The male equivalent to the Dear America series, My Name is America offers some military and other action adventure through the biggest events in U.S. history.

1. The Journal of Patrick Seamus Flaherty: Set during the Vietnam War, this is a companion novel to the Dear America book penned by his sister who’s figuring out her role in the various rights movements. Patrick on the other hand is dodging grenades and machine gun nests as a young man realizes the real cost of the war and the senseless slaughter as he realizes that he and his friends’ lives mean nothing in this never ending war. It’s powerful stuff showing the patriotism and the cynicsm that the soldiers experience in one of the most horrific battlegrounds of the jungle.
2. The Journal of Finn Reardon: I’m a fan of Newsies the musical so of course, I’d enjoyed this book which is a more true take on the infamous Newies strike which Finn joins, highlighting the craftiness and power a bunch of street kids can wield when they band together. It’s an underdog story combined with Bartoletti’s throwback to early 1910s slag and gritty NY feel.
3. The Journal of Brian Doyle: This gives a rare glimpse to the whaling industry of the 1800s that fueled gas laps, corsets, and a multitude of other objects. It’s a roaring adventure for Brian as he becomes his own man facing the wildness of nature on the sea, gaining skills and learning to navigate what it means to be a real leader. I really enjoy it for its unique subset in history even though I’m glad whales aren’t being killed off in rapid numbers now.
4. The Journal of Wong Ming-Chung: We’re back to the 49s where Yep brings a real epic saga starting at Wong Ming-Chung’s home in a small Chinese village where he’s the runt until he’s sent to join his uncle on Gold Mountain. Initially believing this is because his parents love his older brother more than he, Ming is sure he’s going to die but comes to create his own friends from places he’s never heard of it, cleverly finds a way to pan for gold and outwits the cruel hands of racism to show he’s more than a runt after all.
5. The Journal of Jesse Smoke: This is a moving tale that doesn’t flinch from the harrowing, genocidal journay that was the Trail of Tears. I can’t recommend anything better if you want to get lower schools to understand this cruel part of history at an age-friendly level.