10 Captivating Children's Historical Fiction Books for Your Young Reader

Former UK Children’s Laureate Michael Morpurgo brings the dramatic story of the sinking of the Titanic vividly to life through the fictional adventures of a cat named Kaspar. Inspired by a real-life black cat sculpture at London’s Savoy Hotel, Morpurgo has created an intriguing back story for the feline figure in this beautifully illustrated book.

Kaspar’s story is narrated by 14-year-old hotel bellboy, Johnny Trott. It begins with the intrepid feline’s arrival at the Savoy along with his opera-singing Russian owner, Countess Kandinsky. Following her unexpected death, Johnny takes on responsibility for the cat and the pair soon take the fateful decision to join their young American heiress friend, Lizziebeth, on the Titanic’s maiden voyage across the Atlantic.

Inspired by real-life events during the Italian Renaissance era, this coming-of-age story set in 15^th-century Florence is narrated by Flora Pazzi, the youngest daughter of a powerful local family. Such is the family’s lofty position in Florentine society that the renowned artist, Botticelli, is commissioned to paint a portrait of her beautiful elder sister. In contrast, Flora is held in little regard by her parents and seems destined for life in a convent until her father becomes involved in a dangerous assassination attempt against the ruling Medici family. She then becomes caught up in its violent aftermath with life-changing consequences.

“Illuminated with the lore of painting, goldsmithing and poison” (Kirkus Reviews), Beaufrand’s novel vividly brings to life to the power struggles, culture and society of this fascinating period in Italian history. 

The action in this novel by Newbery Medal-winning author Avi takes place during the Civil War. Following his father’s death in action for the Union Army, 13-year-old Tom Carroll takes a job at a local ironworks in Brooklyn and becomes involved in Unionist plans to send a new state-of-the-art ironclad vessel, the Monitor, into battle against the Confederate’s own ironclad battleship, the Merrimack. Tom faces a series of dangerous challenges as he finds himself at the forefront of this significant moment in naval history.

Publishers Weekly praised Iron Thunder as “gripping historical fiction from a keenly imagined perspective."

First published in 1957, Evangeline and The Acadians narrates the dramatic story of a long-forgotten episode in North American history, as well as providing a fascinating insight into the background to the Cajun culture of Louisiana. The Acadians were former French colonists who settled in eastern Canada during the early 1600s, only to be forcibly expelled from their homes when the British took control of Nova Scotia just over a century later. 

Robert Tallent’s sympathetic account takes as its starting point Longfellow’s famous 1847 poem, Evangeline, about the lost love of a fictional Acadian woman. This riveting novel then delves deep into the fascinating true story of the colonists’ long and painful search to find a new home before they eventually settle in Louisiana.

Living in rural Alabama in the late 1940s, this novel’s 12-year-old “keenly perceptive and gutsy heroine” (Publishers Weekly) longs for the opportunity to attend an integrated school in Chicago, where her father has gone to find work. Instead, the long-anticipated move is postponed, and she becomes involved in helping a wrongly accused young black man avoid arrest, putting her own family and community in danger as a result.

Popular children’s author Karen English displays her ability to “compress worlds of feeling and experience into every sequence of her first novel, offering readers not just a good diversion but an opportunity to try on someone else’s skin” (New York Times Book Review).

Annie Wedekind has contributed several books to the Breyer Horse Collection series including this historical novel which was inspired by the fascinating true story of the fight to save the Lipizzaner, one of the world’s rarest horse breeds, during World War II. 

Mercury is accepted for training at the prestigious Spanish Riding School in Vienna, despite having been abandoned by his mother as a foal. The young horse forms a close bond with his beloved trainer and rider, Max, but his dreams of becoming one of the great Lipizzaner stallions appear to have been shattered forever following the outbreak of war. Deserted once more, Mercury now faces a battle for his very survival as the Lipizzaner horses find themselves at the mercy of two advancing armies. 

Lois Lowry was awarded the 1990 Newbery Medal for this compelling historical novel about the plight of the Jews in Nazi-occupied Denmark during World War II. Lowry’s sensitive treatment of this evocative subject provides the perfect introduction to events surrounding the Holocaust for middle grade readers.

Her “deftly told story” (Kirkus Reviews) is narrated from the perspective of 10-year-old Annemarie Johansen, whose best friend, Ellen Rosen, is part of Copenhagen’s large Jewish community. In 1943, the Nazis begin their terrifying preparations to “relocate” the Danish Jews and Ellen’s parents are forced to flee Copenhagen, leaving her behind in the safekeeping of the Johansen family. Soon Annemarie finds herself in great danger, as she and her family become involved in a desperate bid by the Danish Resistance movement to escort Ellen and other Jewish people to safety in Sweden.

Originally published in 1943, this classic work of children’s historical fiction is set in Boston at the time of the American Revolution. The teenage title character, Johnny Tremain, is employed as an apprentice silversmith until an injury to his hand means that he is forced to find alternative employment. When he finds new work as a messenger for the Sons of Liberty, he becomes acquainted with the men who are behind America’s struggle for freedom. The impulsive Johnny is soon drawn into the fight for independence… with dramatic results. 

Esther Forbes won the Newbery Medal for her “sweeping tale of redcoats and revolutionaries” (Common Sense Media), whose brilliantly drawn characters still have the power to captivate young readers today.

Russian-born Eugene Yelchin wrote and illustrated this thought-provoking novel about a young boy who lives in Moscow during the Stalinist era. Ten-year-old Sasha Zaichik has hero-worshipped Russian leader, Joseph Stalin, for nearly all his short life and, as a good Communist boy, longs to join the Soviet Young Pioneers. Just as it seems his dream may finally come true, his father is unexpectedly arrested by the secret police. This sets in motion a disastrous chain of events which, in just two days, will tear apart Sasha’s world and change his outlook on Stalin and Communism forever. 

Yelchin excels in his nightmare portrayal of a “capricious yet ever-watchful totalitarian state” (Wall Street Journal) where even children are encouraged to spy on their peers. Kirkus Reviews praised the author for his “superb job of depicting the tyranny of the group… a story just as relevant in our world… as that of Yelchin’s childhood."

Set in 15^th-century Korea, this “touching and suspenseful historical novel” (School Library Journal) tells the story of two brothers with a passion for the traditional Korean sport of kite-flying. The younger boy, Young-sup, possesses a remarkable innate talent for flying kites, whilst his older brother, Kee-sup, excels at kite design. Their skills attract the attention of the country’s young king, who invites Young-sup to fly the royal kite in the prestigious New Year kite-flying competition. Yet, in the eyes of the boys’ father, Korean tradition decrees that the older brother, Kee-sup should represent the family. 

According to Kirkus Reviews, “Readers will enjoy watching these engaging characters find ways of overcoming webs of social and cultural constraints to achieve a common goal, and the author expresses the pleasures of creating and flying kites… with contagious enthusiasm."