The Giant Print Library

Historical Fiction for younger readers Updated: January 2013

Any UK member of our library service may borrow up to a maximum of 6 books per service for a 3 month loan period.

Most of the books have been produced by the National Blind Children's Society and are in 24 point type with identical covers to the ordinary print versions of the books.

Please be aware that due to their size, many of the books are split into two or

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more volumes, and these will have the same covers.

For details on borrowing any of the titles listed or for further information regarding the Giant Print collection please contact Liz Farrell or Hazel Sharrock, Children's Librarians at RNIB National Library Service on 0161 429 1975.

Historical fiction

Anderson, Laurie HalseChains. 2009. Suggested reading age 13+. 2v.Isabel and her sister, Ruth, are slaves. Sold from one owner to the next, they arrive in New York as the Americans are fighting for their independence, and the English are struggling to maintain control. Soon Isabel is

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struggling too. Struggling to keep herself and her sister safe in a world in which they have no control.

Bawden, Nina.Carrie's war. 1993. Suggested reading age 11+. 1v.Evacuated from London to Wales during the Second World War, Carrie and her brother are sent to live with the very strict Mr Evans. But in trying to heal the breach between Mr Evans and his estranged sister, Carrie does the worst thing she ever did in her life.

Boyne, John.The boy in the striped pyjamas. 2006. Suggested reading age 13+. 1v.Nine-year-old Bruno is oblivious to the cruelties being inflicted by his people. Then he meets Shmuel, a boy who lives a strange parallel existence on

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the other side of the adjoining wire fence, and who wears a uniform of striped pyjamas…

Bradford, Chris.The way of the warrior. 2008. Suggested reading age 11+. 2v. Book 1 in the Young Samurai series. August 1611. Jack Fletcher is shipwrecked off the coast of Japan. His beloved father and the crew lie slaughtered by ninja pirates. Rescued by the legendary sword master Masamoto Takeshi, Jack's only hope is to become a samurai warrior. And so his training begins. But life at the samurai school is a constant fight for survival. Even with his friend Akiko by his side, Jack is singled out by bullies and treated as an outcast. With courage in his heart and his sword held high, can Jack prove himself and face his deadliest rival yet?

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Bradman, Tony.Robin Hood and the silver arrow. 2004. Age range 7+. 1v.These are tales that every aspiring boy-adventurer will want to read, from Robin outwitting the evil sheriff and William Tell's astounding shot that pierced an apple at one hundred yards.

Breslin, Theresa.Across the Roman wall. 2005. Suggested reading age 9+. 1v.The minute that Marubetta meets Lucius, she hates him - pompous, stuck-up nephew of a Roman official! He thinks that, as a Briton, she is terribly provincial and she finds him arrogant and big-headed.

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Breslin, Theresa.The Medici seal. 2007. Suggested age range 13+. 3v. Set in Romagna, Italy, in the year 1502. Fleeing from the murderous brigand Sandino, Matteo befriends Leonardo da Vinci. But Leonardo is employed by Cesare Borgia, head of one of Italy's leading families. And as Da Vinci and Matteo travel across Italy on the Borgia's business, murder, deceit and revenge follow in their trail.

Breslin, Theresa.The Nostradamus prophecy. 2008. Suggested reading age 13+. 3v.Melisande is the daughter of the king's minstrel and lives among the royal French court. She, like many others, pays little heed to the dire warnings of Nostradamus. But when misfortune befalls Melisande's family and she

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realises that it was predicted by Nostradamus, she turns to the soothsayer for help.

Breslin, Theresa.Prisoner of the Inquisition. 2010. Suggested reading age 13+. 2v.Zarita, only daughter of the town magistrate, lives a life of wealth and privilege. Saulo, son of a family reduced by circumstances to begging, witnesses his father wrongfully arrested and dealt with in the most horrifying way. Hauled off to be a slave at sea and pursued by pirates he encounters the ambitious mariner explorer, Christopher Columbus.

Buckley-Archer, LindaGideon the cutpurse. 2007. Suggested reading age 13+. 3v.An encounter with an anti-gravity machine catapults Peter Schock and

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Kate Dyer back to the 18th century and sets in motion a calamitous chain of events. While a massive police hunt gets underway to find the missing children in the 21st century - in 1763 a hardened criminal, the Tar Man, steals the anti-gravity machine and disappears into the London underworld. Stranded in another time and forced to chase the Tar Man to his lair, Peter and Kate find a friend and guide in reformed cutpurse, Gideon Seymour. Gideon does every thing he can to help them, but will his dark past catch up with him before the machine is recovered?

