History-American West

Apples to Oregon : being the (slightly) true narrative of how a brave pioneer father brought apples, peaches, pears, plums, grapes, and cherries (and children) across the plains, by Hopkinson, Deborah. Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2004. A pioneer father transports his beloved fruit trees and his family to Oregon in the mid-nineteenth century. Based loosely on the life of Henderson Luelling. Reading Level: 4.8; Accelerated Reader: 4.1
Black Frontiers: A History of African American Heros in the Old West, by Lilian Schlissel Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 1995 Focuses on the experiences of blacks as mountain men, soldiers, homesteaders, and scouts on the frontiers of the American West. Reading Level: 6.1
Boss of the Plains: The Hat that Won the West, by Laurie M. Carlson. DK Ink/DK Pub, 1998 The story of John Stetson and how he came to create the most popular hat west of the Mssissippi. Reading Level: 5.8; Accelerated Reader: 4.9
Buffalo Gals: Women of the Old West, by Brandon Marie Miller Lerner Publications, 1995 Text and photographs tell the story of pioneer women: schoolmarms, ranchers, shopkeepers, doctors, mail-order brides, as well as native American women. Reading Level: 7.1; Accelerated Reader: 7.7
Bull's Eye: A Photobiorgraphy of Annie Oakley National Geographic Society, 2001 A photographic biography of Annie Oakley, discussing her early life, her prowess with a gun, her stint with Buffalo Bill's Wild West show, and her enduring image in movies, books, television shows, and plays. Reading Level: 8.8; Accelerated Reader: 6.9
Dirty Cowboy, by Amy Timberlake Farrar, Straus & Giroux Telling his faithful dog to make sure nobody touches his clothes but him, a cowboy jumps into a New Mexico river for a bath, not realizing just how much the scrubbing will change his scent. Reading Level: 6.1; Accel. Reader: 4.2
Frontier home, by Raymond Bial Houghton Mifflin, 1993 Describes the challenges that American settlers faced when they left the farms and towns in the East in their Conestoga wagons and headed for the prairie. Provides a record of pioneer tools, homes, and daily life that testifies to the indomitable spirit of the early settlers. Reading Level: 6.4; Accelerated Reader: 6.6
Full Steam Ahead: The Race to Build a Transcontinental Railroad, by Rhoda Blumberg. National Geographic Society, 1996 Illustrated history of the building of the transcontinental railroad in the United States, beginning in 1862 when President Lincoln signed the Pacific Railroad Act into law, and ending on May 10, 1869 when the final, golden spike was driven uniting tracks from the east and west. Reading Level: 6.8 Accelerated Reader: 8.5
Hog music, by Mary-Claire Helldorfer Viking, 2000 Travelers along the National Road help make sure that the birthday gift that Lucy's great aunt has sent makes it all the way from Maryland to her family's farm in Illinois. Reading Level: 2.4; Accelerated Reader: 4.6
In the Days of the Vanqueros, by Russell Freedman Clarion, 2001 Describes the work, equipment, and culture of the vaqueros, the Spanish cowherders who shaped the Mexican plains five hundred years ago, and traces their evolution over the centuries into "cowboys" and "buckaroos." Reading Level: 5.0; Accelerated Reader: 7.0
The incredible journey of Lewis and Clark, by Rhoda Blumberg Beech Tree Books, 1995 Describes the expedition led by Lewis and Clark to explore the unknown western regions of America at the beginning of the nineteenth century. Readering Level: 6.7; Accelerated: 7.8
Klondike Gold, by Alice Provensen Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2005 A fictionalized account of young prospector William Howell's arduous journey from Boston to the Yukon Territory in search of gold in the Klondike River Valley. Includes facts about the White Horse Trail, Dawson City, and the daily lives of miners. Reading Level: 4.3; Accelerated Reader: 6.0
Life on the Oregon Trail, by Gary L. Blackwood Lucent Books, 1999 Describes how people traveling on the Oregon Trail lived, discussing their reasons for going west, modes of transportation, interaction with the Indians, and activities on the Trail. Reading Level: 8.4; Accelerated Reader: 8.2
Mississippi, by Diane Siebert HarperCollins, 2001 Maps on endpapers. A poem about the history of the Mississippi River, from its glacial beginnings to the present time of ships and riverboats. Reading Level: 5.1; Accelerated Reader: 5.1
Prairie Songs, by Pam Conrad HarperCollins, 1985 Louisa's life in a loving pioneer family on the Nebraska prairie is altered by the arrival of a new doctor and his beautiful, tragically frail wife. Reading Level: 5.2 Accelerated Reader: 5.3
Sod Houses on the Great Plain, by Glen Rounds Holiday House, 1995 Tells how settlers on the treeless plains built houses from the prairie sod itself. Reading Level: 2.6; Accelerated Reader: 5.2
Stick and Whittle, by Sid Hite Scholastic, 2000 In 1872, while journeying from Texas to Kansas, a Civil War veteran named Melvin meets a sixteen-year-old orphan, another Melvin, and they give each other nicknames and become partners and traveling companions on an exciting adventure. Reading Level: 6.1; Accelerated Reader: 6.1
Weaver's Daughter, by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley Delacorte Press, 2000 In 1791 after her family's journey from Pennsylvania, ten-year-old Lizzie suffers from the disease of asthma in her new home in the Southwest Territory (present-day Tennessee). Reading Level: 5.2; Accerated Reader: 4.0,
York's Adventures with Lewis & Clark, by Blumberg Relates the adventures of York, a slave and "body servant" to William Clark, who journeyed west with the Lewis and Clark Expedition of 1804-1806. The early years -- Heading west -- Homeward bound -- Forgotten man. Reading Level: 5.2; Accelerated Reader: 7.9