Homeschool Librarian

  • Find Books
    • by Reading Level
    • by Genre
    • by Time Period or Event
    • by Topic
    • by Geographical Region
    • by Awards (Newbery, etc.)
  • My Booklist
  • Reading Levels
  • What’s Lexile?
  • Free Ebooks
  • Free Audiobooks

Civil War Reading Book List

A list of books set around the time of the American Civil war.

FavoriteLoadingAdd To My Booklist

Genre/Category
Adventure | Fiction | Historical

Historical Time Period
Civil War
Date
1800s
Topic
Bull Run | Christian | Courage | Friendship | Growing Up - Coming of Age | Hardships | Military and Wars
Geographic Region
United States - America
Main Character
Boy(s) | Girl(s)
Format
Book | Ebook

Drummer Boy at Bull Run (Bonnets and Bugles #1)

Author: Morris, GilbertPart of a Series: Bonnets and Bugles

Jeff Majors and Leah Carter share a sorrowful goodbye as the Civil War brings a heartbreaking separation of friends. Despite being on opposite sides of the War, Jeff and Leah vow to stay friends forever and see each other through battle after battle, both on the field and off. Drummer Boy at Bull Run is the first of a ten book series, that tells the story of two close families find themselves on different sides of the Civil War after the fall of Fort Sumter in April 1861.

Thirteen year old Leah becomes a helper in the Union army with her father, who hopes to distribute Bibles to the troops. Fourteen year old Jeff becomes a drummer boy in the Confederate Army and struggles with faith while experiencing personal hardship and tragedy. The series follows Leah, Jeff, family, and friends, as they experience hope and God’s grace through four years of war.

Find on Amazon.com

Please note: Our posting a book in our Homeschool Librarian database does not mean that we endorse its contents. Please use your own discretion when selecting books for your child to read. Also, we are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. Purchases made through our affiliate links help support this site. Book descriptions are sourced from either Amazon.com or GoodReads.
FavoriteLoadingAdd To My Booklist
Lexile/Reading Level
NA

Genre/Category
Adventure | Fiction | Historical | Realistic

Historical Time Period
Civil War
Date
1800s
Topic
African-American | Black History | Harriet Tubman | Underground Railroad
Geographic Region
United States - America
Main Character
Woman/Women
Award-Winning Book
Newbery | Newbery Honor
Format
Book

Railroad to Freedom: A Story of the Civil War

Author: Swift, Hildegarde

Book Railroad to FreedomTells the story of Harriet Tubman who escaped from slavery herself and then brought more than 300 people to the North and freedom by way of the Underground Railway.

Find on Amazon.com

Please note: Our posting a book in our Homeschool Librarian database does not mean that we endorse its contents. Please use your own discretion when selecting books for your child to read. Also, we are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. Purchases made through our affiliate links help support this site. Book descriptions are sourced from either Amazon.com or GoodReads.
FavoriteLoadingAdd To My Booklist
Lexile/Reading Level
NA

Genre/Category
Fiction | Historical | Realistic

Historical Time Period
Civil War
Date
1800s
Topic
Battle of Gettysburg | Family Relationships | Growing Up - Coming of Age | Military and Wars | Prejudice and Racism | Slavery | Survival
Geographic Region
Pennsylvania | United States - America
Main Character
Boy(s)
Award-Winning Book
Newbery | Newbery Honor
Format
Book

Swords of Steel

Author: Singmaster, Elsie

Book Swords of SteelA powerful, deeply absorbing story in which the reader sees through the eyes of a sensitive boy, John Deane, events preceding the Civil War in the Gettysburg country, the pursuit of escaped negroes, the attack at Harper’s Ferry, then war at close range when John’s home is taken over by the enemy and he watches the family papers and treasures go to pile up the breastwork. The love affairs of John’s sisters are in gay relief, and his own shy romance and his return from the War are touchingly described. Battle pictures of great vigor help to make a volume which will rank among the finest achievements of the year in books of interest for old and young.

Find on Amazon.com

Please note: Our posting a book in our Homeschool Librarian database does not mean that we endorse its contents. Please use your own discretion when selecting books for your child to read. Also, we are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. Purchases made through our affiliate links help support this site. Book descriptions are sourced from either Amazon.com or GoodReads.
FavoriteLoadingAdd To My Booklist
Lexile/Reading Level
910L

Genre/Category
Fiction | Historical | Realistic

Historical Time Period
Civil War
Date
1800s
Topic
Chapter Books | Military and Wars
Geographic Region
Kansas | United States - America
Main Character
Man/Men
Award-Winning Book
Newbery | Newbery Medal
Format
Audiobook | Book

Rifles for Watie

Author: Keith, Harold

Jeff Bussey walked briskly up the rutted wagon road toward Fort Leavenworth on his way to join the Union volunteers. It was 1861 in Linn County, Kansas, and Jeff was elated at the prospect of fighting for the North at last.

