1500 - 1600

1500

The Apprentice by Pilar Molina Llorente (1993)
Working as an artist's apprentice in Renaissance Florence, thirteen year old Arduino makes a discovery that may cost him the chance to become a painter. (J MOLINA)

1500

The Examination by Malcolm Bosse (1994)
Fifteen year old Hong and his older brother Chen face famine, flood, pirates and jealous rivals on their journey through 15th century China as Chen pursues his calling as a scholar, and Hong becomes involved in a secret society known as the White Lotus. (Y BOSSE)

1502

The High Voyage: The Final Crossing of Christopher Columbus by Olga Litowinsky (1977)
Fernando Columbus recounts his eventful voyage with his father in search of a passage to India. (J LITOWIN)

1506

The Sprig of Broom by Barbara Willard (1971)
In 16th century England, a boy of humble birth searches for his identity while Plantagenets plot to reclaim the throne from the Tudors. (J WILLARD)

1510

The Diving Bell by Todd Strasser (1992)
During the Spanish colonization of Mexico, a young girl invents a diving bell to save her brother and her people. (J STRASSE)

1519

To the Edge of the World by Michele Torrey (2003
In 1519, after the death of his parents, fourteen-year-old Mateo Macias becomes cabin boy to Ferdinand Magellan on a dangerous journey in search of a route to the fabled Spice Islands. (J TORREY)

1519-1540

The Amethyst Ring by Scott O'Dell (1983)
Spanish seminarian Julian Escobar, known to the Mayas as Lord Kukulcan and worshipped as a god, witnesses the fall of the Mayan and Incan civilizations with the coming of Cortes and Pizarro. (Y ODELL)

1519-1540

The Captive by Scott O'Dell (1979)
As part of a Spanish expedition to the New World, a Jesuit seminarian witnesses the enslavement and exploitation of the Mayas and his own seduction by greed and ambition. (Y ODELL)

1519-1540

The Feathered Serpent by Scott O'Dell (1981)
A young Spanish seminarian who the Mayas believe is their powerful god, Kukulcan, witnesses the coming of Cortes and the capture of the magnificent Aztec city, Tenochtitlan. Sequel to The Captive (Y ODELL)

1520

A Cold Wind Blowing by Barbara Willard (1972)
Henry VIII's quarrel with the Pope seems remote from a young Englishman's life until his uncle finds himself the guardian to a mysterious silent girl who seems to remember nothing. (J WILLARD)

1520

Doomed Queen Anne by Carolyn Meyer (2002)
In 1520, thirteen-year-old Anne Boleyn, jealous of her older sister's beauty and position at court, declares that she will one day be queen of England, and that her sister will kneel at her feet. (Y MEYER)

1522

White Hare's Horses by Penina Keen Spinka (1991)
In 16th century California, a young Chumash, White Hare, must find the courage to save her people from Aztec invaders with their frightening horses. (J SPINKA)

1524

The Hawk that Dare Not Hunt by Day by Scott O'Dell (1975)
Amid political turmoil and threats of plague, young Tom Barton accepts the risks of helping William Tyndale publish and smuggle into England the Bible he has translated into English. (Y ODELL)

1526

Mary, Bloody Mary by Carolyn Meyer (1999)
Mary Tudor, who would reign briefly as Queen of England during the mid 16th century, tells the story of her troubled childhood as daughter of King Henry VIII. (Y MEYER)

1540

The King's Fifth by Scott O'Dell (1966)
Seven explorers set out from the summer camp of Coronado's army to find the golden cities of Cibola. (J ODELL)

1541

Conquista! by Clyde Robert Bulla (1978)
At the time of Coronado's exploration for a fabled city of gold, a young Indian boy encounters his first horse. (J BULLA)

1542

Paradise: Based on a True Story of Survival by Joan Elizabeth Goodman (2002)
In 1542, eager to escape the French Huguenot household of her harsh father, sixteen-year-old Marguerite de la Rocque sails with her equally stern uncle, the Sieur de Roberval, to the New World, where she is left alone on an island with only her young Catholic lover and her chaperone to help her survive. (Y GOODMAN)

1542-1587

The Queen's Own Fool by Jane Yolen and Robert J. Harris (2000)
When twelve year old Nicola leaves Troupe Brufort and serves as the fool for Mary, Queen of Scots, she experiences the political and religious upheavals in both France and Scotland. (Y YOLEN)

1544

Elizabeth I, Red Rose of the House of Tudor by Kathryn Lasky (1999)
In a series of diary entries, Princess Elizabeth, the eleven year old daughter of King Henry VIII, celebrates holidays and birthdays, relives her mother's execution and agonizes over her father's death. (J LASKY)

1547-1553

Beware, Princess Elizabeth by Carolyn Meyer (2001)
After the death of her father, King Henry VIII, in 1547, thirteen-year-old Elizabeth must endure the political intrigues and dangers of the reigns of her half-brother Edward and her half-sister Mary before finally becoming Queen of England eleven years later. (J MEYER)

1548

The Dove and the Rose by Ethel Herr (1996)
Pieter-Lucas, a gifted artist, and Aletta, the daughter of a bookseller, vow to love each other in spite of the religious and political struggles of the Reformation which threaten to separate them. (Y HERR)

1550

Beyond the Ancient Cities by Jose Maria Merino (1994)
Miguel, the son of a conquistador, embarks on a perilous journey to Panama with his godfather. (Y MERINO)

1550

The Gold of Dreams by Jose Maria Merino; translated by Helen Lane (1991)
Fifteen year old Miguel, the son of a conquistador, embarks on a dangerous search for a temple of gold in the uncharted territories of Mexico. Companion to Beyond the Ancient Cities. (Y MERINO)

