1800-1900

1800

Aurora Means Dawn by Scott Russell Sanders (1989)
After traveling from Connecticut to Ohio in 1800 to start a new life in the settlement of Aurora, the Sheldons find that they are the first family to arrive there and realize that they will be starting a new community by themselves. (E SANDERS)

1800

Breaking Free by Louann Gaeddert (1994)
Shortly before his twelfth birthday, Richard is sent to live with his uncle on a farm in upper New York State, where he teaches a young slave to read and encourages her to dream of freedom. (J GAEDDER)

1800

Something Upstairs: A Tale of Ghosts by Avi (1988)
When he moves from Los Angeles to Providence, Rhode Island, Kenny discovers that his new house is haunted by the spirit of a black slave boy who asks Kenny to return with him to the early nineteenth century and prevent his murder by slave traders. (J AVI)

1801-1809

Thomas Jefferson: Letters from a Philadelphia Bookworm by Jennifer Armstrong (2000)
An educated, inquisitive young girl in Philadelphia corresponds with President Thomas Jefferson about current events, including the Lewis and Clark expedition, new inventions, and life at Monticello. (J ARMSTRO)

1804

Bold Journey: West with Lewis and Clark by Charles Bohner (1985)
Private Hugh McNeal relates his experiences accompanying Captains Lewis and Clark on their expedition in search of a northwest passage to the Pacific Ocean. (J BOHNER)

1804

Streams to the River, River to the Sea: A Novel of Sacagawea by Scott O'Dell (1986)
A young Indian woman, accompanied by her infant and cruel husband, experiences joy and heartbreak when she joins the Lewis and Clark Expedition seeking a way to the Pacific. (J ODELL)

1804-1806

The Captain's Dog: My Journey with the Lewis and Clark Tribe by Roland Smith (1999)
Captain Meriwether Lewis's dog Seaman describes his experiences as he accompanies his master on the Lewis and Clark Expedition to explore the uncharted western wilderness. (Y SMITH)

1804-1806

Girl of the Shining Mountains: Sacagawea's Story by Peter and Connie Roop (1999)
Sacagawea describes how, at the age of sixteen, she becomes part of the Lewis and Clark Expedition and serves as their interpreter and guide, surviving many dangerous adventures on their trek through the wilderness. (J ROOP)

1804-1806

The Journal of Augustus Pelletier: The Lewis and Clark Expedition by Kathryn Lasky (2000)
A fictional journal kept by twelve-year-old Augustus Pelletier, the youngest member of Lewis and Clark's Corps of Discovery. (J LASKY)

1804-1806

Sacajawea: The Story of Bird Woman and the Lewis and Clark Expedition by Joseph Bruchac (2000)
Sacajawea, a Shoshoni Indian interpreter, peacemaker, and guide, and William Clark, explorer, alternate in describing their experiences on the Lewis and Clark Expedition. (Y BRUCHAC)

1805

Castors Away! by Hester Burton (1962)
A novel of the Battle of Trafalgar and the family of one of the captains involved. (J BURTON)

1805

Seaward Born by Lea Wait (2003)
In 1805, a thirteen-year-old slave and his friend make a dangerous escape fom Charleston, S.C. and stowaway to head north toward freedom. (J WAIT)

1807

Ajeemah and His Son by James Berry (1992)
A father and his eighteen year old son are affected differently by their experiences as slaves in Jamaica in the early 19th century. (Y BERRY)

1807

Leopard's Prey by Leonard Wibberly (1971)
An orphan is pressed into service as a powderboy on a British ship and later into service on a Haitian pirate ship before he finally returns to relatives in Salem, Massachusetts. (J WIBBERL)

1808

Leona: A Love Story by Elizabeth Borton de Trevino (1994)
In early 19th century Mexico, sixteen year old Leona Vicario, loyal to Spain and engaged to a wealthy widower, struggles to come to terms with her growing revolt against Spain's harsh treatment of the Mexicans and her love for a young revolutionary lawyer. (Y TREVINO)

1810

The Clock by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier (1992)
Trapped in a grueling job in a Connecticut textile mill to help pay her father's debts, fifteen year old Annie becomes the victim of the cruel overseer and plots revenge against him. (J COLLIER)

1811

Broken Days by Ann Rinaldi (1995)
In 1811, life with her Aunt Hannah in Salem, Massachusetts, becomes even more difficult for fourteen year old Ebie with the arrival of a half-Indian girl who claims to be the daughter of Hannah's sister, Thankful, and with the threat of impending war. Second book in: The Quilt Trilogy. (Y RINALDI)

1811

The Dragon in the Cliff: A Novel Based on the Life of Mary Anning by Sheila Cole (1991)
Recounts the girlhood of Mary Anning, the woman who made many of the important fossil discoveries in the early 19th century, yet never received the credit she deserved. (J COLE)

1812

Abigail's Drum by John A. Minahan (1995)
During the War of 1812, when British soldiers threaten the town of Scituate, Massachusetts, young Rebecca Bates and her sister Abigail, daughters of the local lighthouse keeper, find a way to save both him and the town. (J MINAHAN)

1812

The Cape May Packet by Stephen W. Meader (1969)
During the War of 1812, a young boy sails with his father on dangerous missions in their boat which has been converted from a pilot and packet boat to a privateer. (J MEADER)

1812

Crossing the Panther's Path by Elizabeth Alder (2002)
Sixteen-year-old Billy Caldwell, son of a British soldier and a Mohawk woman, leaves school to join Tecumseh in his efforts to prevent the Americans from taking any more land from the Indians in the Northwest Territory. (Y ALDER)

1812

Little House by Boston Bay by Melissa Wiley (1999)
Living with her family near Boston, five-year-old Charlotte Tucker, who would grow up to become the grandmother of Laura Ingalls Wilder, feels the effects of the War of 1812. (J WILEY)

1812

On Tide Mill Lane by Melissa Wiley (2001)
Follows the experiences over the course of a year of five-year-old Charlotte Tucker, who would grow up to become the grandmother of Laura Ingalls Wilder, living with her family in Roxbury, Massachusetts, during the War of 1812. (J WILEY)

1812

Once On This Island by Gloria Whelan (1995)
Twelve year old Mary and her older brother and sister tend the family farm on Michigan's Mackinac Island while their father is away fighting the British in the War of 1812. (J WHELAN)

1812

Tom Cringle: Battle on the High Seas by Gerald Hausman (2000)
During the War of 1812, a thirteen-year-old officer in the British navy records in his logbook his capture by pirates off the coast of Jamaica. (J HAUSMAN)

1813

The Battle for St. Michaels by Emily Arnold McCully
In 1813, nine-year-old Caroline, a fast runner, helps the residents of Saint Michaels, Maryland, as they defend their town against the British. (E-BEG MCCULLY)

1813

Silent Stranger by Amanda Benton (1997)
Although they do not know anything about him, the mute young man who shows up on their New York farm at Christmastime in 1813 becomes increasingly important to fourteen year old Jessie and her family. (Y BENTON)

1813

Tom Cringle: The Pirate and the Patriot by Gerald Hausman (2001)
In 1813, a fourteen-year-old British navy lieutenant records in his logbook a perilous journey as he and his men attempt to return a group of slaves to the Jamaican plantation from which pirates stole them; pirates who are determined to reclaim their booty. Sequel to: Tom Cringle, Battle on the High Seas. (J HAUSMAN)

1814

The Last Battle by Leonard Wibberley (1976)
Manly and Peter Treegate find themselves aboard the same ship off the West Indies as captain and midshipman respectively during the War of 1812. (J WIBBERL)

1814

The Star-Spangled Secret by K.M. Kimball (2001)
In 1814, as the War of 1812 threatens her Maryland home, thirteen-year-old Caroline sets out to discover the truth about the disappearance of her older brother. (J KIMBALL)

1814

The Toad on Capitol Hill by Esther Wood Brady (1978)
Eleven year old Dorsy and her family come to understand one another better when they are caught in the path of the British Army advancing on Washington, D.C., during the War of 1812. (J BRADY)

1814

Washington City Is Burning by Harriette Gillem Robinet (1996)
In 1814 Virginia, a slave in President Madison's White House, experiences the burning of Washington by the invading British army. (J ROBINET)

1815

The Floating House by Scott Russell Sanders (1995)
In 1815, the McClures sail their flatboat from Pittsburgh down the Ohio River and settle in what would later become Indiana. (E SANDERS)

1815

Woman Chief by Rose Sobol (1976)
A fictional account based on writings of Woman Chief, chief of the Crow Indians, who struggled for recognition as a hunter, warrior and leader. (J SOBOL)

1816

A Birthday for Blue by Kerry Raines Lydon (1989)
Blue celebrates his seventh birthday traveling west with his family in a Conestoga wagon along the Cumberland Road. (E LYDON)

1818

The Stowaway: A Tale of California Pirates by Kristiana Gregory (1995)
In 1818, Carlito, an eleven year old boy in the Spanish-owned town of Monterey, California, sees his quiet life threatened when the Argentinian privateer Hippolyte de Bouchard attacks with his pirate ships. (J GREGORY)

1819

Wolf by the Ears by Ann Rinaldi (1991)
Harriet Hemings, rumored to be the daughter of Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings, one of his black slaves, struggles with the problems facing her--to escape from Monticello, or to stay and remain a slave. (Y RINALDI)

1820s

Nothing Here But Trees by Jean Van Leeuwen (1998)
A close-knit pioneer family carves out a new home amidst the densely forested land of Ohio. (E VAN-LEE)

1820-1877

Buffalo Woman by Dorothy M. Johnson (1977)
A fictionalized account of life with the Oglala Sioux from 1820 to 1877 as seen through the eyes of the woman, Whirlwind. (J JOHNSON)

1822

Bridger: The Story of a Mountain Man by David Kherdian (1987)
In 1822, eighteen year old Jim Bridger leaves civilization behind and journeys into the frontier wilderness, where he learns to trap beaver, experiences skirmishes with hostile Indians and explores new country. (J KHERDIA)

1822

The Porcelain Pagoda by F.N. Monjo (1976)
As she sails on her father's ship from New York to China in the early 19th century, sixteen year old Kitty describes in her journal the places she sees, the events occurring in them and the romantic conclusion to the trip. (J MONJO)

1824

Meet Josefina, an American Girl by Valerie Tripp (1997)
Nine year old Josefina, the youngest of four sisters living in New Mexico in 1824, tries to help run the household after her mother dies. Other books in the series include: Changes for Josefina: a Winter Story, Happy Birthday, Josefina!: a Springtime Story, Josefina Learns a Lesson: a School Story, Josefina's Surprise: a Christmas Story, and Josefina Saves the Day: a Summer Story. (J TRIPP)

1825

Legend Days by Jamake Highwater (1984)
Abandoned in the wilderness after smallpox devastates her Northern Plains tribe, eleven year old Amana acquires from Grandfather Fox a warrior's courage and a hunter's prowess, gifts that sustain her as she watches the progressive disintegration of her people. (Y HIGHWAT)

1825

Wilderness Venture by Elizabeth Howard (1973)
Sixteen year old Delia and her three brothers set out to claim land in the Michigan wilderness that their widowed mother bought sight unseen. (J HOWARD)

