This is the complete list of all the historical fiction on this site by period, including books that are parts of a series. I’ve included some books which count as “creative non-fiction,” in other words, stories that include real people and events, presenting facts in the form of stories, as well as some fantasy books which involve time travel.
I’m starting to include lists of nonfiction books related to each period along with the fiction books. If you’re using any of these books in an educational context, I think it’s important to use nonfiction alongside fiction for context. I’ve also included links to other sites that specialize in certain periods for further information. As always, this site is a work in progress, so there will be future updates.
Ancient World
Prehistory
The term “prehistory” covers all periods of history prior to the development of writing systems and the recording of written historical accounts. Because different societies around the world developed writing at different rates, what counts as “prehistory” varies by location and society. What we know about these periods of history depends largely on archaeological evidence, and our knowledge of life and events in prehistory is constantly evolving with new research and technological developments that help us to better understand archaeological evidence.
Individual Books
Anooka’s Answer (1998)
A girl at the end of the Stone Age finds her destiny by making animal figures. By Marjorie Cowley.
Boy of the Painted Cave (1988)
A young boy becomes an outcast from his people because he would rather paint animals than hunt them, and only certain people are allowed to be cave painters. There is a sequel to this book called Return to the Painted Cave. By Justin Denzel.
The Faraway Lurs (1963)
A Bronze Age love story. By Harry Behn.
Maroo of the Winter Caves (1984)
A young girl during the Ice Age must lead her family to their winter camp after the death of her father. By Ann Turnbull.
The Time of the Forest (1988)
In the prehistory of Denmark, hunter-gatherers clash with new settlers, and one young couple begins forging a new society. By Tom McGowen.
Warrior Scarlet (1958)
A boy with a disabled arm learns to become a warrior in Bronze Age Britain. By Rosemary Sutcliff.
Book Resources
Prehistory in YA & Middle Grade Fiction
From Goodreads.
Ancient Mesopotamia
Individual Books
The Golden Bull (2008)
A brother and sister struggle to survive and seek their destinies during a terrible drought. By Marjorie Cowley.
Ancient Egypt
Individual Books
Nakht, who is a boy studying to be a scribe, and his sister Tamyt help their father to track down tomb robbers. Part of the Diary Histories series.
Nonfiction
Cleopatra: Queen of the Kings (1998)
A picture book biography of Cleopatra, one of the most famous rulers of Egypt. By Fiona MacDonald, illustrated by Chris Molan.
The First Book of Tales of Ancient Egypt (1960)
A collection of folktales and myths from Ancient Egypt for children. By Charles Mozley.
Great Ancient Egypt Projects You Can Build Yourself (2006)
A guide to aspects of Ancient Egyptian history and culture with accompanying activities and projects. By Carmella Van Vleet.
Ancient Rome
A group of boys in Ancient Rome investigate a case of vandalism that is part of a plot of political intrigue. The sequel is Mystery of the Roman Ransom. Originally written in German. By Henry Winterfeld.
The Eagle of the Ninth (1954)
A young Roman officer goes in search of the missing Ninth Legion in Northern Britain. By Rosemary Sutcliff.
The sequel to Detectives in Togas. A group of boys in Ancient Rome attempt to stop an assassination plot that threatens one of their fathers. By Henry Winterfeld.
Roman Diary
When Iliona and her family are on their way from Greece to Egypt, their ship is suddenly attacked by pirates. Her parents are killed, and she and her brother are captured and sold into slavery in Rome. Part of the Diary Histories series.
900-1500s
Middle Ages
Eleven-year-old Tobias Burgess goes to live in his uncle’s castle, where he serves as a page and begins the training that will eventually allow him to become a knight. Part of the Diary Histories series.
The Door in the Wall (1949)
A boy in Medieval England loses the use of his legs, leaving his planned future as a knight in doubt. He is cared for by a monk, who teaches him that there is always a “door in the wall” (in other words, a solution to problems or a way around an obstacle) and that those who persevere will find it. The boy uses what the monk taught him to find a solution when their castle is besieged and things are at their most grim, and he becomes a hero.
