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Historical Fiction | Page 32 | LitPick Book Reviews
Historical Fiction
The Time Pirate: A Nick McIver Time Adventure (Nick McIver Adventures Through Time)
The Time Pirate
Ted Bell
A thrilling sequel to the instant New York Times bestseller Nick of Time, in which the young time traveler Nick McIver must prove his courage once more, on two fronts: in World War Two–era England, where Nazis have invaded his homeland, and in America during the Revolution, where Nick stands shoulder to shoulder with General George WashingtonIt’s 1940 and the Nazis are invading Nick’s beloved home, the British Channel Islands. So Nick takes to the skies: He has discovered an old World War One fighter plane in an abandoned barn. Determined to learn to fly, he is soon risking life and limb to photograph armed German minelayers and patrol boats, and executing incredibly perilous bombing raids over Nazi airfields by night.Meanwhile, the evil pirate, Captain Billy Blood, still desperate to acquire Nick’s time machine, returns to Greybeard Island. He kidnaps Nick’s sister, Kate, and transports her back to Port Royal, Jamaica, in the year 1781, leaving Nick a message that if he wants to see her alive again, he must come to Jamaica and make an even swap: Kate’s life in exchange for Nick’s wondrous time machine—that’s Blood’s bargain.Having traveled back in time, Nick discovers a plot that might change the outcome of the American Revolution. Disguised as an eighteenth-century cabin boy, he travels to the Caribbean and confronts his old enemy, who has assembled the world’s largest pirate armada.From the battlefields of the New World to the brutal German occupation of English soil in World War Two, The Time Pirate has Nick McIver fighting once again to defend his country, the outcome of two wars resting on his young shoulders.

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Z for Zachariah
Z for Zachariah
Robert C. O'Brien
Seemingly the only person left alive after a nuclear war, a sixteen-year-old girl is relieved to see a man arrive into her valley until she realizes that he is a tyrant and she must somehow escape.

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Anastasia's Secret
Anastasia's Secret
Susanne Dunlap
When Princess Anastasia Romanov's life is torn apart by revolution, she and her family are exiled to Siberia. As their captivity stretches out, the threat of death by firing squad grows stronger. But despite the menacing circumstances, a secret romance blossoms between Anastasia and a young guard named Sasha. Will their love prove strong enough to help Anastasia and her family? Inspired by the mysteries surrounding the Romanovs, this is a compelling and romantic vision of what might have been."[This] magnetic reimagining of Anastasia's story has the potential to reach a broad audience." -Publishers Weekly

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Tunes for Bears to Dance To
Tunes For Bears To Dance To
Robert Cormier
A masterful portrayal of hatred, prejudice and manipulation that challenges readers to examine how they would behave in the face of evil. Henry meets and befriends Mr. Levine, an elderly Holocaust survivor, who is carving a replica of the village where he lived and which was destroyed in the war. Henry's friendship with Mr. Levine is put to the test when his prejudiced boss, Mr. Hairston, asks Henry to destroy Mr. Levine's village.

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Thunder on the Tennessee
Thunder on the Tennessee
G. Clifton Wisler
Dreaming of honor and glory when he leaves home to fight the Yankees with his father, Willie Delamer is completely unprepared for the harsh realities of war and the tragedy that hits his family. Reprint.

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Time Enough for Drums
Time Enough For Drums
Ann Rinaldi
Sixteen-year-old Jem struggles to maintain the status quo at home in Trenton, New Jersey, when the family men join the war for independence.There are signs of rebellion in the Emerson household several years before the actual American Revolution hits in 1776! Brought up in a relatively liberal household, Jemima Emerson is quite a challenge for her tutor, John Reid, who is known as a Tory with strong ties to England. How could Jem's parents be friends with a man who opposes American freedom? Jem longs for freedom on every level, in the home and her homeland--and John represents the forces that restrict her.Jem and her family soon find themselves fighting for freedom in whatever ways they can in the Revolutionary War. Before long, Jem discovers that there is much more to Mr. Reid than she ever imagined. Her feelings about him change when Jem realizes that John shares her love of freedom--and will risk his life to defend it.

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The Trumpeter of Krakow
The Trumpeter of Krakow
Janina Domanska, Eric P. Kelly
A Polish family in the Middle Ages guards a great secret treasure and a boy's memory of an earlier trumpeter of Krakow makes it possible for him to save his father.

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The Upstairs Room (Trophy Newbery)
The Upstairs Room
Johanna Reiss
Newbery Honor Book • ALA Notable Book • An SLJ Best Book • A Jane Addams Award Honor Book • Winner of the Jewish Book Council Children’s Book AwardA classic WWII survivor story based on award-winning author Johanna Reiss’s own childhood during the Holocaust.When the German army occupied Holland in 1940, Annie was only eight years old. Because she was Jewish, the occupation put her in grave danger. Most people thought the war wouldn’t last long, but Annie knew that if she wanted to stay alive, she would have to go into hiding.Fortunately, a Gentile family, the Oostervelds, offered refuge to Annie and her older sister, Sini. For two years they hid in the cramped upstairs room of the Oostervelds’s remote farmhouse. There, Annie and Sini would struggle to hold on to hope—separated from their family and confined to one tiny room—as a frightful and seemingly endless war raged on outside their window.This classic autobiographical novel is a strong choice for classroom sharing and independent reading.

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The Witch of Blackbird Pond
The Witch of Blackbird Pond
Elizabeth George Speare
Orphaned Kit Tyler knows, as she gazes for the first time at the cold, bleak shores of Connecticut Colony, that her new home will never be like the shimmering Caribbean island she left behind. In her relatives' stern Puritan community, she feels like a tropical bird that has flown to the wrong part of the world, a bird that is now caged and lonely. The only place where Kit feels completely free is in the meadows, where she enjoys the company of the old Quaker woman known as the Witch of Blackbird Pond, and on occasion, her young sailor friend Nat. But when Kit's friendship with the "witch" is discovered, Kit is faced with suspicion, fear, and anger. She herself is accused of witchcraft!

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The Speedwell Voyage: A Tale of Pirzcy and Mutiny in the 18th Century
The Speedwell Voyage
Kenneth Poolman
This tale of real-life adventure on the high seas brings readers back to 1718, when the 22-gun privateer Speedwell set sail under the command of George Shelvocke. With authentic period detail and rich characterizations, Royal Navy veteran Kenneth Poolman recounts mutinies, sea battles, piracy, storms, and shipwrecks, recreating the epic voyage that inspired the classic "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner," and will thrill readers who love the romance and drama of the sea."The fullest account of the voyage we have had and the only modern account....This book is eminently readable." --Nathan Miller, author of The U.S. Navy: A History"A winner... Poolman has done a good job of swotting up on his source material to make this story authentic." --Dewey Lambdin, author of the Alan Lewrie Naval Adventure series

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