In the Indian country south of Kansas there was dread in the air; and the name, Stand Watie, was on every tongue. A hero to the rebel, a devil to the Union man, Stand Watie led the Cherokee Indian Na-tion fearlessly and successfully on savage raids behind the Union lines. Jeff came to know the Watie men only too well.

He was probably the only soldier in the West to see the Civil War from both sides and live to tell about it. Amid the roar of cannon and the swish of flying grape, Jeff learned what it meant to fight in battle. He learned how it felt never to have enough to eat, to forage for his food or starve. He saw the green fields of Kansas and Okla-homa laid waste by Watie’s raiding parties, homes gutted, precious corn deliberately uprooted. He marched endlessly across parched, hot land, through mud and slash-ing rain, always hungry, always dirty and dog-tired.

And, Jeff, plain-spoken and honest, made friends and enemies. The friends were strong men like Noah Babbitt, the itinerant printer who once walked from Topeka to Galveston to see the magnolias in bloom; boys like Jimmy Lear, too young to carry a gun but old enough to give up his life at Cane Hill; ugly, big-eared Heifer, who made the best sourdough biscuits in the Choctaw country; and beautiful Lucy Washbourne, rebel to the marrow and proud of it. The enemies were men of an-other breed – hard-bitten Captain Clardy for one, a cruel officer with hatred for Jeff in his eyes and a dark secret on his soul.

This is a rich and sweeping novel-rich in its panorama of history; in its details so clear that the reader never doubts for a moment that he is there; in its dozens of different people, each one fully realized and wholly recognizable. It is a story of a lesser — known part of the Civil War, the Western campaign, a part different in its issues and its problems, and fought with a different savagery. Inexorably it moves to a dramat-ic climax, evoking a brilliant picture of a war and the men of both sides who fought in it.

Find on Amazon.com

Please note: Our posting a book in our Homeschool Librarian database does not mean that we endorse its contents. Please use your own discretion when selecting books for your child to read. Also, we are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. Purchases made through our affiliate links help support this site. Book descriptions are sourced from either Amazon.com or GoodReads.
FavoriteLoadingAdd To My Booklist
Lexile/Reading Level
750L

Genre/Category
Adventure | Fiction | Historical | Realistic

Historical Time Period
Civil War
Date
1800s
Topic
Family Relationships | Military and Wars
Geographic Region
Tennessee | United States - America
Main Character
Boy(s)
Award-Winning Book
Newbery | Newbery Honor
Format
Audiobook | Book

Perilous Road, The

Author: Steele, William O.

The heartbreaking, bitter view of the Civil War as experienced by Chris Brabson, whose brother is fighting for the “wrong” side.

Find on Amazon.com

Please note: Our posting a book in our Homeschool Librarian database does not mean that we endorse its contents. Please use your own discretion when selecting books for your child to read. Also, we are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. Purchases made through our affiliate links help support this site. Book descriptions are sourced from either Amazon.com or GoodReads.
FavoriteLoadingAdd To My Booklist
Lexile/Reading Level
900L

Genre/Category
Biographies | History | Nonfiction

Historical Time Period
Civil War
Date
1800s
Topic
Abraham Lincoln | Biography | Black History | Military and Wars | Politics | Prejudice and Racism | Slavery | US Presidents
Geographic Region
United States - America
Main Character
Man/Men
Award-Winning Book
Newbery | Newbery Honor
Format
Audiobook | Book

Abraham Lincoln, Friend of the People

Author: Judson, Claira Ingram

Clara Ingram Judson presents Lincoln in all his gauntness, gawkiness, and greatness: a backwoods boy who became President and saved the Union. Judson’s careful reading is enlivened by her visits to his home and vivid descriptions of the Lincoln family’s pioneer life. She reveals the unforgettable story from his boyhood and days as a shopkeeper and lawyer, to Lincoln’s first elected offices and his election as president, the Civil War, and assassination.

Find on Amazon.com

Please note: Our posting a book in our Homeschool Librarian database does not mean that we endorse its contents. Please use your own discretion when selecting books for your child to read. Also, we are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. Purchases made through our affiliate links help support this site. Book descriptions are sourced from either Amazon.com or GoodReads.
FavoriteLoadingAdd To My Booklist
Lexile/Reading Level
1100L

Genre/Category
Fiction | Historical

Historical Time Period
Civil War
Date
1800s
Topic
Growing Up - Coming of Age | Military and Wars
Geographic Region
Illinois | United States - America
Main Character
Boy(s)
Award-Winning Book
Lewis Carroll Shelf Award | Newbery | Newbery Honor
Format
Audiobook | Book | Ebook | Video

Across Five Aprils

Author: Hunt, Irene

The Newbery Award winning author of Up a Road Slowly presents the unforgettable story of Jethro Creighton—a brave boy who comes of age during the turbulent years of the Civil War.

