Chapin LibGuides: Summer Reading 2021: Middle School: heartpounding historical fiction

heartpounding historical fiction

skewing younger

Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhhà Lai
Call Number: M FIC LAI
ISBN: 9780061962790
For all the ten years of her life, Hà has only known Saigon: the thrills of its markets, the joy of its traditions, and the warmth of her friends close by. But now the Vietnam War has reached her home. Hà and her family are forced to flee as Saigon falls, and they board a ship headed toward hope. In America, Hà discovers the foreign world of Alabama: the coldness of its strangers, the dullness of its food . . . and the strength of her very own family. To learn more about the Vietnam War, watch this BrainPop video.

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The Night Diary by Veera Hiranandani
Call Number: M FIC HIR
Even if her country has been ripped apart, twelve-year-old Nisha (half-Muslim, half-Hindu) still believes in the possibility of putting herself back together. Told through Nisha's letters to her mother, The Night Diary is a heartfelt story of one girl's search for home, for her own identity . . . and for a hopeful future. Watch this BrainPop on Mahatma Gandhi to learn more about the history of India.

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Turtle in Paradise by Jennifer L. Holm
Call Number: M FIC HOL
Moving in with her Florida relatives so that her mother can accept a job from a no-kids employer, a tough-minded kid growing up during the Great Depression begins emerging from her shell while searching for buried treasure alongside ragtag male cousins. To learn more about the Great Depression, click on this BrainPop video.

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A Place to Hang the Moon by Kate Albus
Call Number: M FIC ALB
During World War II, Anna, Edmund, and William are evacuated from London to live in the countryside, bouncing from home to home in search of a permanent family. Moving from one family to another, the children suffer the cruel trickery of foster brothers, the cold realities of outdoor toilets, and the hollowness of empty tummies. Might the kind librarian, Nora Muller, become their next mom?

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White Bird: a Wonder Story by R. J. Palacio
Call Number: M GN PAL
In R. J. Palacio's collection of stories Auggie & Me, which expands on characters in Wonder, readers were introduced to Julian's grandmother, Grandmère. This is Grandmère's story as a young Jewish girl hidden away by a family in Nazi-occupied France during World War II told in graphic novel form.Want to understand why the Jews went into hiding during World War II? Watch this BrainPop on Anne Frank!

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My Life As an Ice Cream Sandwich by Ibi Zoboi
Set in Harlem in the early days of hip-hop (1984), My Life as an Ice Cream Sandwich is a story of girl finding a place and a voice in a world that's changing at warp speed. Harlem in 1984 is an exciting and terrifying place for a sheltered girl from Hunstville, and her first instinct is to retreat into her imagination. But soon 126th Street begins to reveal that it has more in common with her beloved sci-fi adventures than she ever thought possible! To learn more about the birth of hip-hop, click on this BrainPop video.

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Number the Stars by Lowry Lois
ISBN: 9780812492972
When the Jews of Denmark are "relocated," Ellen moves in with the Johansens and pretends to be one of the family. Soon Annemarie is asked to go on a dangerous mission to save Ellen's life. Want to understand why the Jews went into hiding during World War II? Watch this BrainPop on Anne Frank!

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Esperanza Rising by Pam Muñoz Ryan
Call Number: M FIC RYA
Esperanza thought she'd always live with her family on their ranch in Mexico--she'd always have fancy dresses, a beautiful home, and servants. But a sudden tragedy forces Esperanza and Mama to flee to California during the Great Depression, and to settle in a camp for Mexican farm workers. Esperanza isn't ready for the hard labor! To learn more about the Great Depression, click on this BrainPop video.

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Stella by Starlight by Sharon M. Draper
Call Number: M FIC DRA
Late at night, later than she should ever be up, much less wandering around outside, Stella and her little brother see something they're never supposed to see, something that is the first flicker of change to come. As Stella's community - her world - is upended, she decides to fight fire with fire. Want to understand how the KKK used terror to spread hate? Watch this BrainPop on Jim Crow.

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skewing older

The Blackbird Girls by Anne Blankman
Call Number: M FIC BLA
On a spring morning in 1986, neighbors Valentina Kaplan and Oksana Savchenko wake up to an angry red sky. A reactor at the nuclear power plant where their fathers work--Chernobyl--has exploded. Before they know it, the two girls, who've always been enemies, find themselves on a train bound for Leningrad to stay with Valentina's estranged grandmother, Rita Grigorievna. Want to know more about the science behind this book? Watch this BrainPop about nuclear energy!

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When My Name Was Keoko by Linda Sue Park
Call Number: M FIC PAR
Sun-hee and her older brother Tae-yul are proud of their Korean heritage. Yet they live their lives under Japanese occupation. All students must read and write in Japanese and no one can fly the Korean flag. Hardest of all is when the Japanese Emperor forces all Koreans to take Japanese names.

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A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park
Call Number: M FIC PAR
A Long Walk to Water begins as two stories, told in alternating sections, about two eleven-year-olds in Sudan, a girl in 2008 and a boy in 1985. The girl, Nya, is fetching water from a pond that is two hours' walk from her home: she makes two trips to the pond every day. The boy, Salva, becomes one of the "lost boys" of Sudan, refugees who cover the African continent on foot as they search for their families. Enduring every hardship from loneliness to attack by armed rebels, Salva is a survivor, and his story goes on to intersect with Nya's in an astonishing and moving way.

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Echo by Pam Muñoz Ryan
Call Number: M FIC RYA
Three children (in three different time periods) face daunting challenges: rescuing a father, protecting a brother, holding a family together.

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A Night Divided by Jennifer A. Nielsen
Call Number: M FIC NIE
After the Berlin Wall divides her family, Gerta concludes that her father wants Gerta and Fritz to tunnel beneath the wall, out of East Berlin. However, if they are caught, the consequences will be deadly. To learn more about the Cold War, click on this BrainPop video.

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Shooting Kabul by N. H. Senzai
Call Number: M FIC SEN
While his family attempts to escape Afghanistan, twelve year old Fadi's accidentally lets go of his sister's hand. She becomes lost in the crowd,and Fadi's family is forced to leave Mariam behind. Although he makes it to the United States, adjusting to life there isn't easy for Fadi. The prospects of locating Mariam in Afghanistan also seem slim. When a photography competition with a grand prize trip to India is announced, Fadi sees his chance to return to Afghanistan and find his sister. But can one photo really bring Mariam home?

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When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit by Judith Kerr
Call Number: M FIC KER
Suppose your country began to change. Suppose that without your noticing, it became dangerous for some people to live in Germany any longer. Suppose you found, to your complete surprise, that your own father was one of those people.Watch this BrainPop on Adolf Hitler to learn more about one of the worst tyrants in history.

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With the Might of Angels by Andrea Davis Pinkney
Call Number: M FIC PIN
Dawnie learns she will be attending a previously all-white school. She's the only one of her friends to go to this new school and to leave the comfort of all that is familiar to face great uncertainty in the school year ahead. However, not everyone supports integration and much of the town is outraged at the decision. To learn more about the integration of schools, click on this BrainPop video.

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We Are Not Free by Traci Chee
Publication Date: 2020-09-01
"It’s been over three months since the attack on Pearl Harbor, and my oldest brother, Mas, has told me to come straight home from school each day." To learn more about the topic of Pearl Harbor, click on this BrainPop video.

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