Sam is in third grade. This month his assignment is to read an historical fiction novel. Finding historical fiction appropriate for third grade is a challenge especially if there is also a page number assignment (i. e. must be at least 100 pages long) Here is a list for third graders, you will notice many of them are the American Girl books, as I've said before not a proponent of writing to market dolls, but the books are well written and age appropriate for third grade girls. Historical fiction by its very nature is sad, and difficult and sometimes frightening. There are many written at a reading level third graders can read, but content must be considered. I've highlighted some titles I think Sam will like.
Bibliography
Historical Fiction Third Grade
Adler, David A. Don't talk to me about the war. New York : Viking, 2008.
In 1940, thirteen-year-old Tommy's routine of school, playing stickball in his Bronx, New York, neighborhood, talking with his friend Beth, and listening to Dodgers games on the radio changes as his mother's illness and his increasing awareness of the war in Europe transform his world.
Adler, Susan S., 1946-. Meet Samantha, an American girl
. 1st ed. Madison, Wis. : Pleasant Co., c1986.In 1904, nine-year-old Samantha, an orphan living with her wealthy grandmother, and her servant friend Nellie have a midnight adventure when they try to find out what has happened to the seamstress who suddenly left her job.
Adler, Susan S., 1946-. Samantha learns a lesson : a school story. 1st ed. Madison, Wis. : Pleasant Co., c1986.Samantha is determined to help nine-year-old Nellie, attending school for the first time, with her school work and learns a great deal herself about what it is like to be a poor child and work in a factory.
Armstrong, Jennifer, 1961-. Lili the brave. New York : Random House, c1997.A spirited young girl does not want to leave her home in Norway to go to live in Minnesota, but aboard ship on the way to America, she proves why she is called "Lili the Brave.".
Bradley, Kimberly Brubaker. The President's daughter. New York : Yearling, [2006], c2004.
A fictionalized account of ten-year-old Ethel Roosevelt's early experiences in the White House after her father, Theodore Roosevelt, becomes president in 1901.
Capeci, Anne. Danger, dynamite! 1st ed. Atlanta : Peachtree, c2003.
Ten-year-old Billy, his best friend Finn, and a girl named Dannie, living in a 1920s camp of railroad workers in the Cascade Mountains, follow clues to try to uncover the relationship of a stolen crate of dynamite with gold taken during an 1893 train robbery.
Capeci, Anne. Daredevils. 1st ed. Atlanta : Peachtree, c2004.
During the 1920s, Billy, Finn, and Dannie, living in a railroad workers camp in the Cascade Mountains, encounter Finn's air show pilot uncle, endure a troublemaking new boy, and stand up to smugglers.
Capeci, Anne. Ghost train. 1st ed. Atlanta : Peachtree, c2004.
When Billy finds a burlap sack containing a pistol and a cryptic, threatening note, he and his best friends Dannie and Finn avoid rehearsals for the town's historical pageant while trying to learn who holds a grudge and is plotting against the railroad
.
Dalgliesh, Alice, 1893-. The courage of Sarah Noble
. New York : Atheneum Books for Young Readers, [1986], c1954.
. New York : Atheneum Books for Young Readers, [1986], c1954.Remembering her mother's words, an eight-year-old girl finds courage to go alone with her father to build a new home in the Connecticut wilderness and to stay with the Indians when her father goes back to bring the rest of the family.
Fleischman, Sid, 1920-. The whipping boy. 1st Harper Trophy ed. New York : HarperTrophy, 2003, c1986.
A bratty prince and his whipping boy have many adventures when they inadvertently trade places after becoming involved with dangerous outlaws.
Harlow, Joan Hiatt. Joshua's song. 1st Aladdin Paperbacks ed. New York : Aladdin Paperbacks, 2003, c2001.
Needing to earn money after his father's death during the influenza epidemic of 1918, thirteen-year-old Joshua works as a newspaper boy in Boston, one day finding himself in the vicinity of an explosion that sends tons of molasses coursing through the streets.
Hermes, Patricia. Our strange new land. 1st ed. New York : Scholastic, 2000.
