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Historical Fiction | Page 56 | LitPick Book Reviews
Historical Fiction
River of Peril (Goldtown Adventures)
River of Peril
Jem Coulter thinks his family is just on a sightseeing trip to the big city of Sacramento. Then armed bandits hold up the stagecoach for the secret stash they’re carrying: gold for the Union Army fighting the distant Civil War! Suddenly war isn’t so far away; it’s right there on the road to Sacramento, with Jem’s father, the sheriff of Goldtown, fighting against the rebel army’s Knights of the Golden Circle.When the family finally reaches the city, they think they’re safe at last. Setting out to see the sights, Jem, his sister Ellie, and their cousin Nathan make a new friend. But is Henry the pal they think he is? With a father who is a die-hard Confederate, could Henry be in cahoots with the thieves?River of Peril gives readers ages 8 to 12 the fast-moving, exciting adventure they’ve come to expect in this series, as well as a glimpse into the history of post–Gold Rush and Civil War life in 1860s California, with stagecoaches, steamboats, stowaways—and lots of gold!

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Deception's Princess (Princesses of Myth)
Deception's Princess
Some lies lead to true adventure. . . .Maeve, princess of Connacht, was born with her fists clenched. And it's her spirit and courage that make Maeve her father's favorite daughter. But once he becomes the High King, powerful men begin to circle--it's easy to love the girl who brings her husband a kingdom.Yet Maeve is more than a prize to be won, and she's determined to win the right to decide her own fate. In the court's deadly game of intrigue, she uses her wits to keep her father's friends and enemies close--but not too close. When she strikes up an unlikely friendship with the son of a visiting druid, Maeve faces a brutal decision between her loyalty to her family and to her own heart.Award-winning author Esther Friesner has a remarkable gift for combining exciting myth and richly researched history. This fiery heroine's fight for independence in first-century Ireland is truly worthy of a bard's tale. Hand Deception's Princess to fans of Tamora Pierce, Shannon Hale, and Malinda Lo.

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Between Two Worlds
Between Two Worlds
Katherine Kirkpatrick
Inspired by a true story, Between Two Worlds is an impassioned coming-of-age novel set in a land of breathtaking beauty and danger, where nature and love are powerful and unpredictable forces. On the treeless shores of Itta, Greenland, as far north as humans can settle, sixteen-year-old Inuit Billy Bah spots a ship far out among the icebergs on the bay—a sight both welcome and feared. Explorers have already left their indelible mark on her land and its people, and a ship full of white men can mean trouble. The ship carries provisions for Robert E. Peary, who is making an expedition to the North Pole. Peary and Billy Bah have a history—as a child, she spent a year in America with his family. When Peary’s ship gets caught in the ice, Billy Bah sets out on a harrowing quest to find him.  Billy Bah’s journey is one that will bring her to the very literal edge of the earth, imperil her life and question what it means to be between two worlds. “Rich details . . . create a total immersion in Inuit life.” —Publishers Weekly, Starred   “An intriguing viewpoint to a place and time rarely written about in young adult fiction.” —SLJ “A compelling . . .  portrait of a community accustomed to life on the knife edge of survival, of extraordinary beauty and harsh realities. . . . A rare look at culture clash arising from polar exploration.” —Kirkus Reviews 

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White Pine
White Pine: My Year as a Lumberjack and a River Rat
After Sevy Anderson's father breaks his leg in a sawmill accident, the fourteen-year-old must take his place with the rough and tumble lumberjacks and river rats who harvest the white pine forests of Wisconsin. The men of the Northwoods live hard and on the edge, and Sevy must prove his courage and his worth in the company of legends. Will he become the man he so longs to be? Will the other men ever accept him? And will he even survive his first winter in the Northwoods?

