9th-12th Grade Historical Fiction

The Septembers of Shiraz (2007), a novel by Iranian writer Dalia Sofer, recounts the experiences of the Amins, an Iranian Jewish family, during the Iranian Revolution in the late 1970s. The book is closely based on Sofer’s family history: When Sofer was 10, her family fled Iran, crossing the border to Turkey with the help of smugglers. The Septembers of Shiraz depicts the changing atmosphere and events that characterize the treatment of the wealthy class... Read The Septembers Of Shiraz Summary

The Silent Boy (2003) is a young adult historical fiction novel written by Lois Lowry. Lowry is most famous for writing The Giver, which won the Newberry Medal in 1994. A series of photos inspired Lowry to write The Silent Boy, and these grainy, somber images appear throughout the book at the beginning of each chapter, firmly rooting the novel in the early 1900s. The photos help frame the novel as a series of recollections... Read The Silent Boy Summary

The Sisters Brothers is a 2011 novel by Canadian writer Patrick DeWitt. Set in 1851, it traces the journey of Charlie and Eli Sisters, two hired killers traveling from Oregon to San Francisco to find a man called Warm, who allegedly stole something from their boss, the Commodore. The darkly comic Western is in the picaresque genre, as the brothers’ episodic misadventures explore different communities populating the American West.The Sisters Brothers is divided into 64... Read The Sisters Brothers Summary

Composed at the turn of the 12th century, La Chanson de Roland (translated as The Song of Roland) recounts the events surrounding the Battle of Roncevaux Pass in 778 CE. The Song of Roland is likely the oldest surviving poem in French and was immensely popular across Europe during the Middle Ages. The poem establishes many tropes and themes that have come to characterize medieval chivalric romances, but Roland is also an epic poem in... Read The Song of Roland Summary

The Three Musketeers (1844), by French novelist and playwright Alexandre Dumas, is a novel that borrows tropes from the swashbuckling genre, historical fiction, and romance to recount the adventures of a group of king’s guard who face off against the machinations of nefarious political factions set on destabilizing the monarchy. It was first published through serialization in 1844 to great popularity. Though set in the mid-1600s, the novel connected with the philosophical underpinnings of the... Read The Three Musketeers Summary

Ties That Bind, Ties That Break (1999) is a young adult historical novel by Lensey Namioka that won the 2000 Washington State Book Award and the 2004 California Young Readers Medal for Young Adults. It focuses on a young Chinese girl growing up during a revolutionary period in the 1920s who refuses to have her feet bound as tradition dictates. A sequel, An Ocean Apart, A World Away (2002) focuses on the main character’s best... Read Ties That Bind, Ties That Break Summary

Uprising is a novel of historical fiction by Margaret Peterson Haddix. The story revolves around a 1911 New York fire at The Triangle shirtwaist factory that killed 146 immigrant workers. The Triangle firefollowed a citywide strike led by the shirtwaist workers that served to summon great public interest. Thus, the fire was perceived as not only a great tragedy, but an inciting symbol for the Labor Movement in the Industrial Revolution.Haddix’s narrative interweaves the perspectives of... Read Uprising Summary

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Wolf by Wolf (2015) is the first title in an alternative history series by young adult author Ryan Graudin. The first book in the series was named an Amazon Book of the Year and also made the list of Huffington Post’s Top Ten Young Adult Books of the Year. The sequel, entitled Blood for Blood (2016), covers events that take place shortly after the end of Wolf by Wolf. The short fiction title Iron to... Read Wolf by Wolf Summary