Historical events can sometimes feel inaccessible or distant, especially for young readers, which is why it can help to step into the life of a relatable character and view history through their eyes. For women, girls, and gender nonconforming readers, that can be especially true; after all, history is often recorded through the lens of the male experience, leaving other perspectives unexamined.

For this week’s Women’s History Month post, we’re taking a look at some of our favorite recent middle grade novels that explore history through the eyes of girls living it; while their stories may be fictional, the times they come from are the prologue to our present.

Radiant by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson

The Secrets of Lovelace Academy by Marie Benedict & Courtney Sheinmel

All That Chandni Knows by Khushboo Patel

The Unexpected Lives of Ordinary Girls by J. Anderson Coats

A Year Without Home by V.T. Bidania

Tear This Down by Barbara Dee

Thank you to Dutton Children’s Books, Putnam BFYR, Nancy Paulsen Books, Penguin Young Readers, Aladdin Books, Atheneum BFYR, and SimonKIDS for copies of these. What are some of your favorite historical fiction reads?