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United States Historical Fiction

Civil War - 1860 to 1865

All books can be found by the author's last name in the Juvenile Fiction area unless noted on the booklist.

Alphin, Elaine Marie (J)
Ghost Soldier
Alexander, in North Carolina while his father decides whether to remarry and move there, meets the ghost of a Confederate soldier and helps him look for his family.

Brenaman, Miriam (J)
Evvy's Civil War
In Virginia in 1860, on the verge of the Civil War, fourteen-year-old Evvy chafes at the restrictions that her society places on both women and slaves.

Crisp, Marty (J)
Private Captain: A Story Of Gettysburg
In 1863 Pennsylvania, twelve-year-old Ben and his dog Captain set off in search of Ben's brother, who is missing from the Union Army.

Harness, Cheryl (J)
Ghosts Of The Civil War
The ghost of Willie, President Abraham Lincoln's older son, transports Lindsey back to his own time, where she sees and hears many things from both sides of the Civil War. Includes passages from contemporary documents, a glossary, biographical sketches, and a bibliography.

Hopkinson, Deborah (J)
Our Kansas Home
Charlie and his father are in town when pro-slavery "border ruffians" attack. The men destroy the newspaper, burn the hotel, and threaten Charlie's father. His father must go into hiding, and nine-year-old Charlie returns home alone. Along the way, Charlie's dog sniffs out a runaway slave, Lizzie, whom Charlie takes home with him.

Jones, Elizabeth McDavid (J American Girl)
Watcher In The Piney Woods
In 1865, while helping her family keep their Virginia farm going through the end of the Civil War, twelve-year-old Cassie meets a Confederate deserter and a Yankee prisoner of war and tries to discover who has been stealing from the farm. Series: American Girl History Mysteries

Keehn, Sally M. (J)
Anna Sunday
In 1863 twelve-year-old Anna, disguised as a boy and accompanied by her younger brother Jed, leaves their Pennsylvania home and makes the difficult journey to join their wounded father in Winchester, Virginia, where they find themselves in danger from Confederate troops.

Lyons, Mary E. (J)
Dear Ellen Bee: A Civil War Scrapbook Of Two Union Spies
A scrapbook kept by a young black girl details her experiences and those of the older white woman, "Miss Bet," who had freed her and her family, sent her north from Richmond to get an education, and then worked to bring an end to slavery. Based on the life of Elizabeth Van Lew.

Osborne, Mary Pope (J)
Civil War On Sunday
Jack and Annie are transported by their magic tree house to the time of the Civil War where they meet Clara Barton. Series: Magic Tree House

Owens, L. L. (J)
The Code Of The Drum
After his father dies in a Civil War battle, twelve-year-old Jacob runs away from home to join his father's old regiment as a drummer boy.

Pryor, Bonnie (J)
Joseph's Choice, 1861
In the early days of the Civil War, Joseph must decide whether to defend his stepfather's abolitionist and pro-Union beliefs or side with the slave owners and Southern rights supporters in his hometown of Branson Mills, Kentucky. Sequel to Joseph: A Rumble Of War

Severance, John B. (J)
Braving The Fire
Jem joins the Union Army but is not sure of his motives or what he hopes to accomplish, particularly since the Civil War has divided his family and caused much violence and confusion in his life.

Matas, Carol (YA)
The War Within: A Novel Of The Civil War
In 1862, after Union forces expel Hannah's family from Holly Springs, Mississippi, because they are Jews, Hannah reexamines her views regarding slavery and the war.

Reeder, Carolyn (YA)
Before The Creeks Ran Red
Through the eyes of three different boys, three linked novellas explore the tumultuous times beginning with the secession of South Carolina and leading up to the first major battle of the Civil War. Contents: Timothy Donovan's story, Charleston Harbor, South Carolina: December 20, 1860-April 15, 1861 -- Joseph Schwartz's story, Baltimore, Maryland: April 18-May 15, 1861 - Gregory Howard's story, Alexandria, Virginia: May 16-Mid-June, 1861.

Rinaldi, Ann (YA)
Girl In Blue
As an adolescent, Sarah Louisa Wheelock vowed never to let a man control her. With this unshakable conviction, she abandoned her life on a Michigan farm and disguised herself as a boy so she could fight in the Civil War.