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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320 Items found Print
Active Filters: 7th grade (Ages 12-13), Hardcover
After the Train
by Gloria Whelan
from HarperCollins
for 4th-7th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
Alamo All Stars
Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales #6
by Nathan Hale
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Alexander of Macedon
International Collectors Library
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Anna of Byzantium
by Tracy Barrett
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Apprentice of Florence
by Ann Kyle, illustrated by Erick Berry
from Houghton Mifflin
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1934 Newbery Honor Book
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Archie's War
by Marcia Williams
from Candlewick Press
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At the Point of the Bayonet
by G. A. Henty
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Battle for Quebec
North Star Books #38
by F. Van Wyck Mason, illustrated by Victor Mays
from Houghton Mifflin
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Beckoning Hills
Land of the Free Series
by Joseph H. Gage, illustrated by Floyd Torbert
1st edition from John C. Winston
Historical fiction for 6th-10th grade
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Beggar's King
by Howard C. Emmons
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Ben-Hur
by Lew Wallace
from Heritage Press
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Big Bad Ironclad!
Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales #2
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Black Arrow
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Black Falcon
by Armstrong Sperry
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Blades of Freedom
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Blood Feud
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Blood Feud
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Blowing-Wand
Land of the Free Series
by Elsie Reif Ziegler, illustrated by Jacob Landau
1st edition from John C. Winston
Historical fiction for 6th-10th grade
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Bonnie Dundee
by Rosemary Sutcliff
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Book of Indians
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1st edition from Platt and Munk Publishers
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Book of Indians
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Both Sides the Border
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Blackie from Blackie & Son LTD.
Historical Fiction for 6th-10th grade
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Bounty Trilogy (School Edition)
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by H. C. Thomas
from Whitman Publishing Company
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Boy Who Was
by Grace Taber Hallock, illustrated by Harrie Wood
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1929 Newbery Honor Book
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Boys in the Boat adapted for Young Readers
by Daniel James Brown, adapted by Gregory Mone
from Penguin Putnam
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$17.99
Bravest of the Brave
by G. A. Henty
from Robinson Curriculum
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Bronze Bow
by Elizabeth George Speare
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Brother Dusty Feet
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Bull Run
by Paul Fleischman
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Historical Fiction for 4th-7th grade
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By Conduct & Courage
by G. A. Henty
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By England's Aid
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from Robinson Curriculum
Historical Fiction for 6th-10th grade
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$20.00
Caesar's Gallic War
by Olivia Coolidge
from Linnet Books
Historical Fiction for 7th-10th grade
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Caesar's Gallic War
by Olivia Coolidge
from Houghton Mifflin
Historical Fiction for 7th-10th grade
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Calico Captive
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Capricorn Bracelet
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Captain of the Minute Men
Boys of Liberty Library
by Harrie Irving Hancock
from David McKay Company
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Captive
by Scott O'Dell
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Hans Christian Anderson Award
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Caravan to Oregon
by Herbert E. Arntson
from Binford & Mort Publishing
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Carry On, Mr. Bowditch
by Jean Lee Latham, illustrated by John O'Hara Cosgrave II
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Chariot in the Sky
Land of the Free Series
by Arna Bontemps, illustrated by Cyrus Le Roy Baldridge
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Historical fiction for 6th-10th grade
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$35.00 (1 in stock)
Cheaper By the Dozen
by Frank Gilbreth & Ernestine Gilbreth Carey
1st edition 1st printing from HarperCollins
Family Stories for 4th-9th grade
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Cheaper By the Dozen
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Climb a Lofty Ladder
by Marion & Walter Havighurst, illustrated by Jill Elgin
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Historical fiction for 6th-10th grade
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Colonel Thorndyke's Secret
by G. A. Henty
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Come on Seabiscuit
by Ralph Moody
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Condemned as a Nihilist
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Countdown
by Deborah Wiles
1st edition from Scholastic Press
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$8.00 (1 in stock)
Crispin: The End of Time
by Avi
from Balzer & Bray
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Cromwell's Head
by Olivia Coolidge, illustrated by Edward A. Wilson
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Historical Fiction for 4th-8th grade
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Curse of Carne's Hold
by G. A. Henty
from Robinson Curriculum
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Daniel Boone, Wilderness Scout
Junior Deluxe Editions
by Stewart Edward White, illustrated by Henry C. Pitz
from Grosset & Dunlap
Biography for 4th-7th grade
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Daniel Boone, Wilderness Scout
by Stewart Edward White, illustrated by James Daugherty