Castor, Harriet.VIII. 2011. Suggested reading age 13+. 2v.'VIII' is the story of Hal: a young, handsome, gifted warrior, who believes he has been chosen to lead

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his people. But he is plagued by the ghosts of his family's violent past and, once he rises to power, he turns to murder and rapacious cruelty. He is Henry VIII.

Conlon-McKenna, Marita.Under the hawthorn tree. 1990. Suggested reading age 9+. 1v.Book 1 in the Children of the Famine trilogy. Ireland in the 1840s is devastated by famine. When tragedy strikes their family, Eily, Michael and Peggy are left to fend for themselves.

Cross, Vince.Blitz : a wartime girl's diary, 1940-1941. 2008. Suggested interest age 9+. 1v.Part of the My Story series. It's 1940 and with London under fire Edie and her little brother are evacuated to Wales.

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Crossley-Holland, Kevin.Arthur : the seeing stone. 2001. Suggested reading age 9+. 3v.Book 1 in the Arthur series.Young Arthur de Caldicott is anxious to grow up, spread his wings and become a knight. But for now he must content himself with the life he has in the bosom off his family and friends. One day one of these friends, the old and mysterious Merlin, gives Arthur a special stone, and from that moment his life becomes entwined with that of King Arthur himself...

Crossley-Holland, KevinGatty's tale. 2007. Age range 13+. 3v.The fourth and final part of this series of books based on Arthurian legends. Gatty, who has never been further than her own village, is picked by Lady

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Gwyneth of Ewloe to join the band of pilgrims accompanying her to Jerusalem. The journey is fraught with danger and uncertainty, but opens Gatty's eyes to new wonders and transforms her.

Crowley, Bridget.Ship's angel. 2004. Age range 13+. 2v. A thrilling mediaeval mystery. With no friends and no family, John must make his way alone. He boards a ship, but is wrecked in a storm and is washed up on the coast of England. He befriends a girl in dire straits. Then her husband-to-be is found murdered John is accused and flung in jail…

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Doherty, Berlie.Street child. 1994. Suggested reading age 9+. 1v.Jim Jarvis is a runaway. When his mother dies, Jim is all alone in the workhouse and is desperate to escape. But London in the 1860s is a dangerous and lonely place for a small boy and life is a constant battle for survival…

Edge, ChristopherTwelve minutes to midnight. 2012. Suggested reading age 11+. 2v.Penelope Tredwell is the feisty 13-year-old orphan heiress of the bestselling magazine, 'The Penny Dreadful'. Her masterly tales of the macabre are gripping Victorian Britain, even if no one knows she's the author.

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French, Albert.Billy. 1994. Suggested reading age 15+. 2v.Set in the 1930s in a small Mississippi town, Billy is badly hurt when he is attacked by 2 girls. When they finally let him go, he stabs one of them in the chest. The sheriff can barely contain the mob of whites intent on revenge…

Gallagher, Brian.Taking sides: A boy. A girl. A nation torn apart. 2011. Suggested reading age 11+. 2v.In the Dublin of 1922 with Civil War about to break out, working class Annie Riley is thrilled to win a scholarship to Eccles Street Convent School. Through a classmate, she meets Peter Scanlon, a student in a nearby school who acts as a messenger when the war starts, with

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Irishmen fighting Irishmen on the streets of the capital.

Garfield, Leon.The apprentices. 1982. Suggested reading age 13+. 3v.With a Hogarthian sense of atmosphere and a Dickensian richness of character, Garfield brings to life a dozen 18th century fictional apprentices and their stories. He reminds us of just how young and how vulnerable these apprentices were as they struggled for their livelihood among the fetid houses and sinister quays of old London.

Gavin, Jamila.Coram boy. 2000. Suggested reading age 11+. 2v.Set in the eighteenth century. Toby and Aaron both live in Captain Coram's Hospital for orphans, but their

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backgrounds are very different and who is Mish who watches over them?

Geras, Adele.A candle in the dark. 1995. Suggested reading age 9+. 1v.Germany, 9th November, 1938. After the horrors of this night, when Nazi storm troopers destroyed all the synagogues and Jewish property, Clara needs all her courage to go to England to live with a family she and her brother have never met.

