Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson - After being sold to a cruel couple in New York City, a slave named Isabel spies for the rebels during the Revolutionary War

The player king by Avi - In 1486 England, a penniless kitchen boy is told that he is actually Prince Edward, the true King of England, setting him on a dangerous course to regain the throne. Based on a true story.

The true confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi - As the lone "young lady" on a transatlantic voyage in 1832, Charlotte learns that the captain is murderous and the crew rebellious

The war that saved my life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley - A young disabled girl and her brother are evacuated from London to the English countryside during World War II, where they find life to be much sweeter away from their abusive mother

Year of impossible goodbyes by Sook Nyul Choi - A young Korean girl survives the oppressive Japanese and Russian occupation of North Korea during the 1940s, to later escape to freedom in South Korea

Al Capone does my shirts by Gennifer Choldenko - A twelve-year-old boy named Moose moves to Alcatraz Island in 1935 when guards' families were housed there

Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis - In 1859, eleven-year-old Elijah Freeman, the first free-born child in Buxton, Canada, which is a haven for slaves fleeing the American south, uses his wits and skills to try to bring justice for his family

The Watsons go to Birmingham--1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis - The ordinary routines of the Watsons, an African American family living in Flint, Michigan, are drastically changed after they go to visit Grandma in Alabama in the summer of 1963

The ballad of Lucy Whipple by Karen Cushman - In 1849, twelve-year-old California Morning Whipple, who renames herself Lucy, is distraught when her mother moves the family from Massachusetts to a rough California mining town

The door in the wall by Marguerite de Angeli - A crippled boy in fourteenth-century England proves his courage and earns recognition from the King

The birchbark house by Louise Erdrich - Omakayas, a seven-year-old Native American girl of the Ojibwa tribe, lives through the joys of summer and the perils of winter on an island in Lake Superior in 1847

Bandit's moon by Sid Fleischman - Twelve-year-old Annyrose relates her adventures with Joaquín Murieta and his band of outlaws in the California gold-mining region during the mid-1800s

By the Great Horn Spoon! by Sid Fleischman - Jack and the butler stow away on a side-wheeler bound for California where they join the Gold Rush of 1849

The mostly true adventures of Homer P. Figg by Rodman Philbrick - Twelve-year-old Homer, a poor but clever orphan, has extraordinary adventures after running away from his evil uncle to rescue his brother, who has been sold into service in the Civil War

Heart of a samurai : based on the true story of Nakahama Manjiro by Margi Preus - In 1841, rescued by an American whaler, fourteen-year-old Manjiro, who dreams of becoming a samurai, becomes the first Japanese person to set foot in the United States

Echo by Pam Muñoz Ryan - Lost in the Black Forest, Otto meets three mysterious sisters and finds himself entwined in a prophecy, a promise, and a harmonica--and decades later three children find themselves caught up in the same thread of destiny

Riding freedom by Pam Muñoz Ryan - A fictionalized account of Charley (Charlotte) Parkhurst who ran away from an orphanage, posed as a boy, moved to California, and fooled everyone by her appearance

I survived the bombing of Pearl Harbor, 1941 by Lauren Tarshis - Visiting his favorite Hawaiian beach when Japanese forces suddenly attack Pearl Harbor, eleven-year-old Danny Crane struggles to make his way back home

Little house in the big woods 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

Breaking Stalin's nose by Eugene Yelchin - In the Stalinist era of the Soviet Union, ten-year-old Sasha idolizes his father, a devoted Communist, but when police take his father away and leave Sasha homeless, he is forced to examine his own beliefs