Looking for history books that will go beyond the lists of events and dates and quietly but powerfully nestle deep within your students' hearts and help change the world for good?

That's a tall order. But I think the books that I'm sharing today can do that.

Here are our favorite titles for middle school students who want more from their study

of modern history. Welcome to the Simply Charlotte Mason podcast. I'm Sonia Schaefer. It's important

for middle school students to read the history

of modern times. Now that may sound odd. I mean, isn't my student living in modern times?

Well, yes, but this era that we call modern began more than a hundred years before your students were born.

And there's a lot of rich history that can plant seeds of good and noble ideas in your students'

hearts if you use the right kind of books.

Textbooks rarely plant seeds of ideas.

They're usually focused on just the facts. But living books, books that tell

the stories of people in an engaging way that fires your students' imaginations and touches

their emotions, that kind of book will make any period of history come alive.

And that's the kind of book that we use in the

Simply Charlotte Mason History Curriculum, A Pageant of History. Today I want to share with you

the living history books that we recommend for middle school students studying modern times.

These books are selected because of their powerful writing, their readability, and

their noble, thought-provoking, discussion-prompting ideas. As your students read these books

on their own, be available to help them unpack the ideas that struck them.

The Middle School Student Narration Guidebook, that is part of our curriculum, will be a helpful

companion in this important learning process.

The guidebook will give your students each lesson's reading assignment, narration prompts,

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