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
Logo – RNIB supporting blind and partially sighted people
Registered charity number 226227
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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 Halse
Chains. 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, Linda
Gideon 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, Kevin
Gatty'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 husbandto-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, Christopher
Twelve minutes to midnight.
2012. Suggested reading age
11+. 2v.
Penelope Tredwell is the feisty 13year-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 middleclass 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, Julie
Rowan 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, Catherine
A 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 quicktempered 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, Ruth
Playing 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, Marcus
Blood 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, Anya
Katherine. 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, Barabra
Underground 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, Alison
A 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, Pat
The 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, Jacqueline
Hetty 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.