Keenly Kept
History & Historical Fiction: USA
Last Updated: September 1, 2026
Below you will find books categorized by era from American history.
This list will be significantly growing throughout 2026-2027.
If you don’t find what you’re looking for, let me hear from you! This will tell me which books are priorities.
Drop Down to a Specific Time Period:
About Age Ranges
- Age suggestions are found at the end of each book entry.
- They are always subjective. Feel free to adjust them.
- Relatedly, I only suggest a minimum age, because if it’s a good book, it can be enjoyed by all higher ages.
Abbreviation Key
GENRES:
B = Biographical
F = Fiction, General
Fa = Fantasy
Fo = Folk Story
HF = Historical Fiction
NF = Non-Fiction
P = Poetry
BOOK TYPE:
BB = board book
CB = chapter book
PB = picture book
YA = young adult and older
Print Instructions
The below lists are text-only to provide quick, printable lists. To print:
- Highlight the exact text to be printed.
- Right-click anywhere in the highlighted portion.
- Click the “Print” button (sometimes it says “Print…”).
- Customize the remaining options which vary between devices.
Star Ratings
All book reviews are subjective, because we’re all human! But here is generally what my ratings mean:
- ★★★★★ 5 stars = loved it, no content concerns
- ★★★★ 4 stars = really liked it, no or very minor content concerns
- ★★★ 3 stars = it was okay, didn’t wow me, some content concerns
- ★★ 2 stars = major content concerns with very few redeeming qualities
- ★ 1 star = full stop, do not recommend
Many titles below also link to their reviews, which provide content considerations.
Buying the Books
- Some titles are out of print but can usually be obtained from resellers such as:
- Thriftbooks
- AbeBooks
- Amazon
- Some titles are only sold by one company, such as:
- Note: Clicking on “buy” links within the lists below simply takes you directly to the book on Amazon or the publisher’s website. There is no cost to you, but if you choose to purchase after opening those links, it will offset some of Keenly Kept’s expenses (thank you!).
Indigenous America
Before 1492
Abenaki, Cherokee, Inuit, Iroquois, Kiks.ádi, mound builders, Muscogee (Creek) Nation, native civilizations, Navajo, Ojibway, Pueblos, Seneca, Seri, Tlingit, etc.
Corn is Maize (Aliki) ★★ NF – PB – review – 4+
Efraín of the Sonoran Desert (Astorga) ★★ NF – PB – 5+
How Chipmunk Got His Stripes (Bruchac) ★★★★ Fo – PB – 4+
How the Stars Fell Into the Sky: A Navajo Legend (Oughton) ★★★★ Fo – PB – 5+
Jingle Dancer (Smith) ★★★★★ HF, NF – PB – 4+
North American Indians (Gorsline) ★★★★ NF – PB – review – 4+
Raccoon’s Last Race (Bruchac) ★★★★ Fo – PB – 4+
Shanyaak’utlaax (Salmon Boy) (Marks, Chester, etc.) ★★★★ Fo – PB – 5+
Turtle’s Race With Beaver (Bruchac) ★★★★★ Fo – PB – 4+
Very First Americans, The (Ashrose) ★★★★★ H – PB – 4+
Whispers of the Wolf (Ts’o) ★★★★ HF – PB – 4+
Age of Exploration
1492 – 1607
Columbus, conquistadors, English exploration, French explorers, missions, Spanish explorers
First Voyage to America: From the Log of the “Santa Maria” (Columbus) ★★★★ H – PB – 5+
Pedro’s Journal (Conrad) ★★★★★ HF – CB – review – 6+
Picture Book of Christopher Columbus, A (Adler) ★★★ B – PB – 4+
Sacajawea: The Journey West (Raphael) ★★★★ B – PB – 4+
Colonial America
1607 – 1763
colonial life, Jamestown, Plymouth, pilgrims, puritans, Salem, slavery in colonies, etc.
