Things for Teens - Book Lists

America's Beginnings: Colonialism and Revolution in America

The words Teen, Children and Adult let you know where in the library you can find the book.

The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing…Volume I, The Pox Party by M.T. Anderson – 2007 - Teen

Various diaries, letters, and other manuscripts chronicle the experiences of Octavian, a young African American, from birth to age sixteen, as he is brought up as part of a science experiment in the years leading up to and during the Revolutionary War. Sequel The Kingdom on the Waves

Beyond the Burning Time by Kathryn Lasky – 1994 - Teen
When, in the winter of 1691, accusations of witchcraft surface in her small New England village, twelve-year-old Mary Chase fights to save her mother from execution.

Bloody Jack by L.A. Meyer – 2002 – Teen

Reduced to begging and thievery in the streets of London, a thirteen-year-old orphan disguises herself as a boy and connives her way onto a British warship set for high sea adventure in search of pirates. Sequels: Curse of the Blue Tattoo, Under the Jolly Roger, In the Belly of the Bloodhound, & Mississippi Jack.

Cast Two Shadows by Ann Rinaldi – 1998 - Teen
In South Carolina in 1780, fourteen-year-old Caroline sees the Revolutionary War take a terrible toll among her family and friends and comes to understand the true nature of war.

The Color of Fire by Ann Rinaldi – 2005 - Teen

Someone is setting fires in New York City in 1741. Phoebe, an enslaved girl, watches as the town erupts into mass hysteria when the whites in New York City convince themselves that the black slaves are planning an uprising. Her best friend, Cuffee, is implicated in the plot, and the king's men promise to let him go if he names names.

Fever 1793 by Laurie Anderson – 2000 - Teen
In 1793 Philadelphia, sixteen-year-old Matilda Cook, separated from her sick mother, learns about perseverance and self-reliance when she is forced to cope with the horrors of a yellow fever epidemic.

The Fighting Ground by Avi - 1984 - Children
Thirteen-year-old Jonathan goes off to fight in the Revolutionary War and discovers the real war is being fought within himself.

The Game of Silence by Louise Erdrich – 2005 - Children
One day in 1850, Omakayas's island in Lake Superior is visited by a group of mysterious people. From them, she learns that the chimookomanag, or white people, want Omakayas and her people to leave their island and move farther west.  That day, Omakayas realizes that something so valuable, so important that she never knew she had it in the first place, could be in danger: Her way of life. Her home. Sequel to The Birchbark House.

Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes - 1943 - Children
A fourteen year-old silversmith apprentice finds himself tragically injured and fighting in the Revolutionary war. Newbery Award Winner.

Just Jane by William Lavender – 2002 - Teen

Fourteen-year-old Jane Prentice, orphaned daughter of an English earl, arrives in Charleston, South Carolina, in 1776 to find her family and her loyalties divided over the question of American independence.

The Minister’s Daughter by Julie Hearn – 2005 - Teen

In 1645 in England, the daughters of the town minister successfully accuse a local healer and her granddaughter of witchcraft to conceal an out-of-wedlock pregnancy.  Years later during the 1692 Salem trials their lie has unexpected repercussions.

My Brother Sam is Dead by James Lincoln Collier - 1974 - Children
Recounts the tragedy that strikes the Meeker family during the Revolution when one son joins the rebel forces while the rest of the family tries to stay neutral in a Tory town.

Pirates by Celia Rees – 2003 – Teen

Nancy Kington, daughter of a rich merchant is suddenly orphaned and sent to live on her family's plantation in Jamaica. Disgusted by the treatment of the slaves and her brother's willingness to marry her off, she and one of the slaves, Minerva, run away and join a band of pirates. Together they go in search of adventure, love, and a new life that breaks all restrictions of gender, race, and position.

Sacajawea: The Story of Bird Woman and the Lewis and Clark Expedition by Joseph Bruchac – 2000 - Teen
Sacajawea, a Shoshoni Indian interpreter, peacemaker, and guide, and William Clark alternate in describing their experiences on the Lewis and Clark Expedition to the Northwest.

Winter People by Joseph Bruchac – 2002 - Teen
As the French and Indian War rages in October of 1759, Saxso, a fourteen-year-old Abenaki boy, pursues the English rangers who have attacked his village and taken his mother and sisters hostage.

Witch Child by Celia Reese – 2000 - Teen
In 1659, fourteen-year-old Mary Newbury keeps a journal of her voyage from England to the New World and her experiences living as a witch in a community of Puritans near Salem, Massachusetts. Sequel: Sorceress

Year of the Hangman by Gary Blackwood – 2002 - Teen
In 1777, having been kidnapped and taken forcibly from England to the American colonies, fifteen-year-old Creighton becomes part of developments in the political unrest there that may spell defeat for the patriots and change the course of history.

compiled from various web and print sources updated 1/08

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