Stories about America’s Past for Grades 4 &5
at the Elmhurst Public Library
These books can be found in the fiction (J F) section of the Kids' Library,
shelved alphabetically by the authors' last names.
Blockade! by Jerome Beatty, Jr.
The Civil War is barely a year old when Steve Blanding runs away from his boring job as wheelwright apprentice to serve aboard the Union gunboat Louisiana.
Brooklyn Doesn’t Rhyme by Joan W. Blos
At the request of her sixth grade teacher, Edwina Rose Sachs records events in the lives of her Polish immigrant family and their friends living in Brooklyn in the early 1900s.
The President’s Daughter by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley
A fictionalized account of ten-year-old Ethel Roosevelt's early experiences in the White House after her father, Theodore Roosevelt, becomes president in 1901
Caddie Woodlawn by Carol Ryrie Brink
Scarcely out of one scrape before she is into another, Caddie refuses to be a “lady,” preferring instead to run the woods with her brothers. This story of the 1860s Wisconsin frontier is a Newbery Medal winner.
The Arrow Over the Door by Joseph Bruchac
Samuel Russell is called “coward” for his peace-loving Quaker beliefs. The Russells are in danger from Indians and raiders roaming the area – yet to fight back is not the Friends’ way. This story is based on a historical meeting of Quakers and Indians during the Revolutionary War.
Walks Alone by Brian Burks
After a surprise attack leaves many of her people dead, fifteen-year-old Walks Along, an Apache girl wounded in the massacre, struggles to survive and rejoin the refugee band.
Bigger by Patricia Calvert
When his father disappears near the Mexican border at the end of the Civil War, twelve-year-old Tyler decides to go after him and bring him home, acquiring on the journey a strange dog which he names Bigger. In the sequel, Sooner, Tyler continues his struggle to cross the line between boyhood and manhood while taking on his father’s role on the family farm.
Buffalo Bill and the Pony Express by Debbie Dadey
The story of a tall, “skinny weed” of a kid named Bill Cody who gets a job with the Pony Express. (Disney’s American Frontier #13.)
Dear America series
These books can be found in the fiction collection under the series title, "Dear America."
Voyage of the Great Titanic: Diary of Margaret Ann Brady, R.M.S. Titanic, 1912 by Ellen White
A Line in the Sand: Alamo Diary of Lucinda Lawrence Gonzales, Texas, 1836 by Sherry Garland
Standing in the Light: Captive Diary of Catharine Carey Logan, Delaware Valley, Pennsylvania, 1763 by Mary Osborne
A Journey to the New World: Diary of Remember Patience Whipple, Mayflower, 1620 by Kathryn Lasky
The Winter of the Red Snow: Revolutionary War Diary of Abigail Stewart, Valley Forge, 1777 by Kristiana Gregory
Across the Wide and Lonesome Prairie: Oregon Trail Diary of Hattie Campbell, 1847 by Kristiana Gregory
So Far From Home: Diary of Mary Driscoll, An Irish Mill Girl, Lowell, Massachusetts, 1847 by Barry Denenberg
A Picture of Freedom: Diary of Clottee, A Slave Girl, Belmont Plantation, Virginia, 1859 by Patricia C. McKissack
When Will This Cruel War Be Over?: Civil War Diary of Emma Simpson, Virginia, 1864 by Barry Denenberg
I Thought My Soul Would rise and fly: Diary of Patsy, a Freed Girl, South Carolina, 1865 by Joyce Hansen
West to a Land of Plenty: Diary of Teresa Viscardi, New York to Idaho Territory, 1883 by Jim Murphy
Dreams in the Golden Country: Diary of Zipporah Feldman, Jewish Immigrant Girl, New York, 1903 by Kathryn Lasky
The Great Railroad Race: Diary of Libby West, Utah Territory, 1868 by Kristiana Gregory
My Heart in on the Ground: Diary of Nannie Little Rose, a Sioux Girl by Ann Rinaldi
My Name Is America series
These books can be found in the fiction collection under the series title, "My Name is America."
