Ages 9-13

J AVI
Avi, Crispin and the Cross of Lead: 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.

YA AVI
Avi. Midnight Magic: In Italy in 1491, Mangus the magician and his apprentice are summoned to
the castle of Duke Claudio to determine if his daughter is indeed being haunted by a ghost

J CARBONE
Carbone, Elisa. Blood on the River: James Town 1607: Traveling to the New World in 1606 as
the page to Captain John Smith, twelve-year-old orphan Samuel Collier settles in the new colony of
James Town, where he must quickly learn to distinguish between friend and foe.

J CHEN
Chen, Jiang Hong. Little Eagle: In fifteenth-century China, a young orphan boy becomes the
apprentice to a kind sage who is gifted in eagle boxing, a specialized form of kung fu. (Also in
younger children’s list, recommended ages 8-10)

J COLLIER
Collier, James Lincoln. My Brother Sam is Dead: Recounts the tragedy that strikes the Meeker
family during the Revolution, when one son joins the rebel forces while the rest of the family tries to
stay neutral in a Tory town.

J COOPER
Cooper, Susan. Victory: Alternating chapters follow the mysterious connection between a
homesick English girl living in present-day America and an eleven-year-old boy serving in the British
Royal Navy in 1803, aboard the H.M.S. Victory, commanded by Admiral Horatio Nelson.

YA CUSHMAN
Cushman, Karen. The Ballad of Lucy Whipple: In 1849, a twelve-year-old girl who calls herself
Lucy is distraught when her mother moves the family from Massachusetts to a rough California
mining town, where Lucy helps run a rough boarding house and looks for comfort in books while
trying to find a way to get back to Massachusetts.
J ERDRICH
Erdrich, Louise. The Birchbark House: Omakayas, a seven-year-old Native American girl of the
Ojibwa tribe, lives through the joys of summer and the perils of winter on an island in Lake Superior in
1847. (Sequel: The Game of Silence)

J FORBES
Forbes, Esther. Johnny Tremain: After injuring his hand, a silversmith's apprentice in Boston
becomes a messenger for the Sons of Liberty in the days before the American Revolution.

J FOX
Fox, Paula. The Slave Dancer: 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 FRAZIER
Frazier, Neta Lohnes. Orphaned on the Oregon Trail: Based on the account of one of the Sager
children, this fast paced story recounts the adventures of the seven children, orphaned during their
journey to Oregon.

J GARLAND
Garland, Sherry. The Buffalo Soldier: Realizing that his future lies in owning land, not just being
free, a young man raised as a slave becomes a buffalo soldier--a member of an all-black cavalry
regiment formed to protect white settlers from Indians, bandits, and outlaws, and that later fought in
the Spanish American War. Includes historical notes (Ages 9-11, also in younger children’s list)

J GEAR
Gear, Kathleen O’Neil. Children of the Dawnland: Thirteen thousand years ago in the Great
Lakes Region, twelve-year-old Twig, a Spirit Dreamer who can see into the future, teams up with best
friend Greyhawk and the unpopular shaman Screech Owl to warn villagers of an impending natural
disaster that could have devastating environmental effects.

J GRIFFIN
Griffin, Peni R. 11,000 Years Lost: Fascinated with the archaeological dig that is going on near her
Texas home, eleven-year-old Esther magically travels back in time to the Pleistocene era and
discovers first-hand how people lived at that time.

J HOLM
Holm, Jennifer. Our Only May Amelia: As the only girl in a Finnish American family of seven
brothers, May Amelia Jackson resents being expected to act like a lady while growing up in
Washington State in 1899.

J HOROWITZ
Horowotz, Anthony. The Devil and His Boy: In 1593, thirteen-year-old Tom travels through the
English countryside to London, where he falls in with a troupe of actors and finds himself in great
danger from several sources.

J IBBOTSO
Ibbotson, Eva. The Star of Kaazan: After twelve-year-old Annika, a foundling living in late
nineteenth-century Vienna, inherits a trunk of costume jewelry, a woman claiming to be her
aristocratic mother arrives and takes her to live in a strangely decrepit mansion in Germany.
J JACKSON
Jackson, Dave. Abandoned on Wild Frontier: His friendship with Peter Cartwright, a Methodist
circuit-rider evangelist, enables thirteen-year-old Gil to pursue his dream of locating his mother, who
was kidnapped by the Sauk Indians during the War of 1812. (Trailblazer Series)

J KARR
Karr, Kathleen. The Great Turkey Walk: In 1860, a somewhat simple-minded fifteen-year-old boy
attempts to herd one thousand turkeys from Missouri to Denver, Colorado, in hopes of selling them at
a profit.

