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Lexile/Reading Level
Recommended for 9-12 Grade & Adult

Genre/Category
Fiction | Historical

Historical Time Period
Modern
Date
1800s
Topic
Gold Rush | Journey | Steam Engine
Geographic Region
California | United States - America
Main Character
Man/Men
Format
Book | Ebook

Gold: A Tale of the California Gold Rush

Author: Bartholomew, Steve

The year is 1850. Rumors of gold in California turn out to be true. Thousands of people board ships or travel cross-country by wagon train to head for the mines. In New York City, young Marcus Gale, would like to join them, if only to escape his gambling debts. Too bad he doesn’t have money for a ticket-or a square meal. He jumps at the chance for a berth as stoker on a sidewheel steamer headed for the gold fields, even though he’s not sure what a stoker does. Fortunately, Marcus is a fast learner when it comes to shoveling coal and understanding steam engines. He finds it more difficult to understand people, especially the kind willing to risk everything to get to the gold. He wonders about Captain Cutter, who hates steam and lives in a state of paranoia, thinking people are plotting against him. He may be right. And then, there’s the beautiful Alouette Thorndyke, the wealthy heiress who Marcus thinks is an angel. Then again, what is she, really-angel or swindler?

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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.
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Lexile/Reading Level
730L

Genre/Category
Fiction | Historical

Historical Time Period
American West | Modern
Date
1900s
Topic
Gold Rush
Geographic Region
California | United States - America
Main Character
Boy(s)
Award-Winning Book
George C. Stone Center for Children's Books Recognition of Merit Award | Spur Award Nominee for Best Western Juvenile Nonfiction
Format
Audiobook | Book

By the Great Horn Spoon!

Author: Fleischman, Sid

In this rollicking adventure set during the California Gold Rush, Jack’s aunt is forced to sell her beloved mansion to meet her debts. She is still unable to raise enough money to pay her creditors, and twelve-year-old Jack goes to California in search of gold to help her. Joined by his trusty butler, Praiseworthy, Jack finds adventure and trouble at every turn. Will Jack strike gold in San Francisco or come home empty-handed?

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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.
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Lexile/Reading Level
Recommended for 3-8 Grade

Genre/Category
Fiction | Historical

Historical Time Period
Modern
Date
1800s
Topic
Christian | Gold Rush | Hardships | Mines and Mining | Rescues
Geographic Region
Alaska | United States - America
Main Character
Boy(s)
Format
Book | Ebook

Gold Miner’s Rescue (Trailblazer Books Book 25)

Author: Jackson, Dave and NetaPart of a Series: Trailblazers

Trailblazer Books for middle-grade readers. A young Alaskan Indian boy gets the chance of a lifetime to go with Dr. Sheldon Jackson on an expedition to rescue Yukon gold miners. But is this really his ticket to fame?

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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.
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Lexile/Reading Level
690L

Genre/Category
Adventure | Fiction | Historical

Historical Time Period
American West | Modern
Date
1800s
Topic
Bandits | Gold Rush | Rescues | Thieves
Geographic Region
California | United States - America
Main Character
Girl(s)
Award-Winning Book
John and Patricia Beatty Award Winner | Nominee | Rebecca Caudill Young Reader's Book Award
Format
Audiobook | Book

Bandit’s Moon

Author: Fleischman, Sid

After a narrow escape from the nasty O. O. Mary’s clutches, Annyrose ventures forth to find her long-lost brother Lank in gold-digging territory. But the journey is rough, bandits and fiends waiting for the traveler at every bend. Soon Annyrose runs into Joaquin Marieta, legendary bandit of the Gold Rush.

This complete disaster, however, soon appears to be no less than a blessing for both! They can help each other out: Annyrose can teach Joaquin how to read so he will know where danger lies, and in turn he can make sure she’s safe and fed. But in a time when corruption and greed are running wild, will their friendship be more than fool’s gold?

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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.
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Lexile/Reading Level
NC990L Recommended for 4-7 Grade

Genre/Category
Fiction | Historical | Humor

Historical Time Period
American West | Modern
Date
1800s
Topic
Culture and Traditions | Gold Rush
Geographic Region
California | United States - America
Main Character
Man/Men
Format
Book

How to Get Rich in the California Gold Rush: An Adventurer’s Guide to the Fabulous Riches Discovered in 1848

Author: Olson, Tod

How to Get Rich in the California Gold Rush follows the adventures of the charming, witty, fictitious Thomas Hartley as a way of offering a fascinating and fully historical portrait of life in the California gold fields. Archival imagery pairs with delightful and humorous artwork to produce a visual feast for the eyes. The inimitable Mr. Hartley’s guide is a unique snapshot of a key period in the economic development of our country—and a fun romp through time.

