Historical Fiction Library

Four girls. Four generations. One family. The third installment of the exquisite new series from Newbery Honor winner Ann M. Martin follows Francie, Dana's daughter, to Princeton, NJ, in the 1980s.

Far and near. Lost and found. Four girls. Four generations. Georgia cannot figure out what's going on in her family. Her mother, Francie, is extremely overprotective. Her grandmother, Dana, and her great-grandmother, Abby, don't speak to each other. And Georgia's great-great-grandmother also had some secrets that nobody else knows about. Georgia knows this because she's found her great-great grandmother's diary hidden in a wall in the family's house in Maine.

A famous Hollywood director comes to the Brookline Movie House to run a special New York Film Academy film camp, and Maeve couldn't be more excited - especially when she finds out this director is bringing her dreamy actor son! But Maeve's quest for the spotlight is interrupted by Madeline, the beautiful, talented, and ultra-rich daughter of the famous Krupcake King. She wants to star in the movie, too.

Orphaned Matilda is not at all pleased when she arrives at Blood and Bone Alley to become an assistant to Red Peg the Bonesetter. She is a religious, well-educated girl who can't picture herself doing dirty chores or helping sickly patients. Each day is very different from her former quiet life. Matilda's not used to being around so many people who are coming and going, laughing and eating. Not one of them seems interested in prayer or study.

Britain and Germany are at war and Sexton Blake is in the thick of it. As the battle for the Western Front rages, adventuring detective Sexton Blake pits his intellect and physical prowess against the machinations of the Kaiser. A band of intrepid allies join Blake to take on the forces of evil in three classic stories, collected here for the first time. From uncovering secret German naval bases to dangling from zeppelins, fighting atop moving trains and escaping firing squads, Blake moves through war-torn Europe solving mysteries and fighting against tyranny.

For Kit, the Depression has brought big changes: a houseful of boarders, tons of chores, and no birthday party. Then Aunt Millie arrives, and it looks as if her great ideas might turn things around for the Kittredges. But when Kit’s taste for adventure gets her into trouble, she discovers that the Depression has hit a lot of people far worse than her own family. Can one girl make a difference for homeless kids—when even grownups have lost hope?

John F. Kennedy said he needed sex every three days or he got a headache. In the White House, he never had a headache. Kennedy met Mary Pinchot in 1935, when he was eighteen and she was sixteen. Twenty years later, when she was living in Virginia and married to Cord Meyer, a high-ranking CIA official, she was Jack and Jackie Kennedy’s next-door neighbor. In 1962, she was an artist, divorced, living in Washington—and Kennedy’s first serious romance. Mary Pinchot Meyer was more than a bedmate. She was Kennedy’s beacon light: his sole female adviser.

The vicious attack on their wagon train killed almost everyone - except David and his younger sister, whom he calls Queen of Sheba. The two are stranded on the deserted trail and have to live by their wits and whatever supplies they can scavenge. And although David is seriously hurt, he knows that frail Queen of Sheba is counting on him. He can only hope that their parents are somewhere up ahead - if he can find them.

When Eleanor Roosevelt time travels to Nolan and Olive's house in modern-day Illinois, the kids don't know who she is at first. After all, she's old and wearing a hairnet. But the First Lady of the United States - some 80 years ago, that is - isn't a mystery for long when she starts spouting things like, "You must do the things you think you cannot do." Fresh off a visit from Ben Franklin, Nolan and Olive know what they're in for with this latest guest: an adventure.

Sally Harrison and her family are slaves on a plantation in Georgia. But when Master decides to sell Sally and her brother, the family escapes to seek shelter with a tribe of Seminoles who are rumored to adopt runaway slaves. After a perilous journey, Sally’s family finds and joins the tribe. But while her father and brother easily adjust to Indian ways, Sally can’t seem to find her place.

Abraham Lincoln may have returned to history books, but other historical figures saw what he did - and now they know they can escape from their times, too. When Abigail Adams decides there's more to life than doing chores in the White House, she joins a crew of Caribbean pirates! Can siblings Abby and Doc set history straight? Or will they be the ones who need to be rescued?

From the world of Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls comes the historical fiction novel about the exciting life and adventures of Ada Lovelace. In Ada Lovelace Cracks the Code, Ada uses her incredible imagination to dream up technology that could have jump-started the digital age nearly 200 years ago. In fact, she writes what will become the world's first programming language.

As school begins in 1963, Cooper Dale wrestles with what it means to “shine” for a black girl in a predominantly white community near Pittsburgh. Set against the historic backdrop of the Birmingham church bombing, the Kennedy assassination, and Beatlemania, Radiant is a finely crafted novel in verse about race, class, faith, and finding your place in a loving family and a complicated world.

Crystal is brave and bold and doesn’t back down. Courtney tries to be the same in real life. When Courtney meets Isaac Wells at the arcade, they form an epic friendship. Isaac has awesome ideas to add to Crystal Starshooter’s game world, and he gets along great with Sarah and Kip, Courtney’s two best friends. When Isaac needs help fighting a real battle called HIV, Courtney is quick to support him. But doing so puts her friendship with Sarah at risk. Being brave and bold is complicated. What would a superhero do?

For her tenth birthday, Rebecca is invited to visit her cousin Max’s movie studio! When the cameras begin to roll, she finds herself unexpectedly presented with a part to play. Rebecca doesn’t have the courage to tell her family, but is it wrong to keep such a big secret? Later that summer, on a visit to the factory where her uncle and cousin work, Rebecca is horrified. Is this the life that’s in store for cousin Ana? There must be a way to improve conditions at the factory, and Rebecca is determined to do her part—even if it means marching straight into danger.

When her cousin Ana’s family needs money to leave Russia, Rebecca puts on a sidewalk show, but all she earns is a scolding. Once Ana arrives in New York, Rebecca shares her room and her clothes and helps her cousin learn English. But when Ana is assigned to sing with her in a school program, Rebecca’s heart sinks. Ana’s Russian accent will ruin the show! Rebecca realizes her performance is one thing she does not want to share with her cousin. But how can she explain that to Ana?

Every day, more and more people fleeing war in the north show up at Kyung Tak and her family’s house on the southeastern shore of Korea. With nowhere else to go, the Taks' home is these migrants' last chance of refuge “before falling into the sea,” and the household quickly becomes crowded, hot, and noisy. Then war sirens cry out over Kyung's city too, and her family and their guests take shelter underground. When the sirens stop, Kyung is upset—she wishes everything could go back to the way it was before: before the sirens, before strangers started coming into their home.

Someone is planning to kill George Washington, and young Phoebe Fraunces is trying to save his life. Phoebe gets a job as George Washington's housekeeper, but her real job is to work as a spy. She listens and watches very carefully, and she meets her father every day to tell him what she has learned. One day Phoebe's father tells her that Washington is planning to leave town in a few days, and the person plotting against him will act before then. Phoebe is very frightened, but she is determined to figure out who is after Washington before it's too late. . . .

World War II is raging in Europe, and Tomie finds that life has changed in many ways. Now he has to wear an extra sweater to school because they're trying to conserve coal. Then tragedy brings the war home to the dePaola family, and all Tomie can do is ask "Why?"

Melody Ellison loves singing and gardening, and is inspired by friends and family and the Civil Rights Movement to make changes in her community. Melody's story of leadership and making one's voice heard is sure to engage today's readers as they learn what it was like to be a girl in 1964. This Step 3 Step into Reading leveled reader is great for American Girl fans ages 5 to 8. This exciting Step into Reading is based on an American Girl story by Denise Lewis Patrick.