Michael Burgan
Who Was John Mccain?
A solid, accessible entry point for kids to understand the Vietnam War and modern US politics through a single, complex figure's life.
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Vaino: A Boy of New Finland
by Julia Davis Adams
Middle grade · ages 8–12 · 720L · 1929
A historically grounded, earnest window into Finnish immigrant life in early 20th-century North America — valuable for cultural knowledge and perspective, though the pacing and dated prose feel slow to modern readers.
Homesick: My Own Story
by Jean Fritz
Middle grade · ages 8–12 · 760L
A genuinely moving memoir that treats a child's emotional complexity with respect—Jean Fritz models self-awareness and honest confusion in a way that validates kids caught between cultures or identities.
On the Banks of Plum Creek
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Middle grade · ages 8–12 · 730L · 2021
The richest prairie novel for this age — Wilder's precise, unsentimental observation of frontier life and ecology rewards careful readers and stays vivid across rereads.