Early 20th Century

Armstrong, Jennifer - Lili the Brave (73 pages) A spirited young girl does not want to leave her home in Norway to go to live in Minnesota, but aboard ship on the way to America, she proves why she is called "Lili the Brave."

Beatty, Patricia - Eight Mules from Monterey (192 pages) During the summer of 1916 thirteen-year-old Fayette and her brother accompany their widowed mother on a mule trip into the California mountains, where she is to establish library outposts in isolated communities.

Hesse, Karen - Letters From Rifka (148 pages) In letters to her cousin, a young Jewish girl chronicles her family’s flight from Russia in 1919 and her own experiences when she must be left in Belgium for a while when the others emigrate to America.

Kudlinski, Kathleen –

• Shannon, a Chinatown Adventure (71 pages) Newly arrived in San Francisco from Ireland, Shannon plans the daring rescue of a young Chinese slave.
• Shannon, the Schoolmarm Mysteries (71 pages) A recent immigrant from Ireland to San Francisco, Shannon is ready to start school, but is dismayed that her Chinese friend is forbidden by law to attend and that many of her classmates are prejudiced against the Irish as well.

Morey, Walt - Year of the Black Pony (152 pages) A boy growing up in the Oregon country in the early 1900's experiences the death of his father, the remarriage of his mother, and the ultimate attainment of a dream.

Morpurgo, Michael - The Wreck of the Zanzibar (68 pages) In 1907, fourteen-year-old Laura, living with her family on one of the stormy Isles of Scilly, records in her diary how her dream of participating in a shipwreck rescue is finally realized.

Myers, Walter Dean – Journal of Biddy Owens (141 pages) (part of the My Name is America series) Teenager Biddy Owens' 1948 journal about working for the Birmingham Black Barons includes the games and the players, racism the team faces from New Orleans to Chicago, and his family's resistance to his becoming a professional baseball player. Includes a historical note about the evolution of the Negro Leagues.

Nixon, Joan Lowery - Land of Dreams (153 pages) In 1902 16-year-old Kristin travels with her family from Sweden to a new life in Minnesota, where she finds herself frustrated by the restrictions placed on what girls of her age are expected or allowed to do.

Rosales, Melodye. - Minnie Saves the Day (84 pages) (Adventures of Minnie, pt. 1) Hester Merriweather's grandmother gives her a handmade rag doll that proves to be very special indeed. Includes historical background on Chicago's African-American community during the 1930s.

Woodruff, Elvira - The Orphan of Ellis Island (174 pages) During a school trip to Ellis Island, Dominick Avaro, a 10-year-old foster child, travels back in time to 1908 Italy and accompanies two young emigrants to America.