All 43 Dear America Books in Order (Free Printable List)
Published:
January 10, 2024
Contributor:
Sarah Shelton
Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning if you decide to make a purchase via my links, I may earn a commission at no additional cost to you. See my disclosure for more info.
If you love history and historical fiction you may have heard of the Dear America Series. There are 43 books in the series and we have put together a free list of the 43 Dear America books in order to help you with your history reading lesson plans.
Free List of All of the Dear America Books in Order
There are so many books in the Dear America series that span many different time periods in history. It can be difficult to figure out which books belong to what time periods and which ones to use with your history curriculum.
Scroll down to the very bottom of this post for a Free Dear America Books in Order printable list!
What is the Dear America Series?
The Dear America Series is a series of books that are historical fiction published by Scholastic beginning in 1996. They follow a diary format with the main character being a female. Each book is a fictional diary of a fictional girl that was living during a real historical event or time period in history.
They are written in a conversational tone, and many people consider them “living books”. This makes them a perfect choice for families who love the Charlotte Mason method of homeschooling.
Are the Dear America books historically accurate?
The Dear America books are based on true historic events. In the books the author points out a brief history lesson of what is happening during that time. If there are historical inaccuracies this is usually due to the specific plot of the story and it is pointed out in the appendix.
They try their best to keep the fictional story as historically accurate as possible. Though there is some softening of harsher parts of history to accommodate the age of the readers these books are geared towards.
What is the reading level for the Dear America Series?
The Dear America Series is recommended for children age 8-14 and great for 1st-8th grade. For the younger grades I recommend using these as read-alouds. The subject matter can be dark as it covers lots of heavy topics that include sickness and death.
What is the order of the Dear America books?
There are so many books in this series that span the time periods of the 1600’s – 1900’s. When the books were published, they did not come out in any particular order. This made it difficult to know how many books there were that covered a specific time period.
We have broken down the name of each book in the series by time period and the setting and year the book takes place in.
1600’s Time Period
1. A Journey to the New World
The Diary of Remember Patience Whipple on the Mayflower set in 1620.
2. I Walk in Dread
The Diary of Deliverance Trembley, Witness to the Salem Witch Trials set in a Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1691.
1700’s Time Period
3. Standing in the Light
The Captive Diary of Catharine Carey Logan set in Delaware Valley, PA in 1763.
4. Look to the Hills
The Diary of Lozette Moreau, a French Slave Girl set in a New York Colony in 1763.
5. Love Thy Neighbor
The Tory Diary of Prudence Emerson set in Greenmarsh, MA in 1774.
6. The Winter of Red Snow
The Revolutionary War Diary of Abigail Jane Stewart set in Valley Forge, PA in 1777.
7. Cannons at Dawn
The Second Diary of Abigail Jane Stewart set in Valley Forge, PA in 1779.
1800’s Time Period
8. A Line in the Sand
The Alamo Diary of Lucinda Lawrence set in Gonzales, TX in 1836.
9. Valley of the Moon
The Diary of María Rosalía de Milagros set in Sonoma Valley, Alta, CA in 1846.
10. Across the Wide and Lonesome Prairie
The Oregon Trail Diary of Hattie Campbell set on the Orgeon Trail in 1847.
11. So Far From Home
The Diary of Mary Driscoll, an Irish Mill Girl set in Lowell, MA in 1847.
12. All the Stars in the Sky
The Santa Fe Trail Diary of Florrie Mack Ryder set on the Santa Fe Trail in 1848.
13. Seeds of Hope
The Gold Rush Diary of Susanna Fairchild set in a California Territory in 1849.
14. A Picture of Freedom
The Diary of Clotee, a Slave Girl set on a Belmont Plantation, VI in 1859.
15. A Light in the Storm
The Civil War Diary of Amelia Martin set in Fenwick Island, DE in 1861.
16. The Girl Who Chased Away Sorrow
The Diary of Sarah Nita, a Navajo Girl set in New Mexico in 1863.
17. When Will This Cruel War Be Over?
The Civil War Diary of Emma Simpson set in Gordonsville, VI in 1864.
18. I Thought My Soul Would Rise and Fly
The Diary of Patsy, a Freed Girl set in Mars Bluff, SC in 1865.
