American History Chapter Books for Kids

Read Stories of American Revolution and United States Slavery

Jul 25, 2009 Michael Jung

The history of African American slavery and the American Revolution come to life in these chapter books and graphic novel.

Although textbooks and timelines are essential for history lessons, few things bring history to life as well as good historical novels. And while these novels are often fictionalized, it’s worth noting they can also contain facts not in all teaching tools – making them good supplements for lesson plans.

With this in mind, check out the following books that help students understand what it meant to be an American slave and learn about events and historical figures from the American Revolution.

My Name is Phillis Wheatley

A fictionalized account of the life of eighteenth-century Black poet Phillis Wheatley, My Name is Phillis Wheatley takes readers back in time to 1760s Africa when young Penda Wane is learning to be a griot, a praise-singer, for her family clan in the kingdom of Fouta Toro. But when slave traders destroy her town, Penda – along with hundreds of other Africans – is captured and enslaved.

Forced to endure a degrading ocean voyage to America full of disease and torture, Penda arrives half dead in Boston and is bought by John Wheatley for his wife Susanna, who renames her Phillis. But when Phillis reveals her facility with languages – a common skill in Fouta Toro for facilitating relations among clans – her mistress gives Phillis formal lessons to see “if a Black slave [is] intelligent enough to be educated.”

Soon, Phillis surpasses Susanna in learning and begins writing poems on religion and the injustices American colonists suffer under British rule. As her poems earn her admirers in England and America, talk circulates about publishing her poems. To accomplish this, however, Phillis must challenge the hypocrisy and jealousy of many Americans and Europeans, who refuse to believe in the intelligence of Africans.

Written by history professor and poet Dr. Afua Cooper, this novel shows the prejudice even in a decent master. While Phillis views Susanna as a second mother, her mistress sees Phillis as an “African prodigy” – too good for “regular” slaves yet inferior to Whites. And while Phillis rarely wrote of such injustice in her poems, her work does draw connections between slavery and the British tyranny Americans seek to escape – making this an eye-opening story in more ways than one.

My Name is Henry Bibb

When readers left Phillis Wheatley in Afua Cooper’s first book, the American Revolution was in full swing, giving Phillis hope that African slaves would gain liberty and equality. But by the early 1800s, slavery was still a reality for many – including mulatto Henry Bibb, who finds his white complexion offers him no protection from his sadistic masters.

Born the son of a part-Black slave and white slaveholder, Henry Bibb experiences the injustice of slavery early in life when he’s given as a “gift” to the infant daughter of his owner. As he grows, Henry is hired out to various slaveholders – many who abuse him to the point of death. Yet Henry endures, drawing strength from his mother’s tales of Africans who flew from their owners, until eventually he makes his own bid for freedom.

Cooper did her doctoral dissertation on Henry Bibb, who went on to campaign for Black civil rights. Her novel, however, offers a different look at Bibb, as it focuses on the childhood events that shaped his perspective on American slavery. It’s a disturbing story that shows how slaveholders become more inhuman as they dehumanize slaves – but a highly effective way to reveal just some of the cruelties of slavery.

The Road to Revolution!

What role did Dr. Joseph Warren play in the American Revolution? Where was the Battle of Bunker Hill fought? What crime was Dr. Benjamin Church guilty of?

If any of these questions about American revolution history stump you, check out Road to Revolution, a fun graphic novel that follows Nick, a streetwise pickpocket, and Penny, the daughter of a Boston tavern owner, as they join the rebels – Nick as an assistant to Dr. Joseph Warren, a leader of the Boston rebellion, and Penny as a rebel spy.

Soon Nick and Penny make key contributions – including helping Paul Revere alert colonists to a British attack and discovering the treachery of Dr. Benjamin Church, a spy for the British. Events soon culminate with the Battle of Bunker Hill (actually fought on Breed Hill) where Nick fights bravely but is unable to prevent Joseph Warren’s death.

Similar to the animated cartoon series Liberty’s Kids, this graphic novel offers a fictional look at the American Revolution that can spark early interest in this war. To help distinguish fact from fiction, the creators include an epilogue outlining what did and didn’t happen – yet while the story does provide key facts, it should ultimately be used as a supplement in history lessons and not as a primary resource.

Find more true and fictionalized American history stories at Books on the American Civil War for Kids, American Historical Fiction Books for Kids, and Astronaut Nonfiction Books for Kids.

Cooper, Afua. My Name is Phillis Wheatley. Toronto, Kids Can Press. 2009. ISBN: 978-1-55337-812-9

Cooper, Afua. My Name is Henry Bibb: A Story of Slavery and Freedom. Toronto, Kids Can Press. 2009. ISBN: 978-1-55337-813-6

Champlin, Susan and Stan Mack. The Road to Revolution. New York: Bloomsbury. 2009. ISBN: 978-1-59990-371-2

The copyright of the article American History Chapter Books for Kids in Children’s Books is owned by Michael Jung. Permission to republish American History Chapter Books for Kids in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

Road to Revolution!