The Hidden Treasure of Glaston (1946)
Hugh, a frail boy and son of a knight, is left at the abbey of Glastonbury when his father is forced to leave England. At first, the boy feels guilty about his physical weakness, which makes it impossible for him to become a knight like his father, but his intelligence, thoughtfulness, determination, and spiritual faith help him to investigate the mysteries of Glastonbury, the supposed final resting place of King Arthur and the Holy Grail, and teaches him that there are more ways of becoming a man than one. By Eleanore Jewett.
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.
The Puppeteer’s Apprentice (2003)
A young girl in Medieval England discovers her destiny as a puppeteer. By D. Anne Love.
Non-Fiction
Cathedral (1973)
The story of the construction of a Medieval cathedral. The story takes place in a fictional town in France, Chutreaux, but it is based on the construction of real Medieval cathedrals. By David Macaulay.
The King’s Fool (1993)
This is a non-fiction book about fools and jesters throughout history. By Dana Fradon.
Medieval Holidays and Festivals
This book explains the holidays that people celebrated in Medieval times and how these holidays would have been celebrated, along with some special information about Medieval feasts.
Renaissance
In Renaissance Italy, Kat and her aunt meet Leonardo da Vinci and investigate the theft of some important secrets. Part of the Kat series about a girl who travels through time using a time machine. Books sometimes include an activity section in the back.
1600s
Colonial America
Some of these are also set in the early 1700s, prior to the American Revolutionary War. I grouped them together because the themes are similar.
Individual Books
Calico Captive (1957)
An 18th century colonist and her family are abducted by Native Americans in a raid. Based on true events. By Elizabeth George Speare.
The Courage of Sarah Noble (1954)
A young girl accompanying her father to her family’s new homestead worries about the nearby Indian tribe until she makes friends with them and stays with them for a time. Based on a real historical girl.
The Light in the Forest (1953)
A boy living in Colonial America is abducted at a young age by Native Americans and raised as one of them. When he is returned to his birth family later, he questions who he really is and what he really stands for. By Conrad Richter.
Mystery on Skull Island (2001)
Charles Town, South Carolina, 1724. Twelve-year-old Rachel Howell has been living with her grandparents in New York since her mother died and her father went to South Carolina to establish a new life for them. Now, he has sent for Rachel to join him. He has decided to remarry, giving Rachel the mother that he thinks she really needs, although Rachel has some doubts about her new mother. She makes friends with the daughter of the local tavern-keeper, Sally, although they mostly meet in secret because her father’s fiance thinks that Sally isn’t a suitable friend for a young girl from a wealthy family, like Rachel. But, sinister things are happening on a nearby island that threaten Rachel’s family. Part of the American Girl History Mysteries. By Elizabeth McDavid Jones.
The Sign of the Beaver (1983)
In 18th century America, a 13-year-old boy helps his father build a new cabin for their family on the frontier. When his father leaves him to watch over the cabin while he returns to their home town to bring the rest of the family to the cabin, the boy learns to take care of himself with the help of a Native American friend. Lonely and worried about what will happen if his family never arrives, the boy considers accepting an offer from his friend to join his tribe and travel with them. By Elizabeth George Speare.
The Witch of Blackbird Pond (1958)
A teenage orphan girl comes to live with puritan relatives in Colonial America. Unused to the ways of the puritans, she is suspected of being a witch. By Elizabeth George Speare.
Picture Books
William’s House (2001)
William and his family have arrived in Colonial New England, and they need a new house. William wants a house like the one where he lived in England, but living in a new place calls for some changes. By Ginger Howard, illustrated by Larry Day.
Series
Kate Waters is the author of a series focusing on historical reenactors, showing them acting out the lives of real children who lived in Colonial America. Books sometimes include recipes and often show the clothing that Colonial children wore in detail, explaining how they would get dressed every morning.
Non-Fiction
Colonial American Holidays and Entertainment (1993)
How people living in Colonial America would entertain themselves and celebrate holidays. By Karen Helene Lizon.
