12-14 Year Old, 15-18 Year Old, 3-5 Year Old, 6-8 Year Old, 9-11 Year Old, Book Focus, English, Historical Fiction Book Lists, History/Social Science, Interest Led Homeschool, Teaching, the Give Way
Historical Fiction: The Civil War
[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)
- Abraham Lincoln-D’Aulaire (5.2/1)
- A. Lincoln and Me-Borden (3.5/0.5)
- Abe Lincoln’s Dream-Smith (3.0/0.5)
- Alec’s Primer-Walter (3.4/0.5)
- Billy and the Rebel-Hopkinson (3.2/0.5)
- The Blue and the Gray-Bunting (3.3/0.5)
- Cabin in the Snow-Hopkinson (3.5/1)
- Cassie’s Sweet Berry Pie: A Civil War Story-Winnick (2.9/0.5)
- The Cemetery Keepers of Gettysburg-High (4.6/0.5)
- Civil War Artist-Morrison (6.0/0.5)
- Civil War Days-Weiss (3.7/1)
- Civil War on Sunday-Osborne (3.4/1)
- Dadblamed Union Army Cow-Fletcher (4.0/0.5)
- Drummer Boy: Marching to the Civil War–Turner (3.8/0.5)
- Freedom Ship-Rappaport (2.8/0.5)
- From Slave to Soldier: Based on a True Civil War Story-Hopkinson (2.8/0.5)
- Goober Peas-Daniel (2.4/0.5)
- Grace’s Letter to Lincoln-Roop (3.7/1)* (causes)
- Hope’s Gift-Lyons (3.4/0.5)
- If You Lived at the Time of the Civil War-Moore (5.7/1) Nonfiction
- Just in Time, Abraham Lincoln-Polacco (4.2/0.5)
- The Last Brother: A Civil War Tale-Noble (5.5/0.5)
- The Legend of Old Abe, A Civil War Eagle-Wargin (5.7/0.5)
- Li’l Dan, The Drummer Boy: A Civil War Story-Bearden (3.7/0.5)
- Lucy’s Cave: A Story of Vicksburg, 1863-Winnick (3.4/0.5)
- Our Kansas Home-Hopkinson (3.6/1) (causes)
- The Penny Doll-Hennings (4.6/0.5)
- Pioneer Summer-Hopkinson (3.6/1) (causes)
- Private Joel and the Sewell Mountain Seder-Fireside (4.8/0.5)
- The Promise Quilt-Ransom (3.6/0.5)
- Red Legs: A Drummer Boy of the Civil War-Lewin (3.9/0.5)
- Robert Henry Hendershot-Goodman (3.4/1) NF
- Seeing the Elephant: A Story of the Civil War-Hughes (3.3/1)
- Selina and the Bear Paw Quilt-Smucker (4.9/0.5)
- Spy in the Sky-Karr (3.1/1)
- The Yankee at the Seder-Weber (5.4/0.5)
Middle Grades (4-8)
- The 290-O’Dell (5.7/4)
- Abner & Me: A Baseball Card Adventure-Gutman (4.2/5)
- Abraham’s Battle-Banks (5.3/2)
- Abraham Lincoln-Sullivan* (5.3/2) NF
- Abraham Lincoln: Letters from a Slave Girl-Pinkney (6.9/3)
- Across Five Aprils-Hunt (6.6/10)
- Addy’s Surprise-Porter (4.44/1)
- After the Rain: Virginia’s Civil War Diary-Osborne (4.6/2)
- All Their Names Were Courage-Denslow (5.2/3)
- Amelia’s War-Rinaldi (4.0/7)
- Amelina Carrett-Duey (5.5/4)
- The American Civil War-Dolan (8.4/4) NF
- America’s Civil War-Owens (4.3/0.5)
- Anna Sunday-Keehn (4.6/9)
- A Ballad of the Civil War-Stolz (4.0/1)*
- The Battle of Galveston-Townsend (5.4/2)
- Battle Scars-Wilson (5.8/6)
- Becca’s Story-Forman (7.0/9)
- Before the Creeks Ran Red-Reeder (6.5/14)
- Blue Creek Farm-Thomas (5.6/6) (1850’s Kansas)
- Borderland Horse-Francis (3.0/2)
- The Brothers’ War-Hermes (4.4/5)