Geras, Adele.Lizzie's wish. 2004. Suggested reading age 9+. 1v.One of the Historical House books. On an extended visit to her cousins in London, Lizzie's passion for plants and trees is fuelled by visits to the newly opened Kew Gardens. Like her elder

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cousin, who wants to defy her middle-class upbringing and become a nurse, Lizzie has ambition and the will to go against the conventions of her Victorian peers. She wants to be a gardener, and the first step towards her dream is to plant a walnut in the garden of 6 Chelsea Walk.

Gleitzman, Morris.Once. 2006. Suggested reading age 9+. 1v.Book 1 in the Felix and Zelda series. Felix has lives in a convent orphanage high in the mountains in Poland, but he is convinced his parents are still alive and will come back to get him. When a group of Nazi soldiers come and burn the nuns' books, Felix is terrified that his Jewish, bookseller parents will also be in danger. After escaping from the orphanage, Felix embarks on a long and dangerous journey through Nazi

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occupied Poland, befriending a little orphan girl called Zelda and a kindly dentist, Barney, who hides and cares for Jewish children.

Golding, Julia.The diamond of Drury Lane. 2006.Suggested reading age 13+. 2v. Book 1 of the Cat Royal series (other books in this series are also available).Set in 1790's Covent Garden, this is the tale of Cat Royal, an orphan who lives at the back of the real-life theatre in Drury Lane. And of course there is the diamond mystery…

Hearn, Julie.The Merrybegot. 2005. Suggested reading age 11+. 2v.This is the story of Nell who lives with her grandmother, the local cunning woman and healer, in a west country

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village in the seventeenth century. When one of the minister's daughters falls pregnant, she and her sister attempt to conceal it by accusing Nell of putting a curse on them. The witchfinder general, Matthew Hopkins, is called in and in an atmosphere of fear, the local villagers turn nasty and Nell's grandmother falls victim to their hatred. Nell is all alone, and in great danger.

Hearn, JulieRowan the strange. 2009.Suggested reading age 13+. 2v.As the second World War begins, Rowan is diagnosed as schizophrenic and sent away to a hospital where the latest treatments are available. But the treatments are experimental still - and nobody predicts the effect they will have on Rowan.

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Hooper, Mary.At the sign of the Sugared Plum. 2003. Suggested reading age 11+. 1v.Hannah does not get the reception she expected from her sister Sarah on arrival in London. Instead of giving Hannah a hearty welcome, Sarah is horrified that Hannah did not get her message to stay away - the Plague is taking hold of the city.

Ibbotson, Eva.The dragonfly pool. 2009. Suggested reading age 9+. 3v. Tally Hamilton is furious to hear she is being sent from London to a horrid, stuffy boarding school in the countryside. And all because of the stupid war. But an exciting school trip to the beautiful and luscious kingdom of Bergania whisks Tally into an unexpected adventure.

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Johnson, CatherineA nest of vipers. 2008. Suggested reading age 9+. 1v.Cato Hopkins is the youngest member of Mother Hopkins' 'family' - a group of skilled fraudsters and pickpockets. But old age is slowing Mother Hopkins down, and she wants to carry out one last con, a con to outdo all the cons that have gone before.

Lacey, Josh.Bearkeeper. 2008. Suggested reading age 9+. 2v.Pip is a blacksmith's apprentice- but he longs to be a famous knife-fighter like his dead father. Alone in London, he meets great danger and two odd allies. One is hairy and hungry. The other is William Shakespeare.

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Laird, Elizabeth.Crusade. 2007. Age range 13+. 6v.When Adam's mother dies unconfessed, he pledges to save her soul with dust from the Holy Land. Employed as a dog-boy for the local knight, Adam grabs the chance to join the Crusade to reclaim Jerusalem. Salim, a merchant's son, is leading an uneventful life in the port of Acre - until news arrives that a Crusader attack is imminent.

Landman, Tanya.Apache. 2007. Suggested reading age 13+. 2v.Siki is an orphan of the Black Mountain Apache. When Siki witnesses the brutal murder of her little brother Tazhi, she vows to become an Apache warrior and avenge her brother's death.

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Landman, Tanya.The goldsmith's daughter. 2008. Suggested reading age 13+. 2v.A young girl's struggle to change her destiny, set against the destruction of the Aztec empire. When Itacate, an apprentice goldsmith, falls in love with a stranger, her life takes a perilous turn. Can Itacate change her destiny and survive in this harsh new world?

