Smithsonian Historical Fiction

Science-obsessed Audrey is a fifth grader in Houston, Texas, who dreams of one day working at NASA, like her dad does. Dad, however, is nothing but discouraging. Audrey doesn't give up, though. She's created her own model rocket. When it doesn't fly, she figures out a way to fix it that ends up helping the Apollo 11 astronauts after they land on the Moon. Will Audrey's dad come around? And will Audrey have a future in science?

Archie is traveling with his uncle Harold, a member of an entertainment revue hired by the renovated Dawson City Theatre, to perform for the Yukon gold rushers. While there, Harold befriends an older gentleman, Montgomery Wycroft, who is in the area panning for gold. Archie and his uncle opt to stay behind in Dawson City, joining Monty on his dangerous quest for gold, battling with both greedy gold-seekers and the unforgiving Canadian terrain. Will Archie and his uncle strike gold, or will they find something more valuable?

Li, her mother, and her brother journey from China to America to join their father in San Francisco. But they are detained at the Angel Island immigration center, where Chinese Americans are subject to harsh treatment and questioning. Will Li be able to answer the detailed questions about her former home, and why she wants to come to America? Or will she fail the tests and be deported?

Twelve-year-old Ollie is struggling to get by as an orphan in 1871 Chicago. He finds work as a servant for the wealthy Burnham family, including caring for five-year-old Leo Burnham. But Ollie has a little sister of his own-Eliza. Ollie saves every penny he can to someday get Eliza out of an orphan asylum and support them both. Then a massive fire breaks out in the city, and chaos descends. Suddenly Ollie must not only escape the burning city with little Leo, but he must find his lost sister among the wreckage as well. Will Ollie's wits and bravery be enough to save the Burnham's son and his own sister?

Middle-schooler Marika is caught between two worlds. She and her friend Beth are passionate about women's rights, and they plan to join a national rally to support the cause. But it's 1970, and the equal rights movement has a lot of resistance-including from Marika's parents. Marika wishes they were as supportive of equal rights as Beth's parents, but Marika's parents seem content with how things are. As the day of the Women's Strike for Equality approaches, will Marika convince her parents to support her beliefs?

When David and his parents arrive in Lusk, Wyoming, in 1889, they are not welcomed with open arms. As Chinese immigrants, they are all too familiar with the discrimination they immediately encounter at the general store. Nonetheless, their need to earn money before continuing eastward leads them to find work at John Bell Hatcher's archaeological dig site just outside of town. Soon David learns that the brilliant paleontologist is on the hunt for dinosaur bones! Can he help Hatcher make the dino discovery of a lifetime?

Soon after moving to California, Syretia's mom enrolls her and her brother, Sean, in a Mars or Bust summer camp. Stung by the recent move-and unimpressed by the camp's focus on the upcoming landing of the Mars Curiosity Rover-Syretia can't bring herself to care. Until, that is, she discovers that she has more in common with the Mars rover and its mission than she could ever imagine. Can Curiosity's landing a world away open Syretia's heart and mind to her new life here on Earth?

Matthew is a young African-American boy who dreams of becoming an Olympic runner like his hero, Jesse Owens. There's one big problem, though Matthew has asthma, which makes it hard for him to run. When his journalist father is assigned to cover the 1936 Olympics in Germany, Matthew jumps at the chance tag along. He has never been out of Ohio before, let alone to Europe. Will Owens's amazing Olympic victories inspire Matthew in his own chosen career?