1826

A Right Fine Life: Kit Carson on the Santa Fe Trail by Andrew Glass (1997)
Shortly before his sixteenth birthday, Kit Carson leaves his home in Missouri, heads out for Santa Fe, and begins a series of adventures as a legendary mountain man. (J GLASS)

1829

Victoria, May Blossom of Britannia by Anna Kirwan (2001)
In 1829, nine-year-old Victoria begins a journal chronicling her life as an English princess. Includes information on the reign, marriage, and family life of Queen Victoria and English civilization during that period. (J KIRWAN)

1830

The Bobbin Girl by Emily Arnold McCully (1996)
A ten year old bobbin girl working in a textile mill in Lowell, Massachusetts, in the 1830s, must make a difficult decision-will she participate in the first workers' strike in Lowell? (J MCCULLY)

1830

A Gathering of Days: A New England Girl's Journal, 1830-32: A Novel by Joan W. Blos (1979)
A journal of a fourteen year old girl records daily events in her small New Hampshire town, her father's remarriage and the death of her best friend. (J BLOS)

1831

Longwalker's Journey: A Novel of the Choctaw Trail of Tears by Beatrice O. Harrell (1999)
When the government removes their tribe from their sacred homeland in 1831, ten year old Minko and his father endure terrible hardships on their journey from Mississippi to Oklahoma, where Minko receives the name Longwalker. (J HARRELL)

1832

The Education of Mary: A Little Miss of Color by Ann Rinaldi (2000)
Prudence Crandall begins admitting black girls to her exclusive Connecticut school, scandalizing white society and eventually causing her arrest and the closure of her school. (Y RINALDI)

1832

The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi (1990)
As the lone "young lady" on a transatlantic voyage, Charlotte learns that the captain is murderous and the crew rebellious. (J AVI)

1833

A Chance Child by Jill Paton Walsh (1978)
Compelled to search for his half brother Creep who some people insist is nonexistant, Christopher locates Parliamentary Papers containing Nathaniel Creep's personal narrative of working conditions during the Industrial Revolution 100 years earlier. (J PATON)

1835

Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell (1960)
Left alone on a beautiful but isolated island off the coast of California, a young Indian girl spends eighteen years, not only surviving through her enormous courage and self-reliance, but also finding a measure of happiness in her solitary life. (J ODELL)

1835

A Line in the Sand: The Alamo Diary of Lucinda Lawrence by Sherry Garland (1998)
In the journal she receives for the twelfth birthday in 1835, Lucinda Lawrence describes the hardships her family and other residents of the "Texas colonies" endure when they decide to face the Mexicans in a fight for their freedom. (J GARLAND)

1836

All For Texas: A Story of Texas Liberation by G. Clifton Wisler (2000)
Thomas Jefferson Byrd, 13, tells about moving west with his family from Alabama to Texas in 1836. His father has been promised land if he will join the Texas settlers fighting against Mexico. (J WISLER)

1836

Over Jordan by Norma Johnston (1999)
In 1836, fourteen year old Roxana undertakes a dangerous journey up the Ohio river to help her beloved servant, Jess, and Jess's fiance, a runaway slave, escape to freedom, aided by Roxana's former teacher Harriet Beecher Stowe. (Y JOHNSTO)

1836

See You in Heaven: 1836 by Mary Z. Holmes (1992)
In 1836, on a cotton plantation in Alabama, twelve year old Elsy and her family endure the harsh realities of slavery and keep alive their family history by remembering their ancestors. (J HOLMES)

1836

Where the Broken Heart Still Beats: The Story of Cynthia Ann Parker by Carolyn Meyer (1992)
Having been taken as a child and raised by Comanche Indians, thirty four year old Cynthia Ann Parker is forcibly returned to her white relatives, where she longs for her Indian life and her only friend is her twelve year old cousin, Lucy. (Y MEYER)

1837

The Journal of Jesse Smoke: A Cherokee Boy by Joseph Bruchac (2001)
Jesse Smoke, a sixteen-year-old Cherokee, begins a journal in 1837 to record stories of his people and their difficulties as they face removal along the Trail of Tears. Includes a historical note giving details of the removal. (J BRUCHAC)

1837

Next Spring an Oriole by Gloria Whelan (1987)
In 1837, ten year old Libby and her parents journey by covered wagon to the Michigan frontier, where they make themselves a new home near friendly Indians and other pioneers. (J WHELAN)

1837

Sweetgrass by Jan Hudson (1989)
Living on the western Canadian prairie in the 19th century, Sweetgrass, a fifteen year old Blackfoot girl, saves her family from a smallpox epidemic and proves her maturity to her father. (J HUDSON)

1837-1838

Brothers of the Heart by Joan W. Blos (1985)
Fourteen year old Shem spends six months in the Michigan wilderness alone with a dying Indian woman, who helps him, not only to survive, but to mature to the point where he can return to his family and the difficulties of being physically disabled in a frontier village. (J BLOS)

1838

On the Long Trail Home by Elisabeth Jane Stewart (1994)
Meli and her brother Tahlikwa escape from the Cherokee people being herded westward on the Trail of Tears, and are determined to return to their beloved mountain home. (J STEWART)

1839

The Serpent's Children by Laurence Yep (1984)
In 19th century China, a young girl struggles to protect her family from the threat of bandits, famine, and an ideological conflict between her father and brother. (Y YEP)

1839

Weasel by Cynthia DeFelice (1990)
Alone in the frontier wilderness during the winter, eleven year old Nathan runs afoul of the renegade killer known as Weasel and makes a surprising discovery about the concept of revenge. (J DEFELIC)

1840's

Under the Hawthorn Tree by Marita Conlon-McKenna (1990)
During the Great Famine in Ireland in the 1840s, three children left alone and in danger of being sent to the workhouse set out to find the great-aunts they remember from their mother's stories. (J CONLON)

1840

Adaline Falling Star by Mary Pope Osborne (2000)
Feeling abandoned by her deceased Arapaho mother and her explorer father, Adaline Falling Star runs away from the prejudiced cousins with whom she is staying and comes close to death in the wilderness, with only a mongrel dog for company. (J OSBORNE)

1840

The Blue Door by Ann Rinaldi (1996)
When her grandmother sends her alone on a difficult journey up North, fourteen year old Amanda encounters the exploitation of women in textile mills. Third book in: The Quilt Trilogy. (Y RINALDI)

1840

Night Bird: A Story of the Seminole Indians by Kathleen V. Kudlinski (1993)
Night Bird, whose clan of Seminole Indians is fighting to preserve its traditional way of life in Florida, must decide whether or not to seek land and an unknown future in distant Oklahoma. (J KUDLINS)

1840

Night of the Full Moon by Gloria Whelan (1993)
When she sneaks away to visit her friend, a young girl living on the Michigan frontier is caught up in the forced evacuation of a group of Potawatomi Indians from their tribal lands. (J WHELAN)

1840

The Slave Dancer by Paula Fox (1973)
Kidnapped by the crew of an Africa-bound ship, a thirteen year old boy discovers to his horror that he is on a slaver and his job is to play music for the exercise periods of the human cargo. (J FOX)

1841

Born in the Year of Courage by Emily Crofford (1991)
Having been shipwrecked and picked up by an American whaling ship outside Japanese territorial waters, fifteen year old Manjiro decides to go to America and work toward opening trade between his country and the West. (J CROFFOR)

1841

The No-Return Trail by Sonia Levitin (1978)
A fictionalized account of the Bidwell-Bartleson expedition which included seventeen year old Nancy Kelsey, the first American woman to journey from Missouri to California. (J LEVITIN)

1842

Letters from a Slave Girl: The Story of Harriet Jacobs by Mary E. Lyons (1992)
A fictionalized version of the life of Harriet Jacobs, told in the form of letters that she might have written during her enslavement in North Carolina and as she prepared for escape to the North. (Y LYONS)

1842

What the Dickens! by Jane Louise Curry (1991)
Eleven year old twins, whose father runs a boat on the Juniata Canal in Pennsylvania, learn of a Harrisburg bookseller's plan to steal Charles Dickens' newly finished novel while Dickens himself is touring the U.S. (J CURRY)

1843

Lyddie by Katherine Paterson (1991)
An impoverished Vermont farm girl, Lyddie Worthen, is determined to gain her independence by becoming a factory worker in Lowell, Massachusetts. (J PATERSO)

1843

Roughing it on the Oregon Trail by Diane Stanley (1999)
Twins Liz and Lenny, along with their time-traveling grandmother, join a group of pioneers journeying west on the Oregon Trail in 1843. (J STANLEY)

1844

Daniel's Walk by Michael Spooner (2001)
With little more than a bedroll, a change of clothes, and a Bible, fourteen-year-old Daniel LeBlanc begins walking the Oregon Trail in search of his father who, according to a mysterious visitor, is in big trouble and needs his son's help. (Y SPOONER)

1844

On to Oregon! by Honore Morrow (1954)
Story of the Sager family who left Missouri in 1844 to journey by covered wagon to Oregon. (J MORROW)

1844

Stout-Hearted Seven by Neta Lohnes Frazier (1973)
Recounts the adventure of the seven Sager children during their journey to Oregon where they were adopted by Marcus and Narcissa Whitman. (J FRAZIER)

1844

The Wedding Dress by Marian Wells (1982)
Orphaned while still a young girl, Rebecca's only heritage was a wedding dress and a small black book. In the hope of finding a husband, she begins her journey west in a wagon caravan. (Y WELLS)

1845

Go West, Young Women! by Kathleen Karr (1996)
When a disaster claims the men of their wagon train, spunky twelve year old Phoebe, her mother, sister, and other women rely on their own resources to complete the journey to Oregon in 1845. Sequels are: Phoebe's Folly and Oregon, Sweet Oregon. (J KARR)

1845

The Journal of Jedediah Barstow, an Imigrant on the Oregon Trail: Overland, 1845 by Ellen Levine (2002)
In his 1845 diary, thirteen-year-old orphan Jedediah describes his wagon train journey to Oregon, in which he confronts rivers and sandy plains, bears and rattlesnakes, and the challenges of living with his fellow travelers. Includes historical notes. (J LEVINE)

1845

Katie's Wish by Barbara Shook Hazen (2002)
Soon after Katie wishes for her potatoes to disappear during dinner, a potato famine ravages her native Ireland, forcing her to leave for America. (E HAZEN)

1845

Nory Ryan's Song by Patricia Reilly Giff (2000)
When a terrible blight attacks Ireland's potato crop in 1845, twelve year old Nory Ryan's courage and ingenuity help her family and neighbors survive. (J GIFF)

1845-1946

Valley of the Moon: The Diary of Maria Rosalia de Milagros by Sherry Garland (2001)
The diary of thirteen year old Maria, servant to the wealthy Spanish family which took her in when her mother died, includes an historical note about the settlement and early history of California. (J GARLAND)

1846

Carlota by Scott O'Dell (1977)
A young girl relates her feelings and experiences as a participant in the battle of San Pasqual during the last days of the war between the Californians and Americans. (J ODELL)

1846

The Coldest Winter by Elizabeth Lutzeier (1991)
When the potato blight ruins the food crop and English soldiers start turning people out of their homes, Eamonn and his family struggle to survive through the coldest winter Ireland has ever known. (J LUTZEIE)

