Oklahoma

A selected bibliography of Middle School Fiction books

 

Barnes, Jennifer. Golden. New York, Delacorte, 2006. When her family moves to Oklahoma from California, high school sophomore Lissa uses her ability to see other people’s auras to try to uncover and stop the sinister activities of a teacher at her new school.  (Mystery stories; Horror-Fiction)

 

Beard, Darlene Bailey. The Babbs Switch Story. New York: Farrar, Straus, & Giroux, 2002.  In 1924, twelve-year-old Ruthie finds her life in a small Oklahoma town complicated by the behavior of her older sister Daphne, who is an object of ridicule and dislike because of her mental disabilities. Everything changes for Ruthie’s family and the community the night of the school Christmas party when a terrible tragedy occurs. (Historical fiction)

 

Beard, Darlene Bailey. Flim-flam man. New York, Farrar, Straus, & Giroux, 1998. Ten-year-old Bobbie Jo and mean Clara Jean are disappointed when they discover that the fabulous F. Bam Morrison, a supposed advance man for the circus, is really a crook who has pulled a scam on the town. The girls save the day when they put their own celebration together. (Historical fiction; Humorous fiction)

 

Bess, Clayton. Tracks. Boston, Houghton, 1986. In 1929, two brothers, Monroe and 11-year-old Blue, hop a freight train leaving Oklahoma headed for California and the hope of a better life. They have many adventures along the way, including surviving a deadly attack by Klansmen and a dust storm. (Historical fiction)

 

Bruchac, Joseph. The journal of Jesse Smoke; a Cherokee boy. New York: Scholastic, 2001. Jesse Smoke, a 16-year-old Cherokee boy, begins a journal in 1837 to record stories of his people and their difficulties as they face removal along the Trail of Tears. Includes a historical note section.  (Historical fiction)

 

Durbin, William. The journal of C.J. Jackson: a Dust Bowl migrant. New York: Scholastic, 2002. Thirteen-year-old C.J. writes in his journal about when his family is forced to leave their Oklahoma farm during the terrible Dust Bowl drought. They make a difficult journey to California where they try to survive a harsh life as migrant farm workers. (Historical fiction)

 

Gilbert, Barbara Snow. Paper Trail. Asheville, N.C., Front Street Press, 2000.  As he hides in a hollow tree from the Soldiers of God, an Oklahoma militia group that is trying to kill his family, 15-year-old Walker recalls his life growing up in the compound. The discovery that his Dad is an undercover FBI agent assigned to infiltrate the group has led to dangerous and tragic consequences.

(Realistic fiction).

 

Groves, Vicki. The starplace. New York: Putnam, 1999. Thirteen-year-old Frannie learns hard lessons about prejudice and segregation when she becomes friends with a young black girl who moves in to her small Oklahoma town in 1961. (Historical fiction)

 

Hesse, Karen. Out of the dust. New York, Scholastic, 1997. In a series of poems, fifteen-year-old Billie Jo tells the hardships of growing up on her family’s farm in Oklahoma during the dust bowl years of the Great Depression. (Historical fiction)

 

Hinton, S.E. The Outsiders. New York, Dell, 1989. Three brothers struggle to stay together as a family after their parents’ death and as they come-of-age among the conflicting values of their adolescent society. (Realistic Fiction; Historical fiction).

 

Hinton, S.E. Taming the star runner.  New York, Delacorte, 1998. Sent to live with his uncle after a violent incident with his step dad, 16-year-old Travis, an aspiring writer, finds life in a small Oklahoma town pretty quiet until he meets 18-year-old Casey, a horse trainer. (Realistic fiction)

 

Hurmence, Belinda. Dixie in the big pasture. New York, Clarion Books, 1994. In 1908, thirteen-year-old Dixie’s new life on the Oklahoma frontier is complicated by a war of nerves between her and John Three, a young Kiowa who insists that his horse was sold to her without his permission. (Historical fiction).

 

McCaughrean, Geraldine. Stop the train! New York: Harper, 2003. Despite the opposition of the owner of the Red Rock Runner railroad in 1893, the new settlers of Florence, Oklahoma are determined to build a real town on the site.

(Historical fiction)

 

Myers, Anna. Captain’s command. New York, Walker, 1999.

As Christmas approaches her small Oklahoma town, 6th grader Gail longs to hear that her soldier father is just MIA and has not been killed in World War II She keeps the promise she made to her father by helping her handicapped, embittered uncle (her father’s brother) learn to live again with the help of her beloved dog. (Historical fiction)

 

Myers, Anna. Confessions from the principal’s chair. New York, Walker, 2006. After participating in a cruel prank on a classmate, fourteen-year-old Robin and her Mom move to Oklahoma. When Robin arrives at her new school to register, she is mistaken for the substitute principal, decides to see what will happen, and unexpectedly gets a new perspective on bullying. (Realistic fiction)

 

Myers, Anna. Ethan between us. New York, Walker, 1998. In an Oklahoma oil drilling camp in 1960, fifteen-year-old Claire finds her friendship with her best friend threatened by her new romance with Ethan, a new boy who has a dark secret. (Historical fiction)