Nine-year-old Elizabeth keeps a journal of her experiences in the New World as she encounters Indians, suffers hunger and the death of friends, and helps her father build their first home.
Hermes, Patricia. A perfect place. 1st ed. New York : Scholastic, 2002.
Late in 1848, nine-year-old Joshua McCullough starts a second journal, this time recording events in Willamette Valley, Oregon Territory, as his family and others they met on the trail begin to get settled.
Hermes, Patricia. The starving time. 1st ed. New York : Scholastic, 2001.
Nine-year-old Elizabeth keeps a journal of her experiences in the New World as she encounters Indians, suffers hunger and the death of friends, and helps her father build their first home.
Holm, Jennifer L. Turtle in paradise. 1st ed. New York : Random House, c2010.
In 1935, when her mother gets a job housekeeping for a woman who does not like children, eleven-year-old Turtle is sent to stay with relatives she has never met in far away Key West, Florida.
Hughes, Pat (Patrice Raccio). The breaker boys. 1st ed. New York : Farrar Straus Giroux, 2004.
In 1897, Nate Tanner, the hot-tempered twelve-year-old son of wealthy Pennsylvania mine owners, goes against his father's wishes by befriending some of the boys who work in the mines and gets caught up in a disastrous clash between mine workers and the law.
Kudlinski, Kathleen V. Pearl Harbor is burning : a story of World War II. New York : Viking, 1991.
Frank is miserable when his family comes to Hawaii in 1941. He meets a Japanese-American boy who could become his friend, but Japan attacks Pearl Harbor.
Porter, Connie Rose, 1959-. Meet Addy : an American girl. Middleton, WI : Pleasant Co., c1998.
In 1864, after her father and brother are sold to another owner, nine-year-old Addy Walker and her mother escape from their cruel life as slaves in North Carolina to freedom in Philadelphia.
Meet Addy: An American Girl (The American Girls Collection Book 1)
Meet Addy: An American Girl (The American Girls Collection Book 1)Shaw, Janet Beeler, 1937-. Kaya shows the way : a sister story. Middleton, WI : Pleasant Co., c2002.
When Kaya and her family join with other Nez Percé and Salish Indians to fish for the red salmon, she and her older sister hope to be reunited with their younger sister, who had been kidnapped some time before. Includes historical notes on the summer activities of the Nez Percé Indians.
Kaya Shows the Way: A Sister Story (American Girls Collection)
Kaya Shows the Way: A Sister Story (American Girls Collection)Sibley, Linda, 1954-. David joins the California gold rush. Logan, Iowa : Perfection Learning, c2004.
David tries to find fortune by searching for gold in California.
Stevens, Carla. Trouble for Lucy. 
Trouble for Lucy
New York : Clarion Books, 1979.
Trouble for LucyNew York : Clarion Books, 1979.As she and her family travel the Oregon Trail in 1843, Lucy's puppy persists in creating trouble.
Trouble for Lucy
Trouble for LucyTripp, Valerie, 1951-. Changes for Josefina : a winter story. Middleton, WI : Pleasant Co., c2000.
When Tía Dolores, the beloved aunt who has cared for the Montoya family since the death of their mother, announces that she is planning to leave, Josefina and her sisters try to find a way to change her mind.
Turner, Ann Warren. Grasshopper summer. 1st Aladdin Paperbacks ed. New York : Aladdin Paperbacks, 2000, c1989.
In 1874 eleven-year-old Sam and his family move from Kentucky to the southern Dakota Territory, where harsh conditions and a plague of hungry grasshoppers threaten their chances for survival.
Yep, Laurence, 1948-. The earth dragon awakes : the San Francisco earthquake of 1906. 1st ed. New York : HarperCollins, c2006.
Eight-year-old Henry and nine-year-old Chin love to read about heroes in popular "penny dreadful" novels, until they both witness real courage while trying to survive the 1906 San Francisco earthquake.
The Earth Dragon Awakes: The San Francisco Earthquake of 1906
The Earth Dragon Awakes: The San Francisco Earthquake of 1906
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