American History Fiction Books Needed for Sensitive 11 YO

[PachiSusan]

Anyone have any good American History Historical fiction for a sensitive 11 year old? I'm planning our history extras for next year.  

 

What I mean by sensitive:

 

She hates to read any blood and gore and she is very sensitive towards death since we had 10 deaths within two years in our family including her Grandpa, with whom she was incredibly close to. She read some of the "Dear America" series and the one on the Oregon Trail gave her nightmares. 

 

I know I may be looking for something that just doesn't exist because of the time period we are looking for, but it's worth a try.

[rochenan]

I loved historical fiction growing up. There is a series called Little Maid. The Little Maid of Mohawk Valley, Little Maid of New Hampshire, and others. There isn't any gore as far as I can remember. They are on amazon... sorry I couldn't figure out how to include the link.

 

 

 

[PachiSusan]

I will check those out, thank you! 

[AdventuresinHomeschooling]

I'd look through the booklists of some of the curriculum like TOG, Sonlight, Ambleside Online, Beautiful Feet, etc. and start checking out the story and Table of Contents and reviews on Google Books.  The D'Aulaire books have been very good.

[EndOfOrdinary]

Have you done Little House?

[kiwik]

I read a book a few years ago called "Charlotte's Rose" it was about a girl who helped care for a baby on the trail that lead to Salt Lake City (I don't know which one that was). It did have the death of the baby's mother in childbirth in the beginning but other than that it was quite upbeat. And reread the Little House Books.

[Farrar]

What era?  There plenty without death once you get out of the 1800's.  And even before, there are options.  I can think of a bunch though this may be a Lori D. list sort of thing. ;)

 

Off the top of my head...

 

Children of the Longhouse (early America, Native Americans, danger and suspense...  but I can't remember any major character deaths...)

Farmer Boy (less scary than the other Little House books, no deaths that I can recall, though the opening chapter is a bit harsh with bullying)

By the Great Horn Spoon (gold rush, adventure, danger...  I can't remember any major character deaths though...)

The Absolutely True Adventures of Homer P. Figg (civil war, strangely funny for a civil war book...  there is violence and a battle at the end, but the main characters all survive...  a maybe...)

The Great Brain (turn of the century Utah, adventure, some danger, no major character deaths except in a later book where a new character loses his parents in a natural disaster)

The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate (turn of the century Texas, nothing dark)

A Year Down Yonder (depression, hilarious, nothing dark)

The Saturdays (1940's, nothing dark)

Countdown and Revolution by Deborah Wiles (1960's, no deaths)

The Watsons Go to Birmingham (1960's, the final chapters, about a church bombing similar to the one when those four girls died is pretty intense, but with the episodic nature of the book, you could easily skip it and just not read the last chapters)

One Crazy Summer (1960's, no deaths, worst part is when you find out why the mom is so harsh - a sad story of poverty and abuse, but it's a short part of the book)

 

I keep thinking of others, but many of them have a child death (The Birchbark House, Our Only May Amelia, etc.) or an event in history that seems perhaps too dark such as slavery or war...  The American Girl books are really young, but they're fine, obviously.  I can probably think of more, especially for the 20th century.  There are more Great Depression and WWII homefront books and some other early 20th century ordinary family books out there.

 

Studying history, especially as kids get older, is about learning to talk about this stuff.  Obviously no one should push a kid too far and different kids have different tolerance levels, but I also think that with warning and discussion, and reading aloud, that this stuff is good for kids and avoiding it too much isn't positive in the long run.

[dewdropfairy]

I read a book a few years ago called "Charlotte's Rose" it was about a girl who helped care for a baby on the trail that lead to Salt Lake City (I don't know which one that was). It did have the death of the baby's mother in childbirth in the beginning but other than that it was quite upbeat. And reread the Little House Books.

 

Charlotte's Rose is a great book, but it's a four hanky tearjerker. I wouldn't recommend it to a sensitive child (I was one myself). The baby's mother dies, but so does the main character's mother and all of her siblings in infancy (prior to the beginning of the story but mentioned throughout).

[PachiSusan]

Thank you Ladies. It's not that I'm forever going to avoid these things, but I need to be sensitive to where she is right now. Coddling will not make a strong child - I know that. :)

 

I am checking out all that you have posted! 

 

Oh - and we tried "Little House"... she hated it. :(