The Colonial Cookbook (1976)
This cookbook explains the history of food, cooking, and dining habits in Colonial America and provides recipes that readers can make themselves.
1700s
Feudal Japan
A boy in feudal Japan joins a puppet theater and makes startling discoveries about a local folk hero. By Katherine Paterson.
Series
The adopted son of a famous judge helps him to solve mysteries in feudal Japan. Not a series for young children! By Dorothy and Thomas Hoobler. 1999-2014.
Golden Age of Piracy
Jake goes to sea with his uncle, but the ship he is on is captured by pirates, and he finds himself part of a pirate crew! Part of the Diary Histories series.
Non-Fiction
The Best Book of Pirates (2002, 2006)
Children’s non-fiction picture book about pirates in world history.
You Wouldn’t Want to Be a Pirate’s Prisoner! (2002)
About the terrible things that 18th century pirates could do to their prisoners. Part of the You Wouldn’t Want to Be Series. By John Malam.
18th Century England
The Ravenmaster’s Secret (2003)
The son of the Ravenmaster at the Tower of London befriends a young prisoner, the daughter of a Jacobite rebel, who is due to be executed and must decide if he is willing to risk himself to save her. By Elvira Woodruff.
This book ties in with the non-fiction book Chimney Sweeps (1982), which is about the history and traditions of chimney sweeps, including child chimney sweeps, because one of the children is threatened with being turned into a chimney sweep and living in horrible working conditions. The book about chimney sweeps covers multiple time periods.
American Revolution
A girl moves further west with her family, establishing a new homestead in 1784 Pennsylvania and receiving a surprise visit from George Washington. Based on a real historical girl. By Jean Fritz.
The Hollow Tree
In 1777, Phoebe Olcott’s cousin Gideon is hanged as a British spy. Phoebe discovers that Gideon had a mission left incomplete: to carry a message containing the names of Loyalist families in need of protection to Fort Ticonderoga. She decides to complete the mission on Gideon’s behalf, joining up with another Loyalist, Jem Morrisay, who is on his way to Canada. Part of the Hawthorn Bay Trilogy, a loose series which is semi-fantasy and sometimes includes time travel or ESP.
By Esther Hoskins Forbes.
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. Discusses issues like maturity, independence, slavery, and the nature of anger, revenge, and war.
A girl playing the part of Mary Geddy at Colonial Williamsburg shows the kind of life a girl at the beginning of the American Revolution lived. One of the Kate Waters Books.
Audrey and her younger brother Nathan are having a picnic when they accidentally unearth an old pocket watch that transports them back in time to the Revolutionary War. By Ruth Chew.
Series
Felicity is the daughter of a prosperous merchant living in Virginia at the beginning of the American Revolution. Includes sections of historical information in the backs of the books.
Non-Fiction
Colonial American Holidays and Entertainment (1993)
How people living in Colonial America would entertain themselves and celebrate holidays. By Karen Helene Lizon.
The Colonial Cookbook (1976)
This cookbook explains the history of food, cooking, and dining habits in Colonial America and provides recipes that readers can make themselves.
Going to School in 1776 (1973)
This book was about schools and subjects that children would study around the beginning of the American Revolution. It also talks about apprenticeships and other types of education and what it was like to grow up in Colonial America. By John J. Loeper.
This is a non-fiction series of picture books about aspects of daily life in America during the 18th and 19th centuries.
1800s
Immigrant Stories
Mary Urquhart, a fifteen-year-old girl in Scotland during the early 1800s, seems to have “second sight.” One day, she hears her cousin Duncan calling to her for help, although Duncan is currently living in Canada. Mary finds herself compelled to make the hazardous journey to Canada to find him. Part of the Hawthorn Bay Trilogy, a loose series which is semi-fantasy and sometimes includes time travel or ESP.
Non-Fiction
If Your Name Was Changed at Ellis Island (1993)
What it was like to arrive at Ellis Island as a child immigrant. Part of the If You Series. By Ellen Levine.
