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Best Teen & Young Adult US 20th Century Historical Fiction eBooks

Out of the Dust (Newbery Medal Book)
"Dust piles up like snow across the prairie. A terrible accident has transformed Billie Jo's life, scarring her inside and out. In this compelling, immediate journal, Billie Jo reveals the grim domestic realities of living during the years of constant dust storms: That hopes--like the crops--blow away in the night like skittering tumbleweeds. Perhaps swallowing all that grit is what gives Billie Jo--our strong, endearing, rough-cut heroine--the stoic courage to face the death of her mother after a hideous accident that also leaves her piano-playing hands in pain and permanently scarred.
Reviews
"I'm playing this for my 7th graders after they read a section and the best part is the woman who give a "voice" to Billie Jo sounds like a 14 year-old girl so it helps enhance the story."
"I had to read this book for one of the book reports I’m doing in social studies, and I promise you I regret nothing."
"Sad but true part of history.Im thankful I didn't live in this time but people that did became strong if they survived."
"Grapes of Wrath told the story of the folks that left the dust bowl."
"I started with a highlighter and the whole text turned yellow."
"This book of poems gives a different perspective on the dust bowl and is very easy to read."
"This easy to read novel, written in free verse from a young girl's viewpoint, is equally appropriate for youth and adults."
"A story written like a poem of pain , loss, and survival."
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A Long Way From Chicago: A Novel in Stories (Puffin Modern Classics)
Each summer Joey and his sister, Mary Alice—two city slickers from Chicago—visit Grandma Dowdel's seemingly sleepy Illinois town. From seeing their first corpse (and he isn't resting easy) to helping Grandma trespass, catch the sheriff in his underwear, and feed the hungry—all in one day—Joey and Mary Alice have nine summers they'll never forget! Although the narrator, Joey, and his younger sister, Mary Alice, live in the Windy city during the reign of Al Capone and Bugs Moran, most of their adventures occur "a long way from Chicago," during their annual down-state visits with Grandma Dowdel. Readers will be eager to join the trio of Grandma, Joey and Mary Alice on such escapades as preparing an impressive funeral for Shotgun Cheatham, catching fish from a stolen boat and arranging the elopement of Vandalia Eubanks and Junior Stubbs. Whether it's scaring a pretentious newspaper man back to the city or stealing the sheriff's boat and sailing right past him as he drunkenly dances with his buddies at the Rod & Gun Club, she never ceases to amaze her grandchildren with her gall and cunning behavior.
Reviews
"However, when I moved to teaching high school, I donated all the middle school books."
"Also read the follow-up book to this one - "A Year Down Yonder", which was even better."
"This book is so great, every kid should read these."
"I've read other books by this author and enjoyed every one."
"It is told from the boy's point of view, but Peck handles this point of view in such a way that it does not turn away girl readers. Overall, for Young Adult readers, I would rate this novel a 4 out of 5 stars because I think that it is a little below the Young Adult interest level."
"I give this a high rating for the vocabulary, extensive figurative language and historical references, and the format of the story."
"Our family read this together while on a road trip."
"Excellent story for young and old."
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Davenport House 2: A New Chapter
The family saga continues in this sequel to Davenport House, resuming where book one leaves off in the spring of 1915. Davenport House books 1-3 are now available as audiobooks!
Reviews
"Continuation of Marie Silks Davenport series."
"I was initially interested in this series because I enjoy mysteries of "whodunnit?""
"Mary has a very good heart and looks for the good in everyone."
"This is a book that is hard to put down."
"A little confusing at first but I like it enough to order book lll."
"I love the history part of these books and her writing about the brother is great!"
"Wish she would write a book about the Davenport House I have read through the 6th book."
"I look forward to reading the rest of the series by Marie Silk."
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Best Teen & Young Adult US Historical Fiction eBooks

