MIDDLE AGES<br>400 - 1066

KEY: jP = Picture Books; jZ = 1st and 2nd Grade Readers; jE = 3rd and 4th Grade Readers; JF = 5th Grade and Up

MIDDLE AGES 400 - 1500

updated 8/07

Picture Books


1st - 2nd Grade


3rd - 4th Grade

Bulla, Clyde Robert THE SWORD IN THE TREE

Lord Weldon’s brother appears from nowhere. Then Lord Weldon disappears and his son Shan and his wife, Lady Marian are in danger. While seeking shelter with a herdsman, Shan learns that King Arthur holds audiences and appeals to the King. Sir Gareth challenges Lionel to a duel and restores Castle Weldon to Shan and his Mother. Who do you suppose they find in the dungeon?
1997 64 p.

Duey, Kathleen LARA AND THE GRAY MARE
Hoofbeats Book 1
While her father is away fighting the Normans and other Irish clans, nine-year-old Lara works hard to help harvest food and also cares for the pregnant gray mare that she loves.
2005 140 p.

Duey, Kathleen LARA AND THE MOON-COLORED FILLY
Hoofbeats Book 2
Captured by members of another Irish clan, Lara continues to protect the young filly, Dannsair, and ponders how they might escape together.
2005 133 p.

Duey, Kathleen LARA AT ATHENRY CASTLE
Hoofbeats Book 3
When her horse is given to a baron in the castle town of Athenry, nine-year-old Lara goes along.
2005 140 p.

Duey, Kathleen LARA AND THE SILENT PLACE
Hoofbeats Book 4
Almost a year has passed since Lara and her beloved filly were captured and taken from their Connemara home. The duo endured many long months of lying, hiding, and struggling to survive. At last, Lara has finally managed to escape with the filly, Dannsair, and make her way back home. But rather than feeling relief at being back with her tauth, Lara is overcome with feelings of not belonging. She craves something more than her old life can offer her. her heart wonders if there is a place where she and Dannsair can be happy together-and safe from the warring clans.
2005 140 p.

Kirwan, Anna Juliet : Midsummer at Greenchapel, England, 1340
Girlhood Journeys series
On the day before Midsummer Eve in Greenchapel, England in 1340, 11-year-old Juliet accompanies Gil on a trip to get medicine for a wounded falcon while hoping to arrive home on time for the fun.
1997 64 p.

Kirwan, Anna Juliet: Rescue at Marlehead Manor
Girlhood Journeys volume 2
In England in 1340, Juliet resents Marguerite's snooty new friend Lady Enid, but when she learns that Enid's father has been unjustly accused of treason she volunteers for a dangerous mission to help clear his name.
1997 71 p.

MacGill-Callahan, Sheila TO CAPTURE THE WIND
In a risky plan to free her kidnapped lover, Oonagh cleverly solves the evil pirate king's riddles, unites the princess Ethne with her lover, and invents sails.
1997 unpaged

O'Brien, Patrick THE MAKING OF A KNIGHT:
HOW SIR JAMES EARNED HIS ARMOR

Traces James’s journey during the Middle Ages in England from an inexperienced page at the age of seven to knighthood at the age of 21.
1998 unpaged

Quindlen, Anna HAPPILY EVER AFTER
When a girl who loves to read fairy tales is transported back to medieval times, she finds that the life of a princess in a castle is less fun than she imagined.
1997 43 p.

Skyrzynski, Gloria THE MINSTREL IN THE TOWER
1195. Roger and Alice have lost their father to the Crusades. Now their mother is terribly ill. They set off in search of their mother's long-lost brother, a powerful baron. Their night in a tower is interrupted by two highwaymen, who imprison them and recognize the symbol on the lute they carry, their only identification that their uncle, Raimond, will recognize.
1988 64 p.


5th Grade and UP

Adler, Elizabeth KING'S SHADOW
After he is orphaned and has his tongue cut out in a clash with the sons of a Welsh noble, Evyn is sold as a slave and serves many masters, from the gracious Lady Swan Neck to the valiant Harold Godwinson, England's last Saxon king. 1063
1997 259 p.

Amoss, Berthe LOST MAGIC
Orphaned Ceridwen learns the art of herbal healing and gains the protection of the local lord until she is accused of witchcraft.
1993 184 p.