Lawrence, Caroline.The secrets of Vesuvius. 2002. Age range 9+. 1v.Part of the Roman Mysteries series. Also available The thieves of Ostia.It's August AD79. Mount Vesuvius is about to erupt. Flavia, a Roman sea captain's daughter, and her friends find themselves in desperate danger.

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McCaughrean, Geraldine.The kite rider. 2007. Suggested reading age 9+. 2v.Set in Ancient China, this is the amazing story of Haoyou, who is strapped to a kite and sent to fly among the clouds and the spirits of the dead.

Magorian, Michelle.Goodnight Mister Tom. 1996. Suggested reading age 11+. 2v.A touching story of the friendship that developed between a small, unhappy boy and the gruff lonely man on whom he was billeted at the outbreak of the war.

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Marryat, Frederick W, Captain.The children of the New Forest. 2008. Suggested reading age 9+. 3v.The Civil war is raging in England and four children hide from Cromwell's troops in the New Forest.

Morgan, Nicola.The highwayman's footsteps. 2006. Suggested reading age 13+. 2v.Young William de Lacey is high born, the son of a gentleman. But he's on the run, having stolen money and a horse, and has taken up with a highwayman. It's enough to hang him three times over. Despite struggling with his conscience, Will feels free for the first time in his life - and it's all down to the mysterious Bess. Now can they survive the risks of the

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eighteenth-century highwayman's harsh life?

Morpurgo, Michael.Arthur, High king of Britain. 1997. Suggested reading age 11+. 1-2v.A composite version of all the legends of King Arthur, retold from King Arthur's own point of view.

Morpurgo, Michael.Private Peaceful. 2003. Age range 11+. 1v.For young Private Thomas Peaceful, looking back over his childhood from the battlefields of the First World War, his memories are full of family life. But every moment Tommo spends thinking about his life, means another moment closer to something he cannot bear to think about.

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Newbery, Linda.Polly's march. 2004. Suggested reading age 9+. 1v.One of the Historical House books. When 13-year-old Polly befriends two suffragettes in the top floor flat at 6 Chelsea Walk, she finds herself questioning the views of those around her. The Votes for Women campaign strikes a chord with Polly and she becomes determined to join the suffragettes' protest march, even if it means clashing with her family...Oldfield, Pamela.Workhouse. 2008. Suggested interest age 9+. 1v.It's January 1871 when Edith, the sheltered daughter of a wealthy widow, pays her first eventful visit to the workhouse for the poor. There she meets Rosie, a rebellious quick-tempered orphan who is always getting into trouble.

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Paton Walsh, Jill.A parcel of patterns. Suggested reading age 13+. 1v.A plague comes to the village of Eyam, possibly brought by a parcel of dress patterns from London. A young girl called Mall tells the tale of collective heroism as the villagers decide to contain the plague amongst themselves. They cut themselves off from the outside world...

Park, RuthPlaying Beatie Bow. 1980. Age range 13+. 2v.Quiet Abigail Kirk watches children on the Sydney estate where she lives, play 'Beatie Bow' - a frightening but compulsive game. She follows a strange looking girl who watches but never joins in. Suddenly Abigail is nearly run over by a Victorian cab.

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Unwittingly she has gone back in time, to 1873.

Peet, Mal.Tamar. 2005. Suggested reading age 15+. 3v.A story about love, betrayal and belonging. When Tamar's grandfather, an intensely private man, falls from a balcony to his death, he leaves behind a box with Tamar's name on it. She opens it to reveal a series of clues and hidden messages from her grandfather, and discovers that her name also belonged to a resistance fighter in Nazi-occupied Holland during the Second World War.

Rees, Celia.Sovay. 2008. Suggested reading age 13+. Sovay finds that her cosseted life in rural England has not prepared her for

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life as a highway robber, for defending the honor of her family or for trying to save herself from corruption and evil.

Rees, Celia.Witch child. 2007. Suggested reading age 15+. 2v.The sequel, Sorceress, is also available. When, in the 1600s, Mary sees her grandmother accused of witchcraft and hung for the crime, she is hurried to safety by an unknown woman.

Reeve, Philip.Here lies Arthur. 2008. Age range 13+. 2v.Arthur fights giants, rescues maidens and tricks the Devil with his words - or so they say. Gwyna is overwhelmed. She's only a slave-girl and he's a king. Soon Arthur's magician, Myrddin, will

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show her the real secret behind Arthur's power.

