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Historical Fiction: The Civil War

February 14, 2014 / 0 Comments

 [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.]

Civil War Causes and Events

Lower Grades (K-3)

  1. Abraham Lincoln-D’Aulaire (5.2/1)
  2. A. Lincoln and Me-Borden (3.5/0.5)
  3. Abe Lincoln’s Dream-Smith (3.0/0.5)
  4. Alec’s Primer-Walter (3.4/0.5)
  5. Billy and the Rebel-Hopkinson (3.2/0.5)
  6. The Blue and the Gray-Bunting (3.3/0.5)
  7. Cabin in the Snow-Hopkinson (3.5/1)
  8. Cassie’s Sweet Berry Pie: A Civil War Story-Winnick (2.9/0.5)
  9. The Cemetery Keepers of Gettysburg-High (4.6/0.5)
  10. Civil War Artist-Morrison (6.0/0.5)
  11. Civil War Days-Weiss (3.7/1)
  12. Civil War on Sunday-Osborne (3.4/1)
  13. Dadblamed Union Army Cow-Fletcher (4.0/0.5)
  14. Drummer Boy: Marching to the Civil War–Turner (3.8/0.5)
  15. Freedom Ship-Rappaport (2.8/0.5)
  16. From Slave to Soldier: Based on a True Civil War Story-Hopkinson (2.8/0.5)
  17. Goober Peas-Daniel (2.4/0.5)
  18. Grace’s Letter to Lincoln-Roop (3.7/1)* (causes)
  19. Hope’s Gift-Lyons (3.4/0.5)
  20. If You Lived at the Time of the Civil War-Moore (5.7/1) Nonfiction
  21. Just in Time, Abraham Lincoln-Polacco (4.2/0.5)
  22. The Last Brother: A Civil War Tale-Noble (5.5/0.5)
  23. The Legend of Old Abe, A Civil War Eagle-Wargin (5.7/0.5)
  24. Li’l Dan, The Drummer Boy: A Civil War Story-Bearden (3.7/0.5)
  25. Lucy’s Cave: A Story of Vicksburg, 1863-Winnick (3.4/0.5)
  26. Our Kansas Home-Hopkinson (3.6/1) (causes)
  27. The Penny Doll-Hennings (4.6/0.5)
  28. Pioneer Summer-Hopkinson (3.6/1) (causes)
  29. Private Joel and the Sewell Mountain Seder-Fireside (4.8/0.5)
  30. The Promise Quilt-Ransom (3.6/0.5)
  31. Red Legs: A Drummer Boy of the Civil War-Lewin (3.9/0.5)
  32. Robert Henry Hendershot-Goodman (3.4/1) NF
  33. Seeing the Elephant: A Story of the Civil War-Hughes (3.3/1)
  34. Selina and the Bear Paw Quilt-Smucker (4.9/0.5)
  35. Spy in the Sky-Karr (3.1/1)
  36. The Yankee at the Seder-Weber (5.4/0.5)

 Middle Grades (4-8)