Ben Franklin and the Magic Squares (Murphy) ★★★★ B – PB – 4+
Ben of All Trades, A (Rosen) ★★★★★ B – PB – 4+
Boy Who Fell Off the Mayflower, The (Lynch) ★★★★★ B – PB – review – 7+
Courage of Sarah Noble, The (Dalgliesh) ★★★★ B – CB – review – 6+
Jonathan Edwards: America’s Genius (George) ★★★ B – CB – 7+
Land of the Pilgrim’s Pride (Ellis the Elephant) (Gingrich) ★★★★★ HF, Fa – PB – 3+
Life and Diary of David Brainerd, The (Brainerd) ★★★★★ B – CB – 14+
Lion to Guard Us, A (Bulla) ★★★★★ HF – CB – review – 7+
Littlest Pilgrim, The (Dougherty) ★★★ F – PB – 4+
Mayflower, The (Greenwood) ★★★★★ NF – PB – review – 4+
Now & Ben: The Modern Inventions of Benjamin Franklin (Barretta) ★★★★★ B – PB – 4+
Ocean-Born Mary (Lenski) ★★★★ HF – CB – review – 9+
Puritan Path, The (Beeke) ★★★★ B – CB – review – 10+
Short Life of Jonathan Edwards, A (Marsden) ★★★★★ B – CB – 13+
Three Young Pilgrims (Harness) ★★★★ B – PB – review – 7+
William Bradford: Pilgrim Boy (Smith) ★★★★★ B – CB – review – 8+
Witch of Blackbird Pond, The (Speare) ★★★★★ HF – CB – review – buy – 11+
American Revolution
1763 – 1789
Boston Tea Party, Constitution, Declaration of Independence, Founding Fathers, Revolutionary War, etc.
ABCs of the American Revolution (Boyack) ★★★ NF – BB – 5+
Big Tree, The (Hiscock) ★★★★★ HF – PB – 4+
Boy With a Fife (Raum) ★★★★ HF – CB – review – 8+
Famous Events and Symbols of America (Snyder) ★★★★★ H – PB – 4+
George vs. George (Schanzer) ★★★★★ H, HF – PB –
George Washington and the General’s Dog (Murphy) ★★★★★ B – PB – 4+
George Washington: America’s Patriot (Meloche) ★★★★★ B – PB – review – 6+
John, Paul, George & Ben (Smith) ★★★★ B – 4+
Noah Webster & His Words (Ferris) ★★★★ B – PB – 5+
Noah Webster’s Fighting Words (Maurer) ★★★★★ B – PB – 5+
Paul Revere’s Ride (Longfellow, Rand) ★★★★★ P – PB – review – 4+
Ranger in Time 10: Night of Soldiers and Spies (Messner) ★★★★ HF, Fa – CB – review – 9+
Where Was Patrick Henry on the 29th of May (Fritz) ★★★★ HF – PB – 7+
Related Book List: New York Books (statehood = 1788)
Early Republic
1789 – 1815
Lewis & Clark; presidencies of George Washington, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson; War of 1812
How We Crossed the West: The Adventures of Lewis and Clark (Schanzer) ★★★★★ B – PB – 4+
Lewis and Clark: A Prairie Dog for the President (Redmond) ★★★★ B – PB – 4+
Once on This Island (Whelan) ★★★★★ HF – CB – review –
Sign of the Beaver, The (Speare) ★★★★ HF – CB – review – 8+
Thomas Jefferson Builds a Library (Rosenstock) ★★★★★ B – PB – review – 4+
1800s Missionaries from America
1800s
missions, missionaries, overseas ministry by Americans, etc.
Lottie Moon: Giving Her All for China (Benge) ★★ B – CB – review – 10+
Westward Expansion
1815 – 1848
Alamo, frontier life, gold rush beginnings, native removal, Oregon Trail, Texas Revolution, etc.
Buffalo Storm, The (Applegate) ★★★★ HF – PB – 4+
House on Maple Street, The (Pryor) ★★★★ HF – PB – 4+
Johnny Appleseed (Lindbergh) ★★★★★ – B – PB – review – 4+
Johnny Appleseed (Moses) ★★★ – B -PB – review – 5+
Johnny Appleseed: A Tall Tale (Kellogg) ★★★★★ B – PB – review – 4+
Josefina Story Quilt, The (Coerr) ★★★★★ HF – PB – review – 4+
Louisa May Alcott (Fromowitz) ★★★★★ B – PB – review – 5+
Ranger in Time 01: Rescue on the Oregon Trail (Messner) ★★★★ HF, Fa – CB – review – 9+
Sally Ann Thunder Ann Whirlwind Crockett (Kellogg) ★★★★ B – PB – 4+
Secret Valley, The (Bulla) ★★★★ HF – CB – review – 5+
Seed by Seed: The Legend and Legacy of John “Appleseed” Chapman (Codell) ★ B – PB – review – 4+
True Tale of Johnny Appleseed, The (Hodges) ★★★★★ B – PB – review – 5+
You Wouldn’t Want to Be an American Pioneer (Morley) ★★★ HF, H – PB – 4+
Antebellum Pre-Civil War
1820 – 1861
abolition, immigration, lighthouses, slavery, Underground Railroad, women’s rights, etc.
