1 AD - 1500

30 AD

The Bronze Bow by Elizabeth George Speare (1961)
When the Romans brutally kill Daniel bar Jamin's father, the young Palestinian searches for a leader to drive them out, but comes to realize that love may be a more powerful weapon than hate. (J SPEARE)

61-383 AD

The Capricorn Bracelet by Rosemary Sutcliff (1973)
Six episodes chronicle the lives of a family in Roman Britain over a three hundred year period. (Y SUTCLIF)

62 AD

Song for a Dark Queen by Rosemary Sutcliff (1978)
The life of Boadicea (Boudicca), queen of the Iceni, who led them and other British tribes in a valiant but futile revolt against the Romans. (Y SUTCLIF)

72 AD

Masada: The Last Fortress by Gloria Miklowitz (1998)
As the Roman army marches inexorably across the Judean desert towards the fortress of Masada, Simon and his family and friends prepare, along with the rest of the Jewish Zealots, to fight and never surrender. (Y MIKLOWI)

343 AD

Frontier Wolf by Rosemary Sutcliff (1980)
As punishment for his poor judgment, a young inexperienced Roman army officer is sent to Northern England to assume the command of a motley group known as the Frontier Wolves. (J SUTCLIF)

531 AD

Lady of Ch'iao Kuo: Warrior of the South by Laurence Yep (2001)
In 531 A.D., a fifteen-year-old princess of the Hsien tribe in southern China keeps a diary which describes her role as liaison between her own people and the local Chinese colonists, in times of both peace and war. (J YEP)

550 AD

Black Horses for the King by Anne McCaffrey (1996)
Galwyn, son of a Roman Celt, escapes from his tyrannical uncle and joins Lord Artos, later known as King Arthur, using his talent with languages and his way with horses to help secure and care for the Libyan horses that Artos hopes to use in battle against the Saxons. (Y MCCAFFR)

550 AD

Kingdom of Summer by Gillian Bradshaw (1981)
A farmer's son becomes Gwalchmai's servant and travels through Britain with this knight of the Round Table, son of the treacherous Morgawse, searching for Princess Elidan. (Y BRADSHA)

550 AD

The Legend of Lady Ilena by Patricia Malone (2002)
In sixth century Great Britain, a fifteen-year-old girl seeking knowledge of her lineage is drawn into battle to defend the homeland she never knew, aided by one of King Arthur's knights. (Y MALONE)

550 AD

The Locked Crowns by Marion Garthwaite (1963)
The story of Haverlock the Dane and the Princess Goldborough of England is retold. (J GARTHWA)

550 AD

Sword of the Rightful King: A Novel of King Arthur by Jane Yolen (2003)
Merlinnus the magician devises a way for King Arthur to prove himself the rightful king of England--pulling a sword from a stone--but trouble arises when someone else removes the sword first.
(Y YOLEN)

583 AD

The Star in the Forest: A Mystery of the Dark Ages by Martha Bennett Stiles (1979)
Near the end of the sixth century, the daughter of a Gallic lord witnesses what she believes to be the murder of her brother and the beginning of a plot to usurp her father's title. (Y STILES)

600 AD

The Lantern Bearers by Rosemary Sutcliff (1959)
Instead of leaving with the last of the Roman legions, Aquila, a young officer, decides that his loyalties lie with Britain, and he eventually joins the forces of the Roman-British leader Ambrosius to fight against the Saxon hordes. (J SUTCLIF)

600 AD

The Shining Company by Rosemary Sutcliff (1990)
In 600 AD in northern Britain, Prosper becomes a shield bearer with the Companions. (Y SUTCLIF)

635 AD

The Wind Eye by Robert Westall (1976)
While vacationing on a remote part of the Northumberland coast, a troubled English family has a series of unsettling experiences traveling back in time and confronting the legendary power of St. Cuthbert. (Y WESTALL)

647 AD

Sondok, Princess of the Moon and Stars by Sheri Holman (2002)
In a series of messages placed in her grandmother's ancestral jar, a seventh century princess and future ruler of the Korean kingdom of Silla vents her frustration at not being permitted to study astronomy because she is a girl. (J HOLMAN)

