Reading List: Ages 9-12

Historical Fiction

The Door in the Wall by Marguerite De Angeli
Raleigh’s Page by Alan Armstrong
Crispin: The Cross of Lead by Avi
Crusade in Jeans by Thea Beckman
The Shakespeare Stealer and Shakespeare’s Scribe by Gary L. Blackwood
Fire, Bed & Bone by Henrietta Branford
A Lion to Guard Us by Clyde Robert Bulla
The Children's Crusade by J.E. Christian and Antonio Jocson
King of Shadows by Susan Cooper
Feast of Fools by Bridget Crowley
The Midwife’s Apprentice by Karen Cushman
The White Company by Arthur Conan Doyle
Sir Dana: A Knight As Told by His Trusty Armor, Harold the Herald: A Book About Heraldry, and The King's Fool: A Book About Medieval and Renaissance Fools by Dana Fradon
The Lost Baron by Allen French
Peregrine by Joan Elizabeth Goodman
The Winter Hare by Joan Elizabeth Goodman
A Boy and His Bear by Harriet Graham
“Drumshee Timeline” series by Cora Harrison, including Nuala and Her Secret Wolf, The Secret of the Seven Crosses, The Viking at Drumshee, and The Secret of Drumshee Castle
Quest for a Maid by Frances Mary Hendry
Beric the Briton, The Dragon and the Raven, In Freedom's Cause, A Knight of the White Cross, A March on London, and Wulf the Saxon by George A. Henty
The Knight and the Squire and The Lady and the Squire by Terry Jones
The Trumpeter of Krakow by Eric Philbrook Kelly
The Second Mrs. Giaconda by E. L. Konigsburg
The Apprentice by Pilar Molina Llorente
The Maude Reed Tale by Norah Lofts
The Puppeteer's Apprentice by D. Anne Love
Castle, Cathedral, and Ship by David MacAulay
Antonio’s Apprenticeship: Painting a Fresco in Renaissance Italy and Neptune Fountain: The Apprenticeship of a Renaissance Sculptor by Taylor Morrison
Seawolves from the North by Michael Mullen
Daughter of Venice by Donna Jo Napoli
Magic in the Margins: A Medieval Tale of Bookmaking by W. Nikola-Lisa
The Hawk That Dare Not Hunt By Day by Scott O'Dell
A Single Shard by Linda Sue Park
The Sign of the Chrysanthemum by Katherine Paterson
Castle Diary: The Journal of Tobias Burgess, Page by Richard Platt
Beorn the Proud by Madeleine A. Polland
Red Hugh: Prince of Donegal by Robert Reilly
Marguerite Makes a Book by Bruce Robertson
Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Voices from a Medieval Village by Laura Amy Schlitz
Tibaldo and the Hole in the Calendar by Abner Shimony
Manwolf by Gloria Skurzynski
The Minstrel in the Tower by Gloria Skurzynski
The Edge on the Sword by Rebecca Tingle
Adam of the Road by Elizabeth Gray Vining
Bibles and Bestiaries: A Guide to Illuminated Manuscripts for Young Readers by Elizabeth B. Wilson
Girl in a Cage by Jane Yolen and Robert J. Harris

The “Girlhood Journeys” series focuses on the stories of ordinary girls and their lives in the past – but like the “American Girls” series, they seem more interested in selling dolls depicting the heroines than actually giving the reader a thorough picture of life in the past. Juliet’s story (Midsummer at Greenchapel, A Dream Takes Flight, and Rescue at Marlehead Manor) describes life in early 14th century England. Kai (A Mission for Her People, A Big Decision, The Lost Statue) lives in a Yoruba village in Nigeria in the mid-15th century.

Biographies

Sorted by period/subject. Some of these are written as novels, and may be more historical fiction than biography.

