Summary

With these wonderful living books your family will study recent history—both World and American—and get to know the people and events of Modern Times (1850 to 2012). Geography will focus on Asia. Bible lessons will include several epistles. Older students will work on a six-year project of looking for doctrinal truths as they read through the Bible; if they have completed the other five years of reading and study, they will summarize their findings by writing a personal doctrinal statement.

Daily lesson plans scheduling these books are available in Modern Times & Epistles, Revelation.

Book List for History, Geography, Bible

Read the books listed under Family to all the students together. Add the grade-level books as individual reads for any children you have in those grades. For example, if you have students in grades 9 and 11, you will want to get the books under Family, Grades 7–9, and Grades 10–12.

[SCM]: Available from SCM
[Book Store]: Purchase from your favorite book store
[Library]: Check your library
[Public Domain]: Available free in the public domain

(AH) = American History book, so if you are in a different country you can easily identify and substitute books as desired.

You can also view all the books below in the CM Bookfinder for easy scheduling in our CM Organizer.

Family

• Bible
• (AH) [Book Store]Billy Graham: God’s Ambassador by Russ Busby OR [Book Store]Billy Graham: Just Get Up Out of Your Seat by Catherine Mackenzie
• (AH) [Library]The Brooklyn Bridge by Elizabeth Mann
• (AH) [Library]Empire State Building by Elizabeth Mann
• [Library]Gandhi: The Young Protester Who Founded a Nation by Philip Wilkinson
• [Book Store]George Mueller by Faith Coxe Bailey
• (AH) [Library]The Hoover Dam by Elizabeth Mann
• [Library]Mandela: The Rebel Who Led His Nation to Freedom by Ann Kramer
• [SCM]Material World and [SCM]Hungry Planet: What the World Eats by Peter Menzel
• (AH) [Book Store]Our Country’s Presidents by Ann Bausum (reference book)
• (AH) [SCM]Stories of America, Volume 2, by Charles Morris, et al.
• [SCM]Stories of the Nations, Volume 2, by Lorene Lambert and Charles Morris
• (AH) [SCM]The Story of Thomas A. Edison by Frances M. Perry
• [SCM]The Stuff They Left Behind: From the Days of Modern Times portfolio
• [SCM]Visits to Asia notebook by Sonya Shafer (one for each student)

Plus . . .
Grades 1–3

• (AH) [Library]A Boy Named FDR by Kathleen Krull
• (AH) [Library]I Have a Dream: The Story of Martin Luther King by Margaret Davidson
• [Library]The Journey That Saved Curious George by Louise Borden
• (AH) [Library]Moonshot: The Flight of Apollo 11 by Brian Floca
• [SCM]Only a Dog: A Story of the Great War by Bertha Whitridge Smith
• (AH) [Library]The Unbreakable Code by Sara Hoagland Hunter
• [Book Store]The Children of China: An Artist’s Journey by Song Nan Zhang (optional, used with Visits to Asia)
• [Book Store]A Grain of Rice by Helena Clare Pittman OR [Book Store]Grandfather Tang’s Story: A Tale Told with Tangrams by Ann Tompert (optional, used with Visits to Asia)
• [Book Store]Horse Song: The Naadam of Mongolia by Ted and Betsy Lewin (optional, used with Visits to Asia)
• [Book Store]Kami and the Yaks by Andrea Stenn Stryer (optional, used with Visits to Asia)
• [Book Store]Kampung Boy by Lat (optional, used with Visits to Asia)
• [Library]The Life of Rice: From Seedling to Supper by Richard Sobol (optional, used with Visits to Asia. This book is out of print, but a library near you may have a copy.)
• [Book Store]The Way We Do It in Japan by Geneva Cobb Iijima (optional, used with Visits to Asia)
• [Book Store]Yasmin’s Hammer by Ann Malaspina (optional, used with Visits to Asia)

Grades 4–6

• (AH) [Library]Abe Lincoln: Log Cabin to White House by Sterling North
• (AH) [Library]Always Inventing: A Photobiography of Alexander Graham Bell by Tom L. Matthews
• (AH) [Library]I Have a Dream: The Story of Martin Luther King by Margaret Davidson
• [Library]A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Parker
• [Library]The Singing Tree by Kate Seredy
• [Library]Snow Treasure by Marie McSwigan
• (AH) [Library]Team Moon: How 400,000 People Landed Apollo 11 on the Moon by Catherine Thimmesh
• [Book Store]The Land I Lost: Adventures of a Boy in Vietnam by Quang Nhuong Huynh (optional, used with Visits to Asia)