The Journal of Finn Reardon, Newsie by Susan Campbell Bartoletti
The Journal of Jesse Smoke: A Cherokee Boy by Joseph Bruchac
The Journal of Ben Uchida, Citizen #13559, Mirror Lake Internment Camp by Barry Denenberg
The Journal of William Thomas Emerson: A Revolutionary War Patriot, Boston, 1774 by Barry Denenberg
The Journal of C.J. Jackson: A Dust Bowl Migrant by William Durbin
The Journal of Otto Peltonen, A Finnish Immigrant by William Durbin
The Journal of Sean Sullivan: A Transcontinental Railroad Worker by William Durbin
The Journal of Rufus Rowe: Witness to the Battle of Fredricksburg by Sid Hite
The Journal of Augustus Pelletier: The Lewis and Clark Expedition by Kathryn Lasky
The Journal of Jedediah Barstow, an Emigrant on the Oregon Trail: Overland, 1845 by Ellen Levine
The Journal of Brian Doyle: A Greenhorn on an Alaskan Whaling Ship by Jim Murphy
The Journal of James Edmond Pease: A Civil War Union Soldier, Virginia, 1863 by Jim Murphy
The Journal of Biddy Owens: The Negro Leagues by Walter Dean Myers
The Journal of Joshua Loper: A Black Cowboy by Walter Dean Myers
The Journal of Scott Pendleton Collins: A World War II Soldier by Walter Dean Myers
The Journal of Douglas Allen Deeds: The Donner Party ExpeditionI by W.R. Philbrick
The Journal of Jasper Jonathan Pierce, A Pilgrim Boy by Ann Rinaldi
The Journal of Patrick Seamus Flaherty, United States Marine Corps by Ellen Emerson White
The Journal of Wong Ming-Ching: A Chinese Miner by Laurence Yep
Weasel by Cynthia DeFelice
Alone in the frontier wilderness in the winter of 1839 while his father is recovering from an injury, eleven-year-old Nathan runs afoul of the renegade killer known as Weasel, and makes a surprising discovery about the concept of courage.
Birchbark House by Louise Erdrich
Omakayas, a seven-year-old Native American girl of the Ojibwa tribe, lives through the joys of summer and the perils of winter on an island in Lake Superior in 1847. 244 pages. Followed by : The Game of Silence.
Betrayal at Cross Creek by Kathleen Ernst
Twelve-year-old Elspeth Monro, a Scottish settler and weaver's apprentice on the North Carolina frontier in 1775, must find out who is betraying her Loyalist family during the months before the start of the Revolutionary War. (History Mysteries #22)
Jim Ugly by Sid Fleischman
The adventures of twelve-year-old Jake and Jim Ugly, his father’s part-mongrel, part-wolf dog as they travel through the Old West trying to find out what really happened to Jake’s actor father.
My Home Is Over Jordan by Sandra Forrester
No longer a slave, fifteen-year-old Maddie dreams of getting an education and becoming a teacher, but she finds the reality of freedom harsh. This is a sequel to Sound the Jubilee.
Eddie Spaghetti on the Homefront by Edward Frascino
Eddie does as much as a boy can for the war effort during World War II.
The Cabin Faced West by Jean Fritz
The story of Ann Hamilton and her life in the early wilderness of Western Pennsylvania.
Hope by LouAnn Gaeddert
In 1851 orphans Hope and John are placed in a community of Shakers, where they encounter a way of life that is strange yet comfortable. Also by this author: Breaking Free.
A House of Tailors by Patricia Reilly Giff
When thirteen-year-old Dina emigrates from Germany to America in 1871, her only wish is to return home as soon as she can, but as the months pass and she survives a multitude of hardships living with her uncle and his young wife and baby, she finds herself thinking of Brooklyn as her home.
Willow Run by Patricia Reilly Giff
During World War II, after moving with her parents to Willow Run, Michigan, when her father gets a job in the B-24 bomber-building factory, eleven-year-old Meggie learns about different kinds of bravery from all of the people around her.
Emmy by Connie Jordan Green
In the 1920s when her father is disabled in a coal mining accident, eleven-year-old Emmy and the others in her family do what they can to help.
Jenny of the Tetons by Kristiana Gregory
Orphaned by an Indian raid while traveling West with a wagon train, fifteen-year-old Carrie Hill is befriended by the English trapper Beaver Dick and taken to live with his Indian wife Jenny and their five children.
The Legend of Jimmy Spoon by Kristiana Gregory
Chronicles the adventures of a young white boy living among the Shoshoni Indians during the early frontier days. Sequel: Jimmy Spoon and the Pony Express.
