A Book That Takes Place Before You Were Born: Suggested Reads for KidsLike this list

12 items

• Onyx & Beyond

  McBride, Amber,

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  Onyx is a twelve-year-old in 1970s Virginia whose mother is struggling with early onset dementia. While the mother/son dynamic is the heart of the story, Onyx and Beyond also includes events of the 1960s and 1970s, including the civil rights…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Light Comes to Shadow Mountain

  Buzzeo, Toni

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  Can you imagine life without cellphones or computers? Well, how about life without electricity! In 1930s Kentucky, Cora tries to get her family and community to support the Rural Electrification Act and bring electricity to her town.

• Troublemaker

  Cho, John, 1972-

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  While you might have been around for the George Floyd protests in 2020, this novel will take you back to an earlier racial conflict: the Rodney King verdict in 2022. Jordan is a Korean American navigating through the tumultous time in Los Angeles.

• We Dream of Space

  Kelly, Erin Entrada

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  The 1986 launch of the Challenger space shuttle is the backdrop for this story about three siblings who are also encountering their own family and school difficulties, all while working on a school project in the lead-up to the launch.

• Ground Zero

  a Novel of 9/11

  Gratz, Alan, 1972-

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  The tragedy of 9/11 is explored in two different timelines: Brandon and his father are in the World Trade Center's North Tower on the day of the attacks, and Reshmina is a girl in Afghanistan whose village is a target of the Taliban.

• I Survived the Joplin Tornado, 2011

  Tarshis, Lauren

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  In Missouri, we are familiar with tornado watches, drills and the occasional twister. One of the most devastating tornadoes on record took place in 2011 in the Missouri town of Joplin.

• The (mostly) True Story of Cleopatra's Needle

  Gutman, Dan,

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  Cleopatra's Needle is an iconic landmark in New York City's Central Park. Though you can still visit it today, this book takes you through various stops in history before you were born: from the original construction in 1460 BCE to its move to the…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Indian No More

  McManis, Charlene Willing, 1953-2018

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  Regina Petit and her family, of the Umpqua tribe, resettle in Los Angeles from Oregon after the 1957 Indian Relocation Act.

• Anya Flees the Fallout

  a Chernobyl Survival Story

  Falligant, Erin,

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  The explosion of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Russia occurred in 1986. In the aftermath of the disaster, Anya's firefighter father is injured and her family is forced to evacuate.

• Black Star

  Alexander, Kwame,

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  This novel-in-verse follows Charley, a young Black girl, who dreams of becoming a baseball pitcher, with elements of the Harlem Renaissance, Negro League Baseball, and the Great Migration.

• Wild Bird

  Zahler, Diane,

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  You may have experienced the COVID-19 pandemic, but that is not the only time in history where lives were disrupted due to the spread of disease. Wild Bird follows a girl from Norway who lived through the outbreak of the bubonic plague in the 14th…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• One Big Open Sky

  Cline-Ransome, Lesa,

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  Set in 1879, this moving story takes place during one family's perilous westward journey to settle on a new homestead.