Grades 7–9

• [Book Store]Across America on an Emigrant Train by Jim Murphy
• (AH) [Library]Across Five Aprils by Irene Hunt
• [Library]Animal Farm by George Orwell
• [SCM]Book of Centuries (one for each student)
• (AH) [Library]Bully for You, Teddy Roosevelt! by Jean Fritz
• [SCM]Discovering Doctrine by Sonya Shafer (one for each student)
• [Library]The Endless Steppe by Esther Hautzig
• (AH) [Library]Lincoln: A Photobiography by Russell Freedman
• [Library]A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park
• [Book Store]Louis Pasteur: Founder of Modern Medicine by John Hudson Tiner
• [Book Store]Rescue and Redeem: Volume 5, Chronicles of the Modern Church by Mindy and Brandon Withrow
• (AH) [Library]Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor
• [SCM]Strong in the Word by Sonya Shafer
• (AH) [SCM]Victory in the Pacific by Albert Marrin
• (AH) [Library]The Wright Brothers: How They Invented the Airplane by Russell Freedman
• (AH) [SCM]The Yanks Are Coming by Albert Marrin
• [Book Store]The Land I Lost: Adventures of a Boy in Vietnam by Quang Nhuong Huynh (optional, used with Visits to Asia)

Grades 10–12

• (AH) [Book Store]America: The Last Best Hope, Volume 1: From the Age of Discovery to a World at War by William Bennett
• (AH) [Book Store]America: The Last Best Hope, Volume 2: From a World at War to the Triumph of Freedom by William Bennett
• (AH; optional) [Book Store]America: The Last Best Hope, Volume 3: From the Collapse of Communism to the Rise of Radical Islam by William Bennett
• (AH) [Book Store]American Voices: A Collection of Documents, Speeches, Essays, Hymns, Poems, and Short Stories from American History edited by Ray Notgrass
• [SCM]Book of Centuries (one for each student)
• [SCM]Discovering Doctrine by Sonya Shafer (one for each student)
• [SCM]Hitler by Albert Marrin
• [Book Store]How Should We Then Live? by Francis Schaeffer OR [Book Store]7 Men Who Rule the World from the Grave by Dave Breese
• [Book Store]Rescue and Redeem: Volume 5, Chronicles of the Modern Church by Mindy and Brandon Withrow
• [SCM]Stalin by Albert Marrin
• [SCM]Strong in the Word by Sonya Shafer
• [Library]The War to End All Wars: World War I by Russell Freedman
• (AH) [Library]The Wright Brothers: How They Invented the Airplane by Russell Freedman
• [Book Store]The Land I Lost: Adventures of a Boy in Vietnam by Quang Nhuong Huynh (optional, used with Visits to Asia)

Note: We recommend that grades 10–12 students add an American Government course either during this Modern Times study or spread over two years, during Early Modern and Modern Times studies. One possibility might be Exploring Government from Notgrass Publishing, taken at a slower pace.

We also recommend that grades 9–12 students read about and discuss current events. Selected articles from World magazine or website work well.

Bonus Titles

Here are more great titles that you can use for substitutions or leisure reading or to create your own heritage history stream as desired. We will add to this list as we discover and review more new-to-us books. Sign up to be notified when we add new bonus titles to our history book lists!