- The Brother’s War: Civil War Voices in Verse-Lewis (6.5/0.5)
- The Boys’ War: Confederate and Union Soldiers Talk about the Civil War-Murphy (7.6/3) NF
- Braving the Fire-Severance (5.6/6)
- Brothers at War-Owens (4.0/1)
- Burden of Honor–Lee (5.6/7)
- The Bushwhacker: A Civil War Adventures-Garrity (5.5/9)
- Captured! A Boy Trapped in the Civil War-Immel (5.9/4)
- Captain Kate-Reeder (6.0/9)
- Caught in the Rebel Camp: Frederick Douglass-Jackson (6.1/5)
- Chance of a Lifetime-Kent (4.7/4)
- Charley Skedaddle-Beatty (5.2/7)
- The Code of the Drum-Owens (3.0/0.5)
- Come Juneteenth-Rinaldi (4.3/7)
- The Confederate Fiddle-Williams (5.8/8)
- Conrad Elroy, Powder Monkey: The Role of the Navy in the Civil War-Cunningham (5.5/1)
- The Couturiere of Galvez-Dionne (5.3/7)
- Crossroads at Gettysburg-Kay (4.4/5)
- Cry of Courage-Roddy (5.8/7)
- Culpepper’s Cannon-Paulsen (3.7/2)
- A Dangerous Promise-Nixon (6.0/7)
- Daria Solves a Mystery: The Civil War in Ohio (1862)-Lutz (5.0/6)
- Dear Ellen Bee: A Civil War Scrapbook of Two Union Spies-Lyons (5.6/5)
- The Deep Cut-Spain (5.2/7)
- Diary of a Drummer Boy-Brill (4.9/1)
- The Diary of Susie King Taylor, Civil War Nurse-Malone (6.5/2)
- Divided We Fall-London (5.4/6)
- The Drummer Boy of Vicksburg-Wisler (5.5/5)
- Drums of War-Hemingway (6.1/8)*
- Elise the Actress: Climax of the Civil War-Lutz (5/5)
- Emma Eileen Grove-Duey (4.6/4)
- Escape By Night: A Civil War Adventure-Myers (3.8/1)
- Evvy’s Civil War-Brenaman (Virginia 1860)
- Fight for Freedom-Champlin (3.7/1)
- The Flags of War-Wilson (5.8/5)
- For This Land: Meg’s Prairie Diary-McMullan (3.6/2) (causes)
- Freedom Stone-Kluger (5.9/12) (violence)
- Gabriel’s Horses-Hart (4.6/5)
- Gabriel’s Journey-Hart (5.1/6)
- Gabriel’s Triumph-Hart (4.6/6)
- Ghosts of Vicksburg-Ernst (4.9/7)
- Girl in Blue-Rinaldi (5.0/9)
- Golden Quest-Bader (3.8/2) (cause-California statehood)
- Growing Up in the Civil War: 1861-1865-Damon (6.3/1) NF
- The Guns of Prairie Grove-Marlow (6.1/6)
- Hattie’s Story-Kirby (4.1/5) (1856 IL, causes)
- Hear the Wind Blow: A Novel of the Civil War-Hahn (4.5/8)
- The Horse’s Shadow-Scanlan (6.4/13)
- Hot Iron: The Adventures of a Civil War Powder Boy-Burgan (3.9/0.5)
- A House Divided-Poe (3.1/1) (causes)
- A House Divided-Gurasich (5.7/7)
- I, Dred Scott: A Fictional Slave Narrative Basedon the Life and Legal Precedent of Dred Scott-Moses (5.5/2) (cause)
- I Survived: The Battle of Gettysburg, 1863-Tarshis (4.6/2)
- I Thought My Soul Would Rise and Fly: The Diary of Patsy-Hansen (5.0/5)
- I’ll Pass for Your Comrade: Women Soldiers in the Civil War-Silvey (8.3/2) NF
- Iron Thunder: The Battle Between the Monitor and the Merrimac: A Civil War Novel-Avi (4.3/4)
- An Island Far From Home-Donahue (4.9/5)
- Jesse Bowman: A Union Boy’s War Story-McGowen (7.0/6)
- Joseph’s Choice, 1861-Pryor (4.7/4)
