HISTORICAL FICTION
in the Canton Public Library Children's Department

1860 - 1865 (CIVIL WAR)
Alcott, Louisa May	Little Women
A chronicle of the joys and sorrows of the four March sisters as they grow into young ladies in 19th-century New England.
Alphin, Elaine	The Ghost Cadet
Twelve-year-old Benji, visiting his grandmother in Virginia, encounters the ghost of a Virginia Military Institute cadet killed at the Battle of New Market in 1864.
Beatty, Patricia	Turn Homeward, Hannalee
Hannalee, a 12-year-old Georgia millworker, is forced to relocate to Indiana in 1864 because the mill made supplies for the Confederate Army.
Beatty, Patricia	Be Ever Hopeful, Hannalee (sequel to Turn Homeward, Hannalee)
In 1865, shortly after the end of the war, Hannalee and her family move to Atlanta to start a new life.
Beatty, Patricia	Charley Skedaddle
A 12-year-old Union Army drummer deserts during a battle in Virginia and encounters a hostile older woman.
Beatty, Patricia	Eben Tyne, Powdermonkey
A 13-year-old joins the crew of the Confederate Navy's ironclad Merrimack as it attempts to break the Union blockade of Norfolk harbor.
Beatty, Patricia	Jayhawker
A teenager from Kansas becomes an abolitionist raider freeing slaves in bordering Missouri and, later, an undercover spy.
Brink, Carol	Caddie Woodlawn
Eleven-year-old Caddie preferred to be with her brothers instead of becoming a lady in Wisconsin during the 1860s.
Davis, Burke	Mr. Lincoln's Whiskers
In 1860, 11-year-old Grace suggests that Abraham Lincoln improve his appearance by growing a beard.
Donahue, John	An Island Far from Home
At his uncle's request, a 12-year-old from Massachusetts writes a 14-year-old Confederate prisoner and learns about the meaning of war.
Ernst, Kathleen	Retreat from Gettysburg
In 1863, during the tense week after the Battle of Gettysburg, a Maryland boy faces difficult choices as he is forced to care for a wounded Confederate officer while trying to decide if he himself should leave his family to fight for the Union.
Fleischman, Paul	Bull Run
Sixteen people, including Generals and young boys, people from the North and South, recount the Battle of Bull Run.
Gauch, Patricia Lee	Thunder at Gettysburg
Tillie, a 14-year-old resident of Gettysburg, becomes involved in the battle fought in and around the Pennsylvania town.
Hansen, Joyce	Which Way Freedom?
Obi escapes from a farm in South Carolina, joins the Union Army, and is involved in the battle at Fort Pillow, Tennessee.
Hansen, Joyce	Out from This Place (sequel to Which Way Freedom?)
After the war, Easter, a 14-year-old ex-slave tries to find Obi, another former slave who had joined the Union Army.
Houston, Gloria	Mountain Valor
When the safety of her family is threatened, a girl from North Carolina disguises herself as a boy and joins the Confederate Army.
Hunt, Irene	Across Five Aprils
A young boy grows up when he is left in charge of the family farm after one brother joins the Union Army and two others join the Confederate Army.
Karr, Kathleen	The Great Turkey Walk
In 1860, a somewhat simple-minded 15-year-old boy attempts to herd 1,000 turkeys from Missouri to Denver in hopes of selling them at a profit.
Keith, Harold	Rifles for Watie
A 16-year-old Kansas boy encounters the horrors of war when he joins the Union volunteers after his family's farm is raided by pro-slavery forces from Missouri.
Lasky, Kathryn	Alice Rose and Sam
Alice Rose, an irrepressible 12-year-old, shares adventures with Mark Twain, an outlandish reporter on her father's newspaper in Virginia City, Nevada, during the 1860s.
Levitin, Sonia	Clem's Chances
In 1860, 14-year-old Clem Fontayne learns from fellow travelers about important topics of the day, including the Mormon migration, slavery, and the Pony Express, as he journeys from Missouri to California in search of his father.
Lyons, Mary E.	Dear Ellen Bee: A Civil War Scrapbook of Two Union Spies
A scrapbook kept by a young black girl details her experiences and those of the older white woman, Miss Bet, who had freed her and her family, sent her north from Richmond to get an education, and then worked to bring an end to slavery. Based on the life of Elizabeth Van Lew.
O'Dell, Scott	Sing Down the Moon
In 1864, a Navajo tribe is forced to march 300 miles to Fort Sumner (in modern New Mexico) by Union soldiers.
Patrick, Denise	The Longest Ride
At the end of the Civil War, Midnight, a 14-year-old black cowboy and runaway slave who nurtures the dream of being reunited with his family, finds his destiny linked with that of two Arapaho Indians.
Reeder, Carolyn	Across the Lines
Edward, the son of a white plantation owner, and his black house servant and friend, Simon, witness the siege of Petersburg during the Civil War.
Reeder, Carolyn	Captain Kate
Determined to take her father's coal-carrying barge on the C&O Canal from Cumberland, Maryland, to Washington, D.C., 12-year-old Kate learns hurtful truths about herself.
Reeder, Carolyn	Shades of Gray
At the end of the Civil War, 12-year-old Will, a boy without immediate family, goes to live in Virginia with an aunt and an uncle who refused to participate in the fighting.
Reit, Seymour	Ironclad!: A True Story of the Civil War
In 1862, a boy serving aboard the Monitor describes the battle between his ship and the Merrimack.
Schwartz, Virginia	Send One Angel Down
A young slave tries to hide the horrors of slavery from his younger cousin, a light-skinned slave who is the daughter of the plantation owner.
Steele, William O.	Perilous Road
A boy from Tennessee who hates the Union Army cannot understand why his brother would fight for the Union and why his parents would not take a side.
Von Ahnen, Katherine	Heart of Naosaqua
In 1823, Naosaqua, a 12-year-old Mesquakie (Fox) girl, faces the problems of change, loss, young love, and the true meaning of friendship and courage when her beloved village, Saukinek, is burned by soldiers and her people are forced to find a new place to settle.
Wisler, G. Clifton	Mustang Flats
When his father returns from the war in 1865, 14-year-old Alby finds his beloved Pa a changed man and can only hope that they will be friends again.
Wisler, G. Clifton	The Drummer Boy of Vicksburg
In this fact-based story, 14-year-old drummer boy Orion Howe displays great bravery during a Civil War battle at Vicksburg, Mississippi.
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Last updated: October 31, 2007