Girls Will Be Boys
Discover fearless heroines who defy expectations in this curated book list, “Girls Will Be Boys.” Featuring thrilling juvenile fiction like Tamora Pierce’s *Alanna*, Louis A. Meyer’s *Bloody Jack*, and Ann Rinaldi’s *Girl in Blue*, these compelling stories follow girls who disguise themselves as boys to seek adventure, fight for justice, and forge their own destinies. Perfect for young readers who love strong female characters and historical tales of courage and rebellion.
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Alanna
by Tamora Pierce
From Tamora Pierce, the first book in the Song of the Lioness Quartet, honored with the Margaret A. Edwards Award. “From now on I’m Alan of Trebond, the younger twin. I’ll be a knight.” In a time when girls are forbidden to be warriors, Alanna of Trebond wants nothing more than to be a knight of the realm of Tortall. So she finds a way to switch places with her twin brother, Thom. Disguised as a boy, Alanna begins her training as a page at the palace of King Roald. But the road to knighthood, as she discovers, is not an easy one. Alanna must master weapons, combat, and magic, as well as polite behavior, her temper, and even her own heart. Filled with swords and sorcery, adventure and intrigue, good and evil, Alanna’s first adventure begins—one that will lead to the fulfillment of her dreams and make her a legend in the land.
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In the Hand of the Goddess
by Tamora Pierce
From Tamora Pierce, the second book in the Song of the Lioness Quartet, honored with the Margaret A. Edwards Award. Alanna, disguised as a boy, becomes a squire to none other than the heir to the throne. Prince Jonathan is not only Alanna’s liege lord, he is also her best friend—and one of the few who knows the secret of her true identity. But when a vicious sorcerer threatens the prince’s life, it will take all of Alanna’s skill, strength, and magical power to protect him, even at the risk of surrendering her dreams…
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Toliver's Secret
by Esther Wood Brady
When her grandfather is injured, 10-year-old Ellen Toliver replaces him on a top-secret patriotic mission. Disguised as a boy, she manages to smuggle a message to General George Washington.
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I Rode a Horse of Milk White Jade
by Diane Lee Wilson
In early 14-century China, Oyuna tells her granddaughter of her girlhood in Mongolia and how love for her horse enabled her to win an important race and bring good luck to her family.
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Mairelon the Magician
by Patricia Wrede
Kim, a streetwise girl disguised as a boy, and Mairelon, an itinerant magician dressed as a dandy, share adventures in a Regency England that is populated with sorcerers and riddled with magic.
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Seven Daughters and Seven Sons
by Barbara Cohen
In an ancient Arab nation, one woman dares to be different.Buran cannot -- Buran will not-sit quietly at home and wait to be married to the man her father chooses. Determined to use her skills and earn a fortune, she instead disguises herself as a boy and travels by camel caravan to a distant city. There, she maintains her masculine disguise and establishes a successful business. The city's crown prince comes often to her shop, and soon Buran finds herself falling in love. But if she reveals to Mahmud that she is a woman, she will lose everything she has worked for.
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Parvana's Journey
by Deborah Ellis
After her father's death, Parvana, now thirteen-years-old, continues to search for her mother in war-torn Afghanistan, joining with two younger children who are also struggling to survive.
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Girl in Blue
by Ann Rinaldi
Determined to live her own life free of the controls of any man, Sara Louisa Wheelock disguises herself as a man and sets off from her home in Michigan to fight as a soldier in the Civil War. Reprint.
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Nowhere to Call Home
by Cynthia C. DeFelice
When her father kills himself after losing his money in the stock market crash of 1929, twelve-year-old Frances, now a penniless orphan decides to hop abroad a freight train and live the life of a hobo.
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Alphabet of Dreams
by Susan Fletcher
Mitra and her brother Babak are exiled royals living on the streets as orphaned beggars. Babak possesses a strange gift of being able to know someone's dreams, and soon they find themselves on the road to Bethlehem in this biblical epic.
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Behind Rebel Lines
by Seymour Reit
Recounts the story of the Canadian woman who disguised herself as a man and slipped behind Confederate lines to spy for the Union army.
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Bloody Jack
by Louis A. Meyer
Reduced to begging and thievery in the streets of London, a thirteen-year-old orphan disguises herself as a boy and connives her way onto a British warship set for high sea adventure in search of pirates.