Literature-based education is my jam. I try to fit in as many books as we can throughout our school year. Forget the text books, I want real, living books! Picture books, novels, you name it. All of our Rabbit Trails through History curriculum is filled with amazing pictures books and is a great fit for both elementary and middle school learners. I always add novels to my middle schooler’s lessons, but that leaves the rest of the families using Rabbit Trails saying, “What novels should my child read along with these lessons?” Never fear, the ultimate list of middle grade history books is here!

I’m going to break these books down by time period to go along with all of our Rabbit Trails through History units. You can easily pop over to a specific time period by using the handy legend below. Each list will have plenty of novels for you to choose from to go with your middle grade learner’s history studies! Wanting some amazing picture books, too? Those are all inside of our Rabbit Trails through History units!

Ancient History Middle Grade Books

The Golden Bull by Majorie Cowley

Tizrah by Lucille Travis

The Map of Salt and Stars by Zeyn Joukhadar

Heart of a Samurai by Margi Preus

Treasury of Greek Mythology: Classic Stories of Gods, Goddesses, Heroes & Monsters by Donna Jo Napoli

Roman Diary: The Journal of Iliona, A Young Slave by Richard Platt

The Well of Sacrifice by Chris Eboch

Medieval History Novels

Who was Martin Luther? by Danika Cooley

What was the Gutenberg Bible? by Danika Cooley 

Why did the Reformation Happen? by Danika Cooley

Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Voices from a Medieval Village by Laura Amy Schlitz

The Book of Boy by Catherine Gilbert Murdock

The King’s Fifth by Scott O’Dell

Horrible Histories: The  Measly Middle Ages by Terry Deary

The Whipping Boy by Sid Fleischman

The Door in the Wall by Marguerite de Angeli

The Canterbury Tales by Geraldine McCaughrean

Shakespeare’s Spy by Gary Blackwood

Leonardo’s Shadow by Christopher Grey

White Stag by Kate Seredy

Books about Inventors throughout History

Ink on His Fingers by Louise A. Vernon

Da Vinci’s Cat by Catherine Gilbert Murdock

Ben and Me by Robert Lawson

Out of Darkness by Russell Freedman

Who Was Thomas Alva Edison? by Margaret Frith

Who Was George Washington Carver by Jim Gigliotti

Finding Wonders: Three Girls Who Changed Science by Jeannine Atkins

The Wright Brothers by Quentin Reynolds

Novels about Early American History/Early Settlers

The Birchbark House by Louise Erdrich

Vikings by Elizabeth Janeway

Who Was Christopher Columbus by Bonnie Bader

Pirates on the Bay by Steven K. Smith

The Mayflower & The Pilgrims New World by Nathaniel Philbrick 

Blood on the River by Elisa Carbone

Blood on the River: James Town, 1607

 

The Winter People by Joseph Bruchac

America’s Founders- Books about the Revolutionary Time Period

My Brother Sam is Dead by James Lincoln Collier & Christopher Collier

Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes

Forge by Laurie Halse Anderson

The Fighting Ground by Avi

The Fighting Ground

 

Toliver’s Secret by Esther Wood Brady

The Winter of Red Snow by Kristina Gregory

Sophia’s War by Avi

Susanna’s Midnight Ride: The Girl Who Won the Revolutionary War by Libby Carte McNamee

Rush Revere and the American Revolution: Time-Travel Adventures With Exceptional Americans by Rush Limbaugh & Kathryn Adams Limbaugh

I Survived the American Revolution, 1776 by Lauren Tarshis

Who Was George Washington by Roberta Edwards (there are books about many of the Founding Fathers in this series!)