794 AD

Raven of the Waves by Michael Cadnum (2001)
On his first Viking raid, 17 year old Lidsmod sails on the ship Raven, joining his comrades as they destroy and plunder villages in medieval England and take an Anglo- Saxon boy as captive. (Y CADNUM)

918 AD

The Edge on the Sword by Rebecca Tingle (2001)
In ninth-century Britain, fifteen-year-old Aethelflaed, daughter of King Alfred of West Saxony, finds she must assume new responsibilities much sooner than expected when she is betrothed to Ethelred of Mercia in order to strengthen a strategic alliance against the Danes. (Y TINGLE)

997 AD

A Slave's Tale by Erik Christian Haugaard (1965)
This saga of Hakon's journey from Norway to Brittany to return Rar, a former slave, to his homeland and to trade skins for the finer wares of the south is told from the viewpoint of the slave girl Helga. (J HAUGAAR)

1000

The African Mask by Janet E. Rupert (1994)
Twelve year old Layo, a Yoruba girl living in the area of Africa which is now Nigeria, attempts to reject the man who has been chosen for her husband. (Y RUPERT)

1007

Skald of the Vikings by Louise E. Schaff (1966)
Thrain joins an expedition from Greenland to Vinland as its skald, the balladeer who would sing of the adventure. (J SCHAFF)

1020

Sword Song by Rosemary Sutcliff (1998)
At sixteen, Bjarni is cast out of the Norse settlement in the Angles' Land for an act of oath-breaking and spends five years sailing the west coast of Scotland and witnessing the feuds of the clan chiefs living there. (Y SUTCLIF)

1040

Casilda of the Rising Moon by Elizabeth Borton de Trevino (1967)
A tale of a bygone time inspired by chronicles and legends concerning Princess Casilda, daughter of the Moorish King Alamun of Toledo. (J TREVINO)

1063

The King's Shadow by Elizabeth Alder (1995)
Evyn, a young Welsh serf, dreams of becoming a traveling storyteller until an encounter with murderous ruffians leaves him mute and orphaned. (Y ALDER)

1066

The Striped Ships by Eloise McGraw (1991)
Juliana, an eleven year old Saxon girl, loses her home and family when the Normans conquer England and seeks to order her life by becoming involved in the creation of the Bayeux tapestry. (Y MCGRAW)

1070

The Queen's Blessing by Madeleine Polland (1964)
Eleven year old Merca and her brother Dag are orphaned by the ravages of King Malcolm's army. Merca has vowed revenge. However, she and her brother are saved from death by Malcolm's queen, the kind St. Margaret. (J POLLAND)

1070

The Shield Ring by Rosemary Sutcliff (1972)
A young girl witnesses the waning power of the Norse in their continuing conflict with the Normans in eleventh century England. (Y SUTCLIF)

1083

Anna of Byzantium by Tracy Barrett (1999)
In the eleventh century, the teenage princess Anna Comnena fights for her birthright, the throne to the Byzantine Empire, which she fears will be taken from her by her younger brother John because he is a boy. (Y BARRETT)

1094-1464

Tales of the Crusades by Olivia Coolidge (1970)
Traces the progress of the Crusades over 300 years as experienced by participants from all stratas of medieval society. (J COOLIDG)

1100

The Dream Carvers by Joan Clark (1995)
While on expedition with his father to get lumber to take back to Greenland, Thrand is captured by the native Osweet, who have taken him to replace one of their own who was killed by a Greenlander. (Y CLARK)

1120

The Sign of the Chrysanthemum by Katherine Paterson (1973)
A teenager comes to know himself through contact with social ills and political unrest while searching for his father in Japan's capital. (J PATERSO)

1136

Eleanor, Crown Jewel of Aquitaine by Kristiana Gregory (2002)
The diary of Eleanor, first daughter of the duke of Aquitaine, from 1136 until 1137, when at age fifteen she becomes queen of France. Includes historical notes on her later life. (J GREGORY)

1140

The Winter Hare by Joan Elizabeth Goodman (1996)
In 1140, with England divided between the supporters of King Stephen and those of the Empress Matilda, twelve year old Will Belet, small for his age but longing to be a knight, comes to his Uncle's castle to be a page and soon finds himself involved in dangerous intrigues and adventures. (J GOODMAN)