Immigrant Kids (1980)
The lives of immigrant children who came to the United States around the turn of the 20th century, late 1800s to early 1900s.
Frontier Stories and Westward Expansion
Susan is a little girl during the 1800s, and she and her family make the journey from Kentucky to Indiana in a covered wagon. She shares her adventures with her beloved doll, Abigail. By Portia Howe Sperry and Lois Donaldson.
Sing Down the Moon (1970)
A young Navajo girl in the 19th century experiences captivity by the Spaniards and the death march known as the Long Walk. By Scott O’Dell.
Whistler in the Dark (2002)
Colorado, 1867. Emma Henderson is embarrassed that her widowed mother has taken to wearing a Reform Dress with those hideous bloomers. She worries about what everyone else will think, although her mother assures her that she’s doing it partly for her benefit, to prove the point that women are as capable as men. Emma’s father was killed during the Civil War, and her mother had been heavily involved in war relief work in his absence. Now, her mother has also found a job working for a newspaper in the Colorado Territory. Moving across the country is difficult enough, but it seems that someone doesn’t want them in Twin Pines. Part of the American Girl History Mysteries series. By Kathleen Ernst.
Series
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.
Kirsten is a pioneer girl in the 1850s. She comes to America from Sweden with her family, and they settle in Minnesota, which was then on the American frontier. Includes sections of historical information in the backs of the books.
Little House on the Prairie Series
A young girl homesteads with her family on the American frontier during the 1800s. By Laura Ingalls Wilder.
Picture Books
The Log Cabin Quilt (1996)
Elvirey and her family are homesteading in a log cabin they built themselves, but it isn’t until winter, when they have to find a way to make the cabin warmer, that it really begins to feel like home. By Ellen Howard, illustrated by Ronald Himler.
American Civil War
Gentle Annie (1991)
16-year-old Annie Etheridge joins the Union Army as support at the beginning if the Civil War, hoping to become a nurse. Based on a true story. By Mary Francis Shura.
Rose Larkin, an orphan girl in the 1980s who is trying to fit into a new home with relatives in Canada, travels back in time and befriends the former owner of the house, who lived there during the American Civil War. Part of the Hawthorn Bay Trilogy, a loose series which is semi-fantasy and sometimes includes time travel or ESP.
Steal Away (1992)
Two women look back on their shared adventures, escaping from slavery during the 1800s. By Jennifer Armstrong.
Series
Addy was born as a slave in the South in the mid-1800s. During the Civil War, she and her mother escape to the North, eventually reuniting with other family members in Philadelphia. Includes sections of historical information in the backs of the books.
Nonfiction
This is a non-fiction series of picture books about aspects of daily life in America during the 18th and 19th centuries.
Victorian Era/Gilded Age
Anna, Grandpa, and the Big Storm
Anna’s grandfather has come to visit her family in New York City in 1888, but he doesn’t think the city is very interesting until he and Anna are caught on a train during the Great Blizzard that struck the city in that year and they have to band together with other people to help each other. By Carla Stevens.
An orphan girl in the 1800s, Amelia, goes to live with distant relatives and finds herself pursued by a strange group of sinister characters, unsure of who to trust. By Barbara Brooks Wallace.
An orphan girl, Jenny, goes to live with the grandfather she has never met before and is falsely labeled as an imposter with mysterious attempts made on her life. By Barbara Brooks Wallace.
Professor Carver and his family move into a house in the country to solve the mystery of the ghost that is haunting it. By Clyde Robert Bulla.
Kat and her aunt are transported to Victorian England where they have to find an inventor who can help them return home. Part of the Kat series about a girl who travels through time using a time machine. Books sometimes include an activity section in the back.
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.
An orphan girl arrives at her aunt and uncle’s house only to learn that it has been taken over by a cruel woman and turned into a retirement home that is cruel to the occupants. Her aunt is treated as a virtual slave and her uncle has mysteriously disappeared. By Barbara Brooks Wallace.
A boy in 19th century England finds himself caught up in political intrigue and family secrets. By Avi.