  1. The 290-O’Dell (5.7/4)
  2. Abner & Me: A Baseball Card Adventure-Gutman (4.2/5)
  3. Abraham’s Battle-Banks (5.3/2)
  4. Abraham Lincoln-Sullivan* (5.3/2) NF
  5. Abraham Lincoln: Letters from a Slave Girl-Pinkney (6.9/3)
  6. Across Five Aprils-Hunt  (6.6/10)
  7. Addy’s Surprise-Porter (4.44/1)
  8. After the Rain: Virginia’s Civil War Diary-Osborne (4.6/2)
  9. All Their Names Were Courage-Denslow (5.2/3)
  10. Amelia’s War-Rinaldi (4.0/7)
  11. Amelina Carrett-Duey (5.5/4)
  12. The American Civil War-Dolan (8.4/4) NF
  13. America’s Civil War-Owens (4.3/0.5)
  14. Anna Sunday-Keehn (4.6/9)
  15. A Ballad of the Civil War-Stolz (4.0/1)*
  16. The Battle of Galveston-Townsend (5.4/2)
  17. Battle Scars-Wilson (5.8/6)
  18. Becca’s Story-Forman (7.0/9)
  19. Before the Creeks Ran Red-Reeder (6.5/14)
  20. Blue Creek Farm-Thomas (5.6/6) (1850’s Kansas)
  21. Borderland Horse-Francis (3.0/2)
  22. The Brothers’ War-Hermes (4.4/5)
  23. The Brother’s War: Civil War Voices in Verse-Lewis (6.5/0.5)
  24. The Boys’ War: Confederate and Union Soldiers Talk about the Civil War-Murphy (7.6/3) NF
  25. Braving the Fire-Severance (5.6/6)
  26. Brothers at War-Owens (4.0/1)
  27. Burden of Honor–Lee (5.6/7)
  28. The Bushwhacker: A Civil War Adventures-Garrity (5.5/9)
  29. Captured! A Boy Trapped in the Civil War-Immel (5.9/4)
  30. Captain Kate-Reeder (6.0/9)
  31. Caught in the Rebel Camp: Frederick Douglass-Jackson (6.1/5)
  32. Chance of a Lifetime-Kent (4.7/4)
  33. Charley Skedaddle-Beatty (5.2/7)
  34. The Code of the Drum-Owens (3.0/0.5)
  35. Come Juneteenth-Rinaldi (4.3/7)
  36. The Confederate Fiddle-Williams (5.8/8)
  37. Conrad Elroy, Powder Monkey: The Role of the Navy in the Civil War-Cunningham (5.5/1)
  38. The Couturiere of Galvez-Dionne (5.3/7)
  39. Crossroads at Gettysburg-Kay (4.4/5)
  40. Cry of Courage-Roddy (5.8/7)
  41. Culpepper’s Cannon-Paulsen (3.7/2)
  42. A Dangerous Promise-Nixon (6.0/7)
  43. Daria Solves a Mystery: The Civil War in Ohio (1862)-Lutz (5.0/6)
  44. Dear Ellen Bee: A Civil War Scrapbook of Two Union Spies-Lyons (5.6/5)
  45. The Deep Cut-Spain (5.2/7)
  46. Diary of a Drummer Boy-Brill (4.9/1)
  47. The Diary of Susie King Taylor, Civil War Nurse-Malone (6.5/2)
  48. Divided We Fall-London (5.4/6)
  49. The Drummer Boy of Vicksburg-Wisler (5.5/5)
  50. Drums of War-Hemingway (6.1/8)*
  51. Elise the Actress: Climax of the Civil War-Lutz (5/5)
  52. Emma Eileen Grove-Duey (4.6/4)
  53. Escape By Night: A Civil War Adventure-Myers (3.8/1)
  54. Evvy’s Civil War-Brenaman (Virginia 1860)
  55. Fight for Freedom-Champlin (3.7/1)
  56. The Flags of War-Wilson (5.8/5)
  57. For This Land: Meg’s Prairie Diary-McMullan (3.6/2) (causes)
  58. Freedom Stone-Kluger (5.9/12) (violence)
  59. Gabriel’s Horses-Hart (4.6/5)
  60. Gabriel’s Journey-Hart (5.1/6)
  61. Gabriel’s Triumph-Hart (4.6/6)
  62. Ghosts of Vicksburg-Ernst (4.9/7)
  63. Girl in Blue-Rinaldi (5.0/9)
  64. Golden Quest-Bader (3.8/2) (cause-California statehood)
  65. Growing Up in the Civil War: 1861-1865-Damon (6.3/1) NF
  66. The Guns of Prairie Grove-Marlow (6.1/6)
  67. Hattie’s Story-Kirby (4.1/5) (1856 IL, causes)
  68. Hear the Wind Blow: A Novel of the Civil War-Hahn (4.5/8)
  69. The Horse’s Shadow-Scanlan (6.4/13)
  70. Hot Iron: The Adventures of a Civil War Powder Boy-Burgan (3.9/0.5)
  71. A House Divided-Poe (3.1/1) (causes)
  72. A House Divided-Gurasich (5.7/7)
  73. I, Dred Scott: A Fictional Slave Narrative Basedon the Life and Legal Precedent of Dred Scott-Moses (5.5/2) (cause)
  74. I Survived: The Battle of Gettysburg, 1863-Tarshis (4.6/2)
  75. I Thought My Soul Would Rise and Fly:  The Diary of Patsy-Hansen (5.0/5)
  76. I’ll Pass for Your Comrade: Women Soldiers in the Civil War-Silvey (8.3/2) NF
  77. Iron Thunder: The Battle Between the Monitor and the Merrimac: A Civil War Novel-Avi (4.3/4)
  78. An Island Far From Home-Donahue (4.9/5)
  79. Jesse Bowman: A Union Boy’s War Story-McGowen (7.0/6)
  80. Joseph’s Choice, 1861-Pryor (4.7/4)
  81. The Journal of James Edmond Pease:  A Civil War Union Soldier-Murphy* (5.7/6)
  82. The Journal of Rufus Rowe: A Witness to the Battle of Fredericksburg-Hite (5.9/3)
  83. Juliet’s Moon-Rinaldi (4.2/6)
  84. Keeping Secrets-Nixon (5.0/6)
  85. The Last Full Measure-Rinaldi (4.4/7)
  86. A Letter for Mr. Lincoln-Cunningham (3.4/1) (assassination)