 

Myers, Anna. Fire in the hills. New York, Walker, 1996. After her mother’s death, sixteen-year-old Hallie faces changes in her life in the hills of eastern Oklahoma in 1918 as she takes over caring for her family and comes of age. (Historical fiction)

 

Myers, Anna. Red-dirt Jessie.  New York: Walker, 1996. Jessie, a young girl during the dust bowl days of the Great Depression, tries to help her father recover from a nervous breakdown, take care of her Mom and younger brother and drought-stricken farm, and tame a wild dog. (Historical fiction)

 

Myers, Anna. Rosie’s tiger. New York, Walker, 1994. In 1952, an Oklahoma sixth-grader and her best friend scheme to get rid of her older brother’s new Korean wife and stepson that he has brought back home with him from the Korean War. (Historical fiction)

 

Myers, Anna. Spotting the leopard. New York: Walker, 1996.

In the late 1930’s, H.J. Harper is intent on finding a way to help his older sister Jessie attend college to become a vet. He decides to track down a leopard that has escaped from the Oklahoma City Zoo and use the reward money to help Jessie. Sequel to Red-dirt Jessie. (Historical fiction)

 

Myers, Anna. Tulsa burning. New York, Walker, 2002. In 1921, fifteen-year-old Noble Chase hates the cruel, prejudiced sheriff of Wekiwa, Oklahoma that his Mom must work for. When terrible race riots erupt in nearby Tulsa, he has to outsmart the sheriff to help his injured friend, Isaac, escape the angry lynch mobs. (Historical Fiction)

 

Paulsen, Gary. The legend of Bass Reeves. New York: Wendy Lamb Books, 2006.

The story of Baas Reeves, who was born a slave  and later became one of the most respected federal marshals in Oklahoma and Texas.  (Historical Fiction).

 

Porter, Tracey. Treasures in the dust.  New York, Joanna Cotler Books, 1997. Eleven-year-old Annie and her friend Violet tell of the hardships endured by their families when dust storms, drought, and the Great Depression hits rural Oklahoma. (Historical Fiction)

 

Raven, Margot. Angels in the dust.  Mahwah, New Jersey, Bridgewater Books, 1997. Great-grandma Annie reminisces about life on her family’s Oklahoma farm during the terrible drought of the 1930’s when the region was known as the Dust Bowl. (Historical Fiction)

 

Rawls, Wilson. Summer of the monkeys. New York, Bantam Books, 1992, 1976.  In rural Oklahoma, at the turn of the century, fourteen-year-old Jay Berry Lee discovers a tree full of monkeys in the woods, a discovery that leads to a summer that teaches him about life.  (Historical fiction)

 

Thomas, Joyce Carol. I have heard of a land. New York: Harper, 1998. Describes the joys and hardships experienced by an African-American pioneer woman who staked a claim for free land in the Oklahoma territory. (Historical fiction)

 

Wallace, Bill. Buffalo gal. New York: Pocket Books, 1993. Fifteen-year-old Amanda’s refined life in early twentieth-century San Francisco is disrupted when she grudgingly accompanies her Mother to the Oklahoma Territory on crusade to save the buffalo. (Historical fiction)

 

Wallace, Bill. Coyote autumn. New York: Holiday House, 2000. After moving to the country, thirteen-year-old Brad, who has always wanted a dog, adopts a motherless coyote. (Realistic fiction)

 

Wallace, Bill. Journey into terror. New York, Pocket Books, 1996. A country kid and his half-brother from the city team up and learn from each other to save their lives in an adventure set in rural Oklahoma. (Adventure-fiction)

 

Wells, Rosemary. Wingwalker. New York: Hyperion Books, 2002. During the Depression, Reuben and his out-of-work parents move from Oklahoma to Minnesota, where his father gets a job as a carnival wing walker and Reuben has a chance to overcome his terror or flying. (Historical fiction)

 

Westerfeld, Scott. The secret hour. (The Midnighters, book 1). New York: Eos, 2005. Upon moving to Bixby, Oklahoma, fifteen-year-old Jessica Day learns that she is one in a special group born at the stroke of midnight that can roam the town at a secret hour while others sleep—and that she must fight the evil creatures that share her power. (Mystery stories; Horror Fiction).

 

Westerfeld, Scott. Touching darkness. (Midnighters, book 2). New York, Eos, 2006. Jessica Day and her four friends, the “midnighters”, are the only ones in Bixby, Oklahoma, that know the world freezes at midnight. As they battle evil creatures living in the hour hidden, they learn about Bixby’s shadowy past and uncover a deadly conspiracy that reaches beyond the secret hour. (Mystery stories; Horror Fiction)

 

Westerfeld, Scott. Blue noon. (Midnighters, book 3). New York, Eos, 2007. The Midnighters are baffled when the blue time suddenly occurs in the middle of the day. They soon discover that the walls between the secret hour and real time are crumbling, and, unless they stop it, the dark creatures will have a chance to feed after centuries of waiting. (Mystery stories; Horror fiction).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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