Books in Florida Historical Fiction for Youth series

A daring adventure on Henry Flaglers Over-Sea Railroad!Twelve-year-old Eddie Malone is living a carefree life swimming and fishing in the Florida Keys in 1912 when suddenly his world is turned upside down. His father, a worker on Henry Flaglers Over-Sea Railroad, is thrown into jail for stealing the railroad payroll. Convinced that he is responsible for his pa's arrest, Eddie sets out for Key West with his faithful dog, Rex, on a daring mission to prove his father's innocence.Eddie arrives in Key West as preparations are under way for the arrival of Flagler's first train. Eddie meets the Kimble twins, T. J. and Jen, who live at the Key West Lighthouse and are practicing for their part in the great celebration. They offer to help Eddie with his plan to find the real payroll thieves. Eddie finds them, all right, but they kidnap him and lock him aboard their sailboat. As the boat moves swiftly away from Key West, Eddie realizes he's in serious trouble.Can Eddie escape from the clutches of the ruthless thieves? Will he ever get back home to Marathon? Most importantly, will Eddie be able to prove Pa's innocence? Historical fiction, ages 8–12

Fourteen-year old Frank Hollahan moves to Florida in 1943, at the height of World War II, to join his father, a navy seaman. When Frank and his mother arrive at the busy naval port of Jacksonville, a surprising new life awaits them. In this new place, Frank's life changes in ways he never imagined. In his new school, his tendency toward exaggeration quickly builds him a reputation as a teller of tales. He wanders to the beach one night and sees what seems to be a man coming ashore from a submarine. When he informs his family, friends, and teachers that he saw a spy from a German U-boat land on the local beach, no one believes him. Is the spy real, or is he only a part of Frank's imagination and exaggeration? Frank is certain the spy has plans for sabotage. With the aid of Rosemarie Twekenberry, who has eyes only for Frank, and a mysterious beach recluse known as Weird Wanda, Frank sets out to prove the spy's existence. With time running out, Frank must figure out a way to stop him. Each rumor and discovery—whether a buried chest, a secret code, or a mysterious note—presents new problems. The truth finally comes to light at the big bond rally in the shipyard as Frank's class presents a rousing patriotic program, led by Mr. Jolly, an ex-clown turned teacher. Thrown into the mix are a brash, redheaded student named Howard; Gladys, the organizer; and other zany characters who all join in the tangled web of this wartime mystery, based on an actual occurrence. The spy who came in from the sea ends up teaching Frank—and the people of Jacksonville—valuable lessons about friendship, perseverance, and the power of the truth.

Running Boy of the Snake Clan of the Seminoles has lived with his uncle in the Everglades since his mother, a Seminole, and his father, a white man, were taken by the Breath Maker. Now he is fourteen and has received his adult name, Will Cypress, at the annual Green Corn Dance. In the eyes of his tribe Will is now a man, and he is eager to prove his courage as a warrior against the U.S. Army in the Second Seminole War. Will's manhood is accepted by all the Seminoles except Tiger, a bully who has always hated Will because of his white blood and superior running and hunting skills. Hoping to convince Tiger of his loyalty to the Snake Clan, Will sets out to join Osceola's band of warriors who are fighting to remain in Florida. On his way to the war chief's camp, Will stumbles upon a family secret that makes the battle for his homeland a personal one. He never loses his will to overcome, even when the whites break their truce and capture the Seminoles and imprison them in the fort in St. Augustine. Will faces the daunting challenge of honoring his heritage while desperately struggling to hold on to his dream. Valuable lessons about friendship, perseverance, and the power of the truth.

Accelerated Reader Quiz #129357. Level 5.3Winner of the Florida Historical Society's Horgan Award, The Treasure of Amelia Island focuses on eleven-year-old Mary Kingsley, daughter of historical figure Ana Jai Kingsley.It is December 1813. Mary and her family live in La Florida, a Spanish territory under siege by Patriots of the United States of America. The Patriots want to force Spain out of the land it has ruled for nearly three hundred years. Mary is the youngest child of former slave Ana Jai. Her white father freed Mary and the rest of the family, but the Patriots don't care. They see no place for freed people of color in a new Florida and want to make Mary's family slaves again. Against these mighty events, Mary decides to search for a legendary pirate treasure with her brother, George, and her half-brother, Diego. This treasure hunt, filled with danger and recklessness, changes Mary forever.The Kingsley family actually existed in this era. Zephaniah Kingsley married the African slave Ana Jai. He freed her and their three children and they lived at a plantation that you can visit today in northeast Florida.