  87. Life Goes On: The Civil War at Home, 1861-1865-Arnold (7.0/2) NF
  88. A Light in the Storm:  Civil War Diary of Amelia Martin-Hesse* (5.3/4)
  89. Lincoln: A Photobiography-Freedman* (7.7/5) NF
  90. Lottie’s Courage: A Contraband Slave’s Story-Haislip (5.0/6)
  91. Maddie Retta Lauren-Duey (5.3/5)
  92. March Toward the Thunder-Bruchac (5.7/10)
  93. Matty’s War-Thomas (5.4/4)
  94. Meet Addy, an American Girl-Porter (4.0/1)
  95. Mildred’s Boys and Girls-Finley (6.9/11) (cause)
  96. Moon Over Tennessee: A Boy’s Civil War Journal – Crist-Evans (4.9/1)
  97. The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg-Philbrick (5.6/7)
  98. Mountain Valor-Houston (5.0/7)
  99. Mr. Lincoln’s Drummer-Wisler* (5.3/5)
  100. My Brother’s Keeper: Virginia’s Diary-Osborne (4.3/2)
  101. My Last Skirt: The Story of Jennie Hodgers, Union Soldier-Durrant (4.6/6)
  102. My Vicksburg-Rinaldi (4.1/5)
  103. No Girls Allowed-Kay (4.6/5)
  104. No More! Stories and Songs of Slave Resistance-Rappaport (5.6/1)* NF
  105. North Meets South-Sims (2.0/0.5)
  106. Nowhere to Turn-Kay (4.6/5)
  107. Off to Fight-Kay (4.9/6)
  108. On Both Sides of the Civil War-Owens (3.7/1)
  109. One Sky Above Us-Kimmel (5.7/6) (KS, causes)
  110. Out from This Place-Hansen (4.6/5)
  111. Pink and Say-Polacco (3.8/1)
  112. A Pitch in Time-Lytle (5.3/12)
  113. Pride of the Green Mountains-Baker (5.0/3)
  114. Private Captain: A Story of Gettysburg-Crisp (5.4/10)
  115. Promises to the Dead-Hahn (5.5/8)
  116. Rebel Hart-Hemingway (5.5/8)
  117. The Red Badge of Courage-Mullarkey (4.5/2)
  118. The Red Badge of Courage-Coleman (6.3/7)
  119. The Red Badge of Courage-Burgan (4.9/4)
  120. A Ride with Huey the Engineer-Stuart (5.1/3)
  121. Rifles for Watie-Keith* (6.1/14)
  122. Risking the Dream-Roddy (5.7/8)
  123. Root Cellar-Lunn* (5.2/10)
  124. Run Like a Fugitive-Lopez (4.5/3) (assassination)
  125. Run the Blockade-Wisler (5.8/5)
  126. The Sacred Moon Tree-Shore (5.7/11)
  127. San Domingo: The Medicine Hat Stallion-Henry (5.3/8) (1850’s Nebraska)
  128. Sarah’s Ground-Rinaldi (4.7/6)
  129. Secret of the Big Thicket-Webber (5.3/4)
  130. Shades of Gray-Reeder (5.3/6)
  131. Signals in the Sky-Ransom (3.6/2)
  132. Silent Thunder: A Civil War Story-Pinkney (5.4/7)*
  133. The Slopes of War:  A Novel of Gettysburg-Perez (5.9/7)
  134. Soldier’s Heart-Paulsen (5.7/2)
  135. Sooner-Calvert (5.8/8)
  136. Sound the Jubilee-Forrester (5.0/6)
  137. Stephen Crane’s The Red Badge of Courage: The Graphic Novel-Vansant (5.1/2)
  138. The Stolen Train-Ashley (5.3/5
  139. Stonewall Hinkleman and the Battle of Bull Run-Hemphill (4.6/6)
  140. The Storm Before Atlanta-Schwabach (4.8/10)
  141. Tales of the Civil War-Hall (3.6/1)
  142. The Tamarack Tree-Clapp (4.9/7)
  143. Tennessee Rose-Kendall (5.5/2)
  144. Texas Rebel-Kerr (4.7/3)
  145. A Thief on Morgan’s Plantation-Banim (4.3/2)
  146. Three Against the Tide-Love (3.8/5)
  147. Thunder at Gettysburg-Gauch (3.5/1)
  148. Thunder on the Tennessee-Wisler (5.3/5)
  149. A Time to Dance: Virginia’s Civil War Diary-Osborne (5.1/2)
  150. The Totally Made-up Civil War Diary of Amanda MacLeish-Mills (4.7/6)
  151. Trembling Earth-Siegelson (6.1/6)
  152. Turn Homeward, Hannalee-Beatty (4.9/7)
  153. Two Miserable Presidents: Everything Your Schoolbooks Didn’t Tell You About the Civil War-Sheinkin (7.0/8) NF
  154. Undying Glory: The Story of the Massachusetts 54th Regiment-Cox (8.3/6) NF
  155. An Unlikely Friendship-Rinaldi (4.6/8)
  156. Uprising at Dawn-Roddy (5.7/7)
  157. A Voice for Kanzas-McAruthur (4.1/10) (KS 1855, causes)
  158. Wait for Me, Watch for Me, Eula Bee-Beatty (5.7/9)
  159. The War Within: A Novel of the Civil War-Matas (5.1/6)
  160. Watcher in the Piney Woods-Jones (5.2/4)
  161. Welcome to Addy’s World-Sinnott* (6.5/1) NF
  162. When Will This Cruel War be over?:  The Civil War Diary of Emma Simpson-Denenberg* (6.6/3)
  163. Which Way Freedom?-Hansen (4.5/5)
  164. Who Comes with Cannons?-Beatty (4.8/5)
  165. Will at the Battle of Gettysburg, 1863-Calkhoven (4.8/6)
  166. Wind on the River: A Story of the Civil War-Lawlor (5.0/5)
  167. With Every Drop of Blood-Collier (4.9/7)
  168. A Yank Among Us-Dionne (4.6/7
  169. Yankee Mouse: Gettysburg Address Observer-Horender (5.3/2)
  170. You Wouldn’t Want to Be a Civil War Soldier!-Ratliff (6.0/1) NF
  171. You Wouldn’t Want to Be a Nurse During the American Civil War-Senior (5.6/1) NF

