Jamestown Books

The big 400th anniversary weekend of Jamestown this coming weekend May 11-13. In honor of this big celebration here in Virginia, I thought I would highlight a list of Jamestown books I've been compiling. I know this is not a comprehensive list. In fact, I have not included the majority of the nonfiction reference books for kids written about Jamestown. Most of the books on this list are historical fiction, with a few exceptions. Many of the nonfiction selections are narrative nonfiction. I'm always wanting to expand the list, so if I have forgotten your favorite books about Jamestown, please let me know.

Here are my codes:

PB--Picture Book

MG--Middle Grade

YA--Young Adult

Hi-Lo--High Interest, Lower Reading Level (good for struggling readers)

HF--historical fiction

NF--nonfiction

1607: A New Look at Jamestown by Karen Lange (MG, NF)

1609: Winter of the Dead by Elizabeth Massie (YA, HF)

Blood on the River: James Town 1607 by Elisa Lynn Carbone (MG, HF)

Double Life of Pocahontas by Jean Fritz (YA, NF)

Jamestown Journey by Bentley Boyd (MG, graphic novel)

Jamestown: Journey Back in Time by Scott Reighard (YA, HF)

James Towne: Struggle for Survival by Marcia Sewall (Hi-Lo, HF)

John Smith Escapes Again by Rosalyn Schanzer (PB, NF)

Journey to Jamestown by Lois Ruby (MG, HF)

Lion to Guard Us by Clyde Robert Bulla (MG, HF)

Miracle: The True Story of the Wreck of the Sea Venture by Gail Karwoski (MG, NF)

My America: Our Strange New Land, Elizabeth's Jamestown Colony Diary, Book 1 by Patricia Hermes (MG, HF)

My America: Season of Promise, Elizabeth's Jamestown Colony Diary, Book 3 by Patricia Hermes (MG, HF)

My America: The Starving Time, Elizabeth's Jamestown Colony Diary, Book 2 by Patricia Hermes (MG, HF)

The Mystery at Jamestown: First Permanent English Colony in America by Carole Marsh (MG, HF)

On Their Own: A Journey to Jamestown by Marie Stone (MG, HF)

Pocahontas: Princess of the New World by Kathleen Krull (PB, NF)

Pocahontas and the Strangers by Clyde Robert Bulla (MG, HF)

Sam Collier and the Founding of Jamestown by Candice Ransom (Hi-Lo, HF)

Sees Behind Trees by Michael Dorris (MG, HF)

Serpent Never Sleeps: A Novel of Jamestown and Pocahontas by Scott O'Dell (YA, HF)

Shadows in the Glasshouse: A Jamestown Story by Megan McDonald (MG, HF)

Surviving Jamestown: The Adventures of Young Sam Collier by Gail Karwoski (MG, HF)

Two Chimneys by Mary Holmes (MG, HF)

Virginia Bound by Amy Butler (MG, HF)

(Interview with Amy Butler by Cynthia Leitich Smith at Cynsations)

What if You'd Been at Jamestown? by Ellen Keller (Hi-Lo, HF)

When the Great Canoes Came by Mary Louise Clifford (MG, HF)

Who's Saying What at Jamestown, Thomas Savage? by Jean Fritz (MG, NF)