My tweenage historical bookshelf

On a recent visit to my mother’s house, I took a quick look through my childhood bookshelf. As a person who works with “material culture” on a daily basis, I found myself asking, “What do my belongings say about me?” And since my bookshelf was a time capsule of my middle school self, I can see a pretty entertaining version of myself from way-back-when.

Flickr photo by Let Ideas Compete.

In late elementary and middle school, I was a total book nerd. And I loved history.

So it shouldn’t surprise anyone that I’ve grown up to work at the National Museum of American History, focusing on the online OurStory program. I love finding great historical fiction picture books and making compelling history activities for young children and their families.

While OurStory is intended for children in grades kindergarten through four, I’ve put together some of my favorite series and authors for slightly older children (roughly grades five through eight) plucked from my own middle school bookshelf.

• Ann Rinaldi- I loved that Ann Rinaldi told stories about women in American history. Some of my favorites were A Break with Charity and Finishing Becca.
• Laurence Yep- Laurence Yep’s Golden Mountain Chronicles meant a lot to me as I tried to make sense of my Chinese-American background, but the great storytelling crosses cultures. Just take a look at the Newberry Honors.
• The American Girl Collection- Back when I was a kid, there were only five “American girls.” Now the books show more of the America’s diversity and have expanded beyond the original stories by Valerie Tripp and Susan Adler. 
• Also check out the Welcome to (Felicity/Samantha/etc)’s World books, I love them because they use historical objects to illustrate daily life in specific eras in time.

You can also take a look in the OurStory bibliography, which includes books that are appropriate for history fans ages Pre-K through adult.

What historical fiction books did you love as a middle schooler? Who was your favorite American Girl? What historical fiction books does your 5th-to-8th-grader love? Better yet, if you’re a middle schooler reading this: Write in with a few suggestions of historical fiction that’s popular today. Let us know by leaving a comment below.

Jenny Wei is an education specialist at the National Museum of American History.

Comments

[Claudia M.]

Though I can easily get carried away about literature in general, I could also recommend My Antonia by Willa Cather. Even though the book was published in 1918 and already old in my time, it is still a good read. At that time, I lived in Iowa and it offered some historical flavor to the farm lands that were once open prairie.

[Girl]

It feels great to revisit the past (happy times :P). I just lived my childhood once again. Thanks for the experience :)

[Steve]

Love this blog. I think one of the most important things that a parent can do for their child is to get them to like books and to develop the habit or at least willingness to read. So many adults have not read a book since leaving Uni. One of my favorites as a child was the "Jennings" series of books all about the adventures of school boy Jennings. Sorry I can't recall the author's name.

[Haron]

I'm living in Mexico with my daughter and looking online for books that will teach solid values and help her stay connected with her heritage. Thanks for the suggestions... I never read the American Girl Collection when I was a growing up, but these sound just like what I've been looking for. Thank you!

[Natasha Weston]

Wow, I took all my belongings with me when I fledged the nest! And I can now say I do not own one book I had as a child - a shame really as there are many which I loved to read! Its nice that your mother kept them!

[Londonmarket]

I remember reading anything and everything about horses. Some were true sories about a particular horse or breed and others were fictional. The librarian would always let me know when a book about horses came in. It didn't hurt that my mother was a teacher in the school, so I probably got special attention. One title I remember was "Old Bones, the Wonder Horse."

[annduncan]

There are so many American Girl dolls now, you cant remember them all. They are running out of
cultures to represent.

[MV]

I've never read The American Girl but I will find it in our library and read it. I've always liked The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (classic).

[Elijah James]

Thanks for the great post, my little sister and I love to read and we read this post together and she definately wants to look for these books that you recommend. Thanks again

My tweenage bookshelf mostly consists of romances and novels. But there is a book I read when I was in grade school that I wasn't able to finish. I'm still looking forward to finish what I started but I can't remember the title and the author of the book. It was the best book I've ever read (i think). It was about an Egyptian doctor who was of royal blood but only learned about it when he was old. very nice book and great adventures and stories about historic Egypt. Has anyone read the book, or know the title?

