In Western Wind (1993), by Paula Fox, a lonely young girl is sent to live with her grandmother on a remote island off the coast of Maine.

Paula Fox's Monkey Island (1991) tells the story of a homeless boy, Clay Garrity, who lives on the streets and is eventually helped by two other homeless men.

In Up From Slavery, originally published in 1901 and reprinted in 2000 by Signet, Booker T. Washington tells the story of his early life as a slave and how he rose to become president of Tuskegee Institute in Alabama.

To Be a Slave (1988), by Julius Lester, is a collection of reminiscences of ex-slaves about their experiences, from leaving Africa, through the Civil War, and into the early twentieth century.

Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave, by Frederick Douglass, originally published in 1845 and reprinted by Signet...