1846

I'm Sorry, Almira Ann by Jane Kurtz (1999)
Eight year old Sarah's high spirits help make her family's long journey from Missouri to Oregon more bearable, though they do cause both her and her best friend Almira Ann some problems. (J KURTZ)

1846

Pioneer Cat by William H. Hooks (1988)
When a young pioneer girl smuggles a cat aboard the wagon train taking her family from Missouri to Oregon, it turns out to be the best thing she could have done. (J HOOKS)

1846

Red Bird of Ireland by Sondra Gordon Langford (1983)
The pleasant rhythm of life changes abruptly for thirteen year old Aderyn when her father, unjustly accused in the political upheavals of 19th century Ireland, is forced to leave his family behind and flee to the New World. (J LANGFOR)

1846

Save Queen of Sheba by Louise Moeri (1981)
After surviving a Sioux Indian raid on the trail to Oregon, a brother and sister set out with a few provisions to find the rest of the settlers. (J MOERI)

1846

Sunsets of the West by Tony Johnston
Pa and his family pack up their belongings and undertake the difficult journey to a new life in the West. (E JOHNSTO)

1846-1947

The Journal of Douglas Allen Deeds: The Donner Party Expedition by Rodman Philbrick (2001)
Douglas Deeds, a fifteen-year-old orphan, keeps a journal of his travels by wagon train as a member of the ill-fated Donner Party, which became stranded in the Sierra Nevada mountains in the winter of 1846-47. (J PHILBRI)

1846-1860

Send One Angel Down by Virginia Frances Schwartz (2000)
A young slave tries to hide the horrors of slavery from his younger cousin, a light-skinned slave who is the daughter of the plantation owner. (Y SCHWART)

1847

Across the Wide and Lonesome Prairie: The Oregon Trail Diary of Hattie Campbell by Kristiana Gregory (1997)
In her diary, thirteen year old Hattie chronicles her family's arduous 1847 journey from Missouri to Oregon on the Oregon Trail. (J GREGORY)

1847

The Haunting of Kildoran Abbey by Eve Bunting (1978)
Caught in the grip of severe famine, eight hungry homeless children in Ireland join forces for one simple mission: to steal food from the rich and feed the poor. (J BUNTING)

1847

So Far from Home: The Diary of Mary Driscoll, an Irish Mill Girl by Barry Denenberg (1997)
In the diary account of her journey from Ireland in 1847 and of her work in a mill in Lowell, Massachusetts, fourteen year old Mary reveals a great longing for her family. (J DENENBE)

1847-1849

Mr. Tucket by Gary Paulsen (1994)
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. Other books in the series: Call Me Francis Tucket, Tucket's Ride, Tucket's Gold and Tucket's Home. (J PAULSEN)

1848

Daughter of Madrugada by Frances M. Wood (2002)
After the United States wins the war with Mexico in 1848, life on her Mexican family's ranch in California is greatly changed for thirteen-year-old Cesa. (Y WOOD)

1848

Westward to Home: Joshua's Journal by Patricia Hermes (2001)
In 1848, nine-year-old Joshua Martin McCullough writes a journal of his family's journey from Missouri to Oregon in a covered wagon. Includes a historical note about westward migration. (J HERMES)

1849

The Ballad of Lucy Whipple by Karen Cushman (1996)
In 1849, twelve year old California Morning Whipple, who renames herself Lucy, is distraught when her mother moves the family from Massachusetts to a rough California mining town. (J CUSHMAN)

1849

Beyond the Divide by Kathryn Lasky (1983)
A fourteen year old Amish girl defies convention by leaving her secure home in Pennsylvania to accompany her father across the continent by wagon train. (J LASKY)

1849

A Bluebird Will Do by Loula Grace Erdman (1973)
Orphaned in San Francisco during the gold rush days, a sixteen year old girl travels east by way of the Isthmus of Panama to seek out relatives in New Orleans. (J ERDMAN)

1849

By the Great Horn Spoon by Sid Fleischman (1963)
Jake Flagg, an orphan, and Praiseworthy, a loyal butler stow away on a ship bound for the gold fields of California. (J FLEISCH)

1849

Luke: On the Golden Trail, 1849 by Bonnie Pryor (1999)
Eleven year old Luke leaves his family's farm home in Iowa, accepts his uncle's offer of a chance for an education, and travels with his relative to Boston. (J PRYOR)

1849

Quest for the West: In Search of Gold by Peter Kent (1997)
In 1849, the impoverished Hornik family decides to leave Bohemia and emigrate to California in search of gold. (J KENT)

1849

Seeds of Hope: The Gold Rush Diary of Susanna Fairchild by Kristiana Gregory (2001)
Fourteen-year-old Susanna Fairchild and her family embark on a journey that they hope will bring them good fortune. Boarding a ship sailing from New York to the West, the Fairchilds set out for Oregon where they plan to start a new life. (J GREGORY)

1850

Bandit's Moon by Sid Fleischman (1998)
Twelve year old Annyrose relates her adventures with Joaquin Murieta and his band of outlaws in the California gold-mining region during the mid-1800s. (J FLEISCH)

1850

Buffalo Thunder by Patricia Wittman (1997)
When young Karl Isaac heads west with his family in a prairie schooner, he experiences many things but longs to see buffalo. (E WITTMAN)

1850

Edward's Portrait by Barbara Morrow (1991)
A family has individual daguerreotype portraits taken in the earliest days of photography. (E MORROW)

1850

A Girl Called Boy by Belinda Hurmence (1982)
A pampered young black girl who has been mysteriously transported back to the days of slavery, struggles to escape her bondage. (J HURMENC)

1850

I, Adam by Jean Fritz (1963)
After Adam graduates from school he plans to spend his future on the new farm his family has dreamed of for years, not realizing that dreams and plans change. (J FRITZ)

1850

The Josefina Story Quilt by Eleanor Coerr (1986)
While traveling west with her family in 1850, a young girl makes a patchwork quilt chronicling the experiences of the journey and reserves a special patch for her pet hen Josefina. (E-BEG COERR)

1850

Maggie's Door by Patricia Reilly Giff (2003)
In the mid-1800s, Nory and her neighbor and friend, Sean, set out separately on a dangerous journey from famine-plagued Ireland, hoping to reach a better life in America. (J GIFF)

1850

Rachel's Journal: The Story of a Pioneer Girl by Marissa Moss (1998)
In her journal, Rachel chronicles her family's adventures traveling by covered wagon on the Oregon Trail in 1850. (J MOSS)

1850

Straight Along a Crooked Road by Marilyn Cram Donahue (1985)
As her family travels from Vermont to settle in California in the early 1850s, fourteen year old Luanna learns to accept life for what it is, no matter where. (J DONAHUE)

1850

Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt by Deborah Hopkinson (1993)
A young slave stitches a quilt with a map pattern which guides her to freedom in the North. (E HOPKINS)

1850

Westering by Alice Putnam (1990)
Traveling with his family in a wagon train from Missouri to Oregon in 1850, ten year old Jason finds a stray dog that proves useful during the dangerous journey. (J PUTNAM)

1850

Wildflower Girl by Marita Conlon-McKenna (1991)
In the 19th century, thirteen year old Peggy O'Driscoll sets out alone from Ireland to America, hoping to make a better life for herself. Sequel to: Under the Hawthorn Tree. (J CONLON)

1850

Young Pioneers by Rose Wilder Lane (1933)
Newlyweds, Molly and David struggle to found a homestead and build a life together on the South Dakota frontier. They survive poverty, harsh winters, childbirth and a plague of insects. (J LANE)

1850s

Come Morning by Leslie Davis Guccione (1995)
Twelve year old Freedom, the son of a freed slave living in Delaware in the early 1850s, takes over his father's work in the Underground Railroad when his father disappears. (J GUCCION)

1850s

Mountain Light by Laurence Yep (1985)
Swept up in one of the local rebellions against the Manchus in China, nineteen-year-old Squeaky loses his home and travels to America to seek his fortune among the gold fields of California. Sequel to: The Serpent's Children. (Y YEP)

1850s

Thee, Hannah! by Marguerite De Angeli (1940)
Nine year old Hannah, a Quaker living in Philadelphia just before the Civil War, longs to have some fashionable dresses like other girls but comes to appreciate her heritage and its plain dressing when her family saves the life of a runaway slave. (J DEANGEL)

1850s

Train to Somewhere by Eve Bunting (1996)
In the late 1800s, Marianne travels westward on the Orphan Train in hopes of being placed with a caring family. (J BUNTING)

1850s

Wagons West! by Roy Gerrard (1996)
A rhyming story of a family's move by wagon train between Missouri and Oregon in the 1850's and their daughter's role in outwitting cattle thieves. (E GERRARD)

1850 - 1853

Rebels of the Heavenly Kingdom by Katherine Paterson (1983)
Abducted from his home by bandits, fifteen year old Wang Lee is rescued from slavery by a mysterious girl who introduces him to the Taiping Tienkuo, a secret society partly based on Christian principles and dedicated to the overthrow of the Manchu government. (Y PATERSO)

1851

Dear Levi: Letters from the Overland Trail by Elvira Woodruff (1994)
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.
(J WOODRUF)

1851

Hope by Louann Gaeddert (1995)
Orphans, Hope and John, are placed in a community of Shakers where they encounter a way of life that is strange yet comfortable. (J GAEDDER)

1851

Miles' Song by Alice McGill (2000)
In 1851, in South Carolina, Miles, a twelve year old slave, is sent to a "breaking ground" to have his spirit broken but endures the experience by secretly taking reading lessons from another slave. (Y MCGILL)

1851

North By Night: A Story of the Underground Railroad by Katherine Ayres (1998)
Presents the journal of a sixteen year old girl whose family operates a stop on the Underground Railroad. (J AYRES)

1851

Stealing South by Katherine Ayres (2001)
Sixteen-year-old Will Spencer leaves home to become a peddler, but gets more than he bargained for when he agrees to go to Kentucky, steal two slaves, and help them reach their brother in Canada. Companion volume to: North by Night. (J AYRES)

1852

Bound for Oregon by Jean Van Leeuwen (1994)
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. (J VAN LEE)

1852

A Fourth of July on the Plains by Jean Van Leeuwen (1997)
Young Jesse and his family are with a wagon train traveling from Indiana to Oregon when they stop to celebrate the Fourth of July, but Jesse is too young to go hunting with the men so he comes up with his own contribution to the festivities. (E VANLEEU)

1852

Jericho's Journey by G. Clifton Wisler (1993)
As his family makes the long and difficult journey from Tennessee to their new home in Texas, twelve year old Jericho Wetherby, teased by his sister and brothers about his size, learns there are many ways to grow. (J WISLER)

1852

The Journal of Wong Ming-Chung: A Chinese Miner by Laurence Yep (2000)
A young Chinese boy nicknamed Runt records his experiences in a journal as he travels from southern China to California in 1852 to join his uncle during the Gold Rush. (J YEP)

1852

West Along the Wagon Road 1852 by Laurie Lawlor (1998)
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 have prepared the Scott family for the dangers they were about to meet. (J LAWLOR)

1853

Dear Austin: Letters from the Underground Railroad by Elvira Woodruff (1998)
In letters to his older brother, eleven year old Levi describes his adventures in the Pennsylvania countryside with his black friend Jupiter and his experiences with the Underground Railroad. (J WOODRUF)

