Grades: 6 and up
Title / Author / ISBN / Description
Journey to the Bottomless Pit / Elizabeth Mitchell / 0-670-05908-0
Viking / This is the story of Stephen Bishop, a slave who explored and mapped Kentucky’s Mammoth Cave. The book follows his life as a slave, tour guide, explorer, and finally free man. The book includes maps and drawings, as well as historical information about this national park.
The Forbidden Schoolhouse / Suzanne Jurmain / 0-618-47302-5
Houghton Mifflin / After Prudence Crandall opened a boarding school in Connecticut in October of 1831, she faced one of the toughest decisions of her life. Sarah Harris, an African American girl asked to be admitted to the school. Eventually, Prudence decided to reopen her school for only African American girls, a decision that rocked her small town. Even in the north, she and her students faced prejudices. The Forbidden Schoolhouse includes photos and first person accounts.
The Long Road to Gettysburg
(Golden Kite Award, ALA Best Book for Young Adults, School Library Journal Best Book of the Year) / Jim Murphy / 0-618-05157-0
Houghton Mifflin / The Long Road to Gettysburg follows a Confederate and a Union soldier through this battle of the Civil War. The books includes information on both sides’ plans, as well as first person accounts of the battle. The book includes maps, illustrations, and photographs, and explains the outcome of the battle and war.
The Voice That Challenged a Nation
(Newbery Honor, Siebert Award) / Russell Freedman / 0-618-15976-2
Clarion Books / When Marian Anderson was not permitted to sing in Constitution Hall because she was an African American, first lady Eleanor Roosevelt dropped her membership in the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) in protest. This biography follows the life of Anderson from her childhood singing in the church choir, her struggle to get voice lessons, her civil rights struggle, and finally to her later life. Readers will learn not only of her life, but also of her spirit and willingness to face adversity.
Lincoln: A Photobiography (Newbery Medal) / Russell Freedman / 0-395-51848-2
Clarion Books / This biography of Lincoln gives a detailed picture of the sixteenth president’s life from childhood, through the Civil War, to his assassination at Ford’s Theater. The book is filled with photos of Lincoln, his family, and home.
Good Brother, Bad Brother / James Cross Giblin / 0-618-09642-6 / Brothers Edwin Booth and John Wilkes Booth were among the best known actors in the country. They performed all across the country. Although Edwin performed until late in his life, it is John Wilkes who history has remembered. Forgotten are his leading roles. He is remembered for only one act: his assassination of President Lincoln.
Good Brother, Bad Brother is the riveting tale of two brothers whose lives went in different directions. We see the assassination through Edwin Booth’s eyes. The book is filled with photos and first person accounts.
The Boys War: Confederate and Union Soldiers Talk About the Civil War / Jim Murphy / 0-395-66412-8
Clarion Books / We often hear stories about the soldiers who fought in the Civil War. But this book examines the lives of young boys who, often by lying about their age, enlisted in the war. Includes excerpts from diaries, letters, and memoirs to reconstruct the lives of these boys at war.
J. Dewing, 2008