Historical Fiction for Teens

Looking for Historical Fiction for back-to-school reading? Check out these titles at your local branch!

Updated August 27, 2024
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All you have to do /
Allen, Autumn,
Paper Book
Powerful, thought-provoking, and heartfelt, this debut YA novel by author Autumn Allen is a gripping look at what it takes (and takes and takes) for two Black students to succeed in prestigious academic institutions in America. In ALL YOU HAVE TO DO, two Black young men attend...
The blood years /
Arnold, Elana K.
Paper Book
Winner of the Sydney Taylor Book Award Named a best book of the year by the Boston Globe, Publishers Weekly, Kirkus Reviews, SLJ, ALA Booklist, the Horn Book, and more Recipient of five starred reviews From Michael L. Printz honoree & National Book Award finalist Elana K....
The passion of Dolssa :
Berry, Julie,
Paper Book
The Printz Honor winner that garnered five starred reviews and was hailed by the New York Times as "magnificent"!  Dolssa is an upper-crust city girl who's been branded a heretic, on the run from the friar who condemned her mother to death by fire and wants Dolssa...
The incredible true story of the making of the Eve of destruction /
Brashear, Amy,
Ebook
"Though the story takes place in the '80s, it feels eerily timely."--Bustle Arkansas, 1984: The town of Griffin Flat is known for almost nothing other than its nuclear missile silos. MAD--Mutually Assured Destruction--is a fear every local lives with and tries to ignore....
The light in hidden places
Cameron, Sharon
Paper Book
A Reese's Book Club YA Pick! The extraordinary story of Stefania Podgórska, a Polish teenager who chose bravery and humanity by hiding thirteen Jews in her attic during WWII -- from #1 New York Times bestselling author Sharon Cameron. One knock at the door, and Stefania has a choice...
We are not free /
Chee, Traci,
Paper Book
* NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST * PRINTZ HONOR BOOK * WALTER HONOR BOOK * ASIAN/PACIFIC AMERICAN AWARD FOR LITERATURE HONOR BOOK * From New York Times best-selling and acclaimed author Traci Chee comes We Are Not Free, the collective account of a tight-knit group of young Nisei, second...
My fine fellow /
Cohen, Jennieke,
Paper Book
A 2023 Sydney Taylor Honor Book! * A Bustle Best YA Books Out in 2022 title! Culinary delights abound, romance lingers in the air, and plans go terribly, wonderfully astray in this gender-bent take on My Fair Lady from Jennieke Cohen, author of Dangerous Alliance-...
Foul Lady Fortune /
Gong, Chloe,
Paper Book
From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of These Violent Delights and Our Violent Ends comes the "equal parts intoxicating and dazzling" (Roshani Chokshi, New York Times bestselling author of The Gilded Wolves) first book in a captivating new duology...
Trajectory /
Gordon, Cambria.
Paper Book
Perfect for fans of Kristin Hannah and Sharon Cameron, this is the stirring and dramatic story of one young woman who must find a way to overcome her deepest fears in order to unlock the secret that will help America and the Allies to victory as World War II rages on. Seventeen-year...
Wicked girls :
Hemphill, Stephanie
Paper Book
From the acclaimed Printz Honor winner author Stephanie Hemphill comes this powerful fictionalized account of the Salem witch trials from the point of view of three of the real young women living in Salem in 1692. Ann Putnam Jr. is the queen bee. When her father suggests a spate of...
The red palace
Hur, June
Paper Book
June Hur, critically acclaimed author of The Silence of Bones and The Forest of Stolen Girls, returns with The Red Palace--a third evocative, atmospheric historical mystery perfect for fans of Courtney Summers and Kerri Maniscalco. To enter the palace...
The librarian of Auschwitz
Iturbe, Antonio,
Audiobook
*Recommended by Parents' Choice* This program features an author's note read by Dita Kraus. Based on the experience of real-life Auschwitz prisoner Dita Kraus, The Librarian of Auschwitz is the incredible story of a girl who risked her life to...
The perfect place to die /
Moore, Bryce,
Paper Book
Stalking Jack the Ripper meets Devil in the White City in this terrifying historical fiction debut about one of the world's most notorious serial killers. In order to save her sister, Zuretta takes a job at an infamous house of horrors-but she might never escape. ...
Daughters of a dead empire /
O'Neil, Carolyn Tara,
Paper Book
"This fresh, thrilling take on Anastasia establishes that O'Neil is a debut author to watch." --Buzzfeed From debut author Carolyn Tara O'Neil comes a thrilling alternate history set during the Russian Revolution. Russia, 1918: With the execution of...
Out of darkness /
Paerez, Ashley Hope,
Paper Book
A Michael L. Printz Honor Book "This is East Texas, and there's lines. Lines you cross, lines you don't cross. That clear?" New London, Texas. 1937. Naomi Vargas and Wash Fuller know about the lines in East Texas as well as anyone. They know the signs that mark them. They know the people...
Woods runner /
Paulsen, Gary
Paper Book
Samuel, 13, spends his days in the forest, hunting for food for his family. He has grown up on the frontier of a British colony, America. Far from any town, or news of the war against the King that American patriots have begun near Boston. But the war comes to them. British soldiers and...
The redheaded princess :
Rinaldi, Ann
Paper Book
Growing up, Elizabeth fears she can never be Queen. Although she is the King's daughter, no woman can ever hope to rule over men in England, especially when her mother has been executed for treason. For all her royal blood, Elizabeth's life is fraught with danger and uncertainty. Sometimes...
28 days :
Safier, David,
Paper Book
Inspired by true events, David Safier's 28 Days: A Novel of Resistance in the Warsaw Ghetto is a harrowing historical YA that chronicles the brutality of the Holocaust. Warsaw, 1942. Sixteen-year old Mira smuggles food into the Ghetto to keep herself and her...
Between shades of gray /
Sepetys, Ruta.
Paper Book
An international bestseller, a #1 New York Times bestseller, and now a major motion picture! Ruta Sepetys's Between Shades of Gray is now the film Ashes in the Snow! "Few books are beautifully written, fewer still are important; this...
The fountains of silence :
Sepetys, Ruta.
Paper Book
From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Salt to the Sea and Between Shades of Gray comes a gripping, extraordinary portrait of love, silence, and secrets under a Spanish dictatorship. Madrid, 1957. Under the fascist dictatorship of General Francisco...
The book thief /
Zusak, Markus.
Paper Book
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * ONE OF TIME MAGAZINE'S 100 BEST YA BOOKS OF ALL TIME * A NEW YORK TIMES READER TOP 100 PICK FOR BEST BOOKS OF THE 21ST CENTURY The extraordinary, beloved novel about the ability of books to feed the soul even in the darkest of times...

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