Road Publishing
for 3rd-6th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$16.99
Samurai's Tale
by Erik Christian Haugaard
from Houghton Mifflin
Historical Fiction for 5th-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$7.99 $4.50 (1 in stock)
Scottish Seas
by Doug Jones
from Canon Press
Historical Fiction for 4th-7th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$12.00 $7.50 (1 in stock)
Shakespeare Stealer
Shakespeare Stealer #1
by Gary Blackwood
from Puffin Books
Historical Fiction for 4th-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$8.99 $5.00 (1 in stock)
Shakespeare's Scribe
Shakespeare Stealer #2
by Gary Blackwood
from Puffin Books
Historical Fiction for 4th-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$6.99 $4.50 (1 in stock)
Shaking the Nickel Bush
Little Britches Series #6
by Ralph Moody
from University of Nebraska
Biography for 5th-9th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$16.95
Snow Treasure
by Marie McSwigan
from Dutton Children's Books
Historical Fiction for 3rd-7th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$8.99
Swallows' Flight
by Hilary McKay
from Margaret K. McElderry Books
for 4th-8th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$8.99
Swift Rivers
by Cornelia Meigs
from Bloomsbury Publishing
Historical Fiction for 5th-8th grade
1933 Newbery Honor Book
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$9.99 $6.00 (2 in stock)
Swift Rivers
by Cornelia Meigs
from Walker and Company
Historical Fiction for 3rd-7th grade
1933 Newbery Honor Book
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$4.50 (1 in stock)
Switherby Pilgrims
by Eleanor Spence
from Bethlehem Books
Orphan Stories for 5th-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$13.95 $9.00 (1 in stock)
Texas Tomboy
by Lois Lenski
from Open Road Publishing
for 4th-6th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$15.99
These Happy Golden Years
Little House Series #8
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-8th grade
1944 Newbery Honor Book
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$8.99
These Happy Golden Years
Little House Series #8
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Reprint from HarperCollins
for 3rd-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$9.99
Trails to Poosey
by Olive R. Cook
from Misty Hill Press
Pioneer Fiction for 4th-7th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$4.00 (2 in stock)
Trouble's Daughter
by Katherine Kirkpatrick
from Yearling
for 3rd-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
Twice Freed
by Patricia St. John
from Christian Focus Publications
Historical Fiction for 4th-8th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
Under a Changing Moon
Young Adult Historical Bookshelf
by Margot Benary-Isbert
from Bethlehem Books
Realistic Fiction for 5th-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$14.95
Upon the Head of the Goat
by Aranka Siegal
First Square Fish: Aug.2012 from Farrar, Straus and Giroux
for 5th-9th grade
1982 Newbery Honor Book
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$9.99
Upstairs Room
by Johanna Reiss
from HarperCollins
for 3rd-6th grade
1973 Newbery Honor Book
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$7.99
War Comes to Willy Freeman
by James Lincoln Collier, Christopher Collier
Reissue from Yearling
for 4th-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$2.00 (1 in stock)
War Within
by Carol Matas
from Aladdin Paperbacks
for 4th-6th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$3.00 (2 in stock)
Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963
by Christopher Paul Curtis
from Yearling
for 4th-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$8.99
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 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 Pony Express
by William O. Steele
from American Home-School Publishing
Historical Fiction for 4th-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
Where the Broken Heart Still Beats
by Carolyn Meyer
from Graphia
for 5th-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$7.99
Windy Hill
by Cornelia Meigs
Dover 2017 from Dover Publications
for 4th-7th grade
1922 Newbery Honor Book
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$5.99
Year of Miss Agnes
by Kirkpatrick Hill
from Aladdin Paperbacks
for 3rd-6th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$6.99 $4.00 (1 in stock)
Young Pioneers
by Rose Wilder Lane
from HarperTrophy
for 3rd-5th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$8.99