Historical Fiction

Hope's Revolutionary War Diary

Book cover: Hope's Revolutionary War Diary
Author(s): 
Kristiana Gregory

For young readers, this is an extremely well written account of the American Revolution. Written as a diary of a young girl, the book opens with Hope's family living with her relatives in Valley Forge. This quickly changes, however, when her family moves back to Philadelphia.

God King

Book cover: God King: A Story in the Days of King Hezekiah
Author(s): 
Joanne Williamson
Daria M. Sockey (Introduction)

God King is a very engaging tale set in Egypt and Judah in approximately 701 B.C. Like Joanne Williamson's other Bethelehem Books title Hittite Warrior, God King helps the reader connect major stories from the Bible with contemporary events in secular history. The Egyptian perspective gives us a more complete look at the fierceness of the Assyrians and the great danger they posed to all the surrounding nations – providing greater insight into God's miraculous intervention on behalf of Jerusalem and King Hezekiah.

Silver for General Washington

Book cover: Silver for General Washington
Author(s): 
Enid LaMonte Meadowcroft

Silver for General Washington is an engrossing story about twelve-year-old Gil and his sister, Jen, who are living in Valley Forge with their cousins during the occupation of Philadelphia. Before leaving their well-to-do home in Philadelphia, Gil helped his father bury all the family silver in a chest beneath the house. As the winter progresses and conditions grow worse for the poor soldiers, Gil overhears people saying that what's really needed is money to get food and other supplies.

Winter Danger

Book cover: Winter Danger
Author(s): 
William O. Steele

This is a somewhat unusual, but highly rewarding story of a half-wild woodsman (who "lived by the woods. He had no trade, he couldn't farm a lick or keep a store or run a tavern. All he knew to do was follow the bear and deer through the woods and sleep in caves and hollow trees.") and his eleven year old son Caje. Caje and his father travel through the wilderness – living off the land and escaping from unfriendly Indians. Although Caje would love to settle down in a real house among civilized people, his father is happier in the woods and frets about being "beholden to others".

Beany Has a Secret Life

Book cover: Beany Has a Secret Life
Author(s): 
Lenora Mattingly Weber

Beany's been having a pretty rough time of things lately. Norbett, away in college in Ohio, has sent her a letter breaking off their relationship. The Malone's widowed father decides to marry again – a pretty artist named Adair. Unfortunately Adair and Beany get off to a really rough start. Meanwhile, some troubled teens at school invite her to join a secret club – for those who want to shut out family as much as possible. This suits the miserable and stubborn Beany just fine.

Beany and the Beckoning Road

Book cover: Beany and the Beckoning Road
Author(s): 
Lenora Mattingly Weber

After a heart-rending discovery of Norbett spending time with another girl, Beany is delighted to have an opportunity to go away on a road trip to California with her brother Johnny and her little nephew. Tight finances and a favor to a friend cause the trip to become harried with a whole array of fellow-travelers (and a horse). Kindly, motherly Miss Opal doesn't have money, but performs near-miraculous feats of producing food and lodging out of thin air (not to mention her tomato plant in the back seat). Cynthia forces herself upon the group through kind-hearted Johnny.

Hans Brinker Or the Silver Skates

Book cover: Hans Brinker or the Silver Skates
Author(s): 
Mary Mapes Dodge

Hans Brinker is a story designed to bring children of the 19th century (from around the world) an understanding and appreciation of the culture, traditions and history of Holland. The story focuses on the Brinker family. Ten years before the story begins, the father was seriously injured working on the dikes (which keep the water out of the reclaimed land of Holland), leaving him with the intelligence of a small child. Mrs. Brinker struggles to meet ends while remaining faithful to her husband's wish to never sell a watch he had given her.

Up Periscope

Book cover: Up Periscope
Author(s): 
Robb White

Robb White brings us an exciting historical fiction tale of life aboard a military submarine in the Pacific in World War II. Someone's been transmitting top-secret plans from the American base in Hawaii to Tokyo. The Americans have learned that transmissions are being sent from Hawaii to an island in the mid-Pacific and from there to Japan. They believe they've located the island where the transmissions are being passed along, but have been unable to break the special code being used there.

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