Entering Grade 5

Historical Fiction

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Al Capone series by Gennifer Choldenko
Book 1: Al Capone Does My Shirts
When his father gets a job working at Alcatraz (a prison for the worst of the worst), twelve-year-old Moose is surprised and worried to learn that he and his family will live on the island along with criminals like Al Capone.
Birchbark House series
Book 4: Chickadee by Louise Erdrich
In Ojibwe stories, the chickadee, although small, has great power. When Chickadee, a member of the Ojibwe people, is separated from his twin brother and the rest of his family in 1860’s America he must remember the story of his namesake bird to survive.
The Book of Boy by Catherine Gilbert Murdock
Mocked in his village for his humped back, Boy willingly leaves to go on a medieval treasure hunt across Europe to recover relics of St. Peter.

Echo Mountain by Lauren Wolk
After Ellie's family loses everything in the Great Depression, they move to a primitive cabin in the woods. When Ellie is blamed for an accident that leaves her father in a coma, she seeks solace in her beloved forest, but  encounters a mysterious woman the locals call "the hag."  Can this woman save her father?
A Medal for Leroy by Michael Morpurgo
Michael learns about his British Army soldier grandfather, a World War I officer who risked his life to save wounded men but never received special commendations because of his race.
Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales series by Nathan Hale
Book 1: One Dead Spy
(also by this author: One Trick Pony)
The author begins his series retelling the roughest, toughest, craziest stories from history with this tale of his namesake, Nathan Hale, America’s first spy. (graphic novel)
The War That Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley
(sequel: The War I Finally Won)
When her brother is evacuated from London during wartime, Ada determines to follow him, even though her abusive mother has never allowed her out of their apartment.
We Dream of Space by Erin Entrada Kelly
In 1986, just before a launch of the space shuttle Challenger, siblings Cash, Fitch and Bird have very different concerns, from worrying about failing seventh grade (Cash), dealing with an explosive temper (Fitch), and feeling invisible (Bird).  About the only thing they have in common is an enthusiastic science teacher who splits her students up into "spacecraft crews" to prepare for the launch of a space mission.
Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick
Both Ben and Rose set out on a quest to find something important to them.  Rose’s story, told in pictures, and Ben’s story, told in words, weave back and forth to tell a complex tale.