 Middle Grades+ (6+)

  1. An Acquaintance with Darkness-Rinaldi* (3.6/10)
  2. Assassin-Myers (5.2/8)*
  3. Booth’s Daughter-Wemmlinger (5.8/10)
  4. Behind Rebel Lines: The Incredible Story of Emma Edmonds, Civil War Spy-Reit (5.7/3)*
  5. Black Angels-Brown (4.5/10)
  6. Bloody Times: The Funeral of Abraham Lincoln and the Manhunt for Jefferson Davis-Swanson (7.5/7) NF
  7. Bull Run-Fleischman (5.3/2)* (listed for upper in AR, but I’ve used with 8th grade)
  8. Chasing Lincoln’s Killer-Swanson (7.5/6) NF
  9. Death on the River-Wilson (4.8/5) (Andersonville)
  10. Hearts of Stone-Ernst (4.2/9)
  11. How I Found the Strong: A Civil War Story-McMullan (4.9/4)
  12. Leigh Ann’s Civil War-Rinaldi (4.3/10)
  13. The Passage-Killgore (5.0/9)
  14. Rebel Spirits-Ruby (4.7/9)
  15. Red Moon at Sharpsburg-Wells (4.7/8)
  16. Riot-Myers (4.6/3)
  17. A Soldier’s Secret: The Incredible True Story of Sarah Edmonds, a Civil War Hero-Moss (5.6/14)
  18. TimeRiders: The Eternal War-Scarrows (5.5/17)
  19. Two Girls of Gettysburg-Klein (5.8/17)

 Upper Grades (9-12)

