Paulsen, Gary.  The Winter Room.  J FIC Paulsen/ J PB P
A young boy growing up on a northern Minnesota farm describes the scenes around him and recounts his old Norwegian uncle's tales of an almost mythological logging past.

Perez, Norah A.  Breaker.  J FIC Perez
After his father's death, fourteen-year-old Pat is forced to go to work in the coal mines that dominate his Pennsylvania town and becomes involved in the big mine workers' strike of 1902.

Snyder, Zilpha Keatley. And Condors Danced. J FIC Snyder
The year Carly turns eleven, 1907, is filled with playing detective, watching condors, observing a fierce feud involving her family's Southern California ranch, and coping with unexpected tragedies.

Snyder, Zilpha Keatley.  Gib Rides Home. J FIC Snyder
Despite the harsh treatment he has endured at the Lovell House orphanage, ten-year-old Gib Whittaker manages to maintain his hopeful outlook when he is farmed out  to help with the horses of a wealthy banker in 1908.

Snyder, Zilpha Keatley.  Gib and the Gray Ghost.  J FIC Snyder
In 1909, after spending several months back at the Lovell House Home for Orphaned and Abandoned Boys, eleven-year-old Gib returns to live on the Thornton ranch, where his natural way with horses helps to make him feel at home.

Wyman, Andrea.  Red Sky at Morning.  J FIC Wyman
In Indiana in 1909, Callie finds that she must grow up quickly when death and other hardships leave her alone on the family farm with her ailing grandfather Opa.

1910's
Beatty, Patricia.  Eight Mules from Monterey.  J FIC Beatty
During the summer of 1916 thirteen-year-old Fayette and her brother accompany their widowed mother on a mule trip into the California mountains, where she is to establish library outposts in isolated communities.

Doucet, Sharon Arms.  Fiddle Fever.  J FIC Doucet
In 1914, fourteen-year-old Felix LeBlanc feels stifled by life on his family's farm in Louisiana and after hearing his wayward uncle play the fiddle, Felix decides that he wants to be a fiddler too, even if it means making his own fiddle and going against his parents' wishes.

Harlow, Joan Hiatt.  Joshua's Song.  J FIC Harlow
Needing to earn money after his father's death during the influenza epidemic of 1918, thirteen-year-old Joshua works as a newspaper boy in Boston, one day finding himself in the vicinity of an explosion that sends tons of molasses coursing through the streets.

Hesse, Karen.  Letters From Rifka.  JPB H/ J FIC Hesse
In letters to her cousin, a young Jewish girl chronicles her family's flight from Russia in 1919 and her own experiences when she must be left in Belgium for a while when the others emigrate to America.

Hulme, Joy N. Through the Open Door.   J FIC Hulme
Nine-year-old Dora, who has been kept out of school because of her speech impediment, dreams of learning to speak normally as her family joins a group of other Mormons journeying from Utah to New Mexico in 1910.

Kendall, Jane F.  Miranda and the Movies.   J FIC Kendall
The arrival of a band of moviemaking visionaries in peaceful Leewood Heights enlivens the summer of 1914 for twelve-year-old Miranda.

Ross, Rhea Beth.  The Bet's On, Lizzie Bingman!  J FIC Ross
Fourteen-year-old Lizzie's bet with her oldest brother about women's deserving equal rights kicks off a summer of unprecedented adventure for her as she experiences things a young lady of 1914 rarely does.

Skurzynski, Gloria.  Goodbye, Billy Radish.  J FIC Skurzynski
In 1917, as the United States enters World War I, ten-year-old Hank sees change all around him in his western Pennsylvania steel mill town and feels his older Ukrainian friend Billy drifting apart from him.

1920's
Hurwitz, Johanna. The Rabbi's Girls. J Fic Hurwitz
The 5 Jewish Levin sisters are growing up in 1924 Ohio. Moving to a new town, the birth of a sister, and the death of her rabbi father make 1923 a bittersweet  year for eleven-year-old Carrie Levin.

Kimmel, Elizabeth Cody.  Balto and the Great Race. J PB K
Recounts how the sled dog Balto saved Nome, Alaska, in 1925 from a diphtheria epidemic by delivering medicine through a raging snowstorm.

Weissenberg, Fran. The Streets are Paved with Gold.  J FIC Weissenberg
The eighth grade is a difficult time of transition for Deborah, as she attempts to reconcile her desire for a regular school life and friendships outside the Jewish community with her strong attachment to her very traditional family.

Ylvisaker, Anne.  The Luck of the Buttons.  J FIC Ylvisaker
In Iowa circa 1929, spunky twelve-year-old Tugs vows to turn her family's luck around, with the help of a Brownie camera and a small-town mystery that only she can solve.

1930's
Chaikin, Miriam.  Finders Weepers.  J FIC Chaikin
Molly finds a ring in the street that causes her more problems than she could have imagined.

Crofford, Emily. Stories From the Blue Road.  J FIC Crofford
Five episodes in the life of a family living on an Arkansas cotton plantation during the Depression.