Stepping on the Cracks by Mary Downing Hahn
In 1944, while her brother is overseas fighting in World War II, eleven-year-old Margaret gets a new view of the school bully, Gordy, when she finds him hiding his won brother, an army deserter, and decides to help him.
My Brother, My Enemy by Madge Harrah
Determined to avenge the massacre of his family, fourteen-year-old Robert Bradford joins Nathaniel Bacon’s rebel army in hopes of wiping out the Susquehannock Indians of Virginia, even though one member of the tribe was his sworn brother.
Anna’s Blizzard by Alison Hart
Having never excelled at schoolwork, twelve-year-old Anna discovers that she may know a few things about survival when the 1888 Children's Blizzard traps her and her classmates in their Nebraska schoolhouse.
Danger at the Wild West Show by Alison Hart
Twelve-year-old Rose sets out to prove her brother's innocence when he is accused of shooting a politician during a Wild West show performance in Louisville, Kentucky, in 1886. (History Mysteries #19)
A Summer on Thirteenth Street by Charlotte Herman
World War II affects Shirley Frances Cohen, her buddy Morton, Manny – who joins the army – their parents, a German immigrant suspected of being a spy, and other people in their Chicago neighborhood.
Calling Me Home by Patricia Hermes
Twelve-year-old Abbie struggles to accept her father’s desire to make a new home for his family on the Nebraska prairies of the late 1850s.
Edith Herself by Ellen Howard
Orphaned by her mother’s death, Edith goes to live with her older sister and her dour husband in their stern Christian farming household, where the strain of adjusting seems to aggravate her epileptic seizures.
Jim Dandy by Hadley Irwin
Living after the Civil War on a Kansas homestead with his stern stepfather, thirteen-year-old Caleb raises a beloved cold and becomes involved in General Custer’s raids on the Cheyenne.
The Great Turkey Walk by Kathleen Karr
Big, brawny Simon Green – who in 1860 has just completed third grade (for the fourth time) – may not be book-smart, but he’s nobody’s fool. He’s going to make a fortune – once he herds his huge flock of turkeys from his home in Missouri to the boomtown of Denver.
Quake! : Disaster in San Francisco, 1906 by Gail Karwoski
Twelve-year-old Rose sets out to prove her brother's innocence when he is accused of shooting a politician during a Wild West show performance in Louisville, Kentucky, in 1886.
The Iron Dragon Never Sleeps by Stephen Krensky
In 1867, while staying with her father in a small California mining town, ten-year-old Winnie meets a Chinese boy and discovers the role of his people in completing the transcontinental railroad.
Worth by A. LaFaye
After breaking his leg, eleven-year-old Nate feels useless because he cannot work on the family farm in nineteenth-century Nebraska, so when his father brings home an orphan boy to help with the chores, Nate feels even worse.
West along the Wagon Road, 1852 by Laurie Lawlor
Everyone on the wagon train knew Harriet "Duck" Scott was looking for adventure as they left Illinois for the faraway Oregon Territory, but nothing could haave prepared the Scott family for the dangers they were about to meet. 182 pages. This is the first book in the American Sisters series.
Mr. Revere and I: An Account of Certain Episodes in the Career of Paul Revere, Esq. As Revealed by His Horse set down and illustrated by Robert Lawson.
In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson by Bette Lord
In 1947, a Chinese child comes to Brooklyn, where she starts to feel at home and make friends when she discovers baseball and the Brooklyn Dodgers.
Letters from a Slave Girl: The Story of Harriet Jacobs by Mary E. Lyons
A fictionalized version of the life of Harriet Jacobs, told in the form of letters that she might have written during her slavery in North Carolina and as she prepared for escape to the North in 1842.
Run Away Home by Patricia C. McKissack
In 1886 in Alabama, an eleven-year-old African-American girl and her family give refuge to a runaway boy, who later helps them fight off white supremacists known as the Knights of the Southern Order. Inspired by a family story about the author’s great-great-great-grandfather.
How I Found the Strong by Margaret McMullan
Frank Russell, known as Shanks, wishes he could have gone with his father and brother to fight for Mississippi and the Confederacy, but his experiences with the war and his changing relationship with the family slave, Buck, change his thinking.
The Covered Bridge by Comelia Meigs
In 1800, Constance goes to spend the winter in Vermont with Sarah, her aunt’s housekeeper. It is a happy, busy winter, even when the spring flood comes.
