Books From Around the World (YA): Europe

It’s often interesting to get a different perspective on the world. Here are some books set in some far-flung places – and some places close to home – grouped by continent/large body of water with islands in it. The books on this list are (mostly) written by authors from the countries they are about, and in many cases have been translated into English from their mother tongues (the book we’ve chosen for Madagascar, Return to the enchanted island by Johary Ravaloson, is only the second book to have ever been translated from Malagasy into English!).

Not all of the books are in the Young Adult collection, but we’ve tried to make sure that they all at least feature kids or teens in prominent places in the story. Our eventual goal is to have at least one book for every country in the world! Help us out by sending in recommendations if you’ve found one we’ve missed!

This list contains books written by authors from Europe. Check out our lists for authors from Africa, Asia, North and Central America, Oceania, and South America for even more recommendations!

Updated June 19, 2024
W
Wellington City Libraries Youth team at Wellington City Libraries
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Free : a child and a country at the end of history
Ypi, Lea
Paper Book
Family and nation formed a reliable bedrock of security for precocious 11-year-old Lea Ypi. She was a Young Pioneer, helping to lead her country toward the future of perfect freedom promised by the leaders of her country, the People's Socialist Republic of Albania. Then, almost overnight, the Berlin...

Albania | Albanian author

A song for summer
Ibbotson, Eva
Paper Book

Austria | Austrian author

Today is the last day of the rest of your life
Lust, Ulli
Paper Book
Back in 1984, a rebellious, 17-year-old, punked-out Ulli Lust set out for a wild hitchhiking trip across Italy, from Naples through Verona and Rome and ending up in Sicily. Twenty-five years later, this talented Austrian cartoonist has looked back at that tumultuous summer and delivered a long,...

Austria | Austrian author

Threads that bind
Hatzopoulou, Kika
Paper Book
"Dripping with atmosphere and edged with danger, Threads That Bind weaves together a gorgeous dark tapestry of mystery, fated romance, and modern myth. You won't be able to put this one down." --Alexandra Bracken, New York Times bestselling author of Lore In...

Greece | Greek author

Voices from Chernobyl
Aleksievich, Svetlana
Paper Book
An account of the worst nuclear reactor accident in history from the 2015 winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature  On April 26, 1986, the Chernobyl nuclear reactor accident contaminated as much as three quarters of Europe. Voices from Chernobyl is the first book to present...

Belarus | Belarusian author

The diary of a young girl : the definitive edition
Frank, Anne
Paper Book
The diary as Anne Frank wrote it: "The single most compelling personal account of the Holocaust ... remains astonishing and excruciating" (The New York Times Book Review). In a modern translation, this definitive edition contains entries about Anne's burgeoning...

The Netherlands | German-born author writing in the Netherlands during World War II

The Marco effect : a Department Q novel
Adler-Olsen, Jussi
Paper Book
The New York Times and internationally bestselling author returns with an astonishing and sinister case for Department Q All fifteen-year-old Marco Jameson wants is to become a Danish citizen and go to school like a normal teenager. But his uncle Zola rules his former...

Denmark | Danish author

Catherine's war
Billet, Julia
Paper Book
"A shining story of a young girl who struggles to come of age and find her place in a world fraught with danger." --Susan Campbell Bartoletti, Newbery Honor-winning author of Hitler Youth * Winner of the Youth Prize at the Angoulême International Comics Festival (voted by readers) * Winner...

France | French author

A winter's promise
Dabos, Christelle
Paper Book
Amazon Best Sci-Fi/Fantasy Book of 2018 One of Entertainment Weekly's 10 Best YA Books of 2018 One of Publishers Weekly's Best YA Book of the Year A National Indie Bestseller Longlisted for Irish YA prize Great Reads Award<...

France | French author

The Count of Monte Cristo
Dumas, Alexandre
Paper Book
Alexandre Dumas's epic tale of suffering and retribution, inspired by a real-life case of wrongful imprisonment--nominated as one of America's best-loved novels by PBS's The Great American Read Thrown in prison for a crime he has not committed, Edmond Dantes is confined to...

France | French author

No and me
Vigan, Delphine de
Paper Book
Parisian teenager Lou has an IQ of 160, OCD tendencies, and a mother who has suffered from depression for years. But Lou is about to change her life-and that of her parents-all because of a school project about homeless teens. While doing research, Lou meets No, a teenage girl living on the...