1853

Fortune's Journey by Bruce Coville (1995)
Sixteen year old Fortune Plunkett faces many challenges on an overland journey to California with the acting company that she inherited from her father. (J COVILLE)

1853

Nightjohn by Gary Paulsen (1993)
Twelve year old Sarny's brutal life as a slave becomes even more dangerous when a newly arrived slave offers to teach her how to read. (J PAULSEN)

1853

Stealing Freedom by Elisa Carbone (1998)
A novel based on the events in the life of a young slave girl from Maryland who endures all kinds of mistreatment and cruelty, including being separated from her family, but who eventually escapes to freedom in Canada. (Y CARBONE)

1853

Zia by Scott O'Dell (1976)
A young Indian girl, Zia, caught between the traditional world of her mother and the present world of the Mission, is helped by her aunt Karana whose story was told in The Island of the Blue Dolphins. (J ODELL)

1853-1854

Elisabeth: The Princess Bride by Barry Denenberg (2003)
The diary of Princess Elisabeth, written in 1853-1854, describing her engagement and marriage to her cousin Franz Joseph I, Emperor of Austria. Includes historical notes concerning her life as Empress. (J DENENBE)

1853-1861

Bright Freedom's Song: A Story of the Underground Railroad by Gloria Houston (1998)
In the years before the Civil War, Bright discovers that her parents are providing a safehouse for the Underground Railroad and helps to save a runaway slave named Marcus. (J HOUSTON)

1854

Boston Jane by Jennifer L. Holm
Schooled in the lessons of etiquette for young ladies of 1854, Miss Jane Peck of Philadelphia finds little use for manners during her long sea voyage to the Pacific Northwest and while living among the American traders and Chinook Indians of Washington Territory. (J HOLM)

1854

The Legend of Jimmy Spoon by Kristiana Gregory (1990)
A young white boy lives with the Shoshoni Indians during the early frontier days. (J GREGORY)

1854

Meet Kirsten, an American Girl by Janet Shaw (1986)
Nine-year old Kirsten and her family experience many hardships as they travel from Sweden to the Minnesota frontier in 1854. Other titles in the series: Kirsten Learns a Lesson: a School Story, Kirsten's Surprise: a Christmas Story, Changes for Kirsten: a Winter Story, Happy Birthday Kirsten: a Springtime Story and Kirsten Saves the Day: a Summer Story. (J SHAW)

1854-1930

The Midnight Train Home by Erika Tamar (2000)
When their mother can no longer care for them, eleven year old Deirdre and her brothers board the Orphans' Train for placement with families out West. Deirdre, a talented singer, finds a different type of family when she joins a traveling vaudeville troupe. (J TAMAR)

1855

The Adventures of Young Buffalo Bill. In the Eye of the Storm by E. Cody Kimmel (2003)
With the threat of further violence from pro-slavery border ruffians ever-present, nine-year-old Bill must run the farm, even after his father comes home to recuperate from his knife wound, and go to school.
(J KIMMEL)

1855

Pioneer Summer by Deborah Hopkinson (2002)
In 1855, Charlie and his abolitionist family leave Massachusetts to join other New Englanders who want to create a free state in Kansas. (J HOPKINS)

1855

Running for Our Lives by Glennette Tilley Turner (1994)
A family of fugitive slaves becomes separated while traveling to freedom aboard the Underground Railroad. (J TURNER)

1855

Steal Away by Jennifer Armstrong (1992)
In 1855, two thirteen year old girls, one white and one black, run away from a southern farm and make the difficult journey north to freedom, living to recount their story forty-one years later to two similar young girls. (J ARMSTRO)

1855-1856

Jip: His Story by Katherine Paterson (1996)
While living on a Vermont poor farm during 1855 and 1856, Jip learns his identity and that of his mother and comes to understand how he arrived at this place. (J PATERSO)

1856

As Far As I Can See: Meg's Prairie Dairy, Book One by Kate McMullan (2002)
In her diary for 1856, nine-year-old Meg describes the long, dangerous journey she and her younger brother make from Missouri to Kansas, as well as the new life they find there. (J MCMULLA)

1856

Caught in the Act by Joan Lowery Nixon (1988)
Eleven year old Michael Patrick Kelly from New York City is sent to a foster home, a Missouri farm with a sadistic owner, a bullying son and a number of secrets, one of which may be murder. (J NIXON)

1856

Charlotte's Rose by A.E. Cannon (2002)
As a twelve-year-old Welsh immigrant carries a motherless baby along the Mormon Trail in 1856, she comes to love the baby as her own and fear the day the baby's father will reclaim her. (J CANNON)

1856

A Fine Start by Kate McMullan (2003)
In this book Meg brings her prairie diary to an end describing her days in the Kansas Territory, a deadly twister, and the start of school. (J MCMULLA)

1856

Grandfather's Gold Watch by Louise Garff Hubbard (1997)
Peter cherishes the watch his grandfather gives him before his family leaves Denmark for America, and even after losing the watch on the journey to Utah, he remembers its message. (E HUBBARD)

1856

Steal Away Home by Lois Ruby (1994)
In parallel stories, a Quaker family in Kansas operates a station on the Underground Railroad, while almost 150 years later twelve year old Dana moves into the same house and finds the skeleton of a black woman who helped the Quakers. (Y RUBY)

1856-1865

Dear Ellen Bee: A Civil War Scrapbook of Two Union Spies by Mary E. Lyons and
Muriel M. Branch. (2000)
A scrapbook kept by a young black girl details her experiences and those of the older white woman, "Miss Bet", who had freed her and her family, sent her north from Richmond to get an education, and then worked to bring an end to slavery. (J LYONS)

1857

Bloomers! by Rhoda Blumberg (1993)
Explains how the new-fashioned outfit, bloomers, helped Amelia Bloomer, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Susan B. Anthony spread the word about women's rights. (E BLUMBER)

1857

Freedom's Wings: Corey's Diary by Sharon Dennis Wyeth (2001)
A nine-year-old slave keeps a diary of his journey to freedom along the Underground Railroad in 1857.
(J WYETH)

1857

Soon Be Free by Lois Ruby (2000)
Thirteen-year-old Dana investigates a mystery involving the old Kansas house that her parents have turned into a bed and breakfast business; in a parallel story, a Quaker boy living in the house in 1857 sets out to help some fugitive slaves to freedom. Sequel to: Steal Away Home. (Y RUBY)

1857

Spring Pearl: The Last Flower by Laurence Yep (2002)
Called boyish by her new family for being able to read and write, twelve-year-old orphaned Spring Pearl's "odd ways" help save the family during the 1857 Opium War in Canton, China. (Y YEP)

1857

The Valley In Between by Marilyn Cram Donahue (1987)
Having traveled with her family all the way from Vermont to settle in California, fourteen year old Luanna continues to grow and find new experiences in their pioneer community. Sequel to: Straight Along a Crooked Road. (J DONAHUE)

1857

You Forgot Your Skirt, Amelia Bloomer: A Very Improper Story by Shana Corey (2000)
Amelia Bloomer, who does not behave the way 19th century society tells her a proper lady should, introduces pantaloons to American women to save them from the discomfort of their heavy, tight dresses. (E COREY)

1858

Caleb's Choice by G. Clifton Wisler (1996)
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. (J WISLER)

1858

Flying Free by Sharon Dennis Wyeth (2002)
In 1858, nine-year-old Corey Birdsong and his family, fugitive slaves from Kentucky, build a new life in Amherstburg, Canada, while still hoping to help those they left behind. (J WYETH)

1859

Lightning Time: A Novel by Douglas Rees (1997)
Fourteen year old Theodore Worth struggles with the decision to leave his home in Boston and join the controversial abolitionist John Brown in the fight against slavery. (Y REES)

1859

Mine Eyes Have Seen by Ann Rinaldi (1998)
In the summer of 1859, fifteen year old Annie travels to the Maryland farm where her father, John Brown, is secretly assembling his provisional army prior to their raid on the arsenal at nearby Harpers Ferry. (Y RINALDI)

1859

A Picture of Freedom: The Diary of Clotee, a Slave Girl by Patricia C. McKissack (1997)
Twelve year old Clotee, a house slave who must conceal the fact that she can read and write, records in her diary her experiences and her struggle to decide whether to escape to freedom. (J MCKISSA)

1860s

Going West by Jean Van Leeuwen (1992)
Follows a family's emigration by prairie schooner from the East across the plains to Kansas. (E VAN-LEE)

1860

Aggie's Home by Joan Lowery Nixon (1998)
Twelve year old Aggie is sure no one will want to adopt her when she rides the orphan
train out west. Other titles in the "Orphan Train Children Series" are David's Search,
Will's Choice, and Lucy's Wish. (J NIXON)

1860

Alice Rose & Sam: A Novel by Kathryn Lasky (1998)
Alice Rose, an irrepressible twelve year old, shares adventures with Mark Twain, an outlandish reporter on her father's newspaper in Virginia City, Nevada, during the 1860s. (Y LASKY)

1860

Becca's Story by James D. Forman (1992)
Romance develops during the Civil War between a Michigan girl and the two soldiers who are rivals for her hand. (Y FORMAN)

1860

Brady by Jean Fritz (1960)
A young Pennsylvania boy takes part in the pre-Civil War anti-slavery activities. (J FRITZ)

1860

Cassie's Journey: Going West in the 1860s by Brett Harvey (1988)
A young girl relates the hardships and dangers of traveling with her family in a covered wagon from Illinois to California during the 1860s. (J HARVEY)

1860

Cezanne Pinto: A Memoir by Mary Stolz (1994)
In his old age, Cezanne Pinto recalls his youth as a slave on a Virginia plantation, his escape to a new life in the North and his adventures as a cowboy in Texas. (Y STOLZ)

1860

Dandelions by Eve Bunting (1995)
Zoe and her family find strength in each other as they make a new home in the Nebraska territory. (J BUNTING)

1860

The Dark Canoe by Scott O'Dell (1968)
A sixteen year old boy sails from 19th century Nantucket to a remote California bay with his two older brothers and finds himself in mysterious circumstances involving the death of one brother and the strange obsession of the other. (J ODELL)

1860

Evvy's Civil War by Miriam Brenaman (2002)
In Virginia in 1860, on the verge of the Civil War, fourteen-year-old Evvy chafes at the restrictions that her society places on both women and slaves. (Y BRENAMA)

1860

A Family Apart by Joan Lowery Nixon (1987)
Six siblings are sent by the Children's Aid Society of New York City to live with farm families in Missouri in 1860. The "Orphan Train Quartet" also includes: Caught in the Act, In the Face of Danger and A Place to Belong. (J NIXON)

1860

Grace's Letter to Lincoln by Connie Roop (1998)
On the eve of the 1860 presidential election, as war clouds gather and the South threatens to secede, eleven year old Grace decides to help Abraham Lincoln get elected by writing and advising him to grow a beard. (J ROOP)

1860

Impetuous: Mattie's Story by Jude Watson (1996)
Seventeen year old Mattie leaves her sister Ivy in Last Chance, California, and disguises herself as a boy in order to get a job with the Pony Express, finding adventure, facing danger, and falling in love. (Y WATSON)