1144

Peregrine by Joan Elizabeth Goodman (2000)
In 1144, fifteen year old Lady Edith, having lost her husband and child and anxious to avoid marrying a man she detests, sets out from her home to go on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Sequel to: The Winter Hare. (Y GOODMAN)

1180

Of Nightingales That Weep by Katherine Paterson (1974)
The young daughter of a samurai finds her comfortable life ripped apart when opposing warrior clans begin a struggle for control of Japan. (J PATERSO)

1187

Knight Crusader by Ronald Welch (1979)
Seventeen year old Philip learns the skills of a knight in his father's castle in 12th century Jerusalem. Bravely surviving Saracen attack, he joins Richard the Lionhearted in the Third Crusade before returning to England to claim his ancestral estate. (LCC-J WELCH)

1189

At the Crossing-Places by Kevin Crossley-Holland (2002)
In late twelfth-century England, the thirteen-year-old Arthur goes to begin his new life as squire to Lord Stephen at Holt, where crusaders ready themselves. Sequel to: The Seeing Stone. (Y CROSSLE)

1189

The Book of the Lion by Michael Cadnum (2000)
In 12th century England, after his master, a maker of coins for the king, is brutally punished for alleged cheating, seventeen year old Edmund finds himself traveling to the Holy Land as squire to a knight crusader on his way to join the forces of Richard Lionheart. (Y CADNUM)

1189

The Seeing Stone by Kevin Crossley-Holland (2001)
In late twelfth-century England, a thirteen-year-old boy named Arthur recounts how Merlin gives him a magical seeing stone which shows him images of the legendary King Arthur, the events of whose life seem to have many parallels to his own. (Y CROSSLE)

1195

The Minstrel in the Tower by Gloria Skurzynski (1988)
In the year 1195, eleven year old Roger and his eight year old sister Alice travel through the French countryside in search of their ailing mother's estranged brother, a wealthy baron. (J SKURZYN)

1200

Beorn the Proud by Madeleine Polland (1961)
Beorn, a headstrong Viking boy, fights for the title which is rightfully his with the aid of his young Irish captive. (J POLLAND)

1200

Heart of a Jaguar by Marc Talbert (1995)
Balam, a Mayan boy preparing for manhood, participates in fasts, prayers and rituals to appease the gods and bring rain to his village. (Y TALBERT)

1202

The Road to Damietta by Scott O'Dell (1985)
Deeply attached to the charming and carefree Francis Bernardone, Cecilia, a young noblewoman of Assisi, watches as he turns from his life of wealth and privilege, takes vows of poverty, and devotes himself to serving God by helping all those around him. (Y ODELL)

1204

A Proud Taste for Scarlet and Miniver by E. L. Konigsburg (1974)
While waiting in heaven for divine judgement to be passed on her second husband, Eleanor of Aquitaine and three of the people who knew her well recall the events of her life. (J KONIGSB)

1250

Gudrun by Alma Johanna Koenig (1979)
A prose retelling of the 13th century epic poem that follows the fluctuating fortunes of Gudrun, daughter of a king, who spends many years as the hostage of the evil queen of Normandy. (J KOENIG)

1250

The Rainmakers by E. J. Bird (1993)
An Anasazi boy, living in the cliffs of the American Southwest, shares a series of adventures with his pet bear and his best friend during his eleventh summer. (J BIRD)

1260

The Kite Rider: A Novel by Geraldine McCaughrean (2002)
In thirteenth-century China, after trying to save his widowed mother from a horrendous second marriage, twelve-year-old Haoyou has life-changing adventures when he takes to the sky as a circus kite rider and ends up meeting the great Mongol ruler Kublai Khan. (Y MCCAUGH)

1264

The Magician's Apprentice by Sidney and Dorothy Rosen (1994)
In 1264, Jean of Toulouse, a young French student and friar accused of heresy by the Inquisition, is sent to Oxford to spy on the scholarly monk, Roger Bacon, who is suspected of being a heretic for his scientific ideas. (J ROSEN)