1550

The Samurai's Tale by Erik Christian Haugaard (1984)
In turbulent 16th century Japan, orphaned Taro is taken in by a general serving the great warlord Takeda Shingen and grows up to become a samurai fighting for the enemies of his dead family. (Y HAUGAAR)

1550

Shylock's Daughter by Mirjam Pressler; translated by Brian Murdock (2001)
Sixteen-year-old Jessica, who longs to be free of the restrictions of her father and life in the Jewish ghetto of sixteen-century Venice, falls in love with a Christian aristocrat and must make choices which will affect her whole family. Inspired by Shakespeare's play: The Merchant of Venice. (Y PRESSLE)

1550

White Witch of Kynance by Mary Calhoun (1970)
In 16th century Cornwall, a young girl is apprenticed to a white witch to learn the art of herbs and healing. (Y CALHOUN)

1553

Curse of a Winter Moon by Mary Casanova (2000)
In sixteenth-century France, ruled by a Church that overtaxes peasants and burns heretics, Marius must postpone his apprenticeship to care for his six-year-old brother, whose birth took their mother's life, and who the villagers, backed by the Church, believe will become a "loup garou"--a werewolf. (J CASANOV)

1553

Mary, Queen of Scots, Queen Without a Country by Kathryn Lasky (2002)
Mary, the young Scottish queen, is sent a diary from her mother in which she records her experiences living at the court of France's King Henry II as she awaits her marriage to Henry's son, Francis. (J LASKY)

1557

The Iron Lily by Barbara Willard (1973)
Orphaned in 1557 by the plague and disowned by her "brother's" widow who claims she is not true kin to the family, fifteen year old Lilias begins a life-long attempt to identify her true parentage. (J WILLARD)

1558

The Perilous Gard by Elizabeth Marie Pope (1972)
While imprisoned in a remote castle, a young girl becomes involved in a series of events that leads to an underground labyrinth peopled by the last practitioners of druidic magic. (Y POPE)

1560

Den of the White Fox by Lensey Namioka (1997)
In medieval Japan, two out of work samurai warriors must use their fighting skills when they join a group of local boys, led by the mysterious White Fox, in resistance to a cruel occupying force. (Y NAMIOKA)

1560

Island of Ogres by Lensey Namioka (1989)
An unemployed samurai reluctantly helps solve a mystery and prevents the overthrow of a young ruler on an island in medieval Japan. (Y NAMIOKA)

1567

You Never Knew Her As I Did! by Mollie Hunter (1981)
Will Douglas, a seventeen year old page, attempts to free Mary, Queen of Scots, from her island prison. (J HUNTER)

1573

A Murder for Her Majesty by Beth Hilgartner (1986)
Horrified at having witnessed her father's murder and fearing that the killers are agents of Queen Elizabeth I, eleven year old Alice Tuckfield hides in the Yorkshire cathedral by disguising herself as one of the choirboys. (J HILGART)

1587

The Lyon's Cub by M. L. Stainer (1998)
Jessabel, one of the survivors of the disappearance of the English settlers on Roanoke Island in 1587, relates how her remaining companions live with the Croatoan Indians and try to find the missing colonists. (Y STAINER)

1587

The Lyon's Pride by M.L. Stainer (1998)
When Eleanor Dare and others go off in search of the English colonists from Roanoke colony, Jess and her family stay behind, building a new life with the Croatoan Indians and strengthening their interconnection when Jess and her "unqua" husband have a baby. Sequel to: The Lyon's Cub. (Y STAINER)

1587

The Lyon's Throne by M.L. Stainer (1999)
After being rescued from a pirate ship, returned to England, and imprisoned at Queen Elizabeth's Court, Jess faces tests of loyalty to her Lumbee husband and Roanoke Colony. Sequel to: The Lyon's Pride. (Y STAINER)

1589

The Burning Time by Carol Matas (1994)
After her father's sudden death, fifteen year old Rose Rives finds that 16th century France is a dangerous place for women when some greedy, vindictive men charge her mother and others with being witches. (Y MATAS)

1590

Indio by Sherry Garland (1995)
Teenage Ipa struggles to survive a brutal time of change as the Spanish begin the conquest of the native people along the Texas border. (Y GARLAND)

1590

The 13th Member by Mollie Hunter (1971)
The discovery by a boy servant in 16th century Scotland that a kitchen maid is a witch leads to the disclosure of a plot to murder King James I. (J HUNTER)

1592

Daughter of Venice by Donna Jo Napoli (2002)
Frustrated with the restrictions her gender imposes on her life, fourteen-year-old Donata, disguised as a boy, sneaks out of her noble family's house to roam the streets of late sixteenth-century Venice and then must confront the repercussions of her actions. (Y NAPOLI)

1592

Isabel: Taking Wing by Annie Dalton (2002)
In 1592, twelve-year-old Isabel dreams of adventure and finds it, not only on her journey from her London home to her aunt's manor house in Northamptonshire, but also through the healing arts her aunt teaches her. (J DALTON)

1595

Brother Dusty-Feet by Rosemary Sutcliff (1952)
Traces a year in Hugh Copplestone's life after he runs away to travel with a company of strolling players. (Y SUTCLIF)

1595

Nzingha, Warrior Queen of Matamba by Patricia McKissack (2000)
Presents the diary of thirteen year old Nzingha, a West African princess who loves to hunt and hopes to lead her kingdom one day against the invasion of the Portuguese slave traders. (J MCKISSA)

1597

The Playmaker by J.B. Cheaney (2000)
While working as an apprentice in a London theater company in 1597, fourteen year old Richard uncovers a mystery involving the disappearance of his father and a traitorous plot to overthrow Queen Elizabeth. (Y CHEANEY)