Good Reads

Book Lists - American Revolution

Picture Books

Katie's Trunk by Ann Warren Turner ( jP) - Katie, whose family is not sympathetic to the rebel soldiers during the American Revolution, hides under the clothes in her mother's wedding trunk when they invade her home.

Easy Readers

18 Penny Goose by Sally M. Walker ( jE) - Eight-year-old Letty attempts to save her pet goose from marauding British soldiers in New Jersey during the Revolutionary War.
Boston Coffee Party by Doreen Rappaport ( jE) - During the Revolutionary War, two young sisters help a group of Boston women get coffee from a greedy merchant.
Sam the Minuteman by Nathaniel Benchley ( jE) - An easy-to-read account of Sam and his father fighting as minutemen against the British in the Battle of Lexington.
Six Silver Spoons by Janette Sebring Lowrey ( jE) - A Boston brother and sister travel to their grandmother's house on the eve of the battle at Concord.

Chapter Books

Battlefield Ghost by Margery Cuyler (J) (contemporary) - When fourth grader John and his sister Lisa move into an old house in Princeton, New Jersey, they find it haunted by the ghost of a Hessian soldier from the Revolutionary War and try to reunite him with the ghost of his beloved horse.
Daughter of Liberty by Robert M. Quackenbush (J) - A chance encounter with General George Washington in upstate New York during the Revolutionary War leads a young woman to volunteer for a dangerous mission involving the retrieval of valuable papers.
Early Thunder by Jean Fritz (J) - Events rapidly transpiring in Salem, Massachusetts in 1774-1775 force 14-year-old Daniel West to re-examine his loyalties, and finally, to change from Tory to Whig.
Guns for General Washington by Seymour Reit (J ) - Frustrated with life under seige in George Washington's army, nineteen-year-old Will Knox and his brother Colonel Henry Knox undertake the task of moving 183 cannons from Fort Ticonderoga to Boston in the dead of winter.
Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes (J - Newbery) - After injuring his hand, a silversmith's apprentice in Boston becomes a messenger for the Sons of Liberty in the days before the American Revolution.
Keeping Room by Anna Myers (J ) - Left in charge of the family by his father who joins the Revolutionary War effort, thirteen-year-old Joey undergoes such great changes that he fears he may be betraying his beloved parent.
My Brother Sam is Dead by James Lincoln Collier (J) - 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.
Phoebe the Spy by Judith Berry Griffith (J) - During the Revolution, Phoebe Fraunces has a chance to save the life of General George Washington while he has dinner at Mortier House in New York City.
Riddle of Pencroft Farm by Dorothea Jensen (J) (contemporary) - Lars Olafson's move to a farm near Valley Forge brings him friendship with the ghost of an eighteenth-century ancestor, who recounts for him his adventures in that part of Pennsylvania during the American Revolution.
Rifle by Gary Paulsen (J) (contemporary) - A priceless, handcrafted rifle, fired throughout the American Revolution, is passed down through the years until it fires on a fateful Christmas Eve of 1994.
Secret of Van Rink's Cellar by Beverly Haskell Lee (J) - While searching for the ghost that haunts the house in which their mother is a maid and dressmaker for an English officer's wife, Sarah and Stephen become secretly involved in the Revolutionary War effort.
Sign Painter's Secret by Dorothy Hoobler (J) - When the Redcoats occupy her house in Philadelphia, young Annie MacDougal finds a way to help General Washington's troops at Valley Forge.
Spy in the King's Colony by Lisa Banim (J) - In British-occupied Boston in 1776, eleven-year-old Emily Parker is determined to find out if a family friend is a traitor to the American patriots.
This Time, Tempe Wick? by Patricia Lee Gauch (J) - Everyone knew Tempe Wick was a most surprising girl, but they found out just how surprising when two mutinous Revolutionary soldiers tried to steal her beloved horse.
Thomas by Bonnie Pryor (J) - In the early years of the Revolutionary War, eleven-year-old Thomas and his family escape a bloody massacre at Wyoming Valley and endure innumerable hardships as they try to make their way to Philadelphia.
Thomas in Danger Bonnie Pryon (J) Having lost their home when the Revolutionary War reached their part of rural Pennsylvania, Thomas and his family start a new life running an inn in Philadelphia, where Thomas finds new danger that takes him into captivity among the Iroquois. (Sequel to "Thomas")
Winter of Red Snow by Kristiana Gregory (J) - Eleven-year-old Abigail presents a diary account of life in Valley Forge from December 1777 to July 1778 as General Washington prepares his troops to fight the British.

Last Updated: 10/5/07