Avi CRISPIN: THE CROSS OF LEAD
When his mother dies, a fourteenth-century peasant boy must flee for his life after being accused of a terrible crime. His only possessions are his newly discovered name and the secret contained in his mother's lead cross. (Newbery 2003)
2002 262 p.

Banks, Lynne Reid THE DUNGEON
Driven by his grief over the loss of his family and by his longing for adventure, Bruce MacLennan sets out from Scotland for China, where he buys a young girl, who tries to ease his pain but instead is caught up in his desire for vengance.
2002 279 P.

Barrett, Tracy ANNA OF BYZANTIUM
In the 11th century the teenage princess Anna Comnena fights for her birthright, the throne of the Byzantine Empire, which she fears will be taken from her by her younger brother John because he is a boy.
1999 206 P.

Bradford, Karleen THERE WILL BE WOLVES
The First book of The Crusades
Ursula trains herself to be a healer, but she is condemned as a witch. To prove her innocence, she agrees to join a Crusade led by Peter the Hermit. First Crusade 1096-1099.
1998 195 P.

Branford, Henrietta FIRE, BED & BONE
In 1381 England, a hunting dog recounts what happens to his beloved master Rufus and his family when they are arrested on suspicion of being part of the peasants' rebellion led by Wat Tyler and the preacher John Ball.
1998 122 P.

Cadnum, Michael THE BOOK OF THE LION
In 12th-century England, after his master, a maker of coins for the king, is brutally punished for alleged cheating, 17-year-old Edmund finds himself traveling to the Holy Land as squire to a knight crusader on his way to join forces of Richard Lionheart.
2000 201 p.

Cadnum, Michael IN A DARK WOOD
On orders from the King, the Sheriff of Nottingham seeks to capture the outlaw Robin Hood, but he finds him to be a tricky and elusive foe. 1189-1199.
1998 246 P.

Cadnum, Michael THE LEOPARD SWORD
A knight's squire, exhausted from the Crusades, must use his sword to fight attacking infidels during the return voyage to England.
2002 195 p.

Cadnum, Michael RAVEN OF THE WAVES
On his first Viking raid, seventeen-year-old Lidsmod sails on the ship Raven, joining his comrades as they destroy and plunder villages in medieval England and take an Anglo-Saxon boy as captive.
2001 200 p.

Crossley-Holland, Kevin AT THE CROSSING-PLACES
Arthur trilogy, volume 2
In late twelfth-century England, the thirteen-year-old Arthur goes to begin his new life as squire to Lord Stephen at Holt, where crusaders ready themselves.
2002 394 p.

Crossley-Holland, Kevin SEEING STONE
Arthur trilogy, volume 1
It is 1199, and young Arthur de Caldicot is waiting impatiently to grow up and become a knight. One day, his father's friend Merlin gives him a shiny piece of obsidian, and his life becomes entwined with King Arthur's.
2001 342 p.

Cushman, Karen CATHERINE, CALLED BIRDY
The 13-year-old daughter of an English country knight keeps a journal in which she records the events of her life, particularly her longing for adventures beyond the usual role of women and her efforts to avoid being married off.
1999 164 P.

Cushman, Karen MATILDA BONE
Fourteen-year-old Matilda, an apprentice bonesetter and practitioner of medicine in a village in medieval England, tries to reconcile the various aspects of her life, both spiritual and practical.
2000 167 p.

Cushman, Karen THE MIDWIFE’S APPRENTICE
In medieval England, a nameless, homeless girl is taken in by a sharp-tempered midwife and, in spite of obstacles and hardship, eventually gains the three things she most wants: a full belly, a contented heart, and a place in the world.
1995 117 P.

DeAngeli, Marguerite BLACK FOX OF LORNE
When Jan and Brus, thirteen-year-old twins emigrate with their family from Norway to 10th-century Britain, their ship is wrecked and Jan is captured by the cruel leader, the Black Fox of Lorne.
1956 191 P.

DeAngeli, Marguerite DOOR IN THE WALL
A crippled boy in fourteenth-century England proves his courage and earns recognition from the King. (Newbery Medal 1950)
1949 120 P.

Ellis, Deborah A COMPANY OF FOOLS
Henri has been living within abbey walls all his life. When Micah arrives, they form a friendship that helps them through dangerous times.
2002 191 p.

