Historical mysteries are listed separately from other historical novels on this page.
Individual Books
Annie’s Promise (1993)
Annie remembers very little of her family’s old life in Germany, before the start of World War II. As the war comes to an end, she grows up and struggles to establish her identity as an independent young woman in America, but she also comes to understand her family and its history better.
Anooka’s Answer (1998)
A girl at the end of the Stone Age finds her destiny by making animal figures. By Marjorie Cowley.
The Keeping Room (1997)
The son of a colonel in the revolutionary army during the American Revolution becomes the man of his family when his father is captured. With British soldiers occupying his family’s house, young Joey does what he can to keep his family safe.
A Long Way from Chicago (1998)
Short funny stories about the adventures a brother and sister have with their grandmother in the rural Midwest during the Great Depression. By Richard Peck.
Lyddie (1991)
Her father’s absence and her mother’s illness force young Lyddie to seek her fortune as a factory worker during the 1840s. By Katherine Paterson.
Make a Wish, Molly (1994)
When Molly is unable to eat cake at a friend’s house because she’s celebrating Passover, her mother invites her friends to their house to show them how they celebrate birthdays. This book is the sequel to Molly’s Pilgrim.
The Midwife’s Apprentice (1995)
A homeless girl is taken in by a midwife in Medieval England. By Karen Cushman.
The Night Crossing (1994)
A World War II story, set in occupied Austria. A Jewish family realizes that they must flee their home in Austria to escape the Nazis.
Steal Away (1992)
Two women look back on their shared adventures, escaping from slavery during the 1800s. By Jennifer Armstrong.
Series
A collection of different series of books, each focusing on a girl from a different period of American history. 1986-Present.
About a boy from a poor, troubled family during World War II. The first book, Stepping on the Cracks, focuses on a girl who knows Gordy and despises him as the neighborhood bully. By Mary Downing Hahn. 1991-1998.
A granddaughter passes on stories that her grandmother told her about growing up on a farm in Michigan during the 1800s. The stories often have a Christian moral. By Arleta Richardson. 1974-1991.
The Great Brain Series
Tom Jenkins is a boy living in the Midwest during the late 19th century. People call him “The Great Brain” because he’s full of ideas and has a way of selling other people on them, getting himself, his brother, and their friends both into and out of trouble and managing to turn situations to his own profit. By John D. Fitzgerald. 1967-1975, 1995.
This is a very loose trilogy that takes place mainly in Canada, at a place called Hawthorn Bay on Lake Ontario, at various periods in history. It’s partly an historical series and partly fantasy because some of it involves fantasy elements like ESP and time travel.
Life changes for farm family on the Great Plains during the early 1900s when the father marries a mail-order bride. 1985-2006.
Historical Mystery Books
In the Kaiser’s Clutch (1995)
A pair of twins star in a silent movie serial during World War I and learn that their father’s death was due to war-related sabotage, not an accident.
Midnight Magic (1999)
A servant boy has to help his master solve the frightening mystery of a ghost that haunts a young princess amid political intrigue in Medieval Italy. By Avi.
Historical Mystery Series
American Girl History Mysteries
A series of mysteries featuring girls from different periods of American history. 1999-2004.
A historical mystery series with Christian themes that takes place in turn-of-the-century South Carolina. Amanda Shaw is an orphan with a mysterious past but who finds a new life with relatives she had never met. By Lois Gladys Leppard. 1983-2004.
This is a mystery book series for children in elementary school that focuses on events and people from American history. 1996-1999.
Jestress's Forgotten Books and Stories 