1285

Castle Diary: The Journal of Tobias Burgess, Page transcribed by Richard Platt (1999)
As a page in his uncle's castle in thirteenth century England, eleven year old Tobias records in his journal his experiences learning how to hunt, play games of skill, and behave in noble society. Includes notes on noblemen, castles and feudalism. (J PLATT)

1286

Quest for a Maid by Frances Mary Hendry (1990)
King Alexander of Scotland is murdered and Meg thinks her sister has killed him. The rightful heir is Alexander's eight year old granddaughter who lives in Norway. (Y HENDRY)

1290

Catherine, Called Birdy by Karen Cushman (1994)
The thirteen year old daughter of an English country knight keeps a journal in which she records the events of her life, particularly her longing for adventures beyond the usual role of women and her efforts to avoid being married. (Y CUSHMAN)

1290

The Making of a Knight: How Sir James Earned His Armor by Patrick O'Brien (1998)
Traces James's journey during the Middle Ages in England from inexperienced page at the age of seven to knighthood at the age of twenty-one. (J OBRIEN)

1292

The Apple and the Arrow by Mary and Conrad Buff (1951)
Eleven year old Walter Tell awaits the skillful demonstration of his father William, a Swiss freedom fighter, who will shoot an apple from his son's head. (J BUFF)

1294

Adam of the Road by Elizabeth Janet Gray (1942)
Eleven year old Adam finds himself traveling the road as a minstrel searching market towns and fairs for his father and beloved dog. (J GRAY)

1299

The Ramsay Scallop by Frances Temple (1994)
At the turn of the 14th century in England, fourteen year old Elenor finds that her betrothal to an ambitious lord's son launches her on a memorable pilgrimage to Spain. (Y TEMPLE)

1300

Harald and the Great Stag by Donald Carrick (1988)
When Harald, who lives in England during the Middle Ages, hears that the Baron and his royal guests are planning to hunt the legendary Great Stag, he devises a clever scheme to protect the animal. (E CARRICK)

1300

Lost Magic by Berthe Amoss (1993)
Ceridwen learns the art of healing and is accused of bringing the Plague to her home. (J AMOSS)

1300

Marguerite Makes a Book by Bruce Robertson (1999)
In medieval Paris, Marguerite helps her nearly blind father finish painting an illuminated manuscript for his patron, Lady Isabelle. (J ROBERTS)

1300

Matilda Bone by Karen Cushman (2000)
Fourteen year old Matilda, an apprentice bonesetter and practitioner of medicine in a village in medieval England, tries to reconcile the various aspects of her life, both spiritual and practical. (J CUSHMAN)

1300

The Minstrel's Tale by Berit Haahr (2000)
When betrothed to a repulsive man, thirteen year old Judith runs away, assumes the identity of a young boy, and hopes to join the King's Minstrels in fourteenth century England. (Y HAAHR)

1300

The Raging Quiet by Sherryl Jordan (1999)
Suspicious of sixteen-year-old Marnie, a newcomer to their village, the residents accuse her of witchcraft when she discovers that the village madman is not crazy but deaf and she begins to communicate with him through hand gestures. (Y JORDAN)

1306

Girl in a Cage by Jane Yolen & Robert J. Harris (2002)
As English armies invade Scotland in 1306, eleven-year-old Princess Marjorie, daughter of the newly crowned Scottish king, Robert the Bruce, is captured by England's King Edward Longshanks and held in a cage on public display. (Y YOLEN)

1318

One is One by Barbara Leonie Picard (1965)
Steven leaves the monastery to become a knight, but returns to create beautiful drawings after his squire dies. (J PICARD)

1322

The Forestwife by Theresa Tomlinson (1995)
In England during the reign of King Richard I, fifteen year old Marian escapes from an arranged marriage to live with a community of forest folk that includes a daring young outlaw named Robert. (Y TOMLINS)

1322

Robin's Country by Monica Furlong (1995)
A mute orphan boy, with only shadowy recollections of his past, runs away from his cruel master and eventually joins Robin Hood and his followers in their forest hideaway. (J FURLONG)

