Looking for historical fiction books for 7th graders? Whether you’re teaching a history lesson, have a student who can’t get enough of historical fiction, or need some suggestions to interest your 7th grader, I have some great recommendations for you!
It goes without saying that no two 7th graders are the same, so each of these books will appeal to different kinds of readers. You’ll find a graphic novel about women’s basketball in the 1970s, a grandmother-grandaughter jaunt inspired by Amelia Earhart, a story about the Ukrainian Holodomor, and a story set against the background of Loving vs. Virginia.
As a reader who isn’t a huge historical fiction fan, I’m very selective about which ones catch my interest. So you can rest assured that these are some engaging picks.
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20 Transporting Historical Fiction Books for 7th Graders
Here are 20 immersive historical fiction books for 7th graders:
Farewell Cuba, Mi Isla
Published: September 5, 2023
1960, Cuba. Cousins Victoria and Jackie love living in their island country with their large family. When when Fidel Castro’s communist government takes hold, things change swiftly, leading Victoria’s father to relocate his family to Miami, leaving Jackie and her family behind.
As Victoria adapts to life in the US, Jackie and her family struggle in Cuba—until the family decides to send Jackie over to the States with Operation Peter Pan. But will Jackie ever see her family again? Both girls band together to bring the rest of their family to America. This book transports readers to Fidel Castro’s Cuba with an accessible look at American schools and education in the 1960s.
I Am Kavi
Published: September 19, 2023
It’s 1998 in Colombo, Sri Lanka. In the middle of the Sri Lankan Civil War, Kavi is dealing with her own personal upheavals. Her mother has remarried her father’s best friend after his death and is expecting a new baby.
Meanwhile, Kavi is getting sent to the city on a scholarship to an elite private school. There, she starts telling lies of a life of wealth and grandeur– small at first, then bigger and bigger — to fit in with the rich kids until she begins to lose herself. I really enjoyed this debut verse novel, and readers looking for books set outside the US will love it.
The Lost Year
Published: January 17, 2023
It’s 2020, and Matthew is sick of being inside with the pandemic raging outside. While reluctantly helping his great-grandmother sort through her belongings, he finds a picture of two girls. As she shares her experience during the Ukrainian famine, the story alternates between three narrators: Matthew, Helena, and Mila. A powerful, unforgettable account of historical events.
Wave
Published: March 29, 2022
Ava likes to write poetry and sing (she’s getting to sing in the school choir soon), but her mom, who’s a doctor, wants Ava to consider that career path. She persuades her to volunteer at the hospital, but Ava would rather be surfing or engaging in her other hobbies. She gets even more upset when she breaks her leg while volunteering. Amidst all the drama, Phoenix’s lymphoma returns aggressively, and he doesn’t want to pursue treatment anymore. Can Ava convince him to keep trying?
This verse novel is sad at times with the death of a close friend, but also includes some lighter moments that kids who enjoy surfing and music will appreciate.
Yusuf Azeem Is Not a Hero
Published: September 7, 2021
Yusuf Azeem is not a hero like his dad, who talked down a gunman in their small-town A-Z Dollar Store. But his dad’s heroism doesn’t prevent him from getting worsening hateful notes in his locker telling him to “Go Home.” Yusuf and his friend Danial had expected that this would be their year — their entry into middle school and a chance to compete in a robotics contest. However, when some of the townspeople, including a group called the Patriot Sons, try to stop the construction of their town’s mosque and begin to target Yusuf and other Muslims in the community, they are forced to take a stand.
Esperanza Rising
Published: October 1, 2000
This book is such a joy! Esperanza and her mama are forced to flee their large home (read mansion) in Mexico after a tragedy. They work as farm hands in California during the Great Depression. During this time, Esperanza has to adjust from being the daughter of a wealthy landowner to being a peasant.
Pam Muñoz Ryan covers many themes, from racial and class prejudice to the importance of family and empathy. I also enjoyed the use of Spanish and the historical context of the novel. I’m so excited to teach this book! From a middle grade standpoint, the vocabulary is excellent and the story will certainly generate a curiosity for history and empathy for others.
The Night Diary
Published: March 6, 2018
This is a heartbreaking middle grade book about a girl’s experience during the partition of India. Nisha is caught between her Hindu-Indian and Muslim-Indian sides. She’s also dealing with the loss of her mother. So when her country starts to split in two, her search for identity becomes even more meaningful. There’s a reason why this one is a Newbery Honor book.
If your kids loved this book, here’s a list of more books like The Night Diary.
How to Find What You’re Not Looking For
Published: September 14, 2021
How to Find What You’re Not Looking For is a poignant, moving, and brilliantly written middle grade novel about family, identity, and love. This book follows 12-year-old Ariel whose life is upturned when her big sister (the best of them all), Leah, elopes with her Indian-American boyfriend after the Loving vs. Virginia ruling. Ariel’s parents are upset, Ariel is struggling with being able to write well at school, and she can’t stop thinking about her sister and everything happening in the world.
