Book picks similar to
Viking Blood: A Viking Warrior, 1008 AD by Andrew Donkin
historical-fiction
history
vikings
fiction
Black Radishes
Susan Lynn Meyer - 2010
The French believe that their army can protect them from Nazi Germany. But is Paris a safe place for Jews? Gustave’s parents don’t think so. Forced to leave behind his best friend, the mischievous Marcel, and his cousin Jean-Paul, Gustave moves with his mother and father to Saint-Georges, a small village in the countryside. During April and May, Nazi Germany invades one country after another. In June, the French army is defeated, and Paris is occupied. Saint-Georges is still part of the free zone, but the situation there is becoming increasingly precarious.Then Gustave meets Nicole, a Catholic girl who works for the French Resistance. Along with her father, Nicole tries to find a way to smuggle Jean-Paul, Marcel, and their families into Free France so that they can all escape to America. It is Gustave, however, who comes up with a plan that just might work. But going into Occupied France is a risky thing to do when you are Jewish. Inspired by her father’s experiences as a Jewish child living in France during World War II, Susan Lynn Meyer tells the story of a family’s day-to-day struggles in a country that may not be able to keep its promise of “Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity.”
Our Castle by the Sea
Lucy Strange - 2019
Lucy Strange takes a seafaring myth and grounds it in the stark reality of World War II.Growing up in a lighthouse, 11-year-old Pet's world has been one of storms, secret tunnels, and stories about sea monsters. But now the country is at war and the clifftops are a terrifying battleground. Pet will need to muster all her bravery to uncover why her family is being torn apart. This is the story of a girl who is afraid and unnoticed. A girl who freezes with fear at the enemy planes ripping through the skies overheard. A girl who is somehow destined to become part of the strange, ancient legend of the Daughters of Stone.
D'Aulaires' Book of Norse Myths
Ingri d'Aulaire - 1967
Children meet Bragi, the god of poetry, and the famous Valkyrie maidens, among other gods, goddesses, heroes, and giants. Illustrations throughout depict the wondrous other world of Norse folklore and its fantastical Northern landscape.
The Blackthorn Key
Kevin Sands - 2015
With time running out, Christopher must use every skill he’s learned to discover the key to a terrible secret with the power to tear the world apart.
Land of the Buffalo Bones: The Diary of Mary Ann Elizabeth Rodgers, An English Girl in Minnesota
Marion Dane Bauer - 2003
Promising religious freedom and fertile land, Polly's father, Reverend Rodgers, moves their Baptist community from England to the Minnesota prairie. After a treacherous journey across the sea and across this country, Polly finds that it is no paradise at all. Written with incredible heart and compassion, insight and sensitivity, Marion Dane Bauer has created one of the most sophisticated and courageous characters Dear America has seen.
The Second Mrs. Gioconda
E.L. Konigsburg - 1975
Konigsburg could create such an intriguing answer to the puzzle behind the most famous painting of all time.
Blood on the River: James Town, 1607
Elisa Carbone - 2006
So when he becomes the page of Captain John Smith and boards the ship the Susan Constant, bound for the New World, he can't believe his good fortune. He's heard that gold washes ashore with every tide. But beginning with the stormy journey and his first contact with the native people, he realizes that the New World is nothing like he had ever imagined. The lush Virginia shore where they establish the colony of James Town is both beautiful and forbidding, and it s hard to know who's a friend or foe. As he learns the language of the Algonquin Indians and observes Captain Smith's wise diplomacy, Samuel begins to see that he can be whomever he wants to be in this new land.
Men of Iron
Howard Pyle - 1891
Set in the 15th century, it is a juvenile "coming of age" work in which a young squire, Myles Falworth, seeks not only to become a knight but to eventually redeem his father's honor. In Chapter 24 the knighthood ceremony is presented and described as it would be in a non-fiction work concerning knighthood and chivalry. Descriptions of training equipment are also given throughout.In 1954 it was made into a movie called The Black Shield of Falworth.
