Historical Fiction for Upper Elementary

I read and review a book a week on this blog.  Currently I am creating book lists by genre so that teachers can find a list of resources I have read and reviewed.  This week I wanted to share some historical fiction books I enjoyed reading. If you have suggestions for me of books to read, please recommend them in the comments.

Note: I created a separate list for teaching early American history. You can read that post by clicking here.

The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate and The Curious World of Calpurnia Tate

Hard Gold by Avi

Bomb by Steve Sheinkin

Lincoln's Grave Robbers by Steve Sheinkin

The Secret School by Avi

The Year We Were Famous by Carole Estby Dagg

The Trouble with May Amelia by Jennifer L. Holm

Boston Jane by Jennifer L. Holm

Shadow on the Mountain by Margi Preus

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Hard Gold by Avi

The Gold Rush isn't a topic specific to any of the grade levels I have taught.  I would still consider Hard Gold by Avi an appropriate book for reading aloud to an upper elementary class.  My students are fascinated with this period in history and it is another way to discuss the hardships settlers had in different parts of the western territories.

Early Whitcomb's family is about to lose their Iowa farm to the railroad.  Early's nineteen-year-old Uncle Jesse travels to the Rocky Mountains to make his fortune in gold.  Early travels after him and learns much about greed and family along the way.

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Shadow on the Mountain by Margi Preus

Based on a true story, Margi Preus details a teenage Norwegian boy's resistance activities during the German occupation of Norway.  Espen begins delivering illegal newspapers and gets deeper into spy activities over the five years.



Margi Preus includes the resources she used to write as well as information about Norwegian Erling Storrusten whose life was the basis for the book.

I shared this book on Dilly Dabbles Book Share Wednesdays.




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Boston Jane by Jennifer L. Holm

I've read several historical fiction books by Jennifer L. Holm.  I love her strong heroines.  Miss Jane Peck doesn't quite fit into Philadelphia society, so when she receives a proposal from William Baldt, she accepts and moves to 1855 Pacific Northwest to wait for him.  Washington before statehood is a wild place and Jane learns just how strong she can be while she waits for the wedding.



I recommend the May Amelia series for the upper elementary group.  Boston Jane would be better suited for early middle school.

Here is a graphic organizer for students to compare daily tasks in the past with the present day equivalent.  There is a third category where students make predictions for the future.

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The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly

I recently read and reviewed The Year We Were Famous by Carole Estby Dagg.  The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate is set in the same time period and also deals with the lack of opportunities for women at the time. 
 This book, set at the end of 1899, could just as easily been titled The Education of Calpurnia Tate. Calpurnia lives on a farm with her family. She wants to check out a copy of Darwin's Origin of Species at the public library, but is denied. She tells her grandfather and this begins a connection between the two of them and a study of nature.


I found the questions about gender roles in the era insightful. The conflict between religion and science was respectfully presented in my opinion.

Click here for a free printable graphic organizer for students to evaluate how a character trait can create problems and solutions.

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The Trouble with May Amelia by Jennifer L. Holm

If you haven't read the May Amelia books by Jennifer L. Holm, I definitely recommend them...especially if you live in Washington State.  May Amelia lives in south western Washington in 1900.  She is the only girl in her Finnish immigrant farming family.  

May Amelia Jackson struggles to be a proper young lady.  I found a character my students could relate to set in a place a decade after Washington became a state.

Here is a free printable graphic organizer where students consider daily tasks in the past and present.  Then they imagine what those tasks would be like in the future.

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The Year We Were Famous by Carole Estby Dagg

Last spring I went to a local writing conference and met the author of this book.  She is a descendant of the main characters and had a chance to meet Clara before she died.


Imagine that you are a teenage girl in the late 1800s and you want more for your life than marriage and family.  Your family is about to lose the farm and your mother proposes walking from Spokane, Washington to New York City to win a bet of $10,000.  This might be an opportunity to get money for college.

Clara and her mother Helga's relationship is complicated.  Walking together along the rail lines for many months doesn't help.

Carole Estby Dagg does a great job of putting herself in Clara's worn-out boots.  I devoured this story from beginning to end.

Click here for a free printable character sketch.

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The Secret School by Avi

I just finished reading The Secret School by Avi to my fourth graders.  Ida Bidson must pass eighth grade so she can go to high school and become a teacher.  When her teacher leaves the one room school house to take care of her critically ill mother, the school board decides to close school for the remainder of the school year.
 Ida and her friend Tom decide to keep the school open secretly with Ida as the teacher.  Will she be able to teach her students as well as pass her own exit exams?
I chose this book, because I wanted students to compare and contrast their own experience in school with this in 1925 rural Colorado.  We enjoyed reading this together and I see several of my students are reading it again on their own.

Here is a free printable compare and contrast graphic organizer.

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Fatty Legs by Christy Jordan-Fenton

Fatty Legs is the true account of the author's mother-in-law who lived in Northern Canada.  As an 8-year-old Inuit, she begs her father to go to the residential school.  Run by nuns, this school stripped the children of their native clothes and habits.  Olemaun returns home after two years isolated from her culture.

Click here for a free printable character sketch form. Students write a character trait and collect actions and words from that character that show this trait.


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When the Cherry Blossoms Fell by Jennifer Maruno

I have read several books about how the Japanese were treated in World War II in the United States, but I had not read any about their experiences in Canada.  I loved meeting this family and rooting for them as they faced discrimination and their forced move to a new life. 

Here is a graphic organizer to compare and contrast this book with one of a similar theme.

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