Books about the Westward Expansion

The Captain’s Dog: My Journey with the Lewis and Clark Tribe by Roland Smith

Jeremy’s War 1812 by John Ibbitson 

Salt: A Story of Friendship in a Time of War by Helen Frost

Dolley Madison and the War of 1812 by Libby Carty McNamee

Thunder Rolling in the Mountains by Scott O’Dell

On This Long Journey, the Journal of Jesse Smoke by Joseph Bruchac

Streams to the River, River to the Sea by Scott O’Dell

Sing Down the Moon by Scott O’Dell

What Was the Alamo? By Pam Pollack

Bound for Oregon by Jean Van Leeuwen

Gold Rush Fever, A Story of Klondike 1898 by Barbara Greenwood

Jimmy Spoon & The Pony Express by Kristiana Gregory

The Quilt Walk by Sandra Dallas

The Civil War Middle Grade Novels

Who Were the Abolitionists? by Danika Cooley

What was the Underground Railroad? by Danika Cooley

Why Did Slavery End? by Danika Cooley

Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis

North by Night by Katherine Ayres

Who Was Harriet Tubman by Yona Zeldis McDonough

The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P Figg by Rodman Philbrick

Across Five Aprils by Irene Hunt

Girl in Blue by Ann Rinaldo

The River Between Us by Richard Peck

Sugar by Jewell Parker Rhodes

Industrial Era Middle Grade Novels

Crossing On Time: Steam Engines, Fast Ships, and a Journey to the New World by David Macaulay

 

The Story of Thomas Alva Edison by Margaret Cousins

 

From the Mine to the Mansion: Ann’s Story by Jayne M. Booth

 

Who Was Henry Ford? by Michael Burgan

 

Kids at Work: Lewis Hine and the Crusade Against Child Labor by Russell Freedman

 

Who Were the Wright Brothers? by James Buckley Jr.

 

The Wright Brothers: Pioneers of American Aviation by Quentin Reynolds

 

Dangerous Waters: An Adventure on the Titanic by Gregory Mone

 

The History of the Titanic by Kelly Milner Halls

 

Who Was Susan B. Anthony? by Pam Pollack & Meg Belviso

 

Stay Where You Are And Then Leave by John Boyne

 

What Was Ellis Island? by Patricia Brennan Demuth

 

The Orphan of Ellis Island by Elvira Woodruff

 

Modern American History Novels (Part 1)

Forty Acres and Maybe a Mule by Harriette Gillem Robinet

 

Play, Louis, Play: The True Story of a Boy and His Horn by Muriel Harris Weinstein

 

Al Capone Does My Shirts by Gennifer Choldenko

 

Two Roads by Joseph Bruchac

 

The War That Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

 

A Place to Hang the Moon by Kate Albus

 

I Survived the Bombing of Pearl Harbor by Lauren Tarshis

 

Number the Stars by Lois Lowry

 

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne

 

The Boy at the Top of the Mountain by John Boyne

 

Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank

 

Modern American History Novels (Part 2)

The Berlin Wall: An Interactive Modern History Adventure by Matt Doeden

The Berlin Wall: An Interactive Modern History Adventure

 

Cold War Correspondent by Nathan Hale

Cold War Correspondent (Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales #11): A Korean War Tale

 

Hidden Figures Young Reader’s Edition by Margot Lee Shetterly

Hidden Figures Young Readers’ Edition

 

Ground Zero by Alan Gratz

Ground Zero

 

Native American Novels

An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States for Young People by Jean Mendoza

 

The Birchbark House Paperback by Louise Erdrich

 

Code Talker: A Novel About the Navajo Marines of World War Two by Joseph Bruchac

 

Peacemaker by Joseph Bruchac

 

On This Long Journey, the Journal of Jesse Smoke, a Cherokee Boy, the Trail of Tears, 1838 by Joseph Bruchac

 

Sing Down the Moon by Scott O’Dell

 

The Sign of the Beaver by Elizabeth George Speare

 

In the Footsteps of Crazy Horse by Joseph Marshall III

 

More Middle Grade History Books

Wanting more middle grade history books? Don’t worry! We will be adding to this list as we complete more units of Rabbit Trails through History on topics such as immigration, the World War, and more!

What books would you add to this list? Let us know in this comments below or in our online homeschool community.