[Helena]

Personally, I was convinced to read about Pocahontas after seeing the Disney movie as a child and was delighted to find out she was much better in real life.
Another role model for me was Susan Anthony. She really changed things.

[Patricia Jones]

My favourite historical fiction book when I was young is Lorna Doone by RD Blackmore. I still love the story and will be introducing my grandkids to it when they are a little older.

I am very pleased to say that my 5 and 7 year old grandkids love books, that's great in an age where so many grow up glued to their TVs or computers. I was amused to see them reading the Noddy books by Enid Blyton last week, I remember getting them out of the school library nearly 50 years ago.

[Bee]

The books I had access to in the UK when I was a child a very long time ago, were inevitably very English. Having visited the USA a number of times now and the world becoming more of a family, I shall ensure my grandchildren are given your titles and those of your commenters. Thank you.

[Sikaal]

It is amazing how your choice in books changes over the years. I have however cleared old books out, simply because I like to see the books I am interested in now (and over the last 10 years), not all books from way back. They no longer reflect who I am.

[Paul]

My son loves to read books, especially stories related to school kids. Also he loves to read books with rhythm. Most of all, he loves us to read to him.

He is 2nd grade. It seems not much interesting to read history books.

How you make your kids love enjoying books or any interesting books?

[Marjorie]

Your post provides a wonderful resource for both parents and teachers looking for history related reading material. As a retired teacher, I feel that now days not enough emphasis is placed on reading. Students are exposed to so much media that the joy of finding friends in books is a lost art. Thank you for your information.

[ChildrensBooks2]

Wow! What an amazing collection. This brought back a lot of memories for me. I was also an avid reader of books in my childhood. It makes me wish that I would of kept all of the books that I have gone through. It is great that your occupation is something that you love to do. Not too many people can say that.

[Rose]

interesting story. I was also very pleased to read, starting from the story, I also teach my kids about it

[Fabian Ramirez]

I just got back from Chicago and I went to the American Girl store with my wife and saw the books referred to in this post. How interesting that I just saw that. Yeah that place is just for girls that are not teens yet but are still into dolls and girly things.

[Diane Devor]

I am also a book junky so to speak. Without my books I am lost my collection has now increased to over 30,000 titles and still I am looking for more.

It is interesting to look back on what our interests were all those years ago.

[Vaiku Prekes]

I loved reading American Girl books... nostalgia :)

[Chris]

Interesting, I need to take a visit to my parents loft to remind myself of the books I used to read. My tastes have changed so much over the years.

[Pia E. Hund]

What a great post... reminds me of how much books from my childhood stuck with me, and how much I loved reading because of a few absolutely lovely books from back then. Looking at your "OurStory Bibliograpy," I was happy to find "A Picture Book of Eleanor Roosevelt".

It's not for middle schoolers, obviously, more for younger kids, but, boy, did I love it when I was little. I've always been interested in biographies (other people's lives, that is) - especially in the lives of presidents and their wifes. But the above named one must have been one of my very first ones. I have no idea just how many biographies I have read since!

So thanks, again, for having "A Picture Book of Eleanor Roosevelt" in your list - if other kids end up loving it us much as I did, they will become avid readers.

[Tracey Purdy]

I am a middle aged mom. I never read anything that I didn't have to read as a child. I have encouraged my children to read though. My daughter who just graduated grade eight loves to read. Some of her favorite books are: The Twilight Saga, The Immortals, The Immortal Instruments (obviously anything to do with vampires), Just Listen and some of the Chicken Soup books. I am finding that I am reading a lot of the same books now as she is reading.

[Alex]

Yes, this really brought some beautiful memories for me too. I loved Adventures of the American Revolutions series by Susan Olasky. My favorite American Girl was Addy. And my 5th grader really loves The Boy Who Sailed With Columbus by Michael Foreman. Jenny, great article and take care.