1860

Jimmy Spoon and the Pony Express by Kristiana Gregory (1994)
Having returned from living with his friends, the Shoshoni, seventeen year old Jimmy Spoon grows restless again and seeks adventure by taking a job with the Pony Express. Sequel to: The Legend of Jimmy Spoon. (J GREGORY)

1860

Mr. Lincoln's Whiskers by Burke Davis (1978)
Contains humorous anecdotes of Abraham Lincoln's political life, including the story of how a young girl persuades him to grow a beard. (J DAVIS)

1860

Riding on the Wind by Brix McDonald (1997)
Set in 1860 in Wyoming, Carrie Sutton wants to ride with the Pony Express. (Y MCDONAL)

1860

Seasons of the Trail by Lynn Glaze (200)
In 1860, traveling by wagon train from Missouri to California, fourteen-year-old Lucy finds the discomfort and danger made tolerable by the presence of two handsome twin brothers. (J GLAZE)

1860

Street Child by Berlie Doherty (1994)
Jim Jarvis, a young orphan who escapes the workhouse in London in the 1860s, survives brutal treatment and desperate circumstances until he is taken by Dr. Barnardo, founder of a school for the city's "ragged" children. (J DOHERTY)

1860

The Sweetwater Run: The Story of Buffalo Bill Cody and the Pony Express by Andrew Glass (1996)
Buffalo Bill Cody recounts his adventures as a teenaged rider for the Pony Express. Includes a history of the Pony Express and facts about Cody's life. (J GLASS)

1860

The Tin Heart by Karen Ackerman (1990)
As the onset of the Civil War causes a rift between their fathers, Mahaley and Flora find a way to preserve their friendship. (E ACKERMA)

1860

Wait for Me, Watch for Me, Eula Bee by Patricia Beatty (1978)
With his father and brother serving in the Confederate Army and the rest of his family killed in a Comanche raid on their Texas farm, thirteen year old Lewallen seeks to free himself and his sister from captivity. (J BEATTY)

1860 - 1861

A Light in the Storm: The Civil War Diary of Amelia Martin by Karen Hesse (1999)
In 1860 and 1861, while working in her father's lighthouse on an island off the coast of Delaware, fifteen year old Amelia records in her diary how the Civil War is beginning to devastate her divided state. (J HESSE)

1860 - 1865

Diary of a Drummer Boy by Marlene Targ Brill (1998)
The fictionalized diary of a twelve year old boy who joins the Union army as a drummer and ends up fighting in the Civil War. (J BRILL)

1861

Across Five Aprils by Irene Hunt (1966)
Jethro Creighton comes of age during the turbulent years of the American Civil War. (J HUNT)

1861

Before the Creeks Ran Red by Carolyn Reeder (2003)
Through the eyes of three different boys, three linked novellas explore the tumultuous times beginning with the secession of South Carolina and leading up to the first major battle of the Civil War. (Y REEDER)

1861

Bull Run by Paul Fleischman (1993)
Northerners, Southerners, generals, couriers, dreaming boys and worried sisters describe the glory, the horror, the thrill and the disillusionment of the first battle of the Civil War. (Y FLEISCH)

1861

Joseph: A Rumble of War, 1861 by Bonnie Pryor (1999)
After his stepfather becomes an abolitionist, ten year old Joseph struggles with his own thoughts about slavery as he sees its divisive power in his small Kentucky town. (J PRYOR)

1861

Joseph's Choice, 1861 by Bonnie Pryor (2000)
In the early days of the Civil War, Joseph must decide whether to defend his stepfather's abolitionist and pro-Union beliefs or side with the slave owners and Southern rights supporters in his hometown of Branson Mills, Kentucky. (J PRYOR)

1861

Promises to the Dead by Mary Downing Hahn (2000)
Twelve year old Jesse leaves his home on Maryland's Eastern Shore to help a young runaway slave find a safe haven in the early days of the Civil War. (J HAHN)

1861

Rifles for Watie by Harold Keith (1957)
Jeff Bussey becomes a scout and soldier in the West and sees the Civil War from both sides. (J KEITH)

1861

The River Between Us by Richard Peck (2003)
During the early days of the Civil War, the Pruitt family takes in two mysterious young ladies who have fled New Orleans to come north to Illinois. (Y PECK)

1861

Sound the Jubilee by Sandra Forrester (1995)
A slave and her family find refuge on Roanoke Island, North Carolina, during the Civil War. (J FORREST)

1861

A Voice from the Border by Pamela Smith Hill (1998)
Living in the border state of Missouri during the Civil War, fifteen year old Reeves tries to understand her father's decision regarding their slaves. (Y HILL)

1861 - 1862

The Last Silk Dress by Ann Rinaldi (1988)
During the Civil War, Susan finds a way to help the Confederate Army and uncovers a series of mysterious family secrets. (Y RINALDI)

1861 - 1865

Braving the Fire by John B. Severance (2002)
Jem joins the Union Army but is not sure of his motives or what he hopes to accomplish, particularly since the Civil War has divided his family and caused much violence and confusion in his life. (Y SEVERAN)

1861 - 1865

Captain Kate by Carolyn Reeder (1999)
Determined to take her father's coal-carrying barge on the C & O Canal from Cumberland, Maryland, to Georgetown in D.C., twelve year old Kate learns hurtful truths about herself. (J REEDER)

1861 - 1865

Drummer by George C. Richardson (2001)
A young slave, Johnny Jackson, escapes from a Confederate officer claiming to own him. With help, he makes his way to Philadelphia where he is permitted to join the First Pennsylvania Colored Infantry and becomes the drummer for Company A. (Y RICHARD)

1861 - 1865

Drummer Boy: Marching to the Civil War by Ann Turner (1998)
A thirteen year old soldier, coming of age during the American Civil War, beats his drum to raise tunes and spirits and muffle the sounds of the dying. (J TURNER)

1861 - 1865

Girl in Blue by Ann Rinaldi (2001)
To escape an abusive father and an arranged marriage, fourteen-year-old Sarah, dressed as a boy, leaves her Michigan home to enlist in the Union Army, and becomes a soldier on the battlefields of Virginia as well as a Union spy working in the house of Confederate sympathizer Rose O'Neal Greenhow in Washington, D.C. (Y RINALDI)

1861 - 1865

Hear the Wind Blow by Mary Downing Hahn (2003)
With their mother dead and their home burned, a thirteen-year-old boy and his little sister set out across Virginia in search of relatives during the final days of the Civil War. (J HAHN)

1861 - 1865

Jayhawker by Patricia Beatty (1991)
In the early years of the Civil War, teenage Kansan farm boy Lije Tulley becomes a Jayhawker, an abolitionist raider freeing slaves from the neighboring state of Missouri, and then goes undercover there as a spy. (J BEATTY)

1861 - 1865

No Man's Land: A Young Soldier's Story by Susan Campbell Bartoletti (1999)
Because he had been unable to fight off the gator which injured his father, fourteen year old Thrasher joins the Confederate Army hoping to prove his manhood. (Y BARTOLE)

1861 - 1865

Pink and Say by Patricia Polacco (1994)
Say Curtis describes his meeting with Pinkus Aylee, a black soldier, during the Civil War, and their capture by Southern troops. Based on a true story about the author's great-great-grandfather. (E POLACCO)

1861 - 1865

The Promise Quilt by Candice F. Ransom (1999)
After her father leaves the family farm on Lost Mountain to be General Lee's guide, Addie finds ways to remember him--even when he does not return at the end of the war. (E RANSOM)

1861 - 1865

Red Cap by G. Clifton Wisler (1991)
A young Yankee drummer boy displays great courage when he's captured and sent to Andersonville Prison. (J WISLER)

1861 - 1865

The Sacred Moon Tree: Being the True Account of the Trials and Adventures of Phoebe Sands in the Great War Between the States, 1861 - 1865 by Laura Jan Shore (1986)
Determined to see the war for herself, twelve year old Phoebe disguised as a boy, travels with her friend Jotham behind enemy lines to Richmond in hopes of rescuing Jotham's brother from a Rebel prison. (Y SHORE)

1861-1865

Soldier's Heart: A Novel of the Civil War by Gary Paulsen (1998)
Eager to enlist, fifteen year old Charley has a change of heart after experiencing both the physical horrors and mental anguish of Civil War combat. (Y PAULSEN)

1861 - 1865

Spy in the Sky by Kathleen Karr (1997)
When Northerner Thaddeus Lowe lands his huge balloon in South Carolina at the beginning of the Civil War, ten year old orphan Ridley Jones joins up with him and the two set out to find a way to use Lowe's balloon to help the North. (J KARR)

1861 - 1865

Three Against the Tide by D. Anne Love (1998)
After her father is called away from their plantation near Charleston, S.C., during the Civil War, twelve year old Susanna must lead her brothers on a difficult journey in hopes of being reunited with him. (J LOVE)

1861 - 1869

Letters from Vinnie by Maureen Stack Sappey (1999)
A fictionalized account of the Washington, D.C., Civil War years experienced by Vinnie Ream, the sculptress, best known for the statue of Abraham Lincoln that is in the Capitol building. (Y SAPPEY)

1862

All Their Names Were Courage by Sharon Phillips Denslow (2003)
In 1862, as William Burd fights in the Civil War, he exchanges letters with his sister, Sallie, who is also writing to Confederate and Union generals asking about their horses in order to write a book. (J DENSLOW)

1862

A Ballad of the Civil War by Mary Stolz (1997)
Weary of the war, a Union lieutenant recalls his life with his twin brother on their family's Virginia plantation and the events that led them to fight on different sides in the Civil War. (J STOLZ)

1862

The Bravest Girl in Sharpsburg by Kathleen Ernst (1997)
In Civil War Maryland, the friendship of two girls is tested by their conflicting loyalties. (Y ERNST)

1862

Eben Tyne, Powdermonkey by Patricia Beatty (1990)
A thirteen year old powdermonkey in the Confederate navy joins the crew of the ironclad Merrimack in a mission to break the Union blockade of Norfolk harbor. (J BEATTY)

1862

The Lost Dispatch: A Story of Antietam by Donald J. Sobol (1958)
When Wade is ordered to take a message to his Colonel's brother, he has no idea that he will spend time in the Confederate Army and play a decisive role in the Battle of Antietem and the resulting Union victory over the South. (J SOBOL)

1862

The Night Riders of Harpers Ferry by Kathleen Ernst (1996)
During the Civil War, a seventeen year old Union soldier must adjust to army life, with the additional complications peculiar to the region where the Shenandoah and Potomac Rivers come together at Harpers Ferry, West Virginia. (Y ERNST)

1862

Run the Blockade by G. Clifton Wisler (2000)
During the Civil War, fourteen year old Henry finds adventure working as a ship's boy and lookout aboard the "Banshee," a new British ship attempting to get past the Yankee blockade of the Southern coast. (J WISLER)

1862

Silent Thunder: A Civil War Story by Andrea Davis Pinkney (1999)
In 1862 eleven year old Summer and her thirteen year old brother Rosco take turns describing how life on the quiet Virginia plantation where they are slaves is affected by the Civil War. (J PINKNEY)

1862

The 290 by Scott O'Dell (1976)
A shipyard apprentice finds high adventure aboard the S.S. Alabama, a Confederate ship, which sails the Atlantic destroying Union vessels. (Y ODELL)