J LOWRY
Lowry, Lois. Number the Stars: In 1943, during the German occupation of Denmark, ten-year-old
Annemarie learns how to be brave and courageous when she helps shelter her Jewish friend from the
Nazis.

J LYONS
Lyons, Mary E. Letters from a Slave Boy: A fictionalized look at the life of Joseph Jacobs, son of
a slave, told in the form of letters that he might have written during his life in pre-Civil War North
Carolina, on a whaling expedition, in New York, New England, and finally in California during the Gold
Rush.

J MOLINA
Llorente, Molina, Pilar. The Apprentice: Working as an artist's apprentice in Renaissance
Florence, thirteen-year-old Arduino makes a horrifying discovery which may cost him the chance to
become a painter.

YA NAPOLI
Napoli, Donna Jo. The King of Mulberry Street: In 1892, Dom, a nine-year old stowaway from
Naples, Italy, arrives in New York and must learn to survive the perils of street life in the big city.

J OROARK
Dowell, Francis O’Roark. Shooting the Moon: When her brother is sent to fight in Vietnam, twelve-
year-old Jamie begins to reconsider the army world that she has grown up in.

J POPE
Pope, Elizabeth Pope. The Perilous Gard: In 1558 while imprisoned in a remote castle, a young
girl becomes involved in a series of events that leads to an underground labyrinth peopled by the last
practitioners of druidic magic. This well written story describes the time of druids in excellent detail, is
a crossover with fantasy and should appeal to Harry Potter fans.

J RAY
Ray, Delia. Singing Hands: In the late 1940s, twelve-year-old Gussie, a minister's daughter, learns
the definition of integrity while helping with a celebration at the Alabama School for the Deaf - her
punishment for misdeeds against her deaf parents and their boarders.

J ROYAL LASKY
Lasky, Kathryn. Elizabeth 1, Red Rose of the House of Tudor: In a series of diary entries,
Princess Elizabeth, the eleven-year-old daughter of King Henry VIII, celebrates holidays and
birthdays, relives her mother's execution, revels in her studies, and agonizes over her father's health.
(The Royal Diaries series)
J RUSSELL
Russell, Christopher. Dogboy: In 1346, twelve-year-old Brind, an orphaned kennel boy raised with
hunting dogs at an English manor, accompanies his master, along with half of the manor's prized
mastiffs, to France, where he must fend for himself when both his master and the dogs are lost at the
decisive battle of Crécy. (Sequel: Hunted)

YA RYAN
Muñoz, Pam Ryan. Esperanza Rising: Esperanza and her mother are forced to leave their life of
wealth and privilege in Mexico to go work in the labor camps of Southern California, where they must
adapt to the harsh circumstances facing Mexican farm workers on the eve of the Great Depression.

J SALISBU
Graham Salisbury. Under the Blood Red Sun: Tomikazu Nakaji's biggest concerns are baseball,
homework, and a local bully, until life with his Japanese family in Hawaii changes drastically after the
bombing of Pearl Harbor in December 1941.

P SHULEVI
Shulevitz , Uri. How I Learned Geography: As he spends hours studying his father's world map, a
young boy escapes the hunger and misery of refugee life. Based on the author's childhood in
Kazakhstan, where he lived as a Polish refugee during World War II (Recommended ages 9-10, also
in younger children’s list)

J SPEARE
Speare, Elizabeth George. The Witch of Blackbird Pond: Kit Tyler left her luxurious home in
Barbados to visit her Puritan aunt in colonial Connecticut. While there she became friendly with
Hannah, the witch of Blackbird Pond.

J WHELAN
Whelan, Gloria. Listening for Lions: Left an orphan after the influenza epidemic in British East
Africa in 1918, thirteen-year-old Rachel is tricked into assuming a deceased neighbor's identity to
travel to England, where her only dream is to return to Africa and rebuild her parents' mission
hospital.

J WILEY
Wiley, Melissa. Little House by Boston Bay: 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. (Series)

J WILSON
Wilson, Diane Lee. I Rode a Horse of Milk White Jade: Oyuna tells her granddaughter the story of
how love for her horse enabled her to win a race and bring good luck to her family living in Mongolia
in 1339.

J WOODSON
Woodson, Jacqueline. Feathers: When a new, white student nicknamed "The Jesus Boy" joins her
sixth grade class in the winter of 1971, Frannie's growing friendship with him makes her start to see
some things in a new light.