The Young American's History Library
It turns out all students love history; they just have to find the right teacher.
I’ve read more than my fair share of history books, but it wasn’t until I hit my early 20s that I realized how great nonfiction could be. I was a literature snob, always hiding a novel under my desk, but there was one high school class where I would close my book and look up: AP US History.
My ex-hippie teacher, Mr. V. did voices. He told us the little anecdotes and shared the personal tragedies and triumphs that humanize people like U.S. Grant and Robert E. Lee. I admired Mr V. for being a great storyteller first and foremost and he admired me because he was a huge parrothead and I knew the words to most of his greatest hits. His explanations of the political cartoons from the AP practice tests never fully jibed with mine, but I’ve always been a butthead when it comes to analysis. Still, Mr. V. showed me history could be fascinating when it was more story and less lecture.
Fast forward six years. I began my career teaching high school English. I didn’t understand why the kids didn’t love stories. I didn’t understand why, even when I explained the context and relevant metaphors and allusions, kids couldn’t write well about the novels they read. The best I could get out of them was a basic regurgitation of things I’d said in class.
Ten years into my teaching career, I switched over to history. The change was dramatic. Students suddenly had things to say and lots of questions to ask. They listened better, both to me and to the questions their classmates asked for clarification and from curiosity. They made conclusions. They could analyze events and explain how one led to another. Their test scores went way up. Far more students turned in essays and those essays got progressively better because they knew enough facts to come to and then explain their own understanding.
I realized they loved the real. They loved hearing about the people who came before them, who had lived in place names they knew. They loved seeing how they lived, what they wore, and how they played. Crucially, my students recognized our ancestors’ problems aren’t all that different from ours.
History provided an anchor for these kids, largely second-generation Americans. They began to understand and appreciate what they had inherited as citizens — and what the people before them had gone through to design it for them, what brave men and women had endured to preserve it for them.
And that’s when I realized that as much as I wanted them to love literature, these kids naturally gravitated to stories anchored in history.
Unfortunately, for too many kids and for many reasons, public schools teach very little history. To their enduring credit, most elementary teachers spend quite a bit of time on the Civil Rights movement; every American schoolkid is familiar with Martin Luther King, Jr. Most are also familiar with George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, but other than those three luminaries, most students reached me in 11th grade US History history knowing precious little about their country. A few students followed rabbit trails on YouTube and had some impressive factual knowledge (shout out to Call of Duty), but it was rare for a kid to understand the context around events or their progression.
And so I thought back to Mr. V. He wasn’t the only history teacher I’d had. In fact, by the time I got to him, I’d had four dedicated history teachers. I only remember two other than him, one because he was surly and sarcastic (and funny for it) and the other because he was an absolute hardass with whom I was in trouble often.
Then something else came back to me. I remembered that while I loved Mr. V, he wasn’t the only great history storyteller I knew. I’d become acquainted with hundreds of them: the writers of historical fiction and brilliant nonfiction that endured, preserving beloved stories of American heroes, real and imagined.
So today I give you two lists of books I’ve read and enjoyed that will give your child a foundation in history from the best storytellers — some who created their own characters and some who worked their magic around the real. Reading these books will provide a mooring for younger children and help strengthen the knowledge of older students. Importantly, reading books like this can alert a child to a teacher who — perhaps unknowingly — twists history to suit a political or ideological end. If a kid has knowledge of history and the teacher provides something that doesn’t jibe with his knowledge, he’ll often come home to talk about it with you. If parents encourage the reading of these books, they’re also encouraging the conversations that stem from them. In List 2, the conversations get more difficult — think military profiteering, the rise of socialism, internment camps, civil rights, the 60s, etc. — but they are the talks your kids need most.
These stories are our children’s inheritance. The more they learn about American grit, courage, and pigheadedness, the better they’ll know who they are and why they carry the sacred responsibility to defend what the Founders bequeathed us.
To make best use of these lists, figure out which time period in history your child is (supposed to be) studying at school, then choose from my list below to supplement whatever she’s hearing in class.
In the lower grades in elementary school kids don’t generally study specific history. Instead, they talk about social systems like their home, their community, their city and then their state. I suggest instead that you introduce the biographical stories of great Americans. A wonderful start for parents willing to spend 15-20 minutes a night reading to children is Stories of Great Americans for Little Americans. Once you finish that, go a little deeper and check out Yesterday’s Classics American History Stories, Volumes I-IV.
If you have an independent reader, I encourage you to look at the time periods my PDF lists cover and let your child choose titles related to the time period she’s studying at school. Once kids start reading about a topic being discussed in class, it becomes a lot easier for them to learn. Their reading at home makes it easier to retain and apply what they learn in class. Additionally, when a kid knows more about a topic than the other kids in class, she feels confident. This also makes learning easier.
My first list ranges from Colonial America through the Civil War. No doubt some titles will be familiar to you, while others will be new. But if your kids shows an interest in history and you’re not getting what you need from your local public school, check in here. These are great titles by excellent writers.
My second list has more depth because it ranges over the 20th century, the first 50 years of which are my bailiwick. Please note that some of these titles contain graphic violence and human suffering, especially around the World Wars. As always, these are books I value and that I’ve recommended to countless students, but note that they might be too heavy for a younger child. Use your discretion.
Story preserves culture. Invite your children to take part in American triumph and tragedy, uprightness and turpitude. An honest look back, with knowledge of context and grace given, grows appreciation for our ancestors. Invite your children into these American stories and eventually, they will become staunch defenders of the principle that all men are created equal and are born with the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. In order to accomplish that, they may become great storytellers themselves. I certainly hope so; we need all the help we can get.
If you’ve made it this far and don’t have the desire to curse me and my posterity, please hit the “Like” button. This makes my posts more visible to other parents who don’t understand how much worse schools have become since they graduated. The public school system actively robs American children of their full potential in order to serve mediocre adults and maintain power in the hands where it currently rests. Only parents can reverse this trend; American authoritarianism is born in its “free” public schools.
Thank you for sharing these resources. It is so much more enjoyable and meaningful to read stories than facts. I'm going to use your lists.
Thank you! I’m a homeschool mom who (loosely)follows the Charlotte Mason philosophy. I’m sure you’ve heard her term “living books”: books on any subject written by a single author who is passionate and knowledgeable about the subject, and employing a literary style. It sure does make learning come alive when we can find these precious resources. I’m excited to look at your lists.