1862

The War Within: A Novel of the Civil War by Carol Matas (2001)
In 1862, after Union forces expel Hannah's family from Holly Springs, Mississippi, because they are Jews, Hannah reexamines her views regarding slavery and the war. (J MATAS)

1863

Abraham's Battle: A Novel of Gettysburg by Sara Harrell Banks (1999)
In 1863, as the Civil War approaches his home in Gettysburg and he realizes that a big battle is about to begin, a freed slave named Abraham decides to join the ambulance corps of the Union Army. (J BANKS)

1863

The Adventures of Midnight Son by Denise Lewis Patrick (1997)
After his parents help him escape from slavery on a cotton plantation, fourteen year old Midnight finds freedom in Mexico and becomes a cowboy on a cattle drive to Kansas. (J PATRICK)

1863

Anna Sunday by Sally M. Keehn (2002)
In 1863 twelve-year-old Anna, disguised as a boy and accompanied by her younger brother Jed, leaves their Pennsylvania home and makes the difficult journey to join their wounded father in Winchester, Virginia, where they find themselves in danger from Confederate troops. (J KEEHN)

1863

Behind the Lines by Isabelle Holland (1994)
During the New York Draft Riot, a young Irish Catholic girl helps an African-American boy escape from an angry mob. (Y HOLLAND)

1863

The Drinking Gourd by F. N. Monjo (1970)
When he is sent home alone for misbehaving in church, Tommy discovers that his house is a station on the Underground Railroad. (E-BEG MONJO)

1863

The Drummer Boy of Vicksburg by G. Clifton Wisler (1997)
In this fact-based story, fourteen year old drummer boy Orion Howe displays great bravery during a Civil War battle at Vicksburg, Mississippi. (J WISLER)

1863

Gettysburg: Tad Lincoln's Story by F. N. Monjo (1976)
Recounts the events of the Battle of Gettysburg and the dedication of the cemetery there, as seen through the eyes of Tad Lincoln. (J MONJO)

1863

Guerrilla Season by Pat Hughes (2003)
Two fifteen-year-old boys in Missouri in 1863 find friendship and family loyalty tested by Quantrell's raiders, a Rebel guerrilla band who roamed under the black flag of "no quarter to be given by Union troops." (Y HUGHES)

1863

The Journal of James Edmond Pease, a Civil War Union Soldier by Jim Murphy (1998)
James Edmond, a sixteen year old orphan, keeps a journal of his experiences and those of "G" Company, which he joined as a volunteer in the Union Army during the Civil War. (J MURPHY)

1863

The Longest Ride by Denise Lewis Patrick (1999)
At the end of the Civil War Midnight, a fourteen year old black cowboy and runaway slave who nurtures the dream of being reunited with his family, finds his destiny linked with that of two Arapaho Indians. Sequel to: The Adventures of Midnight Son. (J PATRICK)

1863

Moon Over Tennessee: A Boy's Civil War Journal by Craig Crist-Evans (1999)
A thirteen year old boy sets off with his father from their farm in Tennessee to join the Confederate forces on their way to fight at Gettysburg. (J CRIST-E)

1863

Private Captain: A Story of Gettysburg by Marty Crisp (2001)
Twelve year old Ben and his dog Captain set off in search of Ben's brother who is missing from the Union Army. (J CRISP)

1863

Three Days by Paxton Davis (1980)
Describes the battle of Gettysburg through the eyes of Robert E. Lee, following the general from his entry into Pennsylvania to the disastrous conclusion for the Confederate troops. (J DAVIS)

1863

With Every Drop of Blood by James Lincoln Collier & Christopher Collier (1994)
While trying to transport food to Richmond, Virginia, during the Civil War, fourteen year old Johnny is captured by a black Union soldier. (Y COLLIER)

1864

Across the Lines by Carolyn Reeder (1997)
Edward, the son of a white plantation owner, and his black house servant and friend Simon witness the siege of Petersburg during the Civil War. (J REEDER)

1864

Amelia's War by Ann Rinaldi (1999)
When a Confederate general threatens to burn Hagerstown, Maryland, unless it pays an exorbitant ransom, twelve year old Amelia and her friend find a way to save the town. (Y RINALDI)

1864

The Girl Who Chased Away Sorrow: The Diary of Sarah Nita, a Navajo Girl by Ann Turner (1999)
Sarah Nita, 13, tells the story of the Navajo's forced 400-mile Long Walk from their ancestral homeland through winter snow to Fort Sumner. (J TURNER)

1864

If You Please, President Lincoln by Harriette Gillem Robinet (1995)
Shortly after the Christmas of 1863, fourteen year old Moses thinks he is beginning a new free life when he becomes part of a group of other former slaves headed for a small island off the coast of Haiti. (Y ROBINET)

1864

An Island Far From Home by John Donahue (1995)
The twelve year old son of a Union army doctor killed during the fighting in Fredericksburg comes to understand the meaning of war and the fine line between friends and enemies when he begins corresponding with a young Confederate prisoner of war. (J DONAHUE)

1864

Meet Addy: An American Girl by Connie Porter (1993)
Nine year old Addy Walker escapes from a cruel life of slavery to freedom during the Civil War. Other books in the series include: Addy's Surprise: a Christmas Story, Addy Learns a Lesson: a School Story, Happy Birthday, Addy! a Springtime Story, Addy Saves the Day! a Summer Story and Changes for Addy: a Winter Story. (J PORTER)

1864

Numbering All the Bones by Ann Rinaldi (2002)
It is 1864, the Civil War is moving toward an end. President Lincoln has proclaimed his 'great measure,' and Southern slaves are slowly gaining their freedom. But for thirteen-year-old Eulinda, a house slave on a Georgia plantation, it is the most difficult time of her life. (Y RINALDI)

1864

Sing Down the Moon by Scott O'Dell (1970)
A young Navajo girl recounts the events of 1864 when her tribe was forced to march to Fort Sumner as prisoners of the white soldiers. (J ODELL)

1864

Turn Homeward, Hannalee by Patricia Beatty (1984)
Twelve year old Hannalee Reed, forced to relocate in Indiana along with other Georgia millworkers during the Civil War, leaves her mother with a promise to return home as soon as the war ends. (J BEATTY)

1864

When Will This Cruel War Be Over? : The Civil War Diary of Emma Simpson by Barry Denenberg (1996)
The diary of a fictional fourteen year old girl living in Virginia, in which she describes the hardships endured by her family and friends during one year on the Civil War. (J DENENBE)

1864

Which Way Freedom? by Joyce Hansen (1986)
Obi escapes from slavery during the Civil War, joins a black Union regiment, and soon becomes involved in the bloody fighting at Fort Pillow, Tennessee. (J HANSEN)

1865

An Acquaintance with Darkness by Ann Rinaldi (1997)
When her mother dies and her best friend's family is implicated in the assassination of President Lincoln, fourteen year old Emily Pigbush must go live with an uncle she suspects of being involved in stealing bodies for medical research. (Y RINALDI)

1865

Be Ever Hopeful, Hannalee by Patricia Beatty (1988)
In 1865 with the war recently over, fourteen year old Hannalee and her recently reunited family decide to start a new life in Atlanta where, because of the need to rebuild the devastated city, jobs are plentiful. Sequel to: Turn Homeward, Hannalee. (J BEATTY)

1865

Bigger by Patricia Calvert (1994)
When his father disappears near the Mexican border at the end of the Civil War, twelve year old Tyler decides to find him. On his journey he acquires a strange dog he names Bigger. Tyler's adventures continue in: Sooner. (J CALVERT)

1865

Charley Skedaddle by Patricia Beatty (1987)
During the Civil War, a twelve year old Bowery Boy from New York City joins the Union Army as a drummer, deserts during a battle in Virginia and meets a hostile old mountain woman. (J BEATTY)

1865

Forty Acres and Maybe a Mule by Harriette Gillem Robinet (1998)
Born with a withered leg and hand, Pascal, who is about twelve years old, joins other former slaves in a search for a farm and the freedom which it promises. (J ROBINET)

1865

Hear the Wind Blow by Mary Downing Hahn (2003)
With their mother dead and their home burned, a thirteen-year-old boy and his little sister set out across Virginia in search of relatives during the final days of the Civil War. (J HAHN)

1865

I Thought My Soul Would Rise and Fly: The Diary of Patsy, a Freed Girl by Joyce Hansen (1997)
Twelve year old Patsy keeps a diary of the confusing time following the end of the Civil War and the granting of freedom to former slaves. (J HANSEN)

1865

In My Father's House by Ann Rinaldi (1993)
For two sisters growing up surrounded by the Civil War, there is a conflict both outside and inside their house. (Y RINALDI)

1865

Mustang Flats by G. Clifton Wisler (1997)
When his father returns from the war in 1865, fourteen year old Alby finds his beloved Pa a changed man and can only hope that they will be friends again. (J WISLER)

1865

Out from this Place by Joyce Hansen (1988)
A fourteen year old girl tries to find a fellow ex-slave, who had joined the Union army during the Civil War, during the confusing times after the emancipation of the slaves. Sequel to Which Way Freedom? (J HANSEN)

1865

Secret Island by S.E. Moore (1977)
Visiting relatives in post-Civil War upper New York State, John Allen becomes involved in tracking down robbers of Union money and secret Southern sympathizers. (J MOORE)

1865

Shades of Gray by Carolyn Reeder (1989)
At the end of the Civil War, twelve year old Will, having lost all his immediate family, reluctantly leaves his city home to live in the Virginia countryside with his aunt and the uncle he considers a "traitor" because he refused to take part in the war. (J REEDER)

1865

Sparrow Jack by Mordicai Gerstein (2003)
In 1868, John Bardsley, an immigrant from England, brought one thousand sparrows from his home country back to Philadelphia, where he hoped they would help save the trees from the inch-worms that were destroying them. Based on a true story. (E GERSTEI)

1865

Watcher in the Piney Woods by Elizabeth McDavid Jones (2000)
In 1865, while helping her family keep their Virginia farm going through the end of the Civil War, twelve-year-old Cassie meets a Confederate deserter and a Yankee prisoner of war and tries to discover who has been stealing from the farm. (J JONES)

1866

The Curse of the Moonraker: A Tale of Survival by Eth Clifford (1977)
Based on an actual event, the wreck of the General Grant, this is the story of how survivors of a strange shipwreck in the Auckland Islands struggle to live under seemingly hopeless conditions. (J CLIFFOR)

1867

Betrayed! by Patricia Calvert (2002)
In 1867, after his father's death and his mother's remarriage, fourteen-year-old Tyler and his black friend Isaac set out on the Missouri River headed west to seek their fortunes, encountering an unsavory keel boat captain and a Sioux chief along the way. (J CALVERT)

1867

Dragon's Gate by Laurence Yep (1993)
When he accidentally kills a Manchu, a fifteen year old Chinese boy is sent to America to join his father, an uncle, and other Chinese working to build a tunnel for the transcontinental railroad through the Sierra Nevada mountains. Sequel to: Mountain Light. (Y YEP)

1867

Jo and the Bandit by Willo Davis Roberts (1992)
En route to stay with her uncle in Texas in the late 1860s, twelve year old Jo experiences a stagecoach robbery and becomes involved with a reluctant young outlaw aiming to change his ways. (J ROBERTS)

