Books & Reading
If You Like...American Girls
Beautiful
Land: A Story of the Oklahoma Land Rush by Nancy Antle
Twelve-year-old Annie Mae and her family join thousands of hopeful
settlers as they join in a land run to stake claims in the newly-opened
Oklahoma Territory.
Brooklyn Doesn't Rhyme by Joan W. Blos
Edwina Rose Sachs records happenings in the lives of her Polish Jewish
immigrant family and their friends living in Brooklyn in the early 1900s
as they celebrate old ways while becoming part of America.
I Should Worry, I Should Care (series) by Miriam Caikin
A young Jewish girl and her family adjust to a new neighborhood and new
friends at a time when the radio is telling of Hitler's rise to power in
Europe.
Purely
Rosie Pearl by Patricia A. Cochran
In 1935 twelve-year-old Rosie Pearl Bush and her family of migrants endure
the hardships of the Great Depression as they find work picking fruit in
the California Valley.
Kitty
from the Start (series) by Judy Delton
Kitty moves to a new neighborhood and eventually makes a successful
transition into her new third grade.
A
Letter to Mrs. Roosevelt by C. Coco De Young
Eleven-year-old Margo fulfills a class assignment by writing a letter to
Eleanor Roosevelt asking for help to save her family's home during the
Great Depression.
The
Cabin Faced West by Jean Fritz
Ten-year-old Ann overcomes loneliness and learns to appreciate the
importance of her role in settling the wilderness of western Pennsylvania.
The
Day It Rained Forever: A Story of the Johnstown Flood by
Virginia Gross
Christina and her family experience the miracles and tragedies that
occurred in the 1889 flood which devastated their town.
Millie Cooper and Friends by Charlotte Herman
Millie, a fourth-grader in 1947, struggles with her feelings and choices
when her best friend seems to prefer the company of a new classmate.
The Private Notebook of Katie Roberts by Amy Hest
In a series of journal entries and letters to a pen pal, Katie relates her
feelings about her father's death in World War II, her mother's
remarriage, and the family's move from New York City to Texas.
Addie's Forever Friend by Laurie Lawlor
While her father is looking for a homestead in the Dakotas in the late
1880s, Addie and her mother and brothers spend the summer with her aunt
and uncle in Sabula, Iowa, where she rescues her best friend during a
flood and where her baby sister is born.
Betsy,
Tacy and Tib (series) by Maud Hart Lovelace
In the Midwest at the turn of the century, these girls form an
everlastingfriendship in spit of, or because of, their escapades.
Sarah,
Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan
When their father invites a mail-order bride to come live with them in
their prairie home, Caleb and Anna are captivated by their new mother and
hope that she will stay, but fear her homesickness will cause her to
leave.
A
Long Way to Go by Zibby O'Neil
After her grandmother is jailed for the cause, an eight-year-old girl
deals with the women's suffrage movement that rages during World War I.
The
House without a Christmas Tree (series) by Gail Rock
In 1946 a strong-willed ten-year-old girl tries to understand and overcome
her stern father's objections to having a Christmas tree in their Nebraska
home.
All-of-a-Kind Family by Sydney Taylor
A story of five little Jewish girls who live with their parents on New
York's lower East Side in the early 1900s and find adventure in their
daily lives.
Shorter books for an easier read . . .
The
Courage of Sarah Noble by Alice Dalgliesh
An eight-year-old girl finds the 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.
The
Chickenhouse House by (series) Ellen Howard
When Alena and her family move onto new farmland out on the prairie, they
must live at first in the chickenhouse because there is no time to build a
house before winter; then with the warm weather comes the excitement of
watching the big new house go up.
Abigail's
Drum by John A. Minahan
During the War of 1812, when British soldiers threaten their town, young
Rebecca Bates and her sister Abigail, daughters of the local lighthouse
keeper, find a way to save both him and the town. Based on a true story.
Anna,
Grandpa, and the Big Storm by Carla Stevens
Anna's grandfather is bored with city life until he and Anna are stranded
on the Third Avenue El in New York City during the blizzard of 1888.
Check out some of these books for a longer read . . .
Caddie
Woodlawn by Carol Brink
The adventures of an eleven-year-old tomboy growing up with her brothers
on the Wisconsin frontier in the mid-nineteenth century.
Strawberry
Girl by Lois Lenski
Birdie's family has just moved to the Florida backwoods, and making the
new farm prosper won't be easy--what with the heat, the droughts, the cold
snaps and the neighbors.
In
the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson by Bette Lord
In 1947, a Chinese child comes to Brooklyn where she becomes Americanized
at school, in her apartment building, and by her love for baseball.
Anne
of Green Gables (series) by L. M. Montgomery
Anne, an eleven-year-old orphan, is sent by mistake to live with a lonely,
middle-aged brother and sister on a Prince Edward Island farm and proceeds
to make an indelible impression on everyone around her.
Bound
for Oregon by Jean Van Leeuwen
A family's adventures as they travel by covered wagon in 1852 as told by
nine-year-old Mary Ellen. During their life on the road, the family
encounters a little of everything: fear, loss, sickness, sadness, madness,
kindness, courage, love, hope, and deliverance.
The
Little House in the Big Woods (series) by Laura Ingalls Wilder
A year in the life of two young girls growing up on the Wisconsin
frontier, as they help their mother with the daily chores, enjoy their
father's stories and singing, and share special occasions when they get
together with relatives or neighbors.
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