Cummings, Priscilla.  Saving Grace.  J FIC Cummings
When Grace's family is evicted from their Washington,  D.C., apartment just before Christmas 1932, and she and her younger brothers are sent to the Mission, Grace wonders what will become of her sick older brother, her pregnant mother, and her out-of-work father.

Fusco, Kimberly Newton.  The Wonder of Charlie Anne.  J FIC Fusco
In a 1930s Massachusetts farm town torn by the Depression, racial tension, and other hardships, Charlie Anne and her black next-door neighbor Phoebe form a friendship that begins to transform their community.

Keeton, Elizabeth B.  Second-Best Friend.  J FIC Keeton
Having lost all her clothes in a cyclone, Vanessa borrows a dress from a friendless girl to wear to the seventh grade dance, not knowing the borrowed dress is stolen.

Kherdian, David.  A Song for Uncle Harry.  J FIC Kherdian
A young boy relates his special friendship with his Armenian uncle in the 1930's.

King, Martha C.  Smugglers' Island.  J FIC King
Prospects for a pleasant summer with relatives seem unlikely until ten-year-old Todd and his new friend begin exploring the mysterious old Gerrod house.

LaFaye, A.  The Year of the Sawdust Man.  J FIC LaFaye
In 1934, when her mother leaves her and her father, eleven-year-old Nissa tries to cope with the gossip of her small Louisiana town and the changes in her own life.

Olsen, Violet.  The View From the Pighouse Roof.  J FIC Olsen
Twelve-year-old Marie, living with her widowed mother, brothers, and younger sister on an Iowa farm during the Depression, tries to cope with the difficulties of growing up.

Porter, Tracey.  Treasures in the Dust. J FIC Porter
Eleven-year-old Annie and her friend Violet tell of the hardships endured by their families when dust storms, drought, and the Great Depression hit rural Oklahoma.

Zeier, Joan T.  The Elderberry Thicket.   J FIC Zeier
In 1938 Wisconsin, when twelve-year-old Franny's father loses his job as a hired hand and has to go looking for work, the family members doubt their self-reliance as they face again the hard times they had hoped were gone for good.
 

1940's

Adler, David A.  Don't Talk to Me About the War.  J FIC Adler
In 1940, thirteen-year-old Tommy's routine, playing stickball in his Bronx, New York, neighborhood, talking with his friend Beth, and listening to the Dodgers games on the radio changes as his mother's illness and his increasing awareness of the war in Europe transform his world.

Avi, 1937. Who Was that Masked Man, Anyway?  J FIC Avi
In the early forties when nearly everyone else is thinking about World War II, sixth-grader Frankie Wattleson gets in trouble at home and at school because of his preoccupation with his favorite radio programs.

Barrie, Barbara. Lone Star.  J FIC Barrie
Moving from Chicago to Corpus Christi, Texas, in 1944, a young Jewish girl copes with her parents' increased fighting and adopts a new lifestyle which alienates her orthodox grandfather.

Barrow, Randi G. Saving Zasha.  J FIC Barrow
In 1945 Russia, those who own German shepherds are considered traitors, but thirteen-year-old Mikhail and his family are determined to keep the dog a dying man brought them, while his classmate Katia strives to learn his secret.

Chaikin, Miriam. Friends Forever.  J FIC Chaikin
As news of German victories on the battlefields and Nazi atrocities against the Jews comes over the radio, Mollie faces important decisions as she and her Brooklyn friends prepare to enter junior high school.

Giff, Patricia Reilly. All The Way Home. J Fic Giff
In 1941, circumstances bring together Brick, a boy from New York's apple country, and Mariel, a young girl made shy by her bout with polio, and the two make a journey from Brooklyn back to help Brick's elderly neighbors save their apple crop and to help Mariel learn about her past.

Hahn, Mary Downing. Following My Own Footsteps.  J FIC Hahn
In 1945, Gordy's grandmother takes him and his family into her North Carolina home after his abusive father is arrested, and he just begins to respond to his grandmother's loving discipline when his father returns.

Hahn, Mary Downing.  Stepping on the Cracks.  J FIC Hahn
In 1944, while her brother is overseas fighting in World War II, eleven-year-old Margaret gets a new view of the school bully Gordy when she finds him hiding his own brother, an army deserter, and decides to help him.

Herman, Charlotte.  Millie Cooper, Take a Chance.  J FIC Herman
In 1947, after trying two different ways to win a bicycle and forcing herself to read a poem in front of her third grade class, Millie recognizes the importance of taking chances to make her life more interesting and satisfying.

Levitin, Sonia. Annie's Promise.  J FIC Levitin
Her experiences at a summer camp in the California mountains in 1945 give twelve-year-old Annie Platt new insight into her overprotective family of German-Jewish immigrants. Sequel to "Silver Days."

Lieurance, Suzanne.  The Lucky Baseball: My Story in a Japanese-American Internment Camp.  J FIC Lieurance
In 1942 after the Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor, twelve-year-old Harry Yakamoto and his family are forced to move to an internment camp where they must learn to survive in the desert of California under the watch of armed guards. Includes section about the treatment of Japanese Americans during World War II.