Adventures of Tom Sawyer, The (Twain) ★★★ HF – CB – review – 10+
Alice Waters Cooks Up a Food Revolution (Stanley) ★★★ B – PB – 7+
Boy Who Drew Birds, The: A Story of John James Audubon (Davies) ★★★★★ B – PB – review – 4+
Drinking Gourd, The (Monjo) ★★★★★ HF – PB – 4+
Holes (Sachar) ★★★★ HF – CB – review – 10+
Keep the Lights Burning, Abbie (Roop) ★★★★★ B – PB – 4+
Old Yeller (Gipson) ★★★ HF – CB – review – 10+
Patchwork Path, The (Stroud) ★★★★ HF – PB – review – 4+
Ranger in Time 03: Long Road to Freedom (Messner) ★★★★ HF, Fa – CB – review – 9+
Raven Named Grip, A (Singer) B – PB – 6+
Riding the Pony Express (Bulla) ★★★★ HF – CB – review – 8+
Thee, Hannah! (de Angeli) ★★★★ HF – CB – review – 8+
Related Book List: Maine Books (statehood = 1820)
Civil War
1861 – 1865
Abraham Lincoln, confederacy, emancipation, slavery, spies, union, etc.
Abe Lincoln’s Hat (Brenner) ★★★★ HF – PB – 3+
Abraham Lincoln: A Little Golden Book ★★★★★ (Bader) B – PB – 3+
Across Five Aprils (Hunt) ★★★★ HF – CB – review – 12+
Caddie Woodlawn (Brink) ★★★★ HF – CB – review – 8+
If You Lived at the Time of the Civil War (Moore) ★★★★★ HF – PB – 4+
Little Women (Alcott) ★★★★ HF – CB – review – 13+
Memorial Day: Our Nation’s Pride (Kenney) ★★★★★ H, HF – PB – 4+
You Wouldn’t Want to Be a Civil War Soldier (Ratliff) ★★★★ H, HF – PB – 4+
Reconstructing America
1865 – 1877
freedmen, immigration, Jim Crow beginnings, Reconstruction governments, western expansion, etc.
Day for Rememberin’, A (Henderson) ★★★★★ HF – PB – 4+
Down the Colorado: John Wesley Powell, the One-Armed Explorer (Ray) ★★★★ B – PB – 6+
Happy Little Family (Caudill) ★★★★★ HF – CB – review – 4+
Long Way to a New Land, The (Sandin) ★★★★★ HF – PB – 4+
Long Way Westward, The (Sandin) ★★★★★ HF – PB – 4+
Miss Colfax’s Light (Bissonette) ★★ B – PB – review – 4+
Samuel Morse, That’s Who (Maurer) ★★★★ B – PB – review – 4+
Two Very Little Sisters (Carrick) ★★★★★ B – PB – review – 4+
Winslow Homer (Ripley) ★★★★ B – CB – review – 9+
Winslow Homer (Wood) ★★★★★ B – PB – review – 5+
Yearling, The (Rawlings) ★★★★ HF – CB – review – 12+
Industrial America
1877 – 1900
homesteaders, immigration, labor unions, lighthouses, native conflicts, railroads, wild west, etc.
