Historical Fiction

Interest Level: 5-8
Reading Level: 5.2
Isabel and her sister Ruth are slave children living in New York City with Loyalist owners as the Revolutionary War rages. She is asked to be a spy for the Patriots, but until the worst happens to her sister, she refuses. She then realizes that her loyalty is to anyone who can help her gain her freedom and willingly supplies the Patriots with information in hopes to gain her freedom.

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Benno, the cat, tells the story of Kristallnacht, one of Hitler's progroms to generate hatred for Jews and one of the first steps in the "Final Solution". Benno lives in Rossenstrasse, Germany where life was peaceful until November 9, 1938. They old typewriter font and Bisaillon's beautiful illustrations help Benno teach children about the Holocaust from a cat's point of view. Benno is acquainted with both Jews and Gentiles and observed Kristallnacht from the shadows but doesn't understand why all the destruction is taking place in his peaceful little town outside of Berlin.

Reading Level:5.7
Interest Level: 5-8
The amazing sequel to Chains will grab any reader and hold them until the cliff hanging end. Isabel helps Curzon escape from prison and the two former slaves take part ways. Curzon finds refuge as a private in the Continental army, wintering with the troops in the desperate conditions of Valley Forge. Seeing the war through the eyes of a 15 year old in the middle of the battles that shaped our country, really brings history to life. Curzon and Isabel meet up again as they are both captured. Will they be able to escape this time with their lives this time? You eill have to cheek out the book to find out!

Reading level: 9-12
Interest level: grades 8-12

A young girl, a terrible life, but there are moments of pleasure. Liesel and her friend lose themselves in stolen books in Nazi Germany during WWII. One of the interesting twists in this captivating story is that Death is the narrator. Thievery is normalized because stealing books seems to be the one way of coping with the extreme life-or-death circumstances of Liesel, her foster father, and the Jewish man who hides in the basement of their home in Munich. The story is written in diary format with the narrator's observations about life typed in bold.
An excerpt from Death's observations:
"THE LONGEST THREE MINUTES IN HUBERMANN HISTORY ~ Papa sat at the table. Rosa prayed in the corner, mouthing the words. Liesel was cooked: her knee, her chest, the muscles in her arms. I doubt any of them had the audacity to consider what they'd do if the basement was appointed as a shelter. They had to survive the inspection first."

Interest Level: K-3
Reading Level: 3.7
Join John, the bold one; Paul, the noisy one; George, the honest one; and Ben, the clever one; on a look back at early America's most memorable men. This is a fun look back at their characters and adults and children who have some historical background knowledge will get the jokes about them. Children without the knowledge base will still enjoy the story, but much of the clever play will be lost on them.

Based on a true story, and including some actual photographs, this story tells about Sundays in her family. Sundays are when Rachel's whole family meets at her Oma's (grandma) house for a dinner to celebrate luck, hope, and life. Each Sunday Oma and Rachel go through two photo albums and Rachel hears the story about Oma's two lives. They start with the first album and Oma's first life, then they always stop and skip ahead to when Rachel was born. Oma is too sad to tell the story of what happened to her Jewish family when the Nazi's took over their village in Germany until today. Heartbreaking, hopeful, and inspiring describe this amazing story.