Goodman, Joan PEREGRINE
sequel to The Winter Hare
In 1144, fifteen-year-old Lady Edith, having lost her husband and child and anxious to avoid marrying a man she detests, sets out from her home in Surrey to go on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem.
2000 222 p.

Goodman, Joan THE WINTER HARE
In 1140, with England divided between the supporters of King Stephen and those of the Empress Matilda, twelve-year-old Will Belet, small for his age but longing to be a knight, comes to his Uncle's castle to be a page and soon finds himself involved in dangerous intrigues and adventures.
1996 255 p.

Grant, K.M. BLOOD RED HORSE
Book I of The de Granville trilogy
When King Richard calls for a Crusade, brothers Will and Gavin must go to the Holy Land to fight with the Knights of England. Their adventure leads them to a fair maiden named Ellie and a very special blood-red horse called Hosanna.
2005 227 p.

Grant, K.M. GREEN JASPER
Book II of The de Granville trilogy
Having returned to a politically unstable England after the Crusades, brothers Will and Gavin--with the help of the red horse Hosanna--attempt to rescue their friend Ellie who is being held prisoner by an enemy of King Richard I.
2007 249 p.

Gray, Elizabeth Janet ADAM OF THE ROAD
1294-1295 in and around London, England. Adam gets separated from his minstrel father while searching for his stolen dog and must make his way alone on the roads of England until he is reunited with both Roger and Nick.
1942 317 P.

Haahr, Berit THE MINSTREL'S TALE
When betrothed to a repulsive man, 13-year-old Judith runs away, assumes the identity of a young boy, and hopes to join the King's Minstrels in 14th century England.
2000 247 P.

Hendry,Frances QUEST FOR A MAID
Aware of her older sister's powers of sorcery, which have used to help secure the Scottish throne for Robert de Brus, Meg realizes she must try protect the young Norwegian princess who has been chosen as rightful heir.
1990 273 p.

Hunter, Mollie THE KING'S SWIFT RIDER
Unwilling to fight but feeling a sense of duty, 16-year-old Martin joins Scotland’s rebel army as a swift rider and master of espionage for its leader, Robert the Bruce.
1998 241 P.

Jordan, Sherryl THE HUNTING OF THE LAST DRAGON
In England in 1356, as a monk records his every word, a young peasant tells of his journey with a young Chinese noblewoman to St. Alfric's Cove and the lair of a dragon .
2002 186 P.

Kelly, Eric THE TRUMPETER OF KRAKOW
A Polish family in the Middle Ages guards a great secret treasure and a boy's memory of an earlier trumpeter of Krakow makes it possible for him to save his father.
1928 208 P.

Konigsburg, Elaine A PROUD TASTE FOR SCARLET AND MINIVER
Eleanor of Aquitaine, wife to two kings, mother to two others, has been waiting in Heaven a long time to be reunited with her second husband. While waiting, she and three of the people who knew her well recall the events of her life.
2001 201 P.

Levitin, Sonia THE CURE
A sixteen-year-old boy living in 2407 collides with the past when he finds himself in Strasbourg in 1348 confronting the anti-Semitism that sweeps through Europe during the Black Plague..
1999 181 P.

Lindgren, Astrid RONIA, THE ROBBER'S DAUGHTER
Ronia, who lives with her father and his band of robbers in a castle in the woods, causes trouble when she befriends the son of a rival robber chieftan.
1983 176 P.

Love, D. Anne THE PUPPETEER'S APPRENTICE
A medieval orphan girl called Mouse gains the courage she needs to follow her dreams of becoming a puppeteer's apprentice.
2003 180 p.

Malone, Patricia THE LEGEND OF LADY ILENA
In sixth-century Great Britain, a 15-year-old girl seeking knowledge of her lineage is drawn into battle to defend the homeland she never knew, aided by one of King Arthur's knights.
2002 229 p.

McCaffrey, Anne BLACK HORSES FOR THE KING
Galwyn, son of a Roman Celt, escapes from his tyrannical uncle and joins Lord Artos, later known as King Arthur, using his talent with languages and way with horses to help secure and care for the Libyan horses that Artos hopes to use in battle against the Saxons.
1996 217 P.