An orphan boy with a mysterious past searches for his long-lost twin and the secret to his true identity. By Barbara Brooks Wallace.
Non-Fiction
Daily Life in a Victorian House (1993)
The home and life of a family in England during the Victorian era.
This is a non-fiction series of picture books about aspects of daily life in America during the 18th and 19th centuries.
1900s
Early 1900s-1910s
Gib Rides Home and Gib and the Gray Ghost
A two-book series about an orphan boy in Nebraska during the early 1900s. By Zilpha Keatley Snyder.
A young girl in 1914 wants to go visit her grandmother, but her family can’t afford the train ticket . . . until they realize that they can afford for her to travel as mail. Based on a true story. By Michael O. Tunnell.
Under Copp’s Hill (2000)
Boston, Massachusetts, 1908. Innie Moretti is an orphan who lives with relatives. She joins a library club with some of the other girls, but strange things start happening there: things move around or just disappear. The girls wonder if the building could be haunted, but then someone accuses Innie of being a thief! Part of the American Girl History Mysteries series. By Katherine Ayres.
Series
Blossom Culp and her friend Alexander are both psychic and have supernatural adventures in their small town during the early 1900s. By Richard Peck.
An 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 who finds a new life with relatives she had never met. By Lois Gladys Leppard. 1983-2004.
Samantha is an orphan raised by her wealthy relatives in New York during the early 1900s. Includes sections of historical information in the backs of the books.
Life changes for farm family on the Great Plains during the early 1900s when the father marries a mail-order bride. 1985-2006.
Book Resources
These are lists of other books that take place in this time period.
Middle Grade Fiction set in the 1900s
A list of books on Goodreads.
Middle Grade Fiction set in the 1910s
A list of books on Goodreads.
World War I
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.
Charlotte Sometimes (1969)
Charlotte begins life at boarding school in England, but every night, when she goes to sleep in her school bed, she switches places with another girl who was a student at the school back in 1918, Clare. Charlotte doesn’t know why this is happening, but she and Clare begin sharing their lives, living in each other’s place on different days. Charlotte is fascinated by her trips into the past, but they’re disorienting, and she worries about getting trapped in the past and becoming Clare permanently, losing her identity as Charlotte.
Jessamy (1967)
Jessamy is an orphan girl whose care is shared between two aunts, who take care of her but don’t really pay that much attention to her. When her cousins catch whooping cough, the aunt who was supposed to take Jessamy during her school holidays instead sends her to stay with Miss Brindle, who is the caretaker of an old Victorian mansion. Jessamy is allowed to explore the old mansion, and in the old school room, she is sent back in time to the beginning of World War I.
The Night Flyers (1999)
North Carolina, 1918. Pam Lowder has helped her father to raise homing pigeons, but now he is away in Europe, fighting in World War I (known as the Great War prior to WWII). Then, some of Pam’s best birds start to disappear, and she suspects that the stranger who has recently come to town is the one taking them. Part of the American Girl History Mysteries series. By Elizabeth McDavid Jones.
Book Resources
These are lists of other books that take place in this time period.
The Children’s War: World War I
A list of books about WWI, both fiction and non-fiction.
1920s
A group of children create a town of their own in the Arizona desert, using whatever they can find and their own imaginations. By Alice McLerran.
The Secret School (2001)
The year is 1925, and what 14-year-old Ida Bidson wants most is to graduate from her community’s small, one-room schoolhouse so that she can go to high school in a nearby city. When the local school board closes the school rather than hire a new teacher, Ida and the other students take their education into their own hands. By Avi.
Series
These stories are about the author’s experiences growing up in a small town in Vermont during the 1920s and the escapades he had with his best friend, Soup. By Robert Newton Peck.
Non-Fiction
Cheaper By the Dozen (1948)
These are the real reminiscences of children from the Gilbreth family about their unusual childhoods during the 1910s and 1920s. By Frank B. Gilbreth, Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey.
Book Resources
These are lists of other books that take place in this time period.
