Tune in for these five unique historical fiction books spanning the globe, sure to captivate you and your young readers!

The Lost Year: A Survival Story of the Ukrainian Famine by KATHERINE MARSH. Thirteen-year-old Matthew is miserable. His journalist dad is stuck overseas indefinitely, and his mom has moved in his one-hundred-year-old great-grandmother to ride out the pandemic, adding to his stress and isolation. But when Matthew finds a tattered black-and-white photo in his great-grandmother’s belongings, he discovers a clue to a hidden chapter of her past, one that will lead to a life-shattering family secret. Set in alternating timelines that connect the present-day to the 1930s and the US to the USSR, Katherine Marsh’s latest novel sheds fresh light on the Holodomor – the horrific famine that killed millions of Ukrainians, and which the Soviet government covered up for decades.

The Windeby Puzzle by LOIS LOWRY. Newbery medalist and New York Times bestselling author Lois Lowry transports readers to an Iron Age world through the suspenseful dual narrative of a boy and girl both battling to survive. In an utterly one-of-a-kind blend of fiction and history, a master storyteller explores the mystery and life of the 2,000-year-old Windeby bog body.

Hope's Path to Glory: The Story of a Family's Journey on the Overland Trail by JERDINE NOLEN. In Alexandria, Virginia, in the mid-19th century, the eldest son of a slave-owning family, Jason, thinks going to California to mine for gold might be the best way to escape financial trouble. He’ll need a cook, a laundress, and a hostler for the journey, and one of them is twelve-year-old Hope. From Independence, Missouri—the “Gateway to the West”—she and the others join a wagon train on the Emigrant Overland Trail. But what Jason didn’t consider is taking the three enslaved people west will give them an opportunity to free themselves—manifesting their destiny.

Iceberg by JENNIFER A. NIELSEN. As disaster looms on the horizon, a young stowaway onboard the Titanic will need all her courage and wits to stay alive. With the help of a porter named Charlie and a sweet first-class passenger named Sylvia, Hazel explores the opulent ship in secret, but a haunting mystery quickly finds her. The danger only intensifies when calamity strikes — will Hazel be able to save her friends... and herself.

World Made of Glass by AMI POLONSKY. March 1987. The FDA has just approved AZT as the first drug to treat AIDS. But it's too late for Iris’s dad. When he passes away, Iris navigates her rage and grief by speaking out against the rampant fear, misinformation, and prejudice surrounding AIDS — and find the pieces of Dad that she never knew before. In the process, she discovers the joy of true friendship, and the power of her own voice in school and at home.

Great Middle Grade Historical Fiction