- The Journal of James Edmond Pease: A Civil War Union Soldier-Murphy* (5.7/6)
- The Journal of Rufus Rowe: A Witness to the Battle of Fredericksburg-Hite (5.9/3)
- Juliet’s Moon-Rinaldi (4.2/6)
- Keeping Secrets-Nixon (5.0/6)
- The Last Full Measure-Rinaldi (4.4/7)
- A Letter for Mr. Lincoln-Cunningham (3.4/1) (assassination)
- Life Goes On: The Civil War at Home, 1861-1865-Arnold (7.0/2) NF
- A Light in the Storm: Civil War Diary of Amelia Martin-Hesse* (5.3/4)
- Lincoln: A Photobiography-Freedman* (7.7/5) NF
- Lottie’s Courage: A Contraband Slave’s Story-Haislip (5.0/6)
- Maddie Retta Lauren-Duey (5.3/5)
- March Toward the Thunder-Bruchac (5.7/10)
- Matty’s War-Thomas (5.4/4)
- Meet Addy, an American Girl-Porter (4.0/1)
- Mildred’s Boys and Girls-Finley (6.9/11) (cause)
- Moon Over Tennessee: A Boy’s Civil War Journal – Crist-Evans (4.9/1)
- The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg-Philbrick (5.6/7)
- Mountain Valor-Houston (5.0/7)
- Mr. Lincoln’s Drummer-Wisler* (5.3/5)
- My Brother’s Keeper: Virginia’s Diary-Osborne (4.3/2)
- My Last Skirt: The Story of Jennie Hodgers, Union Soldier-Durrant (4.6/6)
- My Vicksburg-Rinaldi (4.1/5)
- No Girls Allowed-Kay (4.6/5)
- No More! Stories and Songs of Slave Resistance-Rappaport (5.6/1)* NF
- North Meets South-Sims (2.0/0.5)
- Nowhere to Turn-Kay (4.6/5)
- Off to Fight-Kay (4.9/6)
- On Both Sides of the Civil War-Owens (3.7/1)
- One Sky Above Us-Kimmel (5.7/6) (KS, causes)
- Out from This Place-Hansen (4.6/5)
- Pink and Say-Polacco (3.8/1)
- A Pitch in Time-Lytle (5.3/12)
- Pride of the Green Mountains-Baker (5.0/3)
- Private Captain: A Story of Gettysburg-Crisp (5.4/10)
- Promises to the Dead-Hahn (5.5/8)
- Rebel Hart-Hemingway (5.5/8)
- The Red Badge of Courage-Mullarkey (4.5/2)
- The Red Badge of Courage-Coleman (6.3/7)
- The Red Badge of Courage-Burgan (4.9/4)
- A Ride with Huey the Engineer-Stuart (5.1/3)
- Rifles for Watie-Keith* (6.1/14)
- Risking the Dream-Roddy (5.7/8)
- Root Cellar-Lunn* (5.2/10)
- Run Like a Fugitive-Lopez (4.5/3) (assassination)
- Run the Blockade-Wisler (5.8/5)
- The Sacred Moon Tree-Shore (5.7/11)
- San Domingo: The Medicine Hat Stallion-Henry (5.3/8) (1850’s Nebraska)
- Sarah’s Ground-Rinaldi (4.7/6)
- Secret of the Big Thicket-Webber (5.3/4)
- Shades of Gray-Reeder (5.3/6)
- Signals in the Sky-Ransom (3.6/2)
- Silent Thunder: A Civil War Story-Pinkney (5.4/7)*
- The Slopes of War: A Novel of Gettysburg-Perez (5.9/7)
- Soldier’s Heart-Paulsen (5.7/2)
- Sooner-Calvert (5.8/8)
- Sound the Jubilee-Forrester (5.0/6)
- Stephen Crane’s The Red Badge of Courage: The Graphic Novel-Vansant (5.1/2)
- The Stolen Train-Ashley (5.3/5
- Stonewall Hinkleman and the Battle of Bull Run-Hemphill (4.6/6)
- The Storm Before Atlanta-Schwabach (4.8/10)
- Tales of the Civil War-Hall (3.6/1)
- The Tamarack Tree-Clapp (4.9/7)
- Tennessee Rose-Kendall (5.5/2)
- Texas Rebel-Kerr (4.7/3)