America the Beautiful (Bates, Gall) ★★★★★ P – PB – 4+
Big Balloon Race, The (Coerr) ★★★★ B – PB – 5+
Celia Planted a Garden: The Story of Celia Thaxter and Her Island Garden (Root & Schmidt) ★★★★★ B – PB – review – 4+
Happy Little Family (Caudill) ★★★★★ HF – CB – review – 4+
Lighthouse Seeds (Love) ★★★★★ HF – PB – review – 3+
Little Red Lighthouse and the Great Gray Bridge, The (Swift) ★★★★ HF – PB – review – 3+
Man Who Loved Libraries: The Story of Andrew Carnegie, The (Larsen) ★★★★ B – PB – review – 4+
My Grandfather’s Coat ★★★★★ (Aylesworth) HF – PB – review – 4+
Prairie School (Avi) ★★★★ HF – PB – 4+
Sarah, Plain and Tall (MacLachlan) ★★★★★ HF – CB – review – 5+
Series: Little House (Wilder) ★★★★ HF, B – CB – 7+
Series: My First Little House Books (Wilder, Graef) ★★★★★ HF, B – PB – 3+
Stone Fox (Gardiner) ★★★★ HF – CB – 7+
Summer of the Monkeys (Rawls) ★★★ HF – CB – review – 8+
Wagon Wheels (Brenner) ★★★★ HF – PB – 4+
1900s Missionaries from America
1900s
missions, missionaries, overseas ministry by Americans, etc.
Progressive Era
1890 – 1920
child labor, immigration, muckrakers, orphan trains, reformers, suffrage, Titanic, urbanization, etc.
Call of the Wild, The (London) ★★★★ HF – CB – review – 12+
Christmas Tree Ship, The (Crane) ★★★★ HF – PB – review – 4+
Clara and the Bookwagon (Levinson) ★★★★★ B – PB – review – 4+
First Flight: The Story of Tom Tate and the Wright Brothers (Shea) ★★★★ HF – PB – review – 4+
Lighthouse Lullaby (Briggs) ★★★★ HF – PB – review – 2+
Lion in the Box, The (de Angeli) ★★★★ HF – CB – review – 6+
Moffats, The (Estes) ★★ HF – CB – review – 5+
Mule Train Mail ★★★★★ NF – PB – review – 4+
Old Ramon (Schaefer) ★★★★ HF – CB – review – 8+
Paper Son: Lee’s Journey to America (James) ★★★★★ HF – PB – 7+
Ranger in Time 06: Escape From the Great Earthquake (Messner) ★★★★★ HF, Fa – CB – review – 9+
Ranger in Time 09: Disaster on the Titanic (Messner) ★★★★★ HF, Fa – CB – review – 9+
Series: Beyond the Orphan Train (Richardson) ★★★★★ HF – CB – review – 7+
Strawberry Girl (Lenski) ★★★ HF – CB – review – 10+
Titanic Lost…and Found, The (Donnelly) ★★★★ NF – PB – 6+
White Fang (London) ★★★★ HF – CB – review – 13+
Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree, The (Houston) ★★ HF – PB – review – 4+
Related Book List: Arizona Books (statehood = 1912)
1900s USA
1900 – 1999
Kentucky Derby, various biographies, etc.
Born to Race (Perrin) ★★★★★ HF – CB – 7+
Dr. Seuss: The Great Doodler (Klimo) ★★★ B – PB – 4+
Dusty and the Fiddlers (Miles) ★★★★★ HF – PB – 4+
Efraín of the Sonoran Desert: A Lizard’s Life Among the Seri People (Astorga) ★★ HF – PB – 4+
Eleanor (Cooney) ★★★ B – PB – 4+
Ginger Pye (Estes) ★★★★ HF – CB – review – 7+
Lad: A Dog (Terhune) ★★★★★ HF – CB – review – 10+
Norman Rockwell: Storyteller With a Brush (Gherman) ★★★★ B – PB – review – 8+
Only Margaret: A Story About Margaret Wise Brown (Ransom) B – PB – 5+
River of Words: The Story of William Carlos Williams, A (Bryant) ★★★★ B – PB – 5+
World War I
1914 – 1918
USA involvement 1917-1918
Roaring Twenties
1920 – 1929
Harlem resistance, immigration, jazz age, organized crime, prohibition, etc.