Middle Grade Fiction set in the 1920s
A list of books on Goodreads.
Great Depression
Most of these books are set in the United States, but not all of them. The Great Depression was a world-wide event.
Short stories about the adventures a brother and sister have with their grandmother in the rural Midwest during the Great Depression. Hysterical! By Richard Peck.
A girl goes to stay with her eccentric grandmother in the rural Midwest for a year just after the Great Depression, before the country had really recovered. Hysterical! By Richard Peck.
When the headmistress of the Catholic school Kathleen attends recommends that she takes lessons in traditional Irish dancing, Kathleen discovers a talent that she never knew she had and a new vision of her future. Ireland, 1937. Part of the Girls of Many Lands. Includes historical information in the back. By Siobhan Parkinson.
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
About a black girl named Cassie Logan and her family’s struggles during the Great Depression. By Mildred D. Taylor.
The Secret of the Strawbridge Place (1976)
The story takes place in during the Great Depression when Kate learns a secret about her family’s home that dates back to the Civil War. By Helen Pierce Jacob.
Picture Books
The All-I’ll-Ever-Want Christmas Doll (2007)
It’s the Great Depression, and Nella’s family can’t always afford presents at Christmas. One year, when they can afford the doll that Nella has been hoping for, Nella tries to claim the doll all for herself instead of sharing with her sisters. However, she discovers that even the best present in the world isn’t as much fun when she plays alone. By Patricia C. McKissack, illustrated by Jerry Pinkney.
Dancing with the Indians (1991)
An African American family in the 1930s joins the Seminole tribe in Oklahoma for a celebration. By Angela Shelf Medearis.
The Gift of the Christmas Cookie (2008)
A boy during the Great Depression learns about the origins of Christmas cookies and a lesson in generosity. By Dandi Daley Mackall, illustrated by Deborah Chabrian.
Picking Peas for a Penny (1990)
African American children during the 1930s help their grandparents harvest crops on their family farm. By Angela Shelf Medearis.
Book Resources
These are lists of other books that take place in this time period.
Middle Grade Fiction set in the 1930s
A list of books on Goodreads.
World War II
Children’s books that take place during World War II. The start date of the war may depend on the country because different countries entered the war at different times.
Mid-20th Century
This is for books that take place from the late 1940s through the 1960s that do not involve major events, like the Civil Rights Movement. I will create special sections for books about major events or social movements.
Series
Adelaide “Addie” Mills tells stories about her experiences growing up with a widowed father in a small town in Nebraska in the 1940s. All of the books involve Addie, as an adult, telling stories about her youth, and they all center around holidays. By Gail Rock.
Book Resources
These are lists of other books that take place in this time period.
Middle Grade Fiction set in the 1950s
A list of books on Goodreads.
Civil Rights Movement
Some of these books were written contemporary to the time when they were set, during the 1950s and 1960s.
Mary Jane (1959)
As the schools in her town become integrated, Mary Jane is going to be one of the first black students to attend the formerly all-white junior high. Her grandfather warns her that this will not be an easy experience for her, and he is right. Other students are not eager to make friends with her. Some try to ignore her, and some call her names or play mean tricks on her. At first, Mary Jane isn’t sure if she will be able to stand it, but through perseverance, she learns that things can get better. By Dorothy Sterling.
Picture Books
Goin’ Someplace Special (2001)
In the 1950s, most of Nashville, TN is segregated, but there is one special place that Tricia Ann knows she can go. By Patricia C. McKissack, illustrated by Jerry Pinkney.
The Story of Ruby Bridges (1995)
Based on the real life experiences of Ruby Bridges, one of the first black children to attend desegregated schools in New Orleans. By Robert Coles.
Jestress's Forgotten Books and Stories 
One of my favorite authors as a teen was Margot Benary Isbert. She wrote The Ark & Rowan Farm both about a refugee family during WW11. Just FYI as they are still sought after by many.
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Oh, I’ve heard of her, although I haven’t seen those particular books. So far, I’ve only found Blue Mystery. It’s on of the Annegret Benninger books.
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