- A Thief on Morgan’s Plantation-Banim (4.3/2)
- Three Against the Tide-Love (3.8/5)
- Thunder at Gettysburg-Gauch (3.5/1)
- Thunder on the Tennessee-Wisler (5.3/5)
- A Time to Dance: Virginia’s Civil War Diary-Osborne (5.1/2)
- The Totally Made-up Civil War Diary of Amanda MacLeish-Mills (4.7/6)
- Trembling Earth-Siegelson (6.1/6)
- Turn Homeward, Hannalee-Beatty (4.9/7)
- Two Miserable Presidents: Everything Your Schoolbooks Didn’t Tell You About the Civil War-Sheinkin (7.0/8) NF
- Undying Glory: The Story of the Massachusetts 54th Regiment-Cox (8.3/6) NF
- An Unlikely Friendship-Rinaldi (4.6/8)
- Uprising at Dawn-Roddy (5.7/7)
- A Voice for Kanzas-McAruthur (4.1/10) (KS 1855, causes)
- Wait for Me, Watch for Me, Eula Bee-Beatty (5.7/9)
- The War Within: A Novel of the Civil War-Matas (5.1/6)
- Watcher in the Piney Woods-Jones (5.2/4)
- Welcome to Addy’s World-Sinnott* (6.5/1) NF
- When Will This Cruel War be over?: The Civil War Diary of Emma Simpson-Denenberg* (6.6/3)
- Which Way Freedom?-Hansen (4.5/5)
- Who Comes with Cannons?-Beatty (4.8/5)
- Will at the Battle of Gettysburg, 1863-Calkhoven (4.8/6)
- Wind on the River: A Story of the Civil War-Lawlor (5.0/5)
- With Every Drop of Blood-Collier (4.9/7)
- A Yank Among Us-Dionne (4.6/7
- Yankee Mouse: Gettysburg Address Observer-Horender (5.3/2)
- You Wouldn’t Want to Be a Civil War Soldier!-Ratliff (6.0/1) NF
- You Wouldn’t Want to Be a Nurse During the American Civil War-Senior (5.6/1) NF
Middle Grades+ (6+)
- An Acquaintance with Darkness-Rinaldi* (3.6/10)
- Assassin-Myers (5.2/8)*
- Booth’s Daughter-Wemmlinger (5.8/10)
- Behind Rebel Lines: The Incredible Story of Emma Edmonds, Civil War Spy-Reit (5.7/3)*
- Black Angels-Brown (4.5/10)
- Bloody Times: The Funeral of Abraham Lincoln and the Manhunt for Jefferson Davis-Swanson (7.5/7) NF
- Bull Run-Fleischman (5.3/2)* (listed for upper in AR, but I’ve used with 8th grade)
- Chasing Lincoln’s Killer-Swanson (7.5/6) NF
- Death on the River-Wilson (4.8/5) (Andersonville)
- Hearts of Stone-Ernst (4.2/9)
- How I Found the Strong: A Civil War Story-McMullan (4.9/4)
- Leigh Ann’s Civil War-Rinaldi (4.3/10)
- The Passage-Killgore (5.0/9)
- Rebel Spirits-Ruby (4.7/9)
- Red Moon at Sharpsburg-Wells (4.7/8)
- Riot-Myers (4.6/3)
- A Soldier’s Secret: The Incredible True Story of Sarah Edmonds, a Civil War Hero-Moss (5.6/14)
- TimeRiders: The Eternal War-Scarrows (5.5/17)
- Two Girls of Gettysburg-Klein (5.8/17)
Upper Grades (9-12)
- 1863: A House Divided-Massie (5.9/9)
- Abraham Lincoln’s World-Foster (7.8/17) NF
- Across the Lines-Reeder (6.3/10)
- Andersonville-Kantor (7.8/62)
- Alice’s Tulips-Dallas (5.4/14)
- Annie, Between the States-Elliot (5.5/16)
- The Apprenticeship of Lucas Whitaker-DeFelice (5.2/5
- Battle Flag-Cornwell (no level)
- The Battle of Lookout Mountain-Morris (4.9/6)
- Becky: The Life and Loves of Becky Thatcher-Hart (5.6/21)
