Sixties Fiction (Middle)

Contributor's Form (list #89)

• Anonymous. Go Ask Alice.
• Antle, ? Tough Choices: A Story of the Vietnam War. (Samantha is torn between her two brothers, one a returning Vietnam veteran and the other a war protester.)
• Boyd, Candy Dawson. Charlie Pippin. (Girl tries to find out her father's war experiences, and visit the wall.)
• Brooks, Bruce. Midnight Hour Encores. (It doesn't take place in the 60's, but the father and daughter spend a lot of time discussing the 60's; the music, social attitudes, and politics.)
• Clark, Ann Nolan. To Stand Against the Wind.
• Cleary, Beverly. Jean and Johnny.
• Cleary, Beverly. Luckiest Girl.
• Cody, ? Ricochet River. (an adult book ok for upper middle schoolers)
• Crew, ? Long Time Passing.
• Curry, Richard. Fatal Light.
• Curtis, ? Watson's Go to Birmingham.
• Danzinger, Paula. The Cat Ate My Gym Suit.
• Davis, Ossie. Just Like Martin. (Isaac Stone, Junior Assistant Pastor of the Holy Oak Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, in 1963, must come to terms with his role in the Civil Rights movement as well as the death of his mother and its effect on his father.)
• Duder, ? In Lane Three, Alex Archer.
• Dunn, Mary Lois. The Man in the Box: A Story from Vietnam. (American soldier kept in box in Vietnamese village.)
• Emerson, Zack, Hill 568; Stand Down; 'Tis the Season; Welcome to Vietnam. (All Echo Company series)
• Fitzhugh, ? Harriet the Spy.
• Gingher, Marianne. Bobby Rex's Greatest Hit.
• Grant, Cynthia. Joshua Fortune.
• Head, ? Mr. and Mrs. Bo Jo Jones.
• Hentoff, Nat. This School Is Driving Me Crazy. (The characters are sixth-graders, and there's not a lot of social commentary on the times, but it's a very funny book!)
• Hinton, S.E. The Outsiders.
• Hogan, ? The Quartzite Trip.
• Jen, Gish. Mona and the Promised Land. (for older teens)
• Jensen, Kathryn. Pocket Change. (Teen tries to help father deal with nightmares.)
• Kauffman, Bel. Up the Down Staircase.
• Krishner, Trudy. Spite Fences. (Poor southern white teen and her mother; civil rights.)
• Lasky, Kathryn. Pageant.
• Lester, Jerry. And All Our Wounds Forgiven.
• Lord, Betty Bao. In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson. (Shirley Temple Wong Loves American movies and America's game (baseball); but America's language and customs are much more difficult for this third-grader to learn.)
• Mason, Bobbie Ann. In Country.
• Mason, Lisa. Summer of Love.
• McDermott, Alice. That Night.
• Michener, James. The Drifters.
• Moore, ? Freedom Songs. (Sheryl organizes a gospel concert in support of the Freedom Riders, civil rights workers in the 1960s.)
• Myers, ? Fallen Angels.
• Nelson, Theresa. And One For All.
• Paterson, Katherine. Bridge to Terabitha.
• Paterson, Katherine. Park's Quest. (Although this story does not actually take place in the 1960s, it is about a boy searching for information about his father who was a U.S. soldier in the Vietnam War.)
• Paulsen, Gary. The Car.
• Pennebacker, ? Don't Think Twice. (Pregnant girl, before legal abortions, in a home for other pregnant girls--written in 90s.)
• Pettit, Jayne. My Name Is San Ho. (remarriage, prejudices)
• Qualey, ? Come in from the Cold.
• Qualey, ? Hometown. (This book isn't set in the 60's, but the persian gulf war era. But the father in the book was a vietnam draft dodger so lot in the book relates back to the 60's and community feelings, parents who were/are political activists. The setting is northern Minnesota.)
• Rose, ? Little Miss Strange.
• Voight, ? The Runner.
• Wersba, Barbara. Tunes for a Small Harmonica. (16-year-old J.F. McAllister, a girl who looks and dresses like young Steve McQueen, falls in love with Harold Murth, a poetry teacher at her all-girls' prep school. Lots of laughs here.)
• White, ? Belle Prater's Boy. (Set in the 1960's in the South (Arkansas, I believe). It's an excellent book with many, many little touches relevant to that time period and to the South (Pixie haircuts, songs on the radio, etc.)
• White, Ellen Emerson. The Road Home. (nurses, vietnamese conflict)
• Young, Ronder Thomas. Learning by Heart.
• Zindel, Paul. Pigman.

And some Internet Resources:

Amazon.com / Children's Historical Fiction

Links to titles pertaining to different parts of the world.

Favorite Historical Novels for Children by Truman and Suzanne Price

Concentrates on WWII, (U.S.) Civil War, and the American Revolution.

Historical Fiction of the United States - Juvenile Fiction

From the Tempe Public Library. Lists titles by historical era.

Historical Fiction: America

From the Ann Arbor District Library. Lists titles with annotation by time frame.

Historical Fiction for Young Adults by Tara

Concentrates on WWII, WWI, (U.S.)Civil War, and time period after the American Revolution.

Historical Fiction: Old World with link to New World

From the Ann Arbor District Library. Lists titles with annotation by time frame.

Soon's Historical Fiction Site

Lots of info on historical fiction of all levels and of all locations (not just U.S.). The parts that pertain to children/YA are listed below as separate links.

List originally assembled by Sally Lantz, Media Specialist, West Frederick Middle School, Frederick, MD

Acknowledgement

Joan Kimball (NY) contributed most of the titles on this list.