Bobbie the Wonder Dog (Brown) ★★★ B – PB – 4+
Bravest Dog Ever: The True Story of Balto, The (Standiford) ★★★★★ B – PB – 4+
Grandfather’s Journey (Say) ★★★★ B, HF – PB – 6+
Lighthouse Christmas (Buzzeo) ★★★★★ HF – PB – review – 4+
Mary on Horseback (Wells) ★★ B – CB – review – 8+
Paper Son: Lee’s Journey to America (James) ★★★★★ HF – PB – 7+
Radio Rescue (Barasch) ★★★★ B – PB – review – 5+
Great Depression
1929 – 1941
Dust Bowl, migrant workers, New Deal, etc.
World War II
1939 – 1945
(if tied to USA) Europe, Holocaust, Japanese internment, Nazis, Pacific, resistance stories, etc.
Baseball Saved Us (Mochizuki) ★★★★★ HF – PB – review – 8+
Boxes for Katje (Fleming) ★★★★★ HF – PB – 5+
Chestry Oak, The (Seredy) ★★★★ HF – CB – review – 7+
Navajo Code Talkers (Baker) ★★★★★ NF, B – CB – review – 8+
Other Side of Infamy: My Journey Through Pearl Harbor and the World of War, The (Downing) ★★★★★ H, B – CB – 13+
Ranger in Time 12: Attack on Pearl Harbor (Messner) ★★★★ HF, Fa – CB –review – 9+
Unbreakable Code (Hunter) ★★★★★ NF – PB – review – 8+
Unbroken (Hillebrand) ★★★★ B – CB – 16+
Write to Me: Letters From Japanese American Children to the Librarian They Left Behind (Grady) ★★★★★ B – PB – 4+
Early Cold War
1945 – 1960
atomic age, Korean War, Space Race beginnings, Suburbia, etc.
Boy, a Mouse, and a Spider: The Story of E.B. White, A (Herkert) ★★★★ B – PB – 4+
Miss Dorothy and Her Bookmobile (Houston) ★★★ B – PB – review – 4+
Misty of Chincoteague (Henry) ★★★★ HF – CB – review – 7+
Silvery Packages: An Appalachian Christmas Story (Rylant) ★★★★ HF – PB – 4+
Skydiving Beavers, The (Wood) ★★★★ NF – PB – review – 4+
Civil Rights Era
1950s – 1970s
anti-war movement, draft, Freedom Riders, Martin Luther King Jr., segregation, Vietnam War, women’s movement, etc.
America’s White Table (Raven) ★★★★ HF – PB – 5+
Boy, a Mouse, and a Spider: The Story of E.B. White, A (Herkert) ★★★★ B – PB – 4+
My Side of the Mountain (George) ★★★★ HF – CB – review – 8+
No Children, No Pets (Holland) ★★★★ HF – CB – review – 7+
Okay for Now (Schmidt) ★★★★ HF – CB – 14+
Roxaboxen (McLerran) ★★★★ HF, F – PB – review – 3+
Wall, The (Bunting) ★★★★★ HF, H – PB – 5+
Wednesday Wars, The (Schmidt) ★★★★★ HF – CB – review – 12+
Late 20th Century America
1970s – 2000
end of Cold War, Gulf War, Reagan era, technology boom, Watergate, etc.
High-Flying, Deep-Diving Adventures of Kathy Sullivan, The (Stanley) ★★ B – PB – 6+
Holes (Sachar) ★★★★ HF, F – CB – review – 10+
Man Who Walked Between the Towers, The (Gerstein) ★★★★ B – PB – review – 6+
Raccoon Summer (Vanderwielen) ★★★ HF – CB – review – 11+
Red and Lulu (Tavares) ★★★ HF, Fa – PB – 4+
Stranded (Coleridge) ★★★★★ HF – CB – review – 8+
Trombone Shorty (Andrews) ★★★★★ B – PB – review – 4+
Contemporary America
2001 – Present
9/11, digital age, modern immigration, social movements, etc.
America the Beautiful (Bates, Gall) ★★★★★ P – PB – 4+
Groundhog Day (Cooper) ★★★★ NF – PB – review – 5+
How Should We Then Live? (Schaeffer) ★★★★ NF – CB – 15+
Ranger in Time 08: Hurricane Katrina Rescue (Messner) ★★★★ HF, Fa – CB – review – 9+
Ranger in Time 11: Escape from the Twin Towers (Messner) ★★★★★ HF, Fa – CB – review – 9+