Anonymous wrote:Here's a great list of historical fiction for kids with book descriptions and age/grade recommendations:

http://needhamma.gov/index.aspx?NID=1723

Not the OP but thank you so much for this link - its amazingly helpful!!!

Here's a great list of historical fiction for kids with book descriptions and age/grade recommendations:

http://needhamma.gov/index.aspx?NID=1723

Adam of the Road (set in 13th Century England) is very good.

Scott O'Dell's excellent The Black Pearl was about contemporary La Paz, Baja California, but is now more than 45 years old and the La Paz in the book is nothing like the La Paz of today.

The Matchlock Gun (about the French-Indian War) is well-written, too.

Shadow on the mountain by Margi Preus is based on the journals of a 13 year old boy who delivered messages for the Resistance during WWII in his native Norway. It's fantastic, gripping stuff.

Anonymous wrote:Farmer Boy by Laura Ingalls Wilder is about Laura's husband, Almanzo, when he was a boy. Great book.

Yes, great book. And the rest of the series is great too, even if it does feature girls -- lots of stuff about pioneer lifestyles.

Other recommendations:

Otto of the Silver Hand
My Side of the Mountain (not really historical but lots of outdoors-y stuff if this is of interest, and written so long ago that it might as well be historical for kids today)
Call of the Wild by Jack London

Thanks so much! I was obsessed with the Great Brain books as a kid--I didn't think anyone else remembered them! They are hard to find in the libraries. I re-read the first one with them, and man, do those boys beat the crap out of each other! It kind of makes you think about how much societal expectations have changed in 100 years.

Anonymous wrote:Farmer Boy by Laura Ingalls Wilder is about Laura's husband, Almanzo, when he was a boy. Great book.

This was my favorite from the Little House series!

Carolyn Reeder has wonderful historical fiction with male protagonists for elementary readers. Shades of Grey is excellent, but you pretty much can't go wrong with any of her stuff.

If he likes the Civil War, Rifles for Watie is also excellent, but probably best for like 5-7th grade.

Anonymous wrote:I suggest:
Time Spies series (one step up from Magic Treehouse)
Dan Gutman's baseball card series (e.g., Jackie & Me)
The Great Brain
By the Great Horned Spoon
Bud, Not Buddy
George Washington's Sox (and the sequel)
The Time Cat

DD loved these books!

The Genius Files series is also great. Same author (Dan Gutman). Takes place in the present - not historical fiction - but is about a family road trip across the US and includes a lot of interesting factual information along the way. The kids are secret spies, which DD loved.

Gutman also wrote a few "Qwerty Stevens" books, which involve historical characters. Wish he wrote more of them. Good stuff: http://www.amazon.com/Back-Time-Benjamin-Franklin-Adventure/dp/0689878842

I was just about to suggest The Great Brain series, but PP beat me to it. Fiction, set in Utah in the late 19th century.

Homer Price, great stories about small town life in the 1940s.

Several folks mentioned Johnny Tremain, which I also loved.

I suggest:
Time Spies series (one step up from Magic Treehouse)
Dan Gutman's baseball card series (e.g., Jackie & Me)
The Great Brain
By the Great Horned Spoon
Bud, Not Buddy
George Washington's Sox (and the sequel)
The Time Cat

He does read a lot of non-fiction. I'm mainly trying to improve the quality of his non-fiction reading. He reads a lot of really lousy graphic novels (not saving all graphic novels are lousy -- but it seems like they got really popular a few years ago, and there is a lot out there with absolutely no plot, no character development, nothing that I would characterize as real fiction writing.) He does enjoy the historical fiction he reads, and loves to then share little facts with me about the history he learned, so that's why I'm looking in this area. When my daughter was at this age, the historical American Girl books were so good, and really pretty well written (if a little predictable)...but I think the fact that they are branded with a doll company will make it a no-go with my son.

Thanks for all the great suggestions! I had not heard of many of these authors. DCUM at its best ... parents helping other parents!