19. The Great Railroad Race
The Diary of Libby West set the Utah Territory in 1868.
20. Down the Rabbit Hole
The Diary of Pringle Rose set in Chicago, IL in 1871.
21. Land of the Buffalo Bones
The Diary of Mary Ann Elizabeth Rodgers set in New Yeovil, MN in 1873.
22. My Heart is on the Ground
The Diary of Nannie Little Rose, a Sioux Girl set at Carlisle Indian School, PA in 1880.
23. Behind the Masks
The Diary of Angeline Reddy set in Bodie, CA in 1880.
24. My Face to the Wind
The Diary of Sarah Jane Price, a Prairie Teacher set in Broken Bow, NE in 1881.
25. West to a Land of Plenty
The Diary of Teresa Angelino Viscardi set in the New York to Idaho Territory in 1883.
26. A Coal Miner’s Bride
The Diary of Anetka Kaminska set in Lattimer, PA in 1896.
1900’s Time Period
27. Dreams in the Golden Country
The Diary of Zipporah Feldman, a Jewish Immigrant Girl set in New York City in 1903..
28. A City Tossed and Broken
The Diary of Minnie Bonner set in San Francisco, CA in 1906.
29. Hear My Sorrow
The Diary of Angela Denoto, set in New York City in 1909.
30. Voyage on the Great Titanic
The Diary of Margaret Ann Brady set on the R.M.S. Titanic in 1912.
31. A Time For Courage
The Suffragette Diary of Kathleen Bowen set in Washington DC in 1917.
32. When Christmas Comes Again
The World War I Diary of Simone Spencer set in the NYC to the Western Front area in 1917.
33. Like the Willow Tree
The Diary of Lydia Amelia Pierce set in Portland, ME in 1918.
34. Color Me Dark
The Diary of Nellie Lee Love, the Great Migration North set in Chicago in 1919.
35. Christmas After All
The Great Depression Diary of Minnie Swift set in Indianapolis, IN in 1932.
36. Mirror, Mirror on the Wall
The Diary of Bess Brennan set at the Perkins School for the Blind in 1932.
37. Survival in the Storm
The Dust Bowl Diary of Grace Edwards set in Dalhart, TX in 1935.
38. One Eye Laughing, the Other Weeping
The Diary of Julie Weiss takes place in Vienna, Austria to New York in 1938.
39. My Secret War
The World War II Diary of Madeline Beck set in Long Island, NY in 1941.
40. Early Sunday Morning
The Pearl Harbor Diary of Amber Billows set in Hawaii in 1941.
41. The Fences Between Us
The Diary of Piper Davis set in Seattle, WA in 1941.
42. With the Might of Angels
The Diary of Dawnie Rae Johnson set in Hadley, VI in 1954.
43. Where Have All the Flowers Gone?
The Diary of Molly MacKenzie Flaherty set in Boston, MA in 1968.
How to use the Dear America Series in Your Homeschool
Many homeschooling families enjoy using the Dear America Series as a living book to go along with what they are studying in history. They can be used as a read aloud, or for independent reading.
Assign a book for the time period you are studying
At the beginning of your school year, take a look at what you are studying in history and what time period that falls under. Then you can reference our list of books broken down by that time period.
Make a list of the books that you want your students to read and start collecting them from used book stores, thrift stores or even the library.
Dear America Books in Order List
Our Dear America Books in order list is a great tool to help you use these books with any history spine or curriculum. Since every book is in order, it makes it very easy to gather up the books that you need for the time period of history that you are studying at the moment.
The list includes:
- A complete list of the 43 books in order
- Time period sections where the books fall in order by year
- Setting either town, travel area, or historical event of each book
- The year that each book is set in
- Empty stars for your children to color in after they have read the book. They can use these to rate the book to how many stars they would give it.
Instant Download: Free Dear America Books in Order Printable List
Sarah Shelton
Sarah is a wife, daughter of the King and Mama to 4 children (two homeschool graduates) She is a an eclectic, Charlotte Mason style homeschooler that has been homeschooling for over 20 years.. She is still trying to find the balance between work and keeping a home and gardens. She can only do it by the Grace of God, coffee and green juice