• Abraham Lincoln by Ingri and Edgar d’Aulaire (Grades 1–3)
• Always Remember Me: How One Family Survived World War II by Marisabina Russo (Grades 1–3)
• The Bicycle Man by Allen Say (grades 1–3)
• Counting on Katherine by Helaine Becker (grades 1–3)
• Dancing Hands: How Teresa Carreño Played the Piano for President Lincoln by Margarita Engle (Grades 1–3)
• Franklin and Winston: A Christmas That Changed the World by Douglas Wood (Grades 1–3)
• Grandfather’s Journey by Allen Say (Grades 1–3)
• Harvesting Hope: The Story of Cesar Chavez by Kathleen Krull (Grades 1–3)
• Kamishibai Man by Allen Say (Grades 1–3)
• Lily’s Victory Garden by Helen L. Wilbur (Grades 1–3)
• The Little Ships: The Heroic Rescue at Dunkirk in World War II by Louise Borden (Grades 1–3)
• Mary McLeod Bethune by Eloise Greenfield (grades 1–3)
• The Peace Tree from Hiroshima: The Little Bonsai with a Big Story by Sandra Moore (grades 1–3)
• My Great-Grandmother’s Gourd by Cristina Kessler (Grades 1–3)
• Planting Stories: The Life of Librarian and Storyteller Pura Belpré by Anika Aldamuy Denise (Grades 1–3)
• Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachland (Grades 1–3)
• She Loved Baseball: The Effa Manley Story by Audrey Vernick (Grades 1–3)
• Sonia Sotomayor: A Judge Grows in the Bronx by Jonah Winter (Grades 1–3)
• The Storyteller’s Candle by Lucia Gonzalez (Grades 1–3)
• Watercress by Andrea Wang (grades 1–3)
• Write to Me: Letters from Japanese American Children to the Librarian They Left Behind by Cynthia Grady (Grades 1–3)
• Coolies by Yin (Grades 1–6)
• Freedom Train: The Story of Harriet Tubman by Dorothy Sterling (Grades 1–6)
• Maya Lin: Artist-Architect of Light and Lines by Jeanne Walker Harvey (Grades 1–6)
• Tallchief: America’s Prima Ballerina by Maria Tallchief with Rosemary Wells (Grades 1–6)
• Island Treasures: Growing Up in Cuba by Alma Flor Ada (Grades 1–12, selected)
• Turning Pages: My Life Story by Sonia Sotomayor (Grades 3–6)
• Forty Acres and Maybe a Mule by Harriette Gillem Robinet (Grades 4–6)
• George Washington Carver by David Collins (Grades 4–6)
• Half Spoon of Rice: A Survival Story of the Cambodian Genocide by Icy Smith (grades 4–6)
• Inside Out & Back Again by Thanhha Lai (grades 4–6)
• Schomburg: The Man Who Built a Library by Carole Boston Weatherford (grades 4–6)
• A Song for Cambodia by Michelle Lord (Grades 4–6)
• Where Poppies Grow: A World War I Companion by Linda Granfield (Grades 4–6)
• The Wright Brothers: Pioneers of American Aviation by Quentin Reynolds (Grades 4–6)
• Childtimes: A Three-Generation Memoir by Eloise Greenfield and Lessie Jones Little (grades 4–9)
• Hidden Figures, Young Readers’ Edition by Margot Lee Shetterly (Grades 4–9)
• I Am Malala, Young Readers’ Edition by Malala Yousafzai (Grades 4–9)
• Journey to Jo’burg: A South African Story by Beverley Naidoo (grades 4–9)
• Brother’s Keeper by Julie Lee (grades 7–9, girls)
• When My Name Was Keoko by Linda Sue Park (grades 6–12)
• Enchanted Air: A Memoir by Margarita Engle (Grades 7–12)
• One Real American: The Life of Ely S. Parker by Joseph Bruchac (grades 7–12)
• Red Scarf Girl: A Memoir of the Cultural Revolution by Ji-Li Jiang (grades 7–12)
• Sojourner Truth: Ain’t I a Woman? by Patricia C. and Fredrick McKissack (grades 7–12)
• Long Walk to Freedom: The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela by Nelson Mandela (Grades 9–12)
• Angel Island by Russell Freedman (Grades 10–12)
• Children of the Great Depression by Russell Freedman (Grades 10–12)
• Farewell to Manzanar by Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston and James Houston (grades 10–12)
• Freedom Walkers: The Story of the Montgomery Bus Boycott by Russell Freedman (Grades 10–12)
• Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly (Grades 10–12)
• The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom (Grades 10–12)
• I Am Malala by Malala Yousafzai (Grades 10–12)
• Kids at Work: Lewis Hine and the Crusade Against Child Labor by Russell Freedman (Grades 10–12)
• The Life and Death of Crazy Horse by Russell Freedman (Grades 10–12)
• The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane (Grades 10–12) Note: Contains some strong language.
• The Story of My Life by Helen Keller (Grades 10–12)
• Up from Slavery by Booker T. Washington (Grades 10–12)
• The Wright Brothers by David McCullough (grades 10–12)