Find on Amazon.com

Please note: Our posting a book in our Homeschool Librarian database does not mean that we endorse its contents. Please use your own discretion when selecting books for your child to read. Also, we are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. Purchases made through our affiliate links help support this site. Book descriptions are sourced from either Amazon.com or GoodReads.
FavoriteLoadingAdd To My Booklist
Lexile/Reading Level
NC1040L

Genre/Category
Biographies | Nonfiction | Political

Historical Time Period
Civil War
Date
1800s
Topic
Abraham Lincoln | US Presidents
Geographic Region
United States - America
Main Character
Man/Men
Award-Winning Book
Newbery | Newbery Medal
Format
Audiobook | Book | Ebook

Lincoln: A Photobiography

Author: Freedman, Russell

Abraham Lincoln stood out in a crowd as much for his wit and rollicking humor as for his height. This Newbery Medal-winning biography of our Civil War president is warm, appealing, and illustrated with dozens of carefully chosen photographs and prints.

Russell Freedman begins with a lively account of Abraham Lincoln’s boyhood, his career as a country lawyer, and his courtship and marriage to Mary Todd. Then the author focuses on the presidential years (1861 to 1865), skillfullly explaining the many complex issues Lincoln grappled with as he led a deeply divided nation through the Civil War. The book’s final chapter is a moving account of that tragic evening in Ford’s Theatre on April 14, 1865. Concludes with a sampling of Lincoln writings and a detailed list of Lincoln historical sites.

This title has been selected as a Common Core Text Exemplar (Grades 2-3, Read Aloud Informational Text).

Find on Amazon.com

Please note: Our posting a book in our Homeschool Librarian database does not mean that we endorse its contents. Please use your own discretion when selecting books for your child to read. Also, we are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. Purchases made through our affiliate links help support this site. Book descriptions are sourced from either Amazon.com or GoodReads.
FavoriteLoadingAdd To My Booklist
Lexile/Reading Level
950L

Genre/Category
Fiction | Historical

Historical Time Period
Civil War
Date
1800s
Topic
Military and Wars
Geographic Region
United States - America
Main Character
Boy(s)
Award-Winning Book
Newbery | Newbery Honor
Format
Audiobook | Book | Ebook

Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg

Author: Philbrick, Rodman

A dramatic, witty Civil War tale from bestselling author Rodman Philbrick

Master storyteller Rodman Philbrick takes readers on a colorful journey as young Homer Figg sets off to follow his brother into the thick of the Civil War. Through a series of fascinating events, Homer’s older brother has been illegally sold to the Union Army. It is up to Homer to find him and save him. Along the way, he encounters strange but real people of that era: two tricksters who steal his money, a snake-oil salesman, a hot-air balloonist, and finally, the Maine regiment who saved Little Round Top at the Battle of Gettysburg and won the war for the Union.

Find on Amazon.com

Please note: Our posting a book in our Homeschool Librarian database does not mean that we endorse its contents. Please use your own discretion when selecting books for your child to read. Also, we are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. Purchases made through our affiliate links help support this site. Book descriptions are sourced from either Amazon.com or GoodReads.
  • « Previous Page
  • 1
  • …
  • 10
  • 11
  • 12

Advanced Search to Find Books

Reset

What is my Child’s Lexile Measure?

GRADELEXILE
1st0-300L
2nd140-500L
3rd330-700L
4th445-810L
5th565-910L
6th665-1000L
7th735-1065L
8th805-1100L
9th855-1165L
10th905-1195L
11th/12th940-1210L
College+1210+

Find out more about Lexile Measures.

There are currently 5240 books in our database, and we're adding more every day!
See the most recent additions here →

The Latest Books We’ve Added

Girl Who Threw Butterflies, The , by

Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making (Fairyland #1)

Girl of Fire and Thorns, The

Forest Born (The Books of Bayern #4)

Floating Islands, The

Finder’s Magic, A

Final Voyage: A Story of Arctic Disaster and One Fateful Whaling Season, by

Water Keep (Farworld #1)

Falling In

Faith, Hope and Ivy June

Please note: Our posting a book in our Homeschool Librarian database does not mean that we endorse its contents. Please use your own discretion when selecting books for your child to read. Also, our posts may contain affiliate links to Amazon.com. Purchases made through our affiliate links help support this site.

© 2013–2020 HomeschoolLibrarian.com. All rights reserved. Site built on the Genesis Framework. | Contact