Red, White, and Whole
Published: February 2, 2021
Red, White, and Whole is Rajani LaRocca’s newest middle-grade verse novel. The year is 1983 and 13-year-old Reha is caught between two cultures: her Indian family and community at home; and the all-American experience at school and with her white “school best friend.” But it’s not all rosy. Her mother doesn’t approve of Reha acting more American than Indian. She makes all of Reha’s clothes herself, and is upset when Reha says she would like to go to the school dance.
Reha is understandably frustrated at her mother’s lack of understanding, but she’s about to have more problems. Her mom is diagnosed with leukemia, and Reha’s life is turned upside down. Between school, family issues, and navigating her affection for a boy in her neighborhood, Reha has her plate full.
Not Your All-American Girl
Published: July 7, 2020
Lauren is Jewish and Chinese. It’s the 1980s, and Lauren and her best friend — who’s blonde with blue eyes — do everything together. So when they don’t have any sixth-grade classes together, they’re bummed! They decide that they will audition for their school’s musical so that they can at least have that time together. Lauren’s audition goes swimmingly, and she’s obviously the better singer than Tara (even better than any of the other kids), but when the cast list is released, Lauren is only part of the ensemble, and Tara is cast as the lead. Upon confronting the director, she explains that Lauren’s half-Jewish, half-Chinese looks don’t match the role of “all-American girl” in the “all-American town” depicted in their musical.
This encounter opens Lauren’s eyes to several microaggressions and brings to the fore her issues with being biracial and looking different from others at her predominantly white school. Looking for a relatable figure, she begins to nurture a love for the singer Patsy Cline whom she mistakenly assumes is also Jewish. There are also changes at home, with her mother looking to enter law school, which would make her even less available to Lauren. With the help of her family and two grandmothers, Lauren learns to find her place while keeping her friendship with Tara.
Broken Strings
Published: September 10, 2019
Shirli Berman has her eyes set on a role in her school’s play. It’s 2002, just after the Twin Towers and the death of Shirli’s grandmother (Bubie). Even though she doesn’t eventually score her desired role, she ends up playing another one of the key roles anyway. To add to it, her stage husband is Ben Morgan, the most popular boy in school.
At the same time, Shirli is also learning about her family’s history from her grandfather (Zayde) who has been silent on the matter his entire adult life. When she’s in the attic looking for costumes and props for the play, she stumbles on some of her grandfather’s personal items that raise many questions in her mind about his past and may explain some of his present behavior, like why he doesn’t let anyone sing in the house, for example.
Barefoot Dreams of Petra Luna
Published: September 14, 2021
It is 1913, and twelve-year-old Petra Luna’s mama has died while the Revolution rages in Mexico. Before her papa is dragged away by soldiers, Petra vows to him that she will care for the family she has left—her abuelita, little sister Amelia, and baby brother Luisito—until they can be reunited. They flee north through the unforgiving desert as their town burns, searching for safe harbor in a world that offers none.
Each night when Petra closes her eyes, she holds her dreams close, especially her long-held desire to learn to read. Abuelita calls these barefoot dreams: “They’re like us barefoot peasants and indios—they’re not meant to go far.” But Petra refuses to listen. Through battlefields and deserts, hunger and fear, Petra will stop at nothing to keep her family safe and lead them to a better life across the U.S. border—a life where her barefoot dreams could finally become reality.
The Length of a String
Published: May 1, 2018
Imani knows exactly what she wants as her big bat mitzvah gift: to find her birth parents. She loves her family and her Jewish community in Baltimore, but she has always wondered where she came from, especially since she’s black and almost everyone she knows is white. Then her mom’s grandmother–Imani’s great-grandma Anna–passes away, and Imani discovers an old journal among her books. It’s Anna’s diary from 1941, the year she was twelve and fled Nazi-occupied Luxembourg alone, sent by her parents to seek refuge in Brooklyn, New York. Anna’s diary records her journey to America and her new life with an adoptive family of her own. And as Imani reads the diary, she begins to see her family, and her place in it, in a whole new way
The Last Grand Adventure
Published: March 20, 2018
It’s 1967 and twelve-year-old Bea is in need of some adventure. Her mother is off in San Francisco, while her father has just gotten remarried in Los Angeles. Bea has gained a younger stepsister, and she’s not thrilled about her blended family. So when her ailing grandmother, Pidge, moves to an Orange County senior-living community and asks if Bea would spend the summer helping her get settled, Bea is happy for any excuse to get away.
The Long Ride
Published: September 24, 2019
The Long Ride by Marina Budhos is the story of three mixed-race girls in the 1970’s. Francesca, Jamila, and Josie are chosen to be part of a trial desegregated school experience.
