Historical Fiction

The last thing fourteen-year-old Jay Berry Lee expects to find while trekking through the Ozark Mountains of Oklahoma is a tree full of monkeys. But then Jay learns from his grandpa that the monkeys have escaped from a traveling circus, and there’s a big reward for the person who finds and returns them. His family could really use the money, so Jay sets off, determined to catch them. But by the end of the summer, Jay will have learned a lot more than he bargained for—and not just about monkeys.

Sim and his mum never live anywhere long. When dangerous strangers appear one night, Sim discovers why. His mum has been keeping secrets: she has the power to open doors in time. Running for their lives, Sim and his friends are determined to outwit the sinister Council of Keys and be the first to find Nefertiti’s lost tomb and a powerful door to Ancient Egypt. They must piece together long-hidden clues if they are to solve the mystery of her golden heart scarab. Can they find it before the Council finds them?

Abraham Lincoln faces a dangerous and uncertain future after leaving Springfield, Illinois, for his inauguration in Washington, DC. Luckily for him, detective Kate Warne has his back, even if he didn’t know it yet. Working for the Pinkerton Detective Agency, Kate uncovers the rebel plot to kill Abraham Lincoln in Baltimore. Kate warns Lincoln’s staff that this only Southern city on his inaugural train route to Washington, DC is planning a deadly welcome. President-elect Lincoln is urged to change his route. But he refuses to cancel his commitments.

This gripping, accessible novel by celebrated Ukrainian Canadian author Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch follows two sisters as they struggle to survive the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

It’s 1889, barely twenty-five years after the Emancipation Proclamation, and a young Black family is tired of working on land they don’t get to own. So when Will and his father hear about an upcoming land rush, they set out on a journey from Texas to Oklahoma, racing thousands of others to the place where land is free—if they can get to it fast enough. But the journey isn’t easy—the terrain is rough, the bandits are brutal, and every interaction carries a heavy undercurrent of danger.

Set at the height of World War II in England, two young cousins come together for the adventure of their lives. Dannie, a social misfit and her cousin Clarence must race against time to save Dannie’s father, who has disappeared from his employer’s armament factory. Whilst on their quest to find Dannie's father, they visit Warwick Castle where they encounter ghosts, evil spirits and German spies—all of whom are after the Chalice of Fortune.

A young girl bucks convention in fourteenth century Japan. When a crooked minister frames her father and steals her home, is Tokoyo prepared to sacrifice all to save him? Tokoyo’s samurai father trains her in martial arts. When he’s away, she escapes to the sea to dive with the Ama—a society of females who search the deep waters for food and treasure. With them, Tokoyo finds the friendship and adventure she craves. When her father is banished to a remote island, she undertakes a desperate journey, filled with thieves and monsters.

The fight for civil rights in America didn’t begin in the 1960s—Black Americans have been working for justice, freedom, and equality since the first slave ships came to its shores. In I Am the Spirit of Justice, Jemar Tisby demonstrates that that arc of history bends toward equality. Throughout, the spirit of justice is personified as it moves through time, loving the oppressed and supporting the freedom fighters. The poetic text not only informs listeners of the countless and often nameless people who have taken up the fight, it also inspires them to continue working for equality for all.

When a mysterious fossil is unearthed in their sleepy hometown, best friends Jake, Mia, and Sam embark on the adventure of a lifetime in Dinosaur Detectives.

The Ancient Egypt Sleepover consists of twenty-one short chapters, perfect for listening to in class. It is thrilling but also realistic, making it the go-to fiction choice for primary school teachers covering Ancient Egypt in KS2 history.