Fourteen-year old Frank Hollahan moves to Florida in 1943, at the height of World War II, to join his father, a navy seaman. When Frank and his mother arrive at the busy naval port of Jacksonville, a surprising new life awaits them. In this new place, Frank's life changes in ways he never imagined. In his new school, his tendency toward exaggeration quickly builds him a reputation as a teller of tales. He wanders to the beach one night and sees what seems to be a man coming ashore from a submarine. When he informs his family, friends, and teachers that he saw a spy from a German U-boat land on the local beach, no one believes him. Is the spy real, or is he only a part of Frank's imagination and exaggeration? Frank is certain the spy has plans for sabotage. With the aid of Rosemarie Twekenberry, who has eyes only for Frank, and a mysterious beach recluse known as Weird Wanda, Frank sets out to prove the spy's existence. With time running out, Frank must figure out a way to stop him. Each rumor and discovery—whether a buried chest, a secret code, or a mysterious note—presents new problems. The truth finally comes to light at the big bond rally in the shipyard as Frank's class presents a rousing patriotic program, led by Mr. Jolly, an ex-clown turned teacher. Thrown into the mix are a brash, redheaded student named Howard; Gladys, the organizer; and other zany characters who all join in the tangled web of this wartime mystery, based on an actual occurrence. The spy who came in from the sea ends up teaching Frank—and the people of Jacksonville—valuable lessons about friendship, perseverance, and the power of the truth.< < Previous in seriesNext in series > >See all of the books in this series

It's 1942. Thirteen-year-old Korinna Rehme is an active member of her local Jungmadel, a Nazi youth group, along with many of her friends. She believes that Hitler is helping Germany by instituting a program to deal with what he calls the "Jewish problem," a program that she witnesses as her Jewish neighbors are attacked and taken from their homes. Korinna's parents, however, are members of a secret underground group providing a means of escape to the Jews of their city. Korinna is shocked to discover that they are hiding a refugee family behind the wall of her bedroom. But as she comes to know the family, her sympathies begin to turn. When someone tips off the Gestapo, loyalties are put to the test and Korinna must decide what she really believes and whom she really trusts. Filled with adventure, Behind the Bedroom Wall helps readers understand the forces that drove so many to turn on their neighbors and the courage that allowed some to resist.

Accelerated Reader Quiz #109073. Level 6.6"I tried to block the legend of the blood moon—that it signaled the death of someone close to you—from my mind."Harley Wallace has suffered through an incredible run of bad luck. His father died fighting in the Pacific during World War II, and his stepmother abandoned him. The Marines refused to take him, and now he is kicked off a bus in the middle of Nowhere, Florida, where he celebrates his fourteenth birthday as a prisoner in a hick jail. As if that weren't bad enough, Harley is placed in the custody of his unwelcoming old grandfather.As Harley and his grandfather struggle to establish a family relationship and make peace with the demons of the past, the murder of Grandfather Wallace's cowman and best friend leads them to suspect that an evil connected to the war may have taken root on the old man's sprawling cattle ranch. With German U-boats lurking in the placid waters of the Gulf, an old friend enlists Grandfather and Harley in a top-secret operation in the hammocks and palmettos of Florida's Big Bend region. When Grandfather Wallace mysteriously disappears, Harley and his new friend Beth are thrust into a web of danger that reaches far beyond Florida's Gulf Coast. Harley and Beth begin a hazardous quest, racing against the clock in a desperate effort to save the old man. Riding into the marshes under the harsh glow of a “blood moon," they discover peril, new friends, ruthless enemies, and the true meaning of family.< < Previous in seriesNext in series > >See all of the books in this series

A daring adventure on Henry Flaglers Over-Sea Railroad!Twelve-year-old Eddie Malone is living a carefree life swimming and fishing in the Florida Keys in 1912 when suddenly his world is turned upside down. His father, a worker on Henry Flaglers Over-Sea Railroad, is thrown into jail for stealing the railroad payroll. Convinced that he is responsible for his pa's arrest, Eddie sets out for Key West with his faithful dog, Rex, on a daring mission to prove his father's innocence.Eddie arrives in Key West as preparations are under way for the arrival of Flagler's first train. Eddie meets the Kimble twins, T. J. and Jen, who live at the Key West Lighthouse and are practicing for their part in the great celebration. They offer to help Eddie with his plan to find the real payroll thieves. Eddie finds them, all right, but they kidnap him and lock him aboard their sailboat. As the boat moves swiftly away from Key West, Eddie realizes he's in serious trouble.Can Eddie escape from the clutches of the ruthless thieves? Will he ever get back home to Marathon? Most importantly, will Eddie be able to prove Pa's innocence? Historical fiction, ages 8–12

