The Revolutionary War
Novels for Middle School Readers
at the Elmhurst Public Library

The Fighting Ground   by Avi
Thirteen-year-old Jonathan goes off to fight in the Revolutionary War and discovers the real war is being fought within himself.   157 pages.   (J Fic Avi)

Drums   by James Boyd
Johnny Fraser, son of Scottish immigrants now living in North Carolina, goes off to fight in the Revolutionary War and has adventures on both sides of the Atlantic.   409 pages.   (J Fic Boyd)

Toliver’s Secret   by Esther Brady                                                                     
During the Revolutionary War, a ten-year-old girl crosses enemy lines to deliver a loaf of bread containing a message for the patriots.   166 pages.   (J PB Brady)

I’m Deborah Sampson: A Soldier in the War of the Revolution                    
Relates the experiences of the woman who disguised herself as a man in order to enlist and fight in the American Revolution.   176 pages.   (J Fic Clapp)

My Brother Sam is Dead   by James Lincoln Collier                            
Tragedy strikes the Meeker family during the Revolution when one son joins the rebel forces while the rest of the family tries to stay neutral in a Tory town.   216 pages.   (J Fic & PB Collier)

War Comes to Willy Freeman   by James Lincoln Collier                               
A free thirteen-year-old black girl in Connecticut is caught up in the horror of the Revolutionary War and the danger of being returned to slavery when her patriot father is killed by the British and her mother disappears.   178 pages.   (J Fic Collier)

Betsy Zane, the Rose of Fort Henry   by Lynda Durrant                      
In 1781, twelve-year-old Elizabeth Zane leaves Philadelphia to return to her brothers' homestead near Fort Henry in what is now West Virginia, where she plays an important role in the final battle of the American Revolution.   198 pages.   (J Fic Durrant)

George Midgett’s War   by Sally Edwards                                               
The residents of an island on North Carolina's Outer Banks are unconcerned about the war for independence until an incident causes a fourteen-year-old and his father to set out for Valley Forge with supplies for Washington's army.   138 pages.   (J Fic Edwards)

Johnny Tremain   by Esther Forbes                                                        
A fourteen year old silversmith's apprentice becomes a rider for the "Boston Observer" and messenger for the patriots who planned the Boston Tea Party.   346 pages. (J Fic Forbes)

Early Thunder   by Jean Fritz                                                                               
In Salem, 14-year-old Daniel begins to re-examine his loyalty to the King as the conflict between Tories and patriots increasingly divides the townspeople.   255 pages.   (J Fic Fritz)

Hope’s Crossing   by Joan Goodman                                                     
When kidnapped by English Loyalists during the Revolutionary War, thirteen-year-old Hope draws on every ounce of courage within her to respond to the ordeal.   212 pages.   (J Fic Goodman)

Midnight Rider   by Joan Hiatt Harlow                                                    
In Boston in 1775, orphaned fourteen-year-old Hannah is indentured to the family of a British general and begins attending secret meetings disguised as a boy, then passing warnings to the revolutionaries using her beloved horse Promise.   404 pages.   (J Fic Harlow)

Just Jane: A Daughter of England Caught in the Struggle of the American Revolution   by William Lavender                                                      
Fourteen-year-old Jane Prentice, orphaned daughter of an English earl, arrives in Charleston, South Carolina, in 1776 to find her family and her loyalties divided over the question of American independence.   277 pages.   (J Fic Lavender)

Sarah Bishop   by Scott O’Dell                                                                             
Left alone after the deaths of her father and brother who take opposite sides in the War for Independence, and fleeing from the British who seek to arrest her, Sarah Bishop struggles to shape a new life for herself in the wilderness.   184 pages.   (J Fic O’Dell)

Hang for Treason   by Robert Newton Peck                                                      
A Vermont boy becomes involved with Ethan Allen and the Green Mountain Boys despite his father's Tory leanings in the early days of the war.   232 pages.   (J Fic Peck)

Cast Two Shadows   by Ann Rinaldi                                                      
In South Carolina in 1780, fourteen-year-old Caroline sees the Revolutionary War take a terrible toll among her family and friends and comes to understand the true nature of war.   281 pages.   (J Fic Rinaldi)

The Fifth of March: a Story of the Boston Massacre   by Ann Rinaldi          
Fourteen-year-old Rachel Marsh, an indentured servant in the Boston household of John and Abigail Adams, is caught up in the colonists' unrest that eventually escalates into the massacre of March 5, 1770.   335 pages.   (J Fic Rinaldi)

Finishing Becca: A Story about Piggy Shippen and Benedict Arnold          
Fourteen-year-old Becca takes a position as a maid in a wealthy Philadelphia Quaker home and witnesses the events that lead to General Benedict Arnold's betrayal of the American forces during the Revolutionary War.   362 pages.   (J Fic Rinaldi)

Or Give Me Death: A Novel of Patrick Henry’s Family                         
With their father away most of the time advocating independence for the American colonies, the children of Patrick Henry try to raise themselves, manage the family plantation, and care for their mentally ill mother.   226 pages.   (J Fic Rinaldi)

A Ride into Morning: the Story of Tempe Wick   by Ann Rinaldi             
When unrest spreads at the Revolutionary War camp in Morristown, New Jersey, under the command of General Anthony Wayne, a young woman cleverly hides her horse from the mutinous soldiers who have need of it.   353 pages.   (YA PB Rinaldi)

The Secret of Sarah Revere   by Ann Rinaldi                                       
Paul Revere's daughter describes her father's "rides" and the intelligence network of the patriot community prior to the American Revolution.   320 pages.   (J Fic Rinaldi)

Time Enough for Drums   by Ann Rinaldi                                                         
Sixteen-year-old Jem and her servant struggle to keep things going at home in Trenton, New Jersey, when the family men join the war for independence from the British king.   249 pages.   (F Rinaldi)

Young George Washington   by John Rosenburg                               
A fictionalized biography, with emphasis on the early life of the Virginia farmer's son who would eventually become a Revolutionary War leader and first President of the United States.   175 pages. (J Fic Rosenburg)

John Treegate’s Musket   by Leonard Wibberley                                  
Loyalty to the British king was important to John Treegate, putting it ahead even of his son, but following his son's return from sailing the ocean, the two join together to fight for the colonies.   188 pages.   (J Fic Wibberley)

Sea Captain from Salem   by Leonard Wibberley                                
Sent by Benjamin Franklin, the sea captain must attack any British ship seen sailing near France. In order to get the French king to sign the alliance with the U.S., the captain must prove he’s able to hold his own against Great Britain.   (J Fic Wibberley)

Kings Mountain   by G. Clifton Wisler                                                     
Fourteen-year-old Frank leaves his mountain home in South Carolina to help the Patriot cause during the Revolutionary War.   154 pages.   (J Fic Wisler)