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Plague (Secrets and Spies)
Secrets and Spies: Plague
Jo Macauley
Fourteen-year-old Beth Johnson is a talented and beautiful young actress. She is also a spy. It's the summer of 1665, and the horrific Plague is overwhelming London. With so many dead and dying, the King's Master of Secrets, Alan Strange, must entrust Beth with her most important mission yet. With pestilence all around her, will Beth survive long enough to discover who is behind the latest conspiracy to kill the King?

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Calling Wren
Calling Wren
Neil O'Donnell
A son of the Erie Nation, ‘Calling Wren’ called the Niagara Frontier home until his capture at the hands of the Seneca and their Haudenosaunee brethren. In time, after rising from servant to adopted son of the Seneca’s Bear Clan, Calling Wren must make the ultimate decision: join the England-backed Haudenosaunee Confederacy in annihilating the Erie or die standing with the remnants of his Erie kin.

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Hattie's Heroes (Books We Love western romance Book 2)
Hattie's Heroes
Hattie Carson leaves an orphanage that has been her home for years to embark on a trip to California with the Franklin family. How can tending three children be as challenging as ten times that many? A passel of surprises await, including meeting the handsome young man Mr. Franklin hired as an extra hand. It doesn’t take long before Hattie’ll do anything for Billy Monroe, including jumping into a fast-moving river to escape death at the hands of Indians.Billie Monroe really expected to be overrun by a war party when he advised Hattie to swim for safety. Now she’s gone and it’s his fault. The life he planned with her in California is nothing more than a dream…the same dream Hattie’s having while she reads an old faded journal detailing the wagon train’s trip and the past she’s been convinced doesn't really exist.

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Lies We Tell Ourselves (Harlequin Teen)
Lies We Tell Ourselves
Robin Talley
In 1959 Virginia, the lives of two girls on opposite sides of the battle for civil rights will be changed forever. Sarah Dunbar is one of the first black students to attend the previously all-white Jefferson High School. An honors student at her old school, she is put into remedial classes, spit on and tormented daily. Linda Hairston is the daughter of one of the town's most vocal opponents of school integration. She has been taught all her life that the races should be kept "separate but equal." Forced to work together on a school project, Sarah and Linda must confront harsh truths about race, power and how they really feel about one another. Boldly realistic and emotionally compelling, Lies We Tell Ourselves is a brave and stunning novel about finding truth amid the lies, and finding your voice even when others are determined to silence it.

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The Mighty Miss Malone
The MightyMiss Malone
Christopher Paul Curtis
"We are a family on a journey to a place called wonderful" is the motto of Deza Malone's family. Deza is the smartest girl in her class in Gary, Indiana, singled out by teachers for a special path in life. But it's 1936 and the Great Depression has hit Gary hard, and there are no jobs for black men. When her beloved father leaves to find work, Deza, Mother, and her older brother, Jimmie, go in search of him, and end up in a Hooverville outside Flint, Michigan. Jimmie's beautiful voice inspires him to leave the camp to be a performer, while Deza and Mother find a new home, and cling to the hope that they will find Father. The twists and turns of their story reveal the devastation of the Depression and prove that Deza truly is the Mighty Miss Malone.

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Fates (Fates Series)
Fates
Lanie Bross
Perfect for fans of Jennifer Armentrout, Julie Kagawa, Rachel Vincent, and Sarah J. Maas, and for girls who love all things pretty, romantic and inspirational.One moment. One foolish desire. One mistake. And Corinthe lost everything.She fell from her tranquil life in Pyralis Terra and found herself exiled to the human world. Her punishment? To make sure people's fates unfold according to plan. Now, years later, Corinthe has one last assignment: kill Lucas Kaller. His death will be her ticket home.But for the first time, Corinthe feels a tingle of doubt. It begins as a lump in her throat, then grows toward her heart, and suddenly she feels like she is falling all over again--this time for a boy she knows she can never have. Because it is written: one of them must live, and one of them must die. In a universe where every moment, every second, every fate has already been decided, where does love fit in?"Different and imaginative."--Kirkus Reviews

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