  1. 1863: A House Divided-Massie (5.9/9)
  2. Abraham Lincoln’s World-Foster (7.8/17) NF
  3. Across the Lines-Reeder (6.3/10)
  4. Andersonville-Kantor (7.8/62)
  5. Alice’s Tulips-Dallas (5.4/14)
  6. Annie, Between the States-Elliot (5.5/16)
  7. The Apprenticeship of Lucas Whitaker-DeFelice (5.2/5
  8. Battle Flag-Cornwell (no level)
  9. The Battle of Lookout Mountain-Morris (4.9/6)
  10. Becky: The Life and Loves of Becky Thatcher-Hart (5.6/21)
  11. The Black Flower: A Novel of the Civil War-Bahr (6.6/17)
  12. Blockade Runner-Morris (4.6/5)
  13. The Bloody Ground-Cornwell (no level)
  14. The Blue and Gray Undercover-Gorman (6.5/19)
  15. Brothers of Cain-Monfredo (7.1/15)
  16. Bull Run-Fleischman (5.3/2)*
  17. The Burning of the Valley-Schraff (4.8/3)
  18. Candle in the Darkness-Austin (5.7/23)
  19. Cannons of the Comstock-Thoene (6.4/8)
  20. Children of Cain-Monfredo (6.9/15)
  21. Cloudsplitter-Banks (8.3/48) (causes)
  22. A Confederate Girl: The Diary of Carrie Berry, 1864-Berry (4.7/1) NF
  23. Copperhead-Cornwell (no level)
  24. Daughter of Twin Oaks-Snelling (5.1/14)
  25. The Dixie Widow-Morris (5.8/16)
  26. Double Time-Sescoe (5.6/8)
  27. The Dreams of Mairhe Mehan-Armstrong (5.7/4)
  28. Drummer Boy at Bull Run-Morris (5.0/7)
  29. Encounter at Cold Harbor-Morris (4.4/5)
  30. Enemy Women-Jiles (5.9/17)
  31. Fire over Atlanta-Morris (4.3/6)
  32. The Friendly Persuasion-West (6.1/12)
  33. The Gallant Boys of Gettysburg-Morris (4.9/6)
  34. Gettysburg: A Novel of the Civil War-Gingrich (7.0/27)
  35. Gods and Generals: A Novel of the Civil War-Shaara (7.0/31)
  36. Gone with the Wind-Mitchell (7.1/71)
  37. Grant Comes East: A Novel of the Civil War-Gingrich (7.4/27)
  38. Guerrilla Season-Hughes (3.8/11)
  39. If the South Had Won the Civil War–Kantor (10.3/3)
  40. In My Father’s House-Rinaldi (4.4/10)
  41. Into the Long Dark Night-Phillips (6.4/15)
  42. Jacob’s Ladder: A Story of Virginia During the Civil War-McCaig (6.0/31)
  43. Jayhawker-Beatty (5.0/7)
  44. Jewel of Promise-Wells (5.2/22)
  45. Jubliee-Walker (6.4/24)
  46. Killer Angels-Shaara (4.7/15)*
  47. Land of the Brave and the Free-Phillips (6.3/15)
  48. The Last Confederate-Morris (6.1/18)
  49. The Last Full Measure-Shaara (7.3/38)
  50. The Last Silk Dress-Rinaldi (4.1/13)*
  51. Letters from Vinnie-Sappey (7.5/11)
  52. The Long Road to Gettysburg-Murphy (7.6/2) Nonfiction
  53. The Man from Shadow Ridge-Thoene (6.4/10)
  54. No Man’s Land-Bartoletti (4.6/4)
  55. The March-Doctorow (7.2/18)
  56. March-Brooks (7.5/17)
  57. An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge-Bierce (7.9/1)
  58. The Perilous Road-Steele (4.7/5)
  59. The Red Badge of Courage-Crane* (8.0/8) (Chancellorsville)
  60. Red Cap-Wisler (5.4/6) (Andersonville)
  61. Rebel-Cornwell (no level)
  62. The River Between Us-Peck (4.9/5)
  63. Sea to Shining Sea-Phillips (6.1/17)
  64. The Secret of Richmond Manor-Morris (4.1/5)
  65. A Separate Battle: Women and the Civil War-Chang (7.8/3) NF
  66. Sisters of Cain-Monfredo (7.1/18)
  67. The Soldier Boy’s Discovery-Morris (4.8/6)
  68. South Wind Come-Juarez (6.4/19)
  69. Stonewall’s Gold: A Novel-Mrazek (6.3/11)
  70. The Unvanquished-Faulkner (6.1/11)
  71. A Voice from the Border-Hill (5.4/8)
  72. We Look Like Men of War-Forstchen (6.0/9)
  73. The Wedding Dress-Ellis (6.2/11)
  74. Where I’m Bound-Ballard (5.6/16)
  75. Yankee Belles in Dixie-Morris (4.6/6)
  76. The Year of Jubilo: A Novel of the Civil War-Bahr (6.4/26)

Historical Fiction: Reconstruction

 

Photo Credit: Mathew Brady, U.S. National Archives

 

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