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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.
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Lexile/Reading Level
650L

Genre/Category
Fiction | Historical

Historical Time Period
American West | Modern
Date
1800s
Topic
Chinese-American | Culture and Traditions | Determination | Gold Rush | Mines and Mining
Geographic Region
California | United States - America
Main Character
Boy(s)
Format
Book

Journal of Wong Ming-Chung: A Chinese Miner, California, 1852 (My Name Is America)

Author: Yep, LaurencePart of a Series: My Name is America

In 1852, during the height of the California Gold Rush, ten-year-old Wong Ming-Chung makes the dangerous trip to America to join his uncle on his hunt for a fortune. The true treasure for Ming-Chung, though, is America itself. In the midst of the lawless, often hostile environment, he is able to forge an international community of friends.

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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.
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Lexile/Reading Level
1030L

Genre/Category
Fiction | Historical

Historical Time Period
Modern
Date
1800s
Topic
Chapter Books | Gold Rush | Growing Up - Coming of Age | Humor | Moving
Geographic Region
California | United States - America
Main Character
Girl(s)
Award-Winning Book
John and Patricia Beatty Award Winner | Rebecca Caudill Young Reader's Book Award
Format
Audiobook | Book | Ebook

Ballad of Lucy Whipple

Author: Cushman, Karen

Dear Gram and Grampop,
Please do not address yours truly as California anymore, California Morning Whipple being a foolish name for a duck much less a girl. I call myself Lucy now. I cannot hate California and be California. I know you will understand.

California doesn’t suit Lucy Whipple — not the name, not the place. But moving out West to Lucky Diggins, California, was her mama’s dream-come-true. And now her brother, Butte, and sisters, Prairie and Sierra, seem to be Westerners at heart, too. For Lucy, Lucky Diggins is hardly a town at all — just a bunch of ramshackle tents and tobacco-spitting miners. Even the gold her mama claimed was just lying around in the fields isn’t panning out. Worst of all, there’s no lending library! Dag diggety!

So Lucy vows to be plain miserable until she can hightail it back East where she belongs. But Lucy California Morning Whipple may be in for a surprise — because home is a lot closer than she thinks…

When California Morning Whipple’s widowed mother uproots her family from their comfortable Massachusetts environs and moves them to a rough mining camp called Lucky Diggins in the Sierras, California Morning resents the upheaval. Desperately wanting to control something in her own life, she decides to be called Lucy, and as Lucy she grows and changes in her strange and challenging new environment. Here Karen Cushman helps the American Gold Rush spring to colorful life.

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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.
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Lexile/Reading Level
840L

Genre/Category
Fiction | Historical

Date
1920s
Topic
Adoption | Gold Rush | Orphans
Geographic Region
Alaska | United States - America
Main Character
Girl(s)
Award-Winning Book
Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction
Format
Book | Ebook

Bo at Ballard Creek

Author: Hill, Kirkpatrick

It’s the 1920s, and Bo was headed for an Alaska orphanage when she won the hearts of two tough gold miners who set out to raise her, enthusiastically helped by all the kind people of the nearby Eskimo village.

Bo learns Eskimo along with English, helps in the cookshack, learns to polka, and rides along with Big Annie and her dog team. There’s always some kind of excitement: Bo sees her first airplane, has a run-in with a bear, and meets a mysterious lost little boy.

Here is an unforgettable story of a little girl growing up in the exhilarating time after the big Alaska gold rushes.

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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.
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Lexile/Reading Level
730L

Genre/Category
Adventure | Fiction | Historical | Romance

Historical Time Period
American West
Date
1800s
Topic
China | Feuds | Gold Rush | Romance
Geographic Region
Asia | China
Main Character
Boy(s) | Girl(s)
Format
Book

Mountain Light (Golden Mountain Chronicles #2)

Author: Yep, LaurencePart of a Series: Golden Mountain Chronicles

Their families fought one another for generations, maintaining an age-old blood feud. But that changed when they found themselves on the same side of a new struggle against the tyrannical Manchu dynasty. By devoting himself fully to the revolution, Squeaky Lau wins Cassia’s trust — and her heart.

But winning Cassia’s love is not enough. Now Squeaky must prove his worth as a man — to Cassia, to his villa village, and most importantly, to himself. And the only way he can do that is by giving up everything he has worked for and traveling to the Land of the Golden Mountain, the place foreign demons call America.

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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.
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Lexile/Reading Level
770L

Genre/Category
Fiction | Historical

Historical Time Period
China's Opium Wars
Date
1800s
Topic
China | Culture and Traditions | Family Relationships | Famine | Gold Rush | Growing Up - Coming of Age | Suspense
Geographic Region
Asia | China
Main Character
Girl(s)
Format
Audiobook | Book

Serpent’s Children (Golden Mountain Chronicles #1)

Author: Yep, LaurencePart of a Series: Golden Mountain Chronicles

When villagers call Cassia and her brother, Foxfire, “the serpent’s children,” they mean it as an insult. But to Cassia it is an honor, for legend says that once a serpent sets her mind on something, she never gives up. And in a time when famine, drought, and violence mark her family’s life, Cassia has nothing less than survival to fight for.

Their father is a revolutionary, determined to free China from invaders. Foxfire, certain he’ll find a mountain of gold, flees to a faraway land. Cassia will need all of her strength and wisdom to keep her family together, and to prove that she is truly the serpent’s child.

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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.
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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!
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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.

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