“A Brave and Startling Truth” is an 11-stanza free-verse poem by the American poet Maya Angelou. Originally written in commemoration of the United Nations in 1995, the poem explores themes of violence and kindness, human potential, and the responsibility people have to the world around them.Poet BiographyMaya Angelou (1928-2014), born Marguerite Annie Johnson, was an American poet, memoirist, and activist. She is best known for her seven memoirs, beginning with I Know Why the Caged... Read A Brave And Startling Truth Summary

Helen Hunt Jackson (1830-1885) was a poet and novelist who, in the late 1870s and early 1880s, became an influential advocate on behalf of Indigenous Americans. Jackson began writing A Century of Dishonor: A Sketch of the United States Government’s Dealings with Some of the Indian Tribes (1881) after learning about the 1879 Ponca legal case, and in particular the story of Chief Standing Bear, which Jackson describes in Chapter 6 and again in the... Read A Century of Dishonor Summary

American History is a comprehensive textbook covering the growth of the US from the precolonial period through the modern era. The book was originally published in 1961 under the title American History: A Survey and written by Richard N. Current, T. Harry Williams, and Frank Freidel, but Colombia University historian Alan Brinkley assumed authorship with the ninth edition in 1979, Brinkley was chosen for his extensive expertise on American political development and his ability to... Read American History Summary

April Morning is a historical fiction work by Howard Fast, a prolific author whose writings spanned the bulk of the 20th century. Published in 1961, midway through Fast’s career, the novel is one of many he wrote on the Revolutionary War and the birth of America. Originally intended for a general audience, it came to be regarded as a young adult novel as many middle and high school English programs included it in their curriculum... Read April Morning Summary

As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow (2022) is a contemporary YA novel by Zoulfa Katouh that includes speculative, historical, and romance elements based on real events and is often classified under magical realism. The story follows Salama Kassab, an 18-year-old pharmacy student living in Homs, Syria, during the Syrian Revolution. She works tirelessly at a hospital to save lives. Amid the chaos, Salama loses family and faces the agonizing decision of whether to stay... Read As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow Summary

A Tale of Two Cities, published in 1859, is a historical drama written by Charles Dickens. The backdrop of the novel takes place in London and Paris prior to the French Revolution. The novel, told in three parts, is a literary classic and has been adapted into numerous productions for film, theater, radio, and television.In 1775, a banker named Jarvis Lorry travels to Dover, where he meets a young, half-French woman named Lucie Manette. Together... Read A Tale of Two Cities Summary

Traci Chee’s 2022 A Thousand Steps into Night is a Japanese mythos-influenced, feminist-inspired fantasy novel depicting the epic journey of a young innkeeper’s daughter to undo her demonic curse as she bargains with gods, battles with evil spirits, and saves the world along the way. Chee is a full-time novelist and has currently written and published five books. She is the New York Times bestselling author of The Readers series, and one of her previous... Read A Thousand Steps into Night Summary

A Young People’s History of the United States is based on author Howard Zinn’s acclaimed A People’s History of the United States, written for an adult audience and originally published in 1980. Rebecca Stefoff adapted Zinn’s text to suit a young audience of middle school to high school ages. This adaptation has been in print since 2007.SummaryThe key word in the title is “People’s.” Zinn (and Stefoff) deliver a history about the masses in the... Read A Young People's History of the United States Summary

Behind Rebel Lines: The Incredible Story of Emma Edmonds, Civil War Spy by Seymour Reit is a work of historical fiction and children’s literature based on the true story of a young woman who pretends to be a man so that she can join the Union army during the US Civil War. The book’s target audience is ages 10-14, and it uses a simple style to appeal to a young audience. It is categorized as... Read Behind Rebel Lines Summary

Between Shades of Gray is a fictionalized account of what happened to many Lithuanians—and others from Estonia and Latvia—after the Soviet Union annexed and occupied the Baltic States in 1940. Thousands of citizens of these countries were deported and imprisoned, and many of them ended up in Siberian forced labor camps like the ones Lina Vilkas and her mother and brother are sent to in the book. The novel is told from the first-person perspective of a... Read Between Shades of Gray Summary

