Historical Fiction Library

Twelve-year-old Suzy Bowles is tired of summers filled with chores on her family farm in Burr Oak, Michigan, and desperate to see the world. When her wayward uncle moves back home to the farm, only to skip his chores every morning for mysterious reasons, Suzy decides to find out what he's up to once and for all. And that's when she meets legendary former circus queen Madame Marantette and her ostriches. Before long, Suzy finds herself caught-up in the fast-paced, hilarious world of ostrich riding, a rollicking adventure that just might be her ticket out of Burr Oak.

Edmund, a young apprentice, is awaiting punishment as a counterfeiter when a knight intervenes on his behalf - and compels Edmund to join Richard Lionheart's forces in the Holy Land. There, amidst the savagery of the 12th-century Crusades, Edmund learns both courage and compassion, and discovers that cruelty is sometimes considered the will of Heaven. Set in medieval England and the war-torn shores of the Middle East, Cadnum's tale weaves together a rich tapestry of storms at sea, the brutality of hand-to-hand combat, and one of the classic horse and lance battles in recorded history.

Someone is planning to kill George Washington, and young Phoebe Fraunces is trying to save his life. Phoebe gets a job as George Washington's housekeeper, but her real job is to work as a spy. She listens and watches very carefully, and she meets her father every day to tell him what she has learned. One day Phoebe's father tells her that Washington is planning to leave town in a few days, and the person plotting against him will act before then. Phoebe is very frightened, but she is determined to figure out who is after Washington before it's too late. . . .

On a snowy night in February in a penthouse high above Fifth Avenue, Delphine's mystical talent leads to a tragedy between two brothers. Devastated and disconsolate, Delphine renounces her gift and returns to her old life in the south of France, where Picasso, Matisse, and the Fitzgeralds are summering. There, Delphine comes to question everything and everyone she loves - her art, her magick, her family, and Mathieu....

James Henry used to be brave. He hasn't been the same since that fateful night at the lighthouse when his ma went searching for Dog. Now months later, he feels as small as the space between the numbers on a watch, nervous day and night, barely able to go outside. Even words have a hard time leaving his mouth. The only person he speaks to is Hattie, his courageous twin sister, who fiercely protects him, especially from bullies. James Henry wants nothing more than to be brave again. However, finding his voice will mean confronting the truth about what happened at the lighthouse.

Michelle Cooper combines the drama of pre-War Europe with the romance of debutante balls and gives us another compelling historical pause-resister. Sophia FitzOsborne and the royal family of Montmaray escaped their remote island home when the Germans attacked, and now find themselves in the lap of luxury. Sophie's journal fills us in on the social whirl of London's 1937 season, but even a princess in lovely new gowns finds it hard to fit in. Is there no other debutante who reads?

Tomie has his own diary with a lock and a key—now he can write down all his secrets and no one will be able to read them. All through the year, exciting things happen and Tomie writes about them in his diary. Sledding down the steep hill on his new Junior Flexible Flyer, being a pirate in the dance recital, and starting second grade with real art lessons at last! Then one Sunday morning Tomie's family hears news on the radio that changes everything. Master storyteller Tomie dePaola takes us back to 1941 and lets us experience what life was like growing up in the dePaola household.

This is the first complete English-language translation of a classic of Yiddish literature, one of the great comic novels of the 20th century. The Zelmenyaners describes the travails of a Jewish family in Minsk that is torn asunder by the new Soviet reality. Four generations are depicted in riveting and often uproarious detail as they face the profound changes brought on by the demands of the Soviet regime and its collectivist, radical secularism.

Certain the "smart" Steffington twin is the person who can help her recover her late husband's nearly priceless stolen Chaucer manuscript, Catherine Bexley tearfully persuades the scholar to assist her. A deal is struck. She's particularly pleased that the doctor of letters is not interested in seducing her because she's finished with men (owing to her late husband's multitude of unfortunate alliances with...doxies).

Her story begins...in Paris. The only daughter of the king's crown jeweler, Juliette marvels at the large, deep blue diamond Louis XIV has commanded her father to make shine like the sun. But Jean Pitau has never cut a diamond quite like this, and shaping it is a risky endeavor. As Jean spirals into depression, Juliette takes it upon herself to cut the stone and with every misstep brings her family closer to ruin.

