Historical Fiction: India (1 CE to Present)

[Part of an ongoing series of historical fiction book lists for students and teachers. For the full list and to see more info, click here.]

Lower Grades (K-3)

1. Aani and the Tree Huggers-Atkins (3.3/0.5)
2. Becka Goes to India-Wendel (2.7/0.5)
3. The Birdman-Charles (4.7/0.5)
4. Chachaji’s Cup-Krishnaswami (3.5/0.5)
5. The Cherry Tree-Bond (3.9/0.5)
6. A Crazy Day with Cobras-Osborne (4.0/2)
7. Divali Rose-Rahaman (3.4/0.5)
8. Fine Feathered Friend-Gavin (4.7/1)
9. Hot, Hot Roti for Dada-ji – Zia (3.0/0.5)
10. Incredible India-Thompson (4.0/0.5)
11. Monsoon-Krishnaswami (3.4/0.5)
12. Monsoon Afternoon-Sheth (3.7/0.5)
13. The Reluctant Rajput-Moverley (3.6/0.5)
14. The Sanyasin’s First Day-Shank (4.9/0.5)
15. When I Met the Wolf Girls-Noyes (4.6/0.5)

Middle Grades (4-8)

1. Anni’s India Diary-Axworthy (4.9/0.5)
2. Binya’s Blue Umbrella-Bond (5.1/1)
3. The Blood Stone-Gavin (6.1/14)
4. Boys Without Names-Sheth (4.2/10)
5. Chained-Kelly (4.7/8)
6. Children of the Wolf: A Novel-Yolen (5.7/4)
7. Daughter of the Mountains-Rankin (6.1/8)
8. The Hidden Jewel-Jackson (5.2/4)
9. Jake’s Treasure – Hanbury-Tenison (5.9/5)
10. Naming Maya-Krishnaswami (4.4/5)
11. Neela: Victory Song-Divakaruni (5.2/5)
12. No Ordinary Day-Ellis (4.0/4)
13. Saraswati’s Way-Schroder (5.1/6)
14. Vanished-Chari (4.3/10)
15. The Wolf Girls: An Unsolved Mystery from History-Yolen (5.6/0.5)
16. Younguncle Comes to Town-Singh (5.5/3)

 Middle Grades+ (6+)

1. Anila’s Journey-Finn (5.5/13)
2. A Beautiful Lie-Master (5.3/8)
3. Climbing the Stairs-Venkatraman (4.8/7)
4. Island’s End-Venkatraman (5.0/7)
5. The Royal Diaries: Jahanara: Princess of Princesses-Lasky (6.0/5)
6. Keeping Corner-Sheth (4.8/8)
7. Koyal Dark, Mango Sweet-Sheth (4.8/7)
8. Secret Keeper-Perkins (5.3/7)
9. Where Soldiers Lie-Wilson (5.9/8)

 Upper Grades (9-12)

1. A Beggar at the Gate-Ali (6.9/16)
2. A Fine Balance-Mistry (5.8/36)
3. Homeless Bird-Whelan* (5.3/5)
4. India Dark-Murray (5.5/13)
5. Karma: A Novel in Verse-Ostlere (3.1/7)
6. Kim-Kipling (7.7/18)
7. Kingscote-Chaikin (5.8/15)
8. The Mango Season-Malladi (5.7/10)
9. The Miracle of Purun Bhagat-Kipling (7.6/1)
10. The Moor’s Last Sigh-Rushdie (8.3/29)
11. Motherland: The Other Side of My Heart-Vijayaraghaven (6.0/11)
12. Nectar in a Sieve-Markandaya (6.2/10)*
13. A Passage to India-Forster (7.7/18)
14. Sharpe’s Fortress: Richard Sharpe and the Siege of Gawilghur, December 1803-Cornwell
15. Sharpe’s Tiger-Cornwell (7.4/21)
16. Shiva’s Fire-Staples* (6.8/11)
17. Silk-Chaikin (5.6/12)
18. A Singular Hostage-Ali (6.1/21)
19. Sold-McCormick (5.0/5)
20. The Song of Kahunsha-Irani (4.5/9)
21. Such a Long Journey-Mistry-(5.9/19)
22. Under the Eastern Stars-Chaikin (5.6/15)

 Unknown Grade Level

1. The Missing Violin-Bothwell

[Photo courtesy of The Dilly Lama]