Highly Recommended Fictional Civil War Books for Young Adults

One of the best ways to teach history is to choose well-written historical fiction about an era or event. The history has a lasting impact with the reader, and will be remembered long after forgetting a bunch of facts and dates from a dry history textbook.

Each of the following books about the Civil War is suitable for young readers in middle school and junior high school. They are chosen based on being both excellently written stories as well as teaching history in a memorable way. If your young adult reader doesn't enjoy reading or doesn't like history, these books will change his mind for either reason.

Across Five Aprils by Irene Hunt

This Civil War novel is for the more mature young reader. The action moves slowly, allowing the story to develop. This will cause some young readers to give up on the book. The story shows how the Civil War affects the main character's family farm and his hometown. The family becomes at war with each other as well, as one brother joins the Confederate army, while the other four side with the Union. Nine-year-old Jethro is left to run the family farm.

Bull Run by Paul Fleischman

This novel about a famous battle of the Civil War is unique in that it has viewpoints from sixteen different characters. Before the battle, each character discusses their reasons for going to the Battle of Bull Run. The characters and their purposes are very diverse. Some of the characters are around after the battle, too. This young adult book moves quickly with very short chapters. Even though there are many characters, it doesn't become confusing. Because the chapters are so short, it is a good choice for a reluctant reader or a reader with a short attention span.

Charley Skedaddle by Patricia Beatty

A trip to the library can yield lots of historical fiction books for young adults. Reading well-written historical fiction is an excellent way to learn about history.

Credit: Peter Skadberg

Copyright: Peter Skadberg