McNaughton, Janet AN EARTHLY KNIGHT
In 1162 in Scotland, sixteen-year-old Jenny Avenel falls in love with the mysterious Tam Lin while being courted by the king's brother and must navigate the tides of tradition and the power of ancient magic to define her own destiny.
2004 261 P.

McGraw, Eloise THE STRIPED SHIPS
Juliana, an 11-year-old Saxon girl, loses her home and family when the Normans conquer England in 1066 and seeks to order her life by becoming involved in the creation of the Bayeux tapestry.
1991 223 P.

Miklowitz, Gloria MASADA: THE LAST FORTRESS
As the Roman army marches inexorably across the Judean desert towards the fortress of Masada, Simon and his family and friends prepare, along with the rest of the Jewish Zealots, to fight and never surrender.
1998 188 P.

Miklowitz, Gloria SECRETS IN THE HOUSE OF DELGADO
In Spain in 1492, fourteen-year-old Maria, a Catholic orphan, becomes a servant to a wealthy family of Conversos, converted Jews, at a time when the Jews are being expelled from the country and when the Inquisition is diligently searching for religious heretics.
2001 182 P.

Morris, Gerald THE BALLAD OF SIR DINADAN
Though he would rather pursue his talent as a musician, eighteen-year-old Dinadan is forced to follow his older brother Tristram's path and become a knight. Set at the time of King Arthur.
2003 232 P.

Morris, Gerald PARSIFAL'S PAGE
In medieval England, eleven-year-old Piers' dream comes true when he becomes page to Parsifal, a peasant whose quest for knighthood reveals important secrets about both of their families.
2001 232 P.

Morris, Gerald THE SAVAGE DAMSEL AND THE DWARF
Lynet, a feisty young woman, journeys to King Arthur's court in order to find a champion to rescue her beautiful older sister, and she is joined in her quest by a clever dwarf and a bold kitchen knave, neither of whom are not what they seem.
2000 213 P.

Morris, Gerald THE SQUIRE, HIS KNIGHT AND HIS LADY
sequel to: The Squire's Tale
After several years at King Arthur's court, Terence, as Sir Gawain's squire and friend, accompanies him on a perilous quest that tests all their skills and whose successful completion could mean certain death for Gawain.
1999 232 p.

Morris, Gerald THE SQUIRE'S TALE
For sequel see: The squire, his knight, & his lady
In medieval England, fourteen-year-old Terence finds his tranquil existence suddenly changed when he becomes the squire of the young Gawain of Orkney and accompanies him on a long quest, proving Gawain's worth as a knight and revealing an important secret about his own true identity.
1998 212 P.

Morressy, John JUGGLER
Beran makes a pact with the devil to become the greatest juggler in the world.
1996 261 P.

Paton Walsh, Jill THE EMPEROR'S WINDING SHEET
An English boy, shipwrecked, hungry, and lost, finds his way into the court of Constantine, where he is interpreted as a symbol of good luck and is ordered to be kept always near the king.
2004 251 p.

Picard, Barbara RANSOME FOR A KNIGHT
1953 314 P.

Pierce, Tamora IN THE HAND OF THE GODDESS
Song of the Lioness, Book 2
Pursuing her desire to be a knight, Alanna learns many things in her role as squire to Prince Jonathan, but fears Duke Roger, an ambitious sorcerer with whom she knows she will one day have to deal.
1990 209 P.

Phillips, Ann THE PEACE CHILD
Could the exchange of children really bring peace to feuding families? Alys can't understand her place in the family, why she must wear a white dress at certain occasions and her fair hair amongst the rest of the family's dark hair. By running away to the Castells, Alys brings an understanding and compromise between the Butlers and the Castells. 14th century England during the Peasant's Revolt and the Great Plague.
1988 148 P.

Pope, Elizabeth THE PERILOUS GARD
In 1558 while imprisoned at Elwenwood Hall, a remote castle in northern England, teenaged Kate Sutton finds herself involved in a series of mysterious events that eventually bring her to an underground labyrinth peopled by the last practitioners of druidic magic.
1974 280 p.

Pyle, Howard OTTO OF THE SILVER HAND
The gentle son of a medieval German robber baron, raised in the calm and thoughtful quiet of a monastery, returns to his father's castle and, despite great suffering and blood-feuds, grows to honor and manhood.
1967/TD> 170 p.