Rosoff, Meg.The bride's farewell. 2009. Age range 13+. 1v.On the morning of her wedding, Pell Ridley creeps out of bed in the dark, kisses her sisters goodbye and flees - determined to escape a future that offers nothing but hard work and sorrow. She takes the only thing that truly belongs to her: Jack, a white horse. Pell meets a hunter, infuriating, mysterious and cold. Will he help her to find what she seeks?

Sedgwick, MarcusBlood red snow white.2008. Suggested reading age 13+. 2v.In 1917 the Bolsheviks hold power in the newly named Petrograd. Lenin and Trotsky govern from palaces where the

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Tsars once danced till dawn. Another man played a part in it all. His name was Arthur Ransome, a writer who left his English home…

Seton, AnyaKatherine. 2006. Suggested reading age 15+. 6v. When Katherine, the orphan daughter of a minor herald, came to the court of Edward III at the age of fifteen, she was betrothed to an obscure knight. But she soon became the beloved mistress of the King's son and the mother of his children.

Smucker, BarabraUnderground to Canada. 1978. Age range 11+. 1v."Get in that wagon, girl, or I'll use this whip", said the slave trader as he Julilly tore away from her mother. But while she slaved on the brutal cotton

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plantation, Julily was dreaming of running away to the distant northern land called Canada.

Turnbull, Ann.Josie under fire. 2004. Suggested reading age 9+. 1v.One of the Historical House books. London is suffering from the Blitz and the country is gripped by patriotic fervour. Josie finds it hard to understand her brother's decision to be a conscientious objector, especially as it causes trouble for their family. But when she moves to a new school and gets drawn into tormenting one of her classmates, Josie learns what it means to stand up for her own beliefs.

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Turnbull, Ann.No shame, no fear. 2003. Suggested reading age 13+. 2v.The sequel, Forged in the fire, is also available. Tells of the love of two young people, in a society that forbids their being together. Susanna Thorn is a Quaker in Restoration England, and Will Heywood a rich country gentleman, captivated and intrigued by this plain-living, independent young woman.

Uttley, AlisonA traveller in time. 2007. Suggested reading age 11+. 2v.When Penelope visits her family hone, Thackers a remote ancient farmhouse in Derbyshire, she finds herself mysteriously in Elizabethan times.

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Walsh, PatThe Crowfield Curse. 2010. Suggested reading age 9+. 2v.It's 1347 and fifteen-year-old Will, an orphan boy, lives at Crowfield Abbey. Sent into the forest to gather wood, he rescues instead, a creature from a trap - a hob, who shares with Will a terrible secret. Somewhere in the forest behind the abbey where he lives, is a grave. And buried deep in the snow is an angel. But how can an angel die? What has it to do with the monks of the Abbey? When two hooded strangers arrive at Crowfield asking questions about the angel's grave. Will is drawn into a world of dangerous Old Magic.

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White, Ellen Emerson.Titanic : an Edwardians girl's diary 1912. 2008. Suggested reading age 11+. Margaret Anne dreams of leaving the orphanage behind, and she can hardly believe her luck when she is chosen to accompany wealthy Mrs Carstairs aboard the great Titanic. But when the passengers are woken on a freezing night in April 1912, she finds herself caught up in an unimaginable nightmare...

Wilson, JacquelineHetty Feather. 2009. Suggested reading age 9+. 2v.London, 1876 and Hetty Feather is just a tiny baby when her mother leaves her at the Foundling Hospital. The Hospital cares for abandoned children - but Hetty must first live with a foster family until she is big enough to go to

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school. Life in the countryside is hard but with her 'brothers' Jem and Gideon, she helps in the fields and plays imaginary games. Together they sneak off to visit the travelling circus and Hetty is mesmerised by the show, especially Madame Adeline and her performing horses. But Hetty's happiness is threatened once more when she is returned to the Foundling Hospital. The new life of awful uniforms and terrible food is a struggle for her. But now she has the chance to find her real mother.

Wilson, Jacqueline.The Lottie project. 1998. Suggested reading age 9+. 2v.A tale of two girls from different times, but with similar problems. Charlie thinks the Victorians were not at all dull, and Lottie, Charlie's school history

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project, certainly isn't. Her life is hard work.

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