Accelerated Reader Quiz #129357. Level 5.3Winner of the Florida Historical Society's Horgan Award, The Treasure of Amelia Island focuses on eleven-year-old Mary Kingsley, daughter of historical figure Ana Jai Kingsley.It is December 1813. Mary and her family live in La Florida, a Spanish territory under siege by Patriots of the United States of America. The Patriots want to force Spain out of the land it has ruled for nearly three hundred years. Mary is the youngest child of former slave Ana Jai. Her white father freed Mary and the rest of the family, but the Patriots don't care. They see no place for freed people of color in a new Florida and want to make Mary's family slaves again. Against these mighty events, Mary decides to search for a legendary pirate treasure with her brother, George, and her half-brother, Diego. This treasure hunt, filled with danger and recklessness, changes Mary forever.The Kingsley family actually existed in this era. Zephaniah Kingsley married the African slave Ana Jai. He freed her and their three children and they lived at a plantation that you can visit today in northeast Florida.

Accelerated Reader Quiz available: #117017Eleven-year-old Solomon Freeman and his parents, newly freed slaves, are building a homestead in north Florida's wilderness, living their dream of independence. Their battle to survive is filled with harsh difficulties in this wild and fickle new home, and they all work long, hard days. Solomon's father, Moses, dreams of his only son sharing his love for the land. Lela, his mother, tries to shield Solomon from his father's expectations, for she knows that the boy's heart is not in the fields.Solomon is a natural woodsman, good at fishing and hunting. Though these skills bring food to their meager table, Moses wants his son to concentrate on farming. Further distancing father and son is the arrival of a refined Virginian brandishing a fifteen-foot whip with deadly precision. Solomon is captivated by the man and the whip while Moses despises the whip and dreads his son's fascination with the newcomer. Lela struggles to make a home, keep peace between her husband and son, and continue Solomon's education as they fight to survive.When the chance comes to go on a cattle drive, Solomon jumps at it—though his parents are reluctant to let him go. He confronts a new world as he rides a Florida marshtackie horse, wields his whip rounding up a large herd of wild cattle, and brings them to market at the coast—where he sees sights he had never dreamed existed.Are the Freemans strong enough to build a successful homestead? Will they be welcomed in this hard place where blacks have only been slaves in years past? Will the family seal its bond through shared hardship or splinter irreparably? Does Solomon have the wisdom he needs to face challenges beyond his years and see the family through its perils?

Running Boy of the Snake Clan of the Seminoles has lived with his uncle in the Everglades since his mother, a Seminole, and his father, a white man, were taken by the Breath Maker. Now he is fourteen and has received his adult name, Will Cypress, at the annual Green Corn Dance. In the eyes of his tribe Will is now a man, and he is eager to prove his courage as a warrior against the U.S. Army in the Second Seminole War. Will's manhood is accepted by all the Seminoles except Tiger, a bully who has always hated Will because of his white blood and superior running and hunting skills. Hoping to convince Tiger of his loyalty to the Snake Clan, Will sets out to join Osceola's band of warriors who are fighting to remain in Florida. On his way to the war chief's camp, Will stumbles upon a family secret that makes the battle for his homeland a personal one. He never loses his will to overcome, even when the whites break their truce and capture the Seminoles and imprison them in the fort in St. Augustine. Will faces the daunting challenge of honoring his heritage while desperately struggling to hold on to his dream. Valuable lessons about friendship, perseverance, and the power of the truth.

Accelerated Reader Quiz available: #117017Eleven-year-old Solomon Freeman and his parents, newly freed slaves, are building a homestead in north Florida's wilderness, living their dream of independence. Their battle to survive is filled with harsh difficulties in this wild and fickle new home, and they all work long, hard days. Solomon's father, Moses, dreams of his only son sharing his love for the land. Lela, his mother, tries to shield Solomon from his father's expectations, for she knows that the boy's heart is not in the fields.Solomon is a natural woodsman, good at fishing and hunting. Though these skills bring food to their meager table, Moses wants his son to concentrate on farming. Further distancing father and son is the arrival of a refined Virginian brandishing a fifteen-foot whip with deadly precision. Solomon is captivated by the man and the whip while Moses despises the whip and dreads his son's fascination with the newcomer. Lela struggles to make a home, keep peace between her husband and son, and continue Solomon's education as they fight to survive.When the chance comes to go on a cattle drive, Solomon jumps at it—though his parents are reluctant to let him go. He confronts a new world as he rides a Florida marshtackie horse, wields his whip rounding up a large herd of wild cattle, and brings them to market at the coast—where he sees sights he had never dreamed existed.Are the Freemans strong enough to build a successful homestead? Will they be welcomed in this hard place where blacks have only been slaves in years past? Will the family seal its bond through shared hardship or splinter irreparably? Does Solomon have the wisdom he needs to face challenges beyond his years and see the family through its perils?< < Previous in seriesSee all of the books in this series