Lord, Bette.  In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson.  J FIC Lord
In 1947, a Chinese child comes to Brooklyn where she becomes Americanized at school, in her apartment building, and by her love for baseball.

Lowry, Lois. Number the Stars. J FIC Lowry/JPB L
In 1943, during the German occupation of Denmark, ten-year-old Annemarie learns how to be brave and courageous when she helps shelter her Jewish friend from the Nazis.

Levoy, Myron.  Alan and Naomi.  JPB L
In New York of the 1940's a boy tries to befriend a girl traumatized by Nazi brutality in France.

McSwigan, Marie.  Snow Treasure.  J FIC McSwigan
For 12-year-old Peter, the Norwegian winter of 1940 begins like any other.  But when Nazis come, the town wants to hide the bank's gold bullion.

Pearson, Kit.  The Sky is Falling.   J FIC Pearson
The experiences of a young girl and her small brother who are evacuated to Canada at the beginning of World War II and find that they will be staying with complete strangers.

Rodman, Mary Ann.  Jimmy's Stars.  J FIC Rodman
In 1943, eleven-year-old Ellie is her brother Jimmy's "best girl," and when he leaves Pittsburgh just before Thanksgiving to fight in World War II, he promises he will return, asks her to leave the Christmas tree up until he does, and reminds her to "let the joy out."

Slepian, Jan.  Risk n' Roses.  J FIC Slepian
In 1948, newly-moved to the Bronx, eleven-year-old Skip longs to shed her responsibility for her mentally handicapped older sister and give her whole attention to her new friendship with the bold and daring girl who sems to run the neighborhood.

Strickland, Brad.  When Mack Came Back.  J FIC Strickland
When his older brother leaves the family farm in order to join the army in 1943, ten-year-old Maury remains behind to deal with his angry father and to care for Ben's injured puppy.
 

1950's
Cheng, Andrea.  Eclipse . J Fic Cheng
In Cincinnati, Ohio, in the summer of 1952, eight-year-old Peti gives up his room to his Hungarian relatives, including a twelve-year-old cousin who bullies him, and worries about his grandfather who cannot escape from behind the Iron Curtain.

Herlihy, Dirlie.   Ludie's Song.  J FIC Herlihy
In rural Georgia in the 1950's, a young white girl's secret friendship with a black family exposes them all to unforeseen dangers.

Myers, Anna.  Rosie's Tiger.  J FIC Myers
In 1952 in Oklahoma, sixth grader Rosie enlists the aid of her new best friend, the flamboyant Cassandra, in trying to get rid of the Korean wife and stepson her older brother has brought back from the war.

Robinet, Harriette. Walking to the Bus-Rider Blues.  J FIC Robinet
Twelve-year-old Alfa Merryfield, his older sister, and their grandmother struggle for rent money, food, and their dignity as they participate in the Montgomery, Alabama bus boycott in the summer of 1956.

Smothers, Ethel Footman.  Down in the Piney Woods. J FIC Smothers
The joys and frustrations of family life are portrayed through the eyes of Annie Rye, the ten-year-old daughter of a black sharecropper.
 

1960's
Perera, Hilda.  Kiki  a Cuban Boy's Adventures in America.  J FIC Perera
In the early 1960s eight-year-old Kiki leaves Cuba to escape the Castro regime and tries to adjust in two very different foster homes in Florida, first with a poor family in the Everglades and then with a wealthy family in Miami.

Young, Ronder Thomas.  Learning by Heart.  J FIC Young
In the early 1960s, ten-year-old Rachel sees changes in her family and her small Southern town as she tries to sort out how she feels about her young black maid, racial prejudice, and her responsibility for her own life.

Wilkinson, Brenda Scott.  Not Separate, Not Equal. J FIC Wilkinson
Malene, one of a group of six blacks to integrate a Georgia public high school in the mid-sixties, experiences hatred and racism, as well as the beginnings of the civil rights movement.

1970's
Paterson, Katherine.  Park's Quest.  J FIC Paterson
Eleven-year-old Park makes some startling discoveries when he travels to his grandfather's farm in Virginia to learn about his father who died in the Vietnam War.

1980's
Naidoo, Beverley. Journey to Jo'burg: A South African Story. J FIC Nidoo
Separated from their mother by the harsh social and economic conditions prevalent among blacks in South Africa, thirteen-year-old Naledi and her younger brother make a journey of over 300 kilometers to find her in Johannesburg.

Smith, Marya.  Across the Creek.  J FIC Smith
Rye's friendship with a mysterious girl across the creek helps him to cope with the death of his mother.
 

1990's
Mead, Alice. Soldier Mom.  J Fic Mead
Eleven-year-old Jasmyn gets a different perspective on life when her mother is sent to Saudi Arabia at the beginning of the Persian Gulf War, leaving her and her baby half brother behind in Maine in the care of her mother's boyfriend.

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