Timebound [Kindle in Motion] (The Chronos Files Book 1)
When Kate Pierce-Keller’s grandmother gives her a strange blue medallion and speaks of time travel, sixteen-year-old Kate assumes the old woman is delusional. This inventive science fiction adventure asks the dramatic question: what do you do when you’re a normal 16-year-old girl attending a private school in Washington, D.C., you find out that your grandmother is actually a time-traveling historian from the future (the 23rd century, to be precise), and she sends you into the past (the Chicago Exposition in 1893, to be exact) in order to stop your grandfather (also from the future) from changing history by creating a new religion, the Cyrists? Her adventures in trying to stop the cult’s temporal shift take her across alternate time lines and involve her with past and future versions of the people in her life.
Reviews
"-- “It would be a lot easier to fix the universe if I could dress like Wonder Woman –or Batgirl.”. I enjoyed this novel it was pretty decently paced there was only one chunk in the middle that seemed to drag on a bit too long but the rest of it sailed by especially once Kate actually went into the past. I loved the time travel aspect of this and how they reconciled the different futures and the moral conundrum of what is the right or wrong thing to do which timeline should be restored and why. -- I could see my dark green hair band, vivid against the skin of his wrist as he vanished, looking like a knight carrying his lady’s favor – a scarf or ribbon – into battle. But I mention it because of the insta love and hope that future books in this series don’t dwell on it. Even though I talked about the love thing a lot in my review it really wasn’t overpowering in the book. The time travel story and her grandmother from the future were so interesting along with the shifts in the current time line and the growth of a cult like church who wants to bring about an end of days of sorts was captivating and had my full attention."
"Please read on to know about Timebound by Rysa Walker. What were some of the things I loved about Timebound. The pacing Ms. Walker’s ability to keep the pressure on an across-time hunt whilst building budding relationships amongst family members and potential suitors all the while giving enough descriptive detail to make it feel like we visited the 1893 World’s Fair is nothing short of astonishing. The relationships are tricky enough messing with earlier, future and alternative timeline selves is even trickier. These are some seriously patient, understanding guys who’ll stick with you at all costs; Kiernan’s pretty close to sainthood as well. This book may have been a bit more interesting if the guys were a little less perfect but maybe they were just to offset Mr. Holmes’ (America’s Jack-the-Ripper) unabated, cold-blooded evil."
"But then she started to think about the details. The requisite minutiae that a story about time travel demands."
"An engaging read, with well-developed characters and a twisty plot."
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Best Teen & Young Adult US 19th Century Historical Fiction eBooks

Timebound [Kindle in Motion] (The Chronos Files Book 1)
When Kate Pierce-Keller’s grandmother gives her a strange blue medallion and speaks of time travel, sixteen-year-old Kate assumes the old woman is delusional. This inventive science fiction adventure asks the dramatic question: what do you do when you’re a normal 16-year-old girl attending a private school in Washington, D.C., you find out that your grandmother is actually a time-traveling historian from the future (the 23rd century, to be precise), and she sends you into the past (the Chicago Exposition in 1893, to be exact) in order to stop your grandfather (also from the future) from changing history by creating a new religion, the Cyrists? Her adventures in trying to stop the cult’s temporal shift take her across alternate time lines and involve her with past and future versions of the people in her life.
Reviews
"-- “It would be a lot easier to fix the universe if I could dress like Wonder Woman –or Batgirl.”. I enjoyed this novel it was pretty decently paced there was only one chunk in the middle that seemed to drag on a bit too long but the rest of it sailed by especially once Kate actually went into the past. I loved the time travel aspect of this and how they reconciled the different futures and the moral conundrum of what is the right or wrong thing to do which timeline should be restored and why. -- I could see my dark green hair band, vivid against the skin of his wrist as he vanished, looking like a knight carrying his lady’s favor – a scarf or ribbon – into battle. But I mention it because of the insta love and hope that future books in this series don’t dwell on it. Even though I talked about the love thing a lot in my review it really wasn’t overpowering in the book. The time travel story and her grandmother from the future were so interesting along with the shifts in the current time line and the growth of a cult like church who wants to bring about an end of days of sorts was captivating and had my full attention."
"Please read on to know about Timebound by Rysa Walker. What were some of the things I loved about Timebound. The pacing Ms. Walker’s ability to keep the pressure on an across-time hunt whilst building budding relationships amongst family members and potential suitors all the while giving enough descriptive detail to make it feel like we visited the 1893 World’s Fair is nothing short of astonishing. The relationships are tricky enough messing with earlier, future and alternative timeline selves is even trickier. These are some seriously patient, understanding guys who’ll stick with you at all costs; Kiernan’s pretty close to sainthood as well. This book may have been a bit more interesting if the guys were a little less perfect but maybe they were just to offset Mr. Holmes’ (America’s Jack-the-Ripper) unabated, cold-blooded evil."
"But then she started to think about the details. The requisite minutiae that a story about time travel demands."
"An engaging read, with well-developed characters and a twisty plot."
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Best Teen & Young Adult United States Civil War Historical Fiction eBooks