from Garden City Books
Biography for 4th-7th grade
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Dark Star of Itza
by Alida Malkus, illustrated by Lowell Houser
1st edition from Harcourt, Brace & Company
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1931 Newbery Honor Book
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Davy Crockett
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by Constance Rourke, illustrated by Walter Seaton
from Grosset & Dunlap
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1935 Newbery Honor Book
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Deep Treasure
by Charles Blackford, illustrated by Alexander Key
1st edition from John C. Winston
Historical fiction for 6th-10th grade
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Desert Harvest
Land of the Free Series
by Vanya Oakes, illustrated by Isami Kashiwagi
1st edition from John C. Winston
Historical fiction for 6th-10th grade
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Donner Dinner Party
Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales #3
by Nathan Hale
from Amulet Books
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$14.99
Door to the North
Land of the Free Series
by Elizabeth Coatsworth, illustrated by Frederick T. Chapman
1st edition from John C. Winston
Historical fiction for 6th-10th grade
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Dorothy's Double
by G. A. Henty
from Robinson Curriculum
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in G. A. Henty Books (Location: FIC-HEN)
Downright Dencey
by Caroline Dale Snedeker, illustrated by Maginel Wright Barney
from Doubleday & Company
Realistic Fiction for 6th-9th grade
1928 Newbery Honor Book
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$22.00 (1 in stock)
Dragonfly Eyes
by Cao Wenxuan, translated from the Chinese by Helen Wang
from Candlewick Press
Historical fiction for 5th-8th grade
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$19.99
Drawbridge Gate
by Cynthia Harnett
First American Edition from G.P. Putnam's Sons
for 7th-10th grade
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Drums
Scribner Illustrated Classics
by James Boyd
1st edition from Atheneum
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in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
Eagle of the Ninth
by Rosemary Sutcliff, illustrated by C. Walter Hodges
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
Historical Fiction for 6th-9th grade
$20.00
Eagle of the Ninth
by Rosemary Sutcliff, illustrated by C. Walter Hodges
from Oxford University
Historical Fiction for 6th-9th grade
ECL: Black Arrow
by Robert Louis Stevenson, illustrated by Don Irwin
from Classic Press
Historical Fiction for 7th-10th grade
in Educator Classic Library (Location: VIN-ECL)
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)
Facing Death
by G. A. Henty
from Robinson Curriculum
Historical Fiction for 6th-10th grade
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Far Frontier
by William O. Steele; illustrated by Paul Galdone
from Harcourt
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$6.00 (1 in stock)
Fear in the Forest
by Cateau de Leeuw
from T. Nelson & Sons
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in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Final Reckoning
by G. A. Henty
from Robinson Curriculum
for 6th-10th grade
in G. A. Henty Books (Location: FIC-HEN)
First Four Years
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-8th grade
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$18.99 $8.00 (1 in stock)
First Four Years (Pictorial Cover)
by Laura Ingalls Wilder; illustrated by Garth Williams
from Harper & Row
for 3rd-8th grade
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$8.00 (1 in stock)
Florentine Giraffe
by Willoughby Patton, illustrated by William M. Hutchinson
from David McKay Company
for 3rd-7th grade
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For Name and Fame
by G. A. Henty
from Robinson Curriculum
Historical Fiction for 6th-10th grade
in G. A. Henty Books (Location: FIC-HEN)
Frontier Wolf
by Rosemary Sutcliff
1st edition from Dutton Juvenile
for 4th-8th grade
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Gabriel Allen, M.P.
by G. A. Henty
from Robinson Curriculum
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George Alfred Henty
by George Manville Fenn
from Salem Ridge Press
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Heart of a Samurai
by Margi Preus
from Amulet Books
for 5th-7th grade
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Heather, Oak, and Olive
by Rosemary Sutcliff, illustrated by Victor Ambrus
from E.P. Dutton & Co.
for 6th-10th grade
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Held Fast for England
by G. A. Henty
from Robinson Curriculum
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in G. A. Henty Books (Location: FIC-HEN)
Helmet of Navarre
by Burke Wilkinson, illustrated by James W. Williamson
Second Printing from Macmillan
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$10.00 (1 in stock)
Hidden Foe
by G. A. Henty
from Robinson Curriculum
for 6th-10th grade
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Horses of Anger
by James Forman
2nd Printing from Farrar, Straus and Giroux
for 7th-10th grade
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
I Heard of a River
Land of the Free Series
by Elsie Singmaster, illustrated by Henry C. Pitz
1st edition from John C. Winston
Historical fiction for 6th-10th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
I, Juan de Pareja
by Elizabeth Borton de TreviƱo
1994 Printing from Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Realistic Fiction/Slavery for 5th-8th grade
1966 Newbery Medal winner
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
In Freedom's Cause
by G. A. Henty
from Robinson Curriculum
Historical Fiction for 6th-10th grade
in G. A. Henty Books (Location: FIC-HEN)
In Greek Waters
by G. A. Henty
from Robinson Curriculum
for 6th-10th grade
in G. A. Henty Books (Location: FIC-HEN)
In the Hands of the Cave Dwellers
by G. A. Henty
from Robinson Curriculum
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in G. A. Henty Books (Location: FIC-HEN)
In the Hands of the Malays
by G. A. Henty
from Robinson Curriculum
for 6th-10th grade
in G. A. Henty Books (Location: FIC-HEN)
In the Heart of the Rockies
by G. A. Henty
from Robinson Curriculum
Historical Fiction for 6th-10th grade
in G. A. Henty Books (Location: FIC-HEN)
In the Irish Brigade
by G. A. Henty
from Robinson Curriculum
for 6th-10th grade
in G. A. Henty Books (Location: FIC-HEN)
In Times of Peril
by G. A. Henty
from Robinson Curriculum
for 6th-10th grade
in G. A. Henty Books (Location: FIC-HEN)
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)
$12.00 (2 in stock)
Jack Archer
by G. A. Henty
from Robinson Curriculum
for 6th-10th grade
in G. A. Henty Books (Location: FIC-HEN)
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