Weetamoo: Heart of the Pocassets, Massachusetts - Rhode Island, 1653
Patricia Clark Smith - 2001
The pilgrims -- called Coat-men by the Wampanoag -- have settled here in the natives' territory at Patuxit, a place that the Pilgrims have renamed Plymouth. Weetamoo's father, Corbitant, is sachem, or chief, of the Pocassets. He is mistrustful of the colonists and imparts his beliefs about them to his daughter, who is next in line to become chief. Weetamoo must learn the fundamental values and disciplines of a true Pocasset chief.
When Christmas Comes Again: The World War I Diary of Simone Spencer
Beth Seidel Levine - 2002
Her beloved brother Will goes off to war, and Simone seeks a way to help. The passionate daughter of a feisty French mother and a rebellious upper-class father, Simone is not cut out for the society life she is meant to lead. So, when General Pershing calls for French-speaking American girls to operate the switchboards on the Western Front, Simone becomes one of the first brave "Hello Girls" whose courage helps lead the Allies to victory. In the end, Christmas brings the Spencers back together again.
Shades of Gray
Carolyn Reeder - 1989
How could they have, when the Yankees were responsible for the deaths of everyone in his entire immediate family?And now Will has to leave his comfortable home in the Shenandoah Valley and live with relatives he has never met, people struggling to eke out a living on their farm in the war-torn Virginia Piedmont. But the worst of it is that Will's uncle Jed had refused to fight for the Confederacy.At first, Will regards his uncle as a traitor or at least a coward. But as they work side by side, Will begins to respect the man. And when he sees his uncle stand up for what he believes in, Will realizes that he must rethink his definition of honor and courage.
Lady of Palenque : Flower of Bacal, Mesoamerica, A.D. 749
Anna Kirwan - 2004
749, through the eyes of Princess Green Jay, Lady of Palenque.A political marriage is arranged between the thirty-three-year-old king of Xukpip and Princess Green Jay, the thirteen-year-old daughter of the king of Lakamha. The two are paired because of similar horoscopes -- and Green Jay possesses skills that will be valuable to her husband-to-be: She can read and write. Author Anna Kirwan relates fascinating aspects of ancient Mayan culture as she shares the young princess's physical and emotional state from the betrothal, with its distressing rituals, through her arduous journey to a foreign land and people, and a husband who is a complete stranger.
The Gilded Girl
Alyssa Colman - 2021
Those denied access to the secrets of the kindling ritual will see their magic snuffed out before their thirteenth birthday.
In 1906 New York City, Miss Posterity’s Academy for Practical Magic is the best kindling school―and wealthy twelve-year-old Emma Harris is accustomed to the best. But when her father dies, leaving her penniless, Emma is reduced to working off her debts to Miss Posterity alongside Izzy, a headstrong servant girl who refuses to let her magic be snuffed out, even if society dictates she must. Emma and Izzy reluctantly form a pact: If Izzy teaches Emma how to survive as a servant, Emma will reveal to Izzy what she knows about magic. Along the way, they encounter shy libraries, quizzes that literally pop, and talking cats (that is, house dragons). But when another student’s kindling goes horribly wrong, Emma, Izzy, and their unexpected new friends embark on a journey to keep magic in the right hands . . . or else there’s a risk it will be snuffed out forever.
The Secret School
Avi - 2001
To do that, she must finish eighth grade, then go on to high school. But her dream falters when the one-room school in her remote Colorado town shuts down. Her only hope is to keep the school open without anyone finding out. Yet even a secret school needs a teacher. Ida can't be it. . . . Or can she?In the spirit of The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle, Newbery Medal winner Avi creates an inspiring story of a headstrong girl determined to control her own destiny.
Rush Revere and the Brave Pilgrims
Rush Limbaugh - 2013
In this book, he is transported back to the deck of the Mayflower.