David’s Search by Joan Lowery Nixon
Eleven-year-old orphan train rider David Howard settles with a strict Texas farm family, and his best friend is an ex-slave who is threatened by the growing presence of the Ku Klux Klan.
Jip: His Story by Katherine Paterson
While living on a Vermont poor farm in 1855, Jip learns of his identity and that of his parents, and he comes to understand why he arrived at this place and why he must leave. Companion novel to Lyddie.
The Adventures of Midnight Son by Denise Lewis Patrick
After his parents help him escape from slavery on a cotton plantation, thirteen-year-old Midnight finds freedom in Mexico and becomes a cowboy on a cattle drive to Kansas.
Mr. Tucket by Gary Paulsen
In 1848, while on a wagon train headed for Oregon, fourteen-year-old Francis Tucket is kidnapped by Pawnee Indians and then falls in with a one-armed trapper who teaches him how to live in the wild.
Thomas by Bonnie Pryor
In the early years of the Revolutionary War, Thomas and his family escape a bloddy massacre at Whyoming Valley and endure innumerable hardships as they try to make their way to Philadelphia. (This is the first book in the American Adventures series.)
A Message for General Washington by Vivian Schurfranz
Twelve-year-old Hannah accepts the challenge of sneaking behind enemy lines to report the British army’s position to General Washington.
The Sign of the Beaver by Elizabeth George Speare
Left alone to guard the family’s wilderness home in eighteenth-century Maine, a boy is hard-pressed to survive until local Indians teach him their skills.
The Well by Mildred D. Taylor
In Mississippi in the early 1900s ten-year-old David Logan's family generously shares their well water with both white and black neighbors in an atmosphere of potential racial violence.
Grasshopper Summer by Ann Warren Turner
In 1874 eleven-year-old Sam and his family move from Kentucky to the southern Dakota Territory, where harsh conditions and a plague of hungry grasshoppers threaten their chances for survival.
Bound for Oregon by Jean Van Leeuwen
A fictionalized account of the journey made by nine-year-old Mary Ellen Todd and her family from their home in Arkansas westward over the Oregon Trail in 1852.
Bob War & Poke by Harvey Watson
Hired as chauffeur and cook to a rich couple passing through town, two young back-country brothers have many adventures until they discover that their employers are bank robbers and thieves.
The Bread Winner by Arvella Whitmore
When both her parents are unable to find work and pay the bills during the Great Depression, resourceful Sarah Ann Puckett saves the family from the poorhouse by selling her prizewinning homemade bread.
Caleb’s Choice by G. Clifton Wisler
While living in Texas in 1858, fourteen-year-old Caleb faces a dilemma in deciding whether or not to assist fugitive slaves in their run for freedom.
The Drummer Boy of Vicksburg by G. Clifton Wisler
In this fact-based story, fourteen-year-old drummer boy Orion Howe displays great bravery during a Civil War battle at Vicksburg, Mississippi.
Jericho’s Journey by G. Clifton Wisler
As his family makes the long and difficult journey from Tennessee to their new home in Texas in 1852, twelve-year-old Jericho Wetherby, teased by his sister and brothers about his size, learns there are many ways to grow.
Red Cap by G. Clifton Wisler
A young Yankee drummer boy displays great courage when he’s captured and sent to Andersonville Prison.
Little House on the Prairie series by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Little House in the Big Woods
Little House on the Prairie
Farmer Boy
On the Banks of Plum Creek
By the Shores of Silver Lake
The Long Winter
Little Town on the Prairie
These Happy Golden Years
The First Four Years
…the story continures with The Rocky Ridge Years series by Roger Lea MacBride
Little House on the Rocky Ridge
Little Farm n the Ozarks
In the Land of the Big Red Apple
On the Other Side of the Hill
…and the story of Laura’s mother, Caroline Quiner, and her pioneer childhood is told in the series The Brookfield Years by Maria D. Wilkes
Little House in Brookfield
Little Town at the Crossroads
Out of the Storm by Patricia Willis
In 1946 Mandy feels trapped on her stern Aunt Bess's northern Ohio sheep farm, but as time goes on she finds herself getting involved with helping to tend the sheep.
Dear Levi: Letters from the Overland Trail by Elvira Woodruff
Twelve-year-old Austin Ives writes letters to his younger brother describing his three-thousand-mile journey from their home in Pennsylvania to Oregon in 1851.
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