All three girls live in a mostly white Queens neighborhood and have parents who’ve worked hard to get them into great schools in mostly white neighborhoods. Naturally, the parents worry about switching their daughters’ schools to one in a “bad” (read, mostly Black) neighborhood. Francesca’s parents reject the opportunity and move her to a private school instead. This leaves Josie and Jamila alone at the new school.
The girls soon realize that they’re out of their comfort zones. Josie and Jamila grow distant when Josie doesn’t make it into the same gifted kids program. The former becomes closer to the Spanish girls in her class. Then Jamila forms a new friendship with a Black boy, John, but because she’s half Black and half white, their burgeoning relationship must remain at school.
Hoops
Published: March 14, 2023
It’s the 1970s, and Judi loves to shoot hoops in the driveway with her brother and his friends. She hopes she can join a basketball team someday, but her school doesn’t have a female team. So when she gets to high school, she chooses the next best thing: cheerleading with her best friend Stacey. But one day, the school announces that they’re starting a team for the girls because of the Title IX ruling.
Unfortunately, as willing as the girls who sign up are (Judi inclusive), there’s little to no funding for their team. They have to DIY their jerseys and practice only when the boys’ team isn’t using the court. On top of that, Stacey is upset that Judi has left cheerleading to play ball, and some girls want to quit because they’re so frustrated. Can Judi and the team make it work?
The Star That Always Stays
Published: July 12, 2022
When bright and spirited Norvia moves from the country to the city, she has to live by one new rule: Never let anyone know you’re Ojibwe. Growing up on Beaver Island, Norvia was proud of her Ojibwe heritage.
Things are different in the city. Here, Norvia’s mother forces her to pretend she’s not Native at all—even to Mr. Ward, Ma’s new husband, and to Vernon, Norvia’s irritating new stepbrother. Despite the move, the upheaval, and the looming threat of world war, Norvia and her siblings—all five of them—are determined to make 1914 their best year ever. Norvia is certain that her future depends upon it… and upon her discretion.
But how can she have the best year ever if she has to hide who she truly is?
We Dream of Space
Published: March 22, 2022
Fitch and Bird are twins who are now in the same grade as their older brother, Cash — because Cash was held back in the seventh grade. Bird is a space aficionado and dreams of being an astronaut. Fitch has anger issues and hates that he’s getting crushed on by a girl he doesn’t like — and whom his best friends consider unattractive. Cash feels lost and cannot seem to find his place anywhere. It doesn’t help that the situation at home is tense, with parents who are constantly bickering and a family that cannot seem to make time to talk as a unit or nurture their children.
This character-driven slice-of-life novel shows how different families can be, addresses the struggles of navigating sibling relationships, and highlights what difference an enthusiastic teacher can make. More importantly, it is an ode to the Challenger Shuttle Disaster of 1986, and middle-grade historical fiction like this can teach not just history but also a lot of empathy.
The Magical Imperfect
Published: June 15, 2021
The Magical Imperfect is a middle grade verse novel about a boy named Etan. Etan develops selective mutism after his mom has to go to a treatment facility for a mental disorder in 1980’s San Francisco. Around that time, mini-earthquakes are frequent and Etan tries to keep up his daily schedule, which is basically school and then time with his grandfather. Sometimes, he helps an older shopkeeper in the neighborhood walk her dog and run errands. It is while he is on one of those errands that he meets Malia, a Filipina-American girl with severe eczema.
Etan and Malia become fast friends and he gets a closer look at how debilitating her eczema is. He also realizes that Malia loves singing and has a beautiful singing voice. Etan wants to take Malia’s suffering away, and he thinks his grandfather’s Dead Sea clay can make a difference — perhaps even heal Malia’s eczema. He also suggests that she sing in the community’s talent show. But will the clay work? And will Malia and Etan’s friendship survive the challenges it faces?
Cuba in My Pocket
Published: September 21, 2021
When the failed Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961 solidifies Castro’s power in Cuba, twelve-year-old Cumba’s family makes the difficult decision to send him to Florida alone. Faced with the prospect of living in another country by himself, Cumba tries to remember the sound of his father’s clarinet, the smell of his mother’s lavender perfume.
Life in the United States presents a whole new set of challenges. Lost in a sea of English speakers, Cumba has to navigate a new city, a new school, and new freedom all on his own. With each day, Cumba feels more confident in his new surroundings, but he continues to wonder: Will his family ever be whole again? Or will they remain just out of reach, ninety miles across the sea?
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There they are: 20 of the best historical fiction books for 7th graders! Which of these books have you read and loved? Which ones did I miss?
More Historical Fiction
- Historical fiction for 5th graders
- Great historical fiction books for middle schoolers (divided by time period)
- Historical fiction for teens
I’ve loved Refugee by Alan Gratz for this age!