1868

The Great Railroad Race: The Diary of Libby West by Kristiana Gregory (1999)
As the daughter of a newspaper reporter, fourteen year old Libby keeps a diary account of the exciting events surrounding her during the building of the railroad in the West in 1868. (J GREGORY)

1868

Jim Dandy by Hadley Irwin (1994)
Living after the Civil War on a Kansas homestead with his stern stepfather, thirteen year old Caleb raises a beloved colt and becomes involved in General Custer's raids on the Cheyenne. (J IRWIN)

1869

Oh, Those Harper Girls! By Kathleen Karr (1992)
In West Texas, Lily and her five older sisters participate in a series of misguided schemes to save their father's ranch. (Y KARR)

1870s

Bluestem by Frances Arrington (2000)
With their farther away and their mother traumatized by some unknown event, eleven year old Polly and her younger sister are left to take care of themselves and their prairie homestead. (J ARRINGT)

1870s

The Gate In The Wall by Ellen Howard (1999)
In 19th century England, ten year old Emma, accustomed to long working hours at the silk mill and the poverty and hunger of her sister's house, finds her life completely changed when she inadvertently gets a job on a canal boat carrying cargoes between several northern towns. (J HOWARD)

1870s

Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan (1985)
When their father invites a mail-order bride to come live with them in their prairie home, Caleb and Anna are captivated by their new mother and hope that she will stay. (J MACLACH)

1870s

Skylark by Patricia MacLachlan (1994)
When a drought tests the commitment of a mail-order bride from Maine to her new home on the prairie, her stepchildren hope they will be able to remain a family. Sequel to: Sarah, Plain and Tall. (J MACLACH)

1870

Karen by Borghild Dahl (1947)
A Norwegian girl emigrates to the United States, begins her new life as a servant and becomes a leader in her community. (Y DAHL)

1871

Borderlands by Peter Carter (1990)
After being forced from his meager family farm in Texas, thirteen year old Ben Curtis witnesses some of the excitement and cruelty of the Old West: on a cattle drive, in a frontier town and on a buffalo hunt. (Y CARTER)

1871

Children of the Fire by Harriette Gillem Robinet (1991)
A young black girl named Hallelujah lives through the great Chicago fire with courage and resourcefulness. (J ROBINET)

1871

The Journal of Joshua Loper: A Black Cowboy by Walter Dean Myers (1999)
In 1871 Joshua Loper, a sixteen year old black cowboy, records in his journal his experiences while making his first cattle drive under an unsympathetic trail boss. (J MYERS)

1871

The Statue in the Harbor: A Story of Two Apprentices by Jeffrey Eger (1986)
Ten year old Philippe becomes apprenticed as a coppersmith to his father in the Parisian foundry where the Statue of Liberty is being constructed under the direction of Frederic Auguste Bartholdi, and the ensuing years shape the rest of his life. (J EGER)

1872

Jenny of the Tetons by Kristiana Gregory (1989)
Orphaned by an Indian raid while traveling West with a wagon train, fifteen year old Carrie Hall is befriended by the English trapper Beaver Dick and taken to live with his Indian wife and their five children. (Y GREGORY)

1872

Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder (1932)
Laura, her sister Mary, her pa and her ma lived the lives of pioneers in a small cabin in the Big Woods of Wisconsin. Others in the series are: 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, and The First Four Years. (J WILDER)

1872

An Orphan for Nebraska by Charlene Joy Talbot (1979)
Orphaned on the journey to America, a young Irish boy finally makes his way to Nebraska where he goes to work for a newspaper editor and learns to do the work of a printer's devil. (J TALBOT)

1872

The Ruby in the Smoke by Philip Pullman (1985)
In 19th century London, sixteen year old Sally, a recent orphan, becomes involved in a deadly search for a mysterious ruby. (Y PULLMAN)

1873

Brother Moose by Betty Levin (1990)
In the late 1800s, two orphan girls, aided by an Indian and his grandson, make a perilous trip to Maine to find a family. (Y LEVIN)

1874

The Bone Wars by Kathryn Lasky (1988)
In the mid-1870s, young teenage scout Thad Longsworth, blood brother to the Sioux visionary Black Elk, finds his destiny linked with that of three rival teams of paleontologists searching for dinosaur bones, as the Great Plains Indians prepare to go to war against the white man. (J LASKY)

1874

Grasshopper Summer by Ann Turner (1989)
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. (J TURNER)

1874

Just Some Weeds from the Wilderness by Patricia Beatty (1978)
In an attempt to change the family's failing fortune, Lucinda's aunt goes into the business of producing a patent medicine. (J BEATTY)

1874

Winter Wheat by Jeanne Williams (1975)
Sixteen year old Cobie leaves Russia with her five sisters and Mennonite parents to settle on the harsh Kansas prairies to build a new life. (J WILLIAM)

1875

Jon the Unlucky by Elizabeth Coatsworth (1964)
Jon, an orphan, saves the life of Thorvald who takes him to a hidden valley where all outsiders are condemned to death unless they can prove their worth to the community. (J COATSWO)

1875

Maria Escapes by Gillian Avery (1957)
While living with her only relative, an uncle in Oxford, eleven year old Maria shares an eccentric tutor with the boisterous Smith brothers and enjoys unusual outings and adventures in the English countryside. (J AVERY)

1875

Old Town in the Green Groves: The Lost Little House Years by Cynthia Rylant (2002)
After grasshoppers ruin the crops, eight-year-old Laura Ingalls and her family leave Plum Creek and move to Burr Oak, Iowa, where they experience life in a small town and help manage a hotel. (J RYLANT)

1875

Something to Shout About by Patricia Beatty (1976)
The women of a Montana mining town disrupt life when they try to raise money for a new school. (J BEATTY)

1875

To Tame a Sister by Gillian Avery (1961)
Twelve year old Margaret hardly knows whether to look forward to a chance to mingle with the famous at her cousins' country house, or dread the mess her brothers' mischief will make of the situation. (J AVERY)

1876

All the Buffalo Returning by Dorothy M. Johnson (1979)
A fictionalized account of the Hunkpapa and Oglala Sioux following the Battle of Little Bighorn in 1876 to Wounded Knee in 1890. (J JOHNSON)

1876

A Little Bit Dead by Chap Reaver (1992)
After interfering with the attempted lynching of a young Yahi Indian named Shanti, eighteen year old Reece finds his own life in danger and becomes intimately involved in the future of Shanti's people. (Y REAVER)

1876

Only Earth and Sky Last Forever by Nathaniel Benchley (1972)
Although recognizing the end of the Indians' freedom is near, a young Cheyenne still chooses to fight with Crazy Horse at the Little Big Horn to prove himself to the girl he loves. (Y BENCHLE)

1876

Soldier Boy by Brian Burks (1997)
A boy who grew up in the slums of late nineteenth-century Chicago runs away, joins the cavalry, and fights with General Custer in the battle of Little Big Horn. (Y BURKS)

1877

Thunder Rolling in the Mountains by Scott O'Dell and Elizabeth Hall (1992)
In the late 19th century, a young Nez Perce girl relates how her people were driven off their land by the U.S. army and forced to retreat north until their eventual surrender. (J ODELL)

1878

Shadow in the North by Philip Pullman (1988)
In London, Sally, now twenty-two and established in her own business, and her companions Frederick and Jim try to solve the mystery surrounding the unexpected collapse of a shipping firm and its ties to a sinister corporation called North Star. Sequel to: Ruby in the Smoke. (Y PULLMAN)

1878

The Staircase by Ann Rinaldi (2000)
After her mother's death on the way West, thirteen year old Lizzy Enders is left by her father at a convent school in Sante Fe, where she must deal with being the only non-Catholic student and where she plays a part in what some consider a miracle. (Y RINALDI)

1879

High Trail to Danger by Joan Lowery Nixon (1991)
Seventeen year old Sarah travels from Chicago to the violent town of Leadtown, Colorado, to locate her missing father but finds that the mention of his name brings her strange looks and an attempt on her life. (Y NIXON)

1879

A Long Way to Whiskey Creek by Patricia Beatty (1971)
A thirteen year old boy, his friend, and his dog journey four hundred miles across Texas to bring back the body of an older brother for burial in the family graveyard. (J BEATTY)

1880

By Crumbs, It's Mine! By Patricia Beatty (1976)
While stranded in the Arizona territory in the 1880s a thirteen year old girl finds herself the owner of a traveling hotel. (J BEATTY)

1880

My Heart is on the Ground: The Diary of Nannie Little Rose, a Sioux Girl By Ann Rinaldi (1999)
In the diary account of her life at a government-run Pennsylvania boarding school in 1880, a twelve-year-old Sioux Indian girl reveals a great need to find a way to help her people. (J RINALDI)

1880-1889

The Coffin Quilt: The Feud Between the Hatfields and the McCoys by Ann Rinaldi (1999)
In the 1880s, young Fanny McCoy witnesses the growth of a terrible and violent feud between her Kentucky family and the West Virginia Hatfields, complicated by her older sister Roseanna's romance with a Hatfield. (Y RINALDI)

1881

A Different Kind of Hero by Ann R. Blakeslee (1997)
Twelve year old Renny, who resists his father's efforts to turn him into a rough, tough, brawling boy, earns the disapproval of the entire mining camp when he befriends a newly arrived Chinese boy. (J BLAKESL)

1881

The Great American Elephant Chase by Gillian Cross (1993)
Fifteen year old Tad helps a girl in her attempt to get a mighty Indian elephant to friends in Nebraska, while pursued by two unscrupulous villains who wish to take the elephant from her. (J CROSS)

1881

My Face to the Wind: The Diary of Sarah Jane Price, a Prairie Teacher by Jim Murphy (2001)
Following her father's death from a disease that swept through her Nebraska town in 1881, teenaged Sarah Jane must find work to support herself and records in her diary her experiences as a young school teacher. (J MURPHY)

1881

Red Rock Over the River by Patricia Beatty (1973)
When a new girl arrives at Fort Yuma, Arizona, thirteen year old Dorcas finds herself involved in the escape of an outlaw from the prison across the river. (J BEATTY)

1881

Rodzina by Karen Cushman (2003)
A twelve-year-old Polish American girl is boarded onto an orphan train in Chicago with fears about traveling to the West and a life of unpaid slavery. (J CUSHMAN)

1881

The Tiger in the Well by Philip Pullman (1990)
In London, twenty-four year old Sally finds her young daughter and her possessions assailed by an unknown enemy, while a shadowy figure known as the Tzaddik involves her in his plot to defraud and exploit the hordes of Jewish immigrants pouring into the country. Sequel to: Shadow in the North. (Y PULLMAN)

1882

Me, California Perkins by Patricia Beatty (1968)
Appalled by conditions in the uncivilized 19th century silver mining town to which her husband has brought his family, Mrs. Perkins sends him to live in the town's bachelor quarters, until, a year later, their daughter's determination to go to high school makes reconciliation possible. (J BEATTY)

1883

The Snowbird by Patricia Calvert (1980)
Following the murder of her parents, Willana faces an uncertain future as she and her younger brother move from Tennessee to the Dakota Territory where she trains her first horse. (Y CALVERT)