Rosen, Sidney THE MAGICIAN'S APPRENTICE
In 1264, Jean of Toulouse, a young French student and friar accused of heresy by the Inquisition, is sent to Oxford to spy on the scholarly monk, Roger Bacon, who is suspected of being a heretic for his advanced scientific ideas.
1994 153 P.

Rosen, Sidney THE BAGHDAD MISSION
In the year 800, 15-year-old Alan travels from the Frankish kingdom to Baghdad and back again, seeking to escape the murderour intentions of his evil cousin and secure his birthright.
1994 190 p.

Sauerwein, Leigh SONG FOR ELOISE
In twelth-century France, fifteen-year-old Eloise, newly and unhappily married to the rough, ambitious, much older but devoted Robert of Rochefort, finds it difficult to adjust to her new life and unwisely falls in love with the young troubadour who comes to sing at her husband's castle.
2003 133 p.

Skurzynski, Gloria SPIDER'S VOICE
Because he is a young mute person who can hear, Aran becomes involved in the adventures of Eloise and Abelard, France's most famous lovers, who lived during the twelfth century.
1999 200 p.

Springer, Nancy I AM MORDRED
A TALE FROM CAMELOT

When Mordred learns the identity of his father, he struggles with feelings of hatred, but also fights the fate which determines that he kill the good and gracious king.
1998 184 P.

Springer, Nancy LIONCLAW
A TALE OF ROWAN HOOD

Young Lionel, minstrel in the outlaw band of Rowan Hood, daughter of Robin tries to find his courage when she is abducted from Sherwood Forest.
2002 122 P.

Springer, Nancy ROWAN HOOD
OUTLAW GIRL OF SHERWOOD FOREST

In her quest to connect with Robin Hood, the father she has never met, 13-year-old Rosemary disguises herself as a boy, befriends a half-wolf, half-dog, a runaway princess, and an overgrown boy whose singing is hypnotic, and makes peace with her elfin heritage.
2001 170 p.

Sutcliff, Rosemary BLOOD FEUD
Sold into slavery to the Northmen in the tenth century, a young Englishman becomes involved in a blood feud which leads him to Constantinople and a totally different way of life.
1977 144 p.

Sutcliff, Rosemary DAWN WIND
1. CAPRICORN BRACELET. 2. DAWN WIND. 3. EAGLE OF THE NINTH. 4. FRONTIER WOLF. 5. LANTERN BEARERS. 6. OUTCAST. Roman Britain.
closes the story of the Aquila family and Roman Britain. Opening the morning after Cealwin of Wessex defeats the British at Dyrham (about A.D. 577), and ending with the arrival of Augustine in Kent in A.D. 597 (though only fourteen years pass in the book), Dawn Wind is the story of Owain, the great-great-grandson of the main character of The Lantern Bearers. After his father and older brother are killed at Dyrham, Owain must find his way in a land that is no longer Britain but isn't quite England. With Cealwin's victory, Britain is all but gone. Only Cornwall, Wales, and Strathclyde are free of the invaders. With nothing left, Owain hits on the idea of crossing to still-free Brittany, but the hopelessness of the task for a fourteen-year-old boy defeats him. To save the life of a British girl he found in the ruins of his home city, Owain sells himself into thralldom. He grows to adulthood on a Saxon farm, gaining an understanding of their culture that none of his ancestors had. Owain finds acceptance and freedom with the Saxons, but in the end he still identifies with the British. His return to the hills of Wales after the arrival of Christian missionaries to the Kentish kingdom completes the transformation of the Aquila family from Roman to British.
1961 241 p.

Sutcliff, Rosemary THE LANTERN BEARERS
Roman times and the Middle Ages in Britain and Juteland. When the Roman legions leave Britain, the light of civilization is quenched. Aquila and his family are separated through the violence of Saxon invaders. After many years of suffering come reconciliation and a promise of an end of darkness through the leader Ambrosius and young Artos.
1959 252 P.

Sutcliff, Rosemary THE SHINING COMPANY
600 A.D. Prosper tries to save a white hart from a hunting party led by Prince Gorthyn who admires his daring. Two years later Prosper joins forces with the prince to fight the invading Saxons. For a year they train. While trying to capture the stronghold at Catraeth treachery stikes from a most unexpected source.
1990 293 P.