The Travels of Benjamin of Tudela: Through Three Continents in the Twelfth Century by Uri Shulevitz I, Juan de Pareja (Newbery Medal) by Elizabeth Borton de Treviño

Atilla the Hun (406-453)

The White Stag by Kate Seredy

Charlemagne (742-814)

Son of Charlemagne by Barbara Willard

Brian Boru (941-1014)

Brian Boru: Emperor of the Irish by Morgan Llywelyn

Eleanor of Aquitaine (1122-1204)

A Proud Taste for Scarlet and Miniver by E. L. Konigsburg

Saladin (1138-1193)

Saladin: Noble Prince of Islam by Diane Stanley

Joan of Arc (1412-1431)

Young Joan by Barbara Dana
Joan of Arc by Diane Stanley

Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)

Leonardo Da Vinci by Diane Stanley

Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475-1564)

Michelangelo by Diane Stanley

Pieter Bruegel (1525-1569)

The Fantastic Journey of Pieter Bruegel by Anders C. Shafer

Grace O'Malley (1530-1603)

Grace the Pirate by Kathryn Lasky
Granuaile: Chieftain, Pirate, Trader by Mary Moriarty

Mary Stuart (1542-1587)

The Queen’s Own Fool: A Novel of Mary Queen of Scots by Jane Yolen and Robert J. Harris (also see Fact versus Fiction in Queen’s Own Fool)

Thomas Harriot (1560-1621)

Thomas Harriot, Science Pioneer by Ralph Staiger

Although they frequently rely on historical inaccuracies to advance the plot, many of the stories in the Royal Diaries series may be of interest to girls in this age group. Some of the stories about queens and princesses who lived before the 17th century include:

Lady of Ch’iao Kuo: Warrior of the South, Southern China, A.D. 531 by Laurence Yep
Sondok: Princess of the Moon and Stars, Korea, A.D. 595 by Sheri Holman
Eleanor: Crown Jewel of Aquitaine, France, 1136 by Kristiana Gregory
Isabel: Jewel of Castilla, Spain, 1466 by by Carolyn Meyer
Elizabeth I: Red Rose of the House of Tudor, England, 1544 by Kathryn Lasky
Mary, Queen of Scots: Queen Without a Country, France, 1553 by Kathryn Lasky
Nzingha: Warrior Queen of Matamba, Angola, Africa, 1595 by by Patricia McKissack

Arthurian Legend

“The Lost Years of Merlin” series by T. A. Barron (The Lost Years of Merlin, The Seven Songs of Merlin, The Fires of Merlin, The Mirror of Merlin, The Wings of Merlin)
The Sword in the Tree by Clyde Robert Bulla
Knights of the Round Table by Gwen Cross
The World of King Arthur and His Court: People, Places, Legend, and Lore by Kevin Crossley-Holland
King Arthur’s Knight Quest by Andy Dixon
King Arthur and His Knights of the Round Table: Retold Out of the Old Romances by Roger Lancelyn Green
The Last Grail Keeper by Pamela Smith Hill
The Kitchen Knight: A Tale of King Arthur by Margaret Hodges
The Knight With the Lion: The Story of Yvain by John Howe
Bestiary: An Illuminated Alphabet of Medieval Beasts by Jonathan Hunt
King Arthur and His Knights by James Knowles
King Arthur: Tales from the Round Table edited by Andrew Lang
The Boy's King Arthur: Sir Thomas Malory's History of King Arthur and His Knights of the Round Table by Sidney Lanier
King Arthur by Jane B. Mason and Sarah Hines Stephens
“Dragon Slayers’ Academy” series by K.H. McMullan (The New Kid at School, Revenge of the Dragon Lady, Class Trip to the Cave of Doom, A Wedding for Wiglaf?, Knight for a Day, Sir Lancelot, Where Are You?, Wheel of Misfortune, Countdown to the Year 1000)
The Squire’s Tale, The Squire, His Knight, and His Lady, Parsifal’s Page, and The Savage Damsel and the Dwarf by Gerald Morris
Parzival: The Quest of the Grail Knight by Katherine Paterson
Story of King Arthur and His Knights by Howard Pyle
Tristan and Iseult by Rosemary Sutcliff
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court by Mark Twain
“Young Merlin” series by Jane Yolen (Passager, Hobby, and Merlin)
The Dragon's Boy: A Tale of Young King Arthur by Jane Yolen
Camelot edited by Jane Yolen

The Tales of Robin Hood

The Song of Robin Hood by Virginia Lee Burton
Robin Hood by Paul Creswick
Robin Hood by Gwen Cross
Robin Hood and his Merry Men and Robin Hood in the Greenwood by Jane Louise Curry
The Adventures of Robin Hood by Roger Lancelyn Green
The Outlaws of Sherwood by Robin McKinley
The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood by Howard Pyle
Rowan Hood: Outlaw Girl of Sherwood Forest and Lionclaw by Nancy Springer
The Forestwife and Child of the May by Theresa Tomlinson
Sherwood edited by Jane Yolen