1325

The Midwife's Apprentice by Karen Cushman (1995)
In medieval England, a homeless girl is taken in by a sharp-tempered midwife and, in spite of obstacles and hardship, eventually gains the three things she most wants: a full belly, a contented heart and a place in this world. (Y CUSHMAN)

1327

Crispin: The Cross of Lead by Avi (2002)
Falsely accused of theft and murder, an orphaned peasant boy in fourteenth-century England flees his village and meets a larger-than-life juggler who holds a dangerous secret. (Y AVI)

1330

The Door in the Wall by Marguerite de Angeli (1949)
The dramatic story of Robin, physically disabled son of a great lord, who proves his courage and wins his king's recognition-set in 14th century England. (J DEANGEL)

1349

The Way Home by Ann Turner (1982)
A young girl returns from months of surviving in the marsh, having been "outlawed" for offending the village lord, only to find that her village has been wiped out by "the sickness". (Y TURNER)

1356

The Hunting of the Last Dragon by Sherryl Jordan (2002)
In England in 1356, as a monk records his every word, a young peasant tells of his journey with a young Chinese noblewoman to St. Alfric's Cove and the lair of a dragon. (Y JORDAN)

1380

The Peace Child by Ann Phillips (1988)
Set during the Plague, Alys must try to keep the peace between hostile families. (J PHILLIP)

1381

Fire, Bed & Bone by Henrietta Branford (1998)
In 1381 in England, a hunting dog recounts what happens to his beloved master Rufus and his family when they are arrested on suspicion of being part of the peasants' rebellion led by Wat Tyler and John Ball. (J BRANFOR)

1400's

The Executioner's Daughter by Laura E. Williams (2000)
Thirteen year old Lily, daughter of the town's executioner living in 15th century Europe, decides whether to fight against her destiny or to rise above her fate. (Y WILLIAM)

1410

Leif the Unlucky by Erik Christian Haugaard (1982)
Faced with increasingly harsh winters and deteriorating morale in 15th century Greenland, a young man struggles to rally the last surviving Norse colonists, who feel their only hope is rescue by ships from Norway. (Y HAUGAAR)

1447

The Trumpeter of Krakow by Eric P. Kelly (1956)
A polish family in the Middle Ages guards a great secret treasure and a boy's memory of an earlier trumpeter of Krakow makes it possible for him to save his father. (J KELLY)

1485

The Lark and the Laurel by Barbara Willard (1970)
When her father goes into exile after the fall of Richard III, a sheltered sixteen year old girl is sent to stay with an unconventional aunt. (J WILLARD)

1490

The Second Mrs. Giaconda by E.L. Konigsburg (1975)
Relates, from the point of view of his servant Salai, how Leonardo daVinci came to paint the Mona Lisa. (J KONIGSB)

1492

The Cross by Day, the Mezuzzah by Night by Deborah Spector Siegel (1999)
Because she is a Marrano, thirteen year old Isabel suffers the harrowing experience of expulsion from Spain during the reign of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella. (Y SIEGEL)

1492

Encounter by Jane Yolen (1992)
A Taino Indian boy on the island of San Salvador recounts the landing of Columbus and his men in 1492. (Y YOLEN)

1492

I Sailed with Columbus by Miriam Schein (1991)
Describes Columbus' first voyage of discovery as seen through the eyes of a twelve year old ship's boy. (J SCHLEIN)

1492

I Sailed with Columbus: The Adventures of a Ship's Boy by Susan Martin (1991)
Describes Columbus' first voyage of discovery as seen through the eyes of a fourteen year old ship's boy. (J MARTIN)

1492

Morning Girl by Michael Dorris (1992)
Morning Girl, who loves the day, and her younger brother Star Boy, who loves the night, take turns describing their life on an island in pre-Columbian America; in Morning Girl's last narrative, she witnesses the arrival of the first Europeans to her world. (J DORRIS)

1492

Pedro's Journal: A Voyage with Christopher Columbus, August 3, 1492-February 14, 1493 by Pam Conrad (1991)
Written as a diary by the ship's boy, this story presents a personal view of Columbus' first trip across the Atlantic and his discovery of America. (J CONRAD)