American author Karen Cushman’s middle grade novel, Catherine, Called Birdy, explores the life of a young woman in 13th-century England. Published in 1994, the book won the Newbery Honor the following year. It is currently being adapted for the screen by actor, writer, and director Lena Dunham. This detailed work of historical fiction immerses the reader in the very different world of medieval England, with its emphasis on religion as the organizing force behind daily... Read Catherine, Called Birdy Summary

Code Name Verity (2012), by Elizabeth Wein, operates on several levels: as a historical novel detailing the World War II exploits of two British women—a spy and a pilot—behind enemy lines in occupied France; as a thriller, with a twisting plot; and as a coming-of-age story for two women, who are still teenagers when they meet and become friends during the course of their war work.Plot SummaryThe first part of the novel takes place in... Read Code Name Verity Summary

Originally published in 2005, Code Talker: A Novel About the Navajo Marines of World War Two, is a middle-grade work of historical fiction by Joseph Bruchac. The story is based on historical events and narrated by Ned Begay, a Navajo man who refers to readers of the book as “My Grandchildren.” Looking back on his youth, Ned reveals how native Navajo speakers were recruited by the US military to use their unique language skills in... Read Code Talker Summary

Copper Sun is a historical fiction novel about fifteen-year-old Amari, a young woman from Ziavi, Ghana. Amari loves her community (the Ewe people), her family, and her soon-to-be husband, Besa. One day, unannounced, a group of pale-faced strangers arrive, led there by a neighbouring tribe, the Ashanti. Amari’s people prepare a celebration to welcome the guests, not knowing the grave danger they will soon face. After a meal, gift exchange, storytelling, and dancing, the white... Read Copper Sun Summary

Like many of Sherwood Anderson’s best-known short stories, “Death in the Woods” takes place in a small town in the Midwest. Based on the personal experiences of the author, this story describes the life of an old woman and her demise as she walks home from town one wintry day. Anderson wrote his published works during the first part of the 20th century, and this is the title story of a collection of short stories... Read Death in the Woods Summary

Dreamland Burning by Jennifer Latham, published in 2017, is a young adult novel that melds historical fiction with mystery, connecting the history of racialized violence in Tulsa, Oklahoma to contemporary issues of racism. The novel has won several awards, including Amazon Editor’s Picks: Best Books of the Year for Young Adults (2017), Best Books for Teens (2017), and Best of the Best Books in Teen Fiction (2017).Plot SummaryThe novel is a dual narrative, told in... Read Dreamland Burning Summary

Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation was issued on January 1, 1863, during the US Civil War. The order declared all enslaved people inside the Confederacy to be free, effective immediately. It promised them protection by the US military, and it invited them to join the Union Army in the fight against the Confederacy. The Emancipation Proclamation was widely celebrated as a major turning point in the movement for abolition, though the Union had no means of... Read Emancipation Proclamation Summary

Eumenides is an Attic tragedy by the playwright Aeschylus (circa 525/4-circa 456/5 BCE). Eumenides was the final part of the Oresteia, a tragic trilogy first produced for the City Dionysia in 458 BCE. The Oresteia describes the murder of Agamemnon by his wife Clytemnestra and the aftermath of this act; in Eumenides, Orestes—the son of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra—must undergo a trial to be purified of the blood of his mother, whom he murdered to avenge... Read Eumenides Summary

Facing the Mountain: A True Story of Japanese American Heroes in World War II by Daniel James Brown is a work of social history focused on the lives of Japanese Americans at home and on the front lines of the Second World War. Daniel James Brown's methodology is social history, which means that the lives of ordinary people take precedence over those of political leaders. For example, the author examines significant events, such as the... Read Facing the Mountain Summary

Sherri L. Smith's 2008 work of historical fiction, Flygirl, takes place in the United States during World War II. The novel begins in December 1941 and is told from the perspective Ida Mae Jones, a young black woman and recent high school graduate, who lives with her mother, grandfather, and two brothers in the town of Slidell, Louisiana. In addition to helping her family on their berry farm, Ida works full time as a housecleaner... Read Flygirl Summary