Japan 1945. Taro is a talented violinist and a kamikaze pilot in the days before his first and only mission. He believes he is ready to die for his country, until he meets Hana. Hana hasn't been the same since the day she was buried alive in a collapsed trench during a bomb raid. She wonders if it would have been better to have died that day, until she meets Taro. A song will bring them together. The war will tear them apart. Is it possible to live an entire lifetime in eight short days?

This tale takes place in Iscium, an isolated Roman village in Britain. Most of the town senators and officials are primarily concerned with keeping a low profile with the neighboring barbarians - with the exception of the crotchety old bishop. But when young Falx decides to run away to Rome and instead finds a lost barbarian girl, things begin to happen. The children are found by a merchant who returns them to Iscium. This is a zany mix of history, humor, and the miraculous - in the tradition of Don Camillo.

When a 12-century Sicilian cat burglar snatches a sack of artifacts from the king's geographer's library, the tools and talismans of transmutation, and eternal life, are soon scattered all over the world. Nine hundred years later, a young Connecticut reporter finds evidence that someone is collecting them again.

Magician Leopold Kazsmer, the great enchanter, and his cadre of unusual friends, make the deadly journey to the Library of the Damned, a structure fluctuating between the worlds, filled with the archives of the centuries, to find a way to rescue Leopold’s father who is trapped in the darkest depths of Gehenna and to break the covenant Leo has made with the dread Unholy Hosts. They have suddenly called upon him to fulfill their agreement, and because he is bound to them, he has no hope but to obey. It seems that what they most desire is to destroy Leopold’s world.

Shut the hatches. It's time to roll out. You'll find yourself behind enemy lines with Clarence Smoyer and the 3rd Armored Division, the workhorse unit know as "Spearhead", the best in the tank armor ranks. You'll feel as if you are right beside Clarence and his fellow crew members - all formerly strangers from across America who have now become family to each other. You will be jarred by enemy fire, and then explore the other side, stepping into the boots of German tanker soldier, Gustav Schaefer, and his crew.

Mitra and her little brother, Babak, are beggars in the city of Rhagae, scratching out a living as best as they can with what they can beg for, or steal. But Mitra burns with hope and ambition, for she and Babak are not what they seem. They are of royal blood, but their father's ill-fated plot against the evil tyrant, King Phraates, has resulted in their father's death and their exile.

In a walled city of a mile-high iron guild towers, many things are common knowledge: No book in any of the city's libraries reveals its place on a calendar or a map. No living beasts can be found within the city's walls. And no good comes to the guilder or foundling who trespasses too far from their labors. Even on the tower rooftops, where Errol Thebes and the rest of the city's teenagers pass a few short years under an open sky, no one truly believes anything uncommon is possible within the city walls.

For as long as she can remember, Carmela Tofana has desperately wanted one thing: to be a part of La Tofana’s, her mother’s apothecary in Campo Marzio, Rome. When she finally turns sixteen, she’s allowed into the inner sanctum: the workroom where her mother and two assistants craft renowned remedies for their customers. But for every sweet-smelling flower extract in the workroom, there’s another potion requiring darker ingredients.

Inspired by the author's family history, Library for the War-Wounded transports listeners to the aftermath of World War II, uncovering the life of Helfer's father, Josef. Born with the stigma of illegitimacy, he found solace in books, and his education was eventually funded by the Catholic Church. Drafted into the Wehrmacht, he witnessed the horrors of the Eastern Front and returned from the war an amputee. He married his nurse and brought his family to the high, idyllic slopes of the Austrian Alps, where he took a position as manager of a convalescent home for war-wounded.

After months of travel, former maid Lottie Sprigg returns to Fortescue Manor in the rolling hills of Shropshire. Her arrival coincides with a celebratory dinner to mend a family feud. But the flow of champagne dwindles to a trickle when a body is found in the library. Who committed the atrocity? Suspicion falls on several characters: some above stairs and some below....