France | French author

Dream a little dream
Gier, Kerstin
Paper Book
Liv has been dealing with a lot lately. She and her family have just moved in with her mother's new boyfriend in London, and she's starting over (again) at a new school. But Liv isn't sure that explains her dreams, which have gone from odd to...well, bizarre. Lately, her nighttime hours have been...

Germany | German author

The book jumper
Gläser, Mechthild
Paper Book
In this English translation of the hit German young adult novel from Mechthild Gläser, each book is its own world--with its own dangers. Can a young girl navigate these new worlds and get out alive? Amy Lennox doesn't know quite what to expect when she and her mother pick up...

Germany | German author

The dispossessed
Borbe?ly, Szila?rd
Paper Book
"The Dispossessed is a great sui generis book that, for all its cultural differences, touches us deeply. We recognize it as tragic, truthful and visionary wherever we are." -- George Szirtes, New York Times Book Review This hypnotic, hauntingly beautiful first novel...

Hungary | Hungarian author

The Call
Ó Guilin, Peadar
Digital file

Ireland | Irish author

Between shades of gray
Sepetys, Ruta
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * From the award-winning author of Salt to the Sea comes a "superb" (The Wall Street Journal), "eye-opening" (Los Angeles Times) novel of survival and hope in the darkest of places--the inspiration for the major motion picture Ashes in the...

Lithuania | Lithuanian-American author

On the edge of gone
Duyvis, Corinne
Ebook
A thrilling, thought-provoking novel from one of young-adult literature's boldest new talents.   January 29, 2035. That's the day the comet is scheduled to hit--the big one. Denise and her mother and sister, Iris, have been assigned to a temporary shelter outside...

The Netherlands | Dutch author

Sophie's world : a novel about the history of philosophy
Gaarder, Jostein
Paper Book
A page-turning novel that is also an exploration of the great philosophical concepts of Western thought, Jostein Gaarder's Sophie's World has fired the imagination of readers all over the world, with more than twenty million copies in print. One day fourteen-year-old...

Norway | Norwegian author

172 hours on the moon : a novel
Harstad, Johan
Paper Book
A terrifying thriller for young adult fans of The Martian and paranormal space adventure that will be devoured in one heart-pounding sitting. It's been decades since anyone set foot on the moon. Now three ordinary teenagers, the winners of NASA's unprecedented, worldwide...

Norway | Norwegian author

Lena, the Sea, and Me
Parr, Maria.
Paper Book
In a charming sequel to Adventures with Waffles, Trille and Lena navigate the rough waters of friendship when a new soccer coach and a new girl in school disrupt their seaside escapades. Trille and Lena may be getting older, but they still find everyday adventure--and...

Norway | Norwegian author

Solenoid
Cărtărescu, Mircea
Ebook

Romania | Romanian author

Anya's ghost
Brosgol, Vera
Paper Book
Anya could really use a friend. But her new BFF isn't kidding about the "Forever" part . . . Of all the things Anya expected to find at the bottom of an old well, a new friend was not one of them. Especially not a new friend who's been dead for a century. Falling down a...

Russia | Russian-American author-illustrator

The librarian of Auschwitz
Iturbe, Antonio
Paper Book
Based on the experience of real-life Auschwitz prisoner Dita Kraus, this is the incredible story of a girl who risked her life to keep the magic of books alive during the Holocaust. Fourteen-year-old Dita is one of the many imprisoned by the Nazis at Auschwitz. Taken, along...

Spain/Germany | Spanish author

Marina
Ruiz Zafo?n, Carlos
Paper Book
A haunting gothic mystery from Carlos Ruiz Zafon, which has long been a cult classic in Spain and is now an international bestseller.   "We all have a secret buried under lock and key in the attic of our soul. This is mine."   ...

Spain | Spanish author

Heidi
Spyri, Johanna
Paper Book
Five-year-old Heidi goes to live with her grandfather in his lonely hut high in the Alps. She quickly learns to love her new life with him. But her strict aunt decides that Heidi must be sent away again, to live in town. Heidi cannot bear being away from the mountains and is determined to return to...

Switzerland | Swiss author


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