Books in You Choose: Historical Eras series

In the 1930s, Americans faced one of the biggest crises ever to hit the country. During the Great Depression, the stock market crash caused banks to close and many companies to go out of business. Millions of people lost their jobs and homes during a time when the government wasn’t equipped to pick up the pieces. Will you: March on Washington, D.C., as a veteran member of the Bonus Army? Leave your home to find a better life by riding the rails? Help rebuild the country as a member of the Civilian Conservation Corps?

The era of Westward Expansion was a turning point in U.S. history. When President Thomas Jefferson bought the Louisiana Territory from the French in 1803, it nearly doubled the size of the nation. The president sent Lewis and Clark to learn more about this land. Many people thought it was the nation’s destiny to expand all the way to the Pacific Ocean, a belief known as Manifest Destiny. People moved west to farm, to start businesses, or to strike it rich. But the American Indians who were native to these lands had a different perspective. If you were around at the time of Westward Expansion would you have been: A traveler on the Oregon Trail? A laborer? A Sioux warrior? You Choose offers multiple perspectives in history, supporting Common Core reading standards and providing readers a front row seat to the past.

The Emancipation Proclamation and the Civil War have brought an official end to slavery, yet some Southern slave owners are refusing to comply. The road to freedom is still long and hard for many African Americans, but you’re not giving up. Will you: Overcome obstacles as you make your way north from Texas, looking to begin a new life of freedom? Seek out your family, from whom you were separated as a child, after emancipation? Fight back when you take work as an apprentice but find that you’re still treated as a slave? YOU CHOOSE offers multiple perspectives on history, supporting Common Core reading standards and providing readers a front-row seat to the past.

Describes the exploration of North America in the times of explorers Christopher Columbus, Francisco Vazquez de Coronado, and Sieur de La Salle. The reader's choices reveal the historical details from the perspective of a sailor or a Taino Indian during Columbus' voyage in 1492, a Spanish adventurer or a Zuni Indian during Coronado's 1540 expedition, and a member of Sieur de La Salle's expedition down the Mississippi River in 1682.

Since 753 BC, ancient Rome has been the center of the Roman Empire. The powerful civilization has made advances in engineering, art, and architecture. Its citizens, especially the wealthy ones, enjoy many freedoms. Will you: Choose between politics and business as a wealthy Roman man? Explore your options as a young woman of Rome? Experience the siege of Rome as a Roman peasant?

The colony of Massachusetts in 1692 was a harsh place. Disease, hunger, and the threat of war made life stressful. Colonists clung to their religious faith and looked for someone to blame. Some accused their fellow colonists of causing the troubles through the practice of witchcraft. The hysteria spread until no one was safe. Will you: Attempt to defend yourself against charges of witchcraft? Try to keep your family together as your mother is put on trial? Accuse someone else of being a witch?

You’re a U.S. citizen, so why are you being denied your right to vote? Even after civil rights legislation passes, many minorities are still being turned away from polls. It’s not fair, and you will fight for your right to have a say in your government. Will you: Brave violence while registering voters during the 1964 Freedom Summer in Mississippi? Witness brutality as you protest in the 1965 Selma March? Join the Chicano Movement to secure voting rights for Hispanic immigrants? YOU CHOOSE offers multiple perspectives on history, supporting Common Core reading standards and providing readers a front-row seat to the past.

Since 753 BC, ancient Rome has been the center of the Roman Empire. The powerful civilization has made advances in engineering, art, and architecture. Its citizens, especially the wealthy ones, enjoy many freedoms. Will you: Choose between politics and business as a wealthy Roman man? Explore your options as a young woman of Rome? Experience the siege of Rome as a Roman peasant?