- The Black Flower: A Novel of the Civil War-Bahr (6.6/17)
- Blockade Runner-Morris (4.6/5)
- The Bloody Ground-Cornwell (no level)
- The Blue and Gray Undercover-Gorman (6.5/19)
- Brothers of Cain-Monfredo (7.1/15)
- Bull Run-Fleischman (5.3/2)*
- The Burning of the Valley-Schraff (4.8/3)
- Candle in the Darkness-Austin (5.7/23)
- Cannons of the Comstock-Thoene (6.4/8)
- Children of Cain-Monfredo (6.9/15)
- Cloudsplitter-Banks (8.3/48) (causes)
- A Confederate Girl: The Diary of Carrie Berry, 1864-Berry (4.7/1) NF
- Copperhead-Cornwell (no level)
- Daughter of Twin Oaks-Snelling (5.1/14)
- The Dixie Widow-Morris (5.8/16)
- Double Time-Sescoe (5.6/8)
- The Dreams of Mairhe Mehan-Armstrong (5.7/4)
- Drummer Boy at Bull Run-Morris (5.0/7)
- Encounter at Cold Harbor-Morris (4.4/5)
- Enemy Women-Jiles (5.9/17)
- Fire over Atlanta-Morris (4.3/6)
- The Friendly Persuasion-West (6.1/12)
- The Gallant Boys of Gettysburg-Morris (4.9/6)
- Gettysburg: A Novel of the Civil War-Gingrich (7.0/27)
- Gods and Generals: A Novel of the Civil War-Shaara (7.0/31)
- Gone with the Wind-Mitchell (7.1/71)
- Grant Comes East: A Novel of the Civil War-Gingrich (7.4/27)
- Guerrilla Season-Hughes (3.8/11)
- If the South Had Won the Civil War–Kantor (10.3/3)
- In My Father’s House-Rinaldi (4.4/10)
- Into the Long Dark Night-Phillips (6.4/15)
- Jacob’s Ladder: A Story of Virginia During the Civil War-McCaig (6.0/31)
- Jayhawker-Beatty (5.0/7)
- Jewel of Promise-Wells (5.2/22)
- Jubliee-Walker (6.4/24)
- Killer Angels-Shaara (4.7/15)*
- Land of the Brave and the Free-Phillips (6.3/15)
- The Last Confederate-Morris (6.1/18)
- The Last Full Measure-Shaara (7.3/38)
- The Last Silk Dress-Rinaldi (4.1/13)*
- Letters from Vinnie-Sappey (7.5/11)
- The Long Road to Gettysburg-Murphy (7.6/2) Nonfiction
- The Man from Shadow Ridge-Thoene (6.4/10)
- No Man’s Land-Bartoletti (4.6/4)
- The March-Doctorow (7.2/18)
- March-Brooks (7.5/17)
- An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge-Bierce (7.9/1)
- The Perilous Road-Steele (4.7/5)
- The Red Badge of Courage-Crane* (8.0/8) (Chancellorsville)
- Red Cap-Wisler (5.4/6) (Andersonville)
- Rebel-Cornwell (no level)
- The River Between Us-Peck (4.9/5)
- Sea to Shining Sea-Phillips (6.1/17)
- The Secret of Richmond Manor-Morris (4.1/5)
- A Separate Battle: Women and the Civil War-Chang (7.8/3) NF
- Sisters of Cain-Monfredo (7.1/18)
- The Soldier Boy’s Discovery-Morris (4.8/6)
- South Wind Come-Juarez (6.4/19)
- Stonewall’s Gold: A Novel-Mrazek (6.3/11)
- The Unvanquished-Faulkner (6.1/11)
- A Voice from the Border-Hill (5.4/8)
- We Look Like Men of War-Forstchen (6.0/9)
- The Wedding Dress-Ellis (6.2/11)
- Where I’m Bound-Ballard (5.6/16)
- Yankee Belles in Dixie-Morris (4.6/6)
- The Year of Jubilo: A Novel of the Civil War-Bahr (6.4/26)
Photo Credit: Mathew Brady, U.S. National Archives