1883

The Twenty-One Balloons by William Pene Du Bois (1947)
Professor Sherman left San Francisco with the intention of journeying around the world in a hot air balloon. (J DU BOIS)

1883

West to a Land of Plenty: The Diary of Teresa Angelino Viscardi by Jim Murphy (1998)
While traveling in 1883 with her Italian American family (including a meddlesome little sister) and other immigrant pioneers to a utopian community in Idaho, fourteen year old Teresa keeps a diary of her experiences along the way. (J MURPHY)

1884

Missouri Homestead by T.L. Tedrow (1992)
When Laura, Manly and their daughter Rose come from South Dakota to Mansfield, Missouri, looking for a better life, Laura's outspoken articles against a local timberman cause some problems. First in: The Days of Laura Ingalls Wilder series. (J TEDROW)

1885

Lily and Miss Liberty by Carla Stevens (1992)
A little girl makes crowns and sells them to help raise money for the pedestal needed for mounting France's gift to this country, the Statue of Liberty. (J STEVENS)

1885

My Daniel by Pam Conrad (1989)
Ellie and Stevie learn about a family legacy when their grandmother tells them stories about her brother's historical quest for dinosaur bones on their Nebraska farm. (J CONRAD)

1885

Third Girl From the Left by Ann Turner (1986)
Itching to do something different, eighteen year old Sarah leaves Maine for the harsh Montana environment as a mail-order bride, and is soon left a widow with a 2000-acre ranch to run. (Y TURNER)

1886

The Copper Lady by Alice & Kent Ross (1997)
After helping Monsieur Bartholdi build the Statue of Liberty, a Parisian orphan stows away on the ship carrying the statue to America. (E-BEG ROSS)

1886

Run Away Home by Patricia C. McKissack (1997)
In 1886 in Alabama, an eleven year old African American girl and her family befriend and give refuge to a runaway Apache boy. (J MCKISSA)

1886

Sister by Ellen Howard (1990)
Alena, the eldest child of a large family, remains hopeful despite the hardships of growing up on a farm in the late 1800s. (J HOWARD)

1886

Walk Across the Sea by Susan Fletcher (2001)
In late nineteenth-century California, when Chinese immigrants are being driven out or even killed for fear they will take jobs from whites, fifteen-year-old Eliza Jane McCully defies the townspeople and her lighthouse-keeper father to help a Chinese boy who has been kind to her. (Y FLETCHE)

1887

The Gentleman Outlaw and Me--Eli: A Story of the Old West by Mary Downing Hahn (1996)
Twelve year old Eliza, disguised as a boy and traveling towards Colorado in search of her missing father, falls in with a Gentleman Outlaw and joins him in his illegal schemes. (J HAHN)

1887

George On His Own by Laurie Lawlor (1993)
Addie's twelve year old brother, George, doesn't think anyone appreciates his musical talent, and when his father threatens to sell his trombone, George decides to run away from the family's prairie home. (J LAWLOR)

1887

Hannah by Gloria Whelan (1991)
Hannah, a blind girl living in Michigan in the late 19th century, doesn't go to school until a new teacher tells her about the Braille method of reading for the blind. (J WHELAN)

1889

I Have Heard of a Land by Joyce Carol Thomas (1998)
Describes the joys and hardships experienced by an African-American pioneer woman who staked a claim for free land in the Oklahoma territory. (J THOMAS)

1889

That's One Ornery Orphan by Patricia Beatty (1980)
After the casual adoption practices in 19th century Texas result in three unsuccessful placements for a 13 year old girl, she is finally forced to face the placement she has tried so hard to avoid. (J BEATTY)

1889-1893

Kaiulani: The People's Princess by Ellen Emerson White (2001)
Follows the life of Victoria Kaiulani Cleghorn from 1889 to 1893 as she studies to be a better princess, even as Hawaii's monarchy, and her throne, are being undermined by American businessmen. (J WHITE)

1890

Edith Herself by Ellen Howard (1987)
Orphaned by her mother's death, Edith goes to live with her older sister and her husband in their stern Christian farming household, where the strain of adjusting seems to aggravate her epileptic seizures. (J HOWARD)

1890

Radical Red by James Duffy (1993)
The life of a twelve year old Irish girl living in Albany, New York, in the 1890s, undergoes many changes when she and her mother become involved with Susan B. Anthony and her suffragists. (J DUFFY)

1892

Minuk: Ashes in the Pathway by Kirkpatrick Hill (2002)
Twelve-year-old Minuk's traditional Eskimo way of life is changed forever in 1892 with the arrival of
Christian missionaries. (J-N HILL)

1893

Exploring the Chicago World's Fair, 1893 by Laurie Lawlor (2001)
The World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago is the most fabulous sight the girls have ever seen, with its incredible sights, sounds, and crowds. But in the chaos of the White City, twelve-year-old Dora Pomeroy yearns for Nebraska and the secure life she left behind. (J LAWLOR)

1893

Fair Weather: A Novel by Richard Peck (2001)
In 1893, thirteen-year-old Rosie and members of her family travel from their Illinois farm to Chicago to visit Aunt Euterpe and attend the World's Columbian Exposition which, along with an encounter with Buffalo Bill and Lillian Russell, turns out to be a life-changing experience for everyone. (Y PECK)

1893

Hail Columbia by Patricia Beatty (1970)
Thirteen year old Louisa recounts how the visit of her suffragette aunt changed the lives of her family and the whole town. (J BEATTY)

1893

Lacy Makes a Match by Patricia Beatty (1979)
A thirteen year old living in a turn-of-the-century California mining town determines to marry off her adoptive brothers and discover the identity of her real parents. (J BEATTY)

1893

Melinda Takes a Hand by Patricia Beatty (1983)
Sensible thirteen year old Melinda, finding herself stranded in the Colorado town of Goldendale, promptly becomes involved in the townspeople's lives and assorted problems. (J BEATTY)

1893

O the Red Rose Tree by Patricia Beatty (1972)
Four girls befriend an old lady and try to find seven shades of red for the special quilt she wants to make. (J BEATTY)

1893

The Obstinate Land by Harold Keith (1977)
During a hard winter, the father of a pioneering German family settling the Cherokee strip in Oklahoma freezes to death, and his fourteen year old son must assume responsibility for the struggling family. (J KEITH)

1893

Stop the Train!: A Novel by Geraldine McCaughrean (2003)
Despite the opposition of the owner of the Red Rock Runner railroad in 1893, the new settlers of Florence, Oklahoma, are determined to build a real town. (J MCCAUGH)

1894

The Callender Papers by Cynthia Voigt (1983)
In 19th century Massachusetts, orphan Jean, employed to sort out the family papers of a reclusive artist, becomes curious about the mysterious, long-ago death of his wife and the subsequent disappearance of their young child. (J VOIGT)

1894

Jim Ugly by Sid Fleischman (1992)
Twelve year old Jake and Jim Ugly, his father's part mongrel, part wolf dog, travel through the Old West trying to find out what really happened to Jake's actor father. (J FLEISCH)

1894

Little House on Rocky Ridge by Roger Lea MacBride (1993)
Laura Ingalls Wilder, her husband and her seven year old daughter Rose leave the Ingalls family in Dakota and make the long and difficult journey to Missouri to start a new life. Others in the series are: Little Farm in the Ozarks, In the Land of the Big Red Apple, Little Town in the Ozarks, and Bachelor Girl. (J MACBRID)

1894

The Sound of the Dragon's Feet by Alki Zei (1979)
The time spent with her "revolutionary" tutor opens ten year old Sasha's eyes to more of life in turn-of-the-century Russia than her somewhat sheltered existence had previously allowed her to experience. (LCC-J ZEI)

1894

Wrango by Brian Burks (1999)
When young George McJunkin leaves his home in Texas and joins a cattle drive along the Chisholm Trail, he experiences the hardships of being a Black cowboy after the Civil War. (J BURKS)

1895

A Likely Lad by Gillian Avery (1994)
Pressured by his father to leave school for a career he doesn't want, a 19th century Manchester, England, boy runs away and gains a new perspective on his future. (J AVERY)

1895

Prairie Songs by Pam Conrad (1985)
Louisa's life in a loving pioneer family on the Nebraska prairie is altered by the arrival of the new doctor and his beautiful, tragically frail wife. (J CONRAD)

1895

Storm Warriors by Elisa Carbone (2001)
After his mother's death, twelve year old Nathan moves with his father and grandfather to Pea Island off the coast of North Carolina, where he hopes to join the all-black crew at the nearby lifesaving station, despite his father's objections. (J CARBONE)

1895

A Year Without Rain by D. Anne Love (2000)
Her mother's death and a year-long drought has made life difficult for twelve year old Rachel and her family on their farm in the Dakotas, but when she learns that her father plans to get married again, it is almost more than Rachel can bear. (J LOVE)

1896

A Coal Miner's Bride: The Diary of Anetka Kaminska by Susan Campbell Bartoletti (2000)
A diary account of thirteen year old Anetka's life in Poland, immigration to America, marriage to a coal miner, widowhood, and happiness in finally finding her true love. (J BARTOLE)

1897

Jason's Gold by Will Hobbs (1999)
When news of the discovery of gold in Canada's Yukon Territory reaches fifteen year old Jason, he embarks on a 10,000-mile journey to strike it rich. (Y HOBBS)

1898

Behave Yourself, Bethany Brant by Patricia Beatty (1986)
A preacher's daughter with a penchant for getting into trouble has an eventful year as all the predictions of a fortuneteller come true. (J BEATTY)

1898

The Bite of the Gold Bug: A Story of the Alaskan Gold Rush by Barthe DeClements (1992)
Bucky and his father, prospecting for gold in Alaska in 1898, must overcome storms, dangerous mountain trails, and wilderness predators before confronting the final challenge of human treachery. (J-N DECLEME)

1898

Gold Rush Fever: A Story of the Klondike, 1898 by Barbara Greenwood (2001)
Thirteen-year-old Tim accompanies his older brother on a difficult trek from Seattle to the Yukon, where they set up as miners and difficulties such as frostbite, hard labor, hard luck and cabin fever. (J-N GREENWOOD)

1898

Gold Rush Runaway: A Historical Novel of Alaska Exploration and Adventure by Douglas DeVries (1997)
Runaway Sven Olafsen, age fourteen, intends to find his father who left his family in 1896 to search for gold in Alaska. (J-N DEVRIES)

1898

The Klondike Cat by Julie Lawson (2002)
It's 1896,and gold has been discovered in the Klondike River Valley of the Yukon. Joining the gold rush are Noah and his father. Pa tells Noah that he will need to leave his beloved cat, Shadow, behind. Noah, however, has other plans and smuggles the cat aboard the steamship. (E-N LAWSON)

1899

In Care of Cassie Tucker by Ivy Ruckman (1998)
When her teenage cousin moves in with her family on their Nebraska farm, eleven year old Cassie learns a lot, including the meaning of "heathen" and "bigot." (J RUCKMAN)

1899

Down the Yukon by Will Hobbs (2001)
In the wake of Dawson City's great fire of 1899, sixteen year old Jason and his girlfriend Jamie canoe the Yukon River across Alaska in an epic race from Canada's Klondike to the new gold fields at Cape Nome. Sequel to: Jason's Gold. (J-N HOBBS)