Across Five Aprils
"This is a beautifully written book, filled with bloodshed, hate, and tears, but also with love, loyalty, and compassion, with unforgettable characters, and with ideas and implications that have meaning for young people today. "An impressive book both as a historically authenticated Civil War novel and as a beautifully written family story...The realistic treatment of the intricate emotional conflicts within a border-state family is superb. Bregy compels readers to hear young Jethro Creighton's account of how the horrifying events of the Civil War changed life on his family's Illinois farm, even so many miles from the front lines. (Feb.). Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. Grade 4-8-Irene Hunt's Civil War novel (Berkley Pub., 1986) takes listeners from the first shots fired at Fort Sumter to Lincoln's assassination as seen through the eyes of a Southern Illinois farm boy. As numerous male relatives go off to fight for the North and the South, and after his father falls ill, young Jethro takes responsibility for the family farm.
Reviews
"The characters really come to life and you feel their pain and pleasure as they live through the sufferings of the Civil War. Its obvious why the characters and their situations are so real: they were based on real life people, family letters and stories told by the author's grandfather, who was nine years old at the beginning of the war and was an eyewitness to this fascinating period of history."
"Across Five Aprils is one of the best Civil War books written for readers of any age."
"I H-A-D to read this book in Jr. High, I think."
"This is a touching story of the Civil War and the heartache and tragedy that befell families who had offered up their sons, brothers, fathers, etc."
"I read the book too."
"This story of the United States' greatest conflict, as seen through the eyes of a young boy in rural Illinois is rich in detail, feeling and grit."
"great book my son enjoyed it and the he especially loved the fact that the text is large enough to see which apparently has been a problem with some other books we've purchased lately."
"This historical novel was a wonderful book for both youth and adults."
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Best Teen & Young Adult US Colonial & Revolutionary Fiction eBooks

Fever 1793
But when the fever begins to strike closer to home, Mattie's struggle to build a new life must give way to a new fight-the fight to stay alive. Later, after much hardship and terror, they return to the deserted town to find their former cook, a freed slave, working with the African Free Society, an actual group who undertook to visit and assist the sick and saved many lives. As first frost arrives and the epidemic ends, Mattie's sufferings have changed her from a willful child to a strong, capable young woman able to manage her family's business on her own. The opening scene of Anderson's ambitious novel about the yellow fever epidemic that ravaged Philadelphia in the late 18th century shows a hint of the gallows humor and insight of her previous novel, Speak. Sixteen-year-old Matilda "Mattie" Cook awakens in the sweltering summer heat on August 16th, 1793, to her mother's command to rouse and with a mosquito buzzing in her ear.
Reviews
"Great book."
"Laurie clearly does her research (very Gabaldon-esqe) and puts together a gripping historical fiction tale that moved me and caused me to stay up late just to find out what happened next!"
"This story does a nice job so describing the setting and context of the epidemic as well as showing the hard work everyone did during the time."
"The Yellow Fever epidemic is very frightening to anyone who lived through it and our heroine makes the reader comprehend all aspects of it."
"My daughter and I loved this book!"
"I've long known about the yellow fever epidemic in Philadelphia but this book brought it to life through the eyes of the protagonist."
"A neighbor read it and liked it."
"I loved it, it started out kind of slow then built up until you couldn't put it down like a good story should."
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