Sutcliff, Rosemary SWORD SONG
In this swashbuckling epic, a Viking swordsman is banished from his home for unintentionally killing a man and takes up a new life as a mercenary.
1998 271 P.

Temple, Frances THE BEDUINS' GAZELLE
sequel to The Ramsay Scallop
In 1302, 2 cousins of the nomadic Beni Khalid tribe who are bethrothed become separated by poltical intrigue between warring tribes.TD>
1956 159 P.

Temple, Frances THE RAMSAY SCALLOP
In 1299 England, 14-year-old Elenor finds her betrothal to an ambitious lord's son launching her on a memorable pilgrimage to far-off Spain.
1994 310 P.

Thomson, Sarah THE DRAGON'S SON
Based on the Mabinogion, a collection of medieval Welsh tales, as well as later legends, and tells of family members and servants important in the life of King Arthur, featuring Nimue, Morgan le Fay, Luned, and Mordred.
2001 181 p.

Tingle, Rebecca THE EDGE ON THE SWORD
In ninth-century Britain, fifteen-year-old Aethelflaed, daughter of King Alfred of West Saxony, finds she must assume new responsibilities much sooner than expected when she is betrothed to Ethelred of Mercia in order to strengthen a strategic alliance against the Danes.
2001 277 p.

Tingle, Rebecca FAR TRAVELLER
sequel to: The Edge of the Sword
After the death of her mother, Aethelflaed of Mercia, seventeen-year-old Aelfwyn flees imprisonment by her uncle King Edward and, in the guise of a youthful bard, plays her part in the resolution of tangled political enmities.
2005 228 p.

Vande Velde, Vivian NEVER TRUST A DEAD MAN
Selwyn thought he disliked Farold when he was alive, but that was nothing compared to having to work by the dead man's side as they search for a killer in this murder mystery, slapstick comedy, and fantasy about love and life after death.
1999 194 p.

Voight, Cynthia JACKAROO
When hard times among the People revive the old stories of the hero Jackaroo, an innkeeper's daughter follows her own quest to unlock the secret reality behind the legend.
1985 291 P.

Voight, Cynthia ON FORTUNE'S WHEEL
Faced with the prospect of an unhappy life in the Kingdom, 14-year-old Birle accompanies a young runaway nobleman on a journey south and falls into slavery in the citadel of a cruel prince.
1990 276 P.

Weil, Sylvie MY GUARDIAN ANGEL
In 11th century Troyes, France, Elvina, the unusual granddaughter of renowned Jewish rabbi Solomon ben Isaac, who prefers studying and writing to activities considered respectable for girls, takes a great risk by helping a young boy who has run away from a group of Christian Crusaders.
2004 202 p.

Wein, Elizabeth A COALITION OF LIONS
After the death of Artos, High King of Britain, and his sons, his daughter Princess Goewin journeys to Aksum to meet Constantine, her intended husband, but finds the country in political turmoil.
2003 210 p.

Wein, Elizabeth THE WINTER PRINCE
Medraut, the bitter, illegitimate son of King Artos, is tempted into joing Morgause, the king’s treacherous sister, in a plot against Lleu, the legitimate Prince of Britain.
1993 202 p.

Weir, Rosemary HIGH COURAGE
The loss and recapture of a castle provides the framework for this story of England in 1264. Richard is the 11-year-old hero whose father, loyal to King Henry III, was defeated by the Baron of Banworth, a supporter of Simon de Montfort.
1967 186 p.

Woodruff, Elvira THE RAVENMASTER'S SECRET
Escape from the Tower of London

The eleven-year-old son of the Ravenmaster at the Tower of London befriends a Jacobite rebel being held prisoner there.
2003 224 p.

Yolen, Jane and Robert Harris GIRL IN A CAGE
English armies invade Scotland in 1306, eleven-year-old Princess Marjorie, daughter of the newly crowned Scottish king, Robert the Bruce, is captured by England's King Edward Longshanks and held in a cage on public display.
2002 234 P.


YOUNG ADULT

Cooney, Caroline ENTER THREE WITCHES
A fictional retelling of Macbeth. Mary is a ward of the Macbeth's and is caught up in the power struggle for Cawdor Castle and the Scottish crown.
2007 281 p.