Celebrate National Military Appreciation Month With Recommended YA Reading

Updated April 14, 2026
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Celebrate National Military Appreciation Month With Recommended YA Reading

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Alexander Hamilton, revolutionary
Brockenbrough, Martha
Paper Book
Complex, passionate, brilliant, flawed--Alexander Hamilton comes alive in this exciting biography. He was born out of wedlock on a small island in the West Indies and orphaned as a teenager. From those inauspicious circumstances, he rose to a position of power and influence in...
Animals go to war : from dogs to dolphins
Goldsmith, Connie
Paper Book
In the twenty-first century, military marine mammals detect lost equipment and underwater mines. Large rats are trained to find land mines in more than 80 countries. Military working dogs search for explosive devices and other weapons and are trained to take down enemy combatants. In earlier...
Bomb : the race to build and steal the world's most dangerous weapon
Sheinkin, Steve
Paper Book
New York Times bestselling author Steve Sheinkin presents the fascinating and frightening true story of the creation behind the most destructive force that caused the arms race and the Cold War ★ A Newbery Honor book ★ A National Book...
The book thief
Zusak, Markus
Paper Book
This anniversary edition of the extraordinary #1 New York Times bestseller features pages of bonus content, including marked-up manuscript pages, original sketches, and pages from the author's writing notebook. "Life-changing." --The New York Times ...
Boots on the ground : America's war in Vietnam
Partridge, Elizabeth
Paper Book
★"Partridge proves once again that nonfiction can be every bit as dramatic as the best fiction."* America's war in Vietnam. In over a decade of bitter fighting, it claimed the lives of more than 58,000 American soldiers and beleaguered four US presidents. More than forty...
The boys who challenged Hitler : Knud Pedersen and the Churchill Club
Hoose, Phillip M.
Paper Book
A Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Honor Winner At the outset of World War II, Denmark did not resist German occupation. Deeply ashamed of his nation's leaders, fifteen-year-old Knud Pedersen resolved with his brother and a handful of schoolmates to take action against the...
Captured : an American prisoner of war in North Vietnam
Townley, Alvin
Paper Book
Alvin Townley, a critically acclaimed author of adult nonfiction, delivers a searing YA debut about American POWs during the Vietnam War.Naval aviator Jeremiah Denton was shot down and captured in North Vietnam in 1965. As a POW, Jerry Denton led a group of fellow American prisoners in withstanding...
Children of war : voices of Iraqi refugees
Ellis, Deborah
Paper Book
Five years have passed since the U.S. and its allies invaded Iraq, and true democracy has yet to come. Four million Iraqis have been displaced; half are living in desolate tent camps, the others mostly stuck in Jordan and Syrian. All face uncertain futures. In this book, Deborah Ellis turns her...
Code name Pauline : memoirs of a World War II special agent
Cornioley, Pearl Witherington
Paper Book
Winner of: 2014 Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People   There was a full moon on the evening of September 22, 1943, when Pearl Witherington, age 29, parachuted into France to aid the French Resistance as a special agent for the British...
Code name Verity
Wein, Elizabeth
Paper Book
The beloved #1 New York Times bestseller, a "fiendishly plotted" (New York Times) "heart-in-your mouth adventure" (Washington Post) that "will take wing and soar into your heart" (Laurie Halse Anderson). October 11th, 1943--A...
Code talker : a novel about the Navajo Marines of World War Two
Bruchac, Joseph
Paper Book
Throughout World War II, in the conflict fought against Japan, Navajo code talkers were a crucial part of the U.S. effort, sending messages back and forth in an unbreakable code that used their native language. They braved some of the heaviest fighting of the war, and with their code, they saved...
Courageous women of the Vietnam War : medics, journalists, survivors, and more
Atwood, Kathryn J.
Paper Book
2019 Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People List One of just a handful of women reporting on the Vietnam War, Kate Webb was captured by North Vietnamese troops and presumed dead--until she emerged from the jungle waving a piece of white parachute...
D-Day
Atkinson, Rick
Paper Book
Adapted for young readers from the #1New York Times-bestsellingThe Guns at Last Light,D-Day captures the events and the spirit of that day--June 6, 1944--the day that led to the liberation of western Europe from Nazi Germany's control. They came by sea and by sky to reclaim...
The dangerous ones
Blackwood, Lauren
Paper Book
"A perfect mix of MAGIC, VAMPIRES, STAR-CROSSED LOVE, and writing as SHARP AND DEADLY a spear." - Nisha J. Tuli, author of Trial of the Sun Queen THE THRILLING ROMANTASY FROM NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR LAUREN BLACKWOOD! One vampire...
Deadly aim : the Civil War story of Michigan's Anishinaabe sharpshooters
Walker, Sally M.
Paper Book
"Hits the mark."--Kirkus An engaging middle-grade nonfiction narrative of the American Indian soldiers who bravely fought in the Civil War from Sibert Award-winning author Sally M. Walker. More than 20,000 American Indians served in the Civil War, yet their...
Deep dark blue
Tate, Polo
Paper Book
A memoir of surviving sexual abuse in the Air Force academy. I want to be in the Air Force someday. These are the words Polo Tate engraved on her junior dog tags at age eleven. It was an unpopular dream for most young girls, but her hard work paid off and...
Dive! : World War II stories of sailors & submarines in the Pacific
Hopkinson, Deborah
Paper Book
Sibert Honor author Deborah Hopkinson paints a vivid portrait of the deadly battles that raged in the Pacific during WWII and the remarkable courage of the US submarine sailors who fought them.Dive! World War II Stories of Sailors & Submarines in the Pacific tells the incredible story of...
The emperor of any place
Wynne-Jones, Tim
Paper Book
The ghosts of war reverberate across the generations in a riveting, time-shifting story within a story from acclaimed thriller writer Tim Wynne-Jones. When Evan's father dies suddenly, Evan finds a hand-bound yellow book on his desk--a book his dad had been reading when he passed...
Fallen Angels
Myers, Walter Dean
Paper Book
An exciting, eye-catching repackage of acclaimed author Walter Dean Myers' bestselling paperbacks, to coincide with the publication of SUNRISE OVER FALLUJA in hardcover.A coming-of-age tale for young adults set in the trenches of the Vietnam War in the late 1960s, this is the story of Perry, a...
Firebird (High Readability)
Wein, Elizabeth
Paper Book
A super-readable and accessible historical-fiction young adult novel set in Russia during World War II. Daughter. Pilot. Traitor? Nastia is no traitor. She is a fearless pilot, the daughter of revolutionaries, and now, as the Second World War descends on Russia, she...
Fly girls : the daring American women pilots who helped win WWII
Pearson, P. O'Connell
Paper Book
In the tradition of Hidden Figures, debut author Patricia Pearson offers a beautifully written account of the remarkable but often forgotten group of female fighter pilots who answered their country's call in its time of need during World War II. At the height of World War...
From Baghdad, with love : a Marine, the war, and a dog named Lava
Kopelman, Jay.
Paper Book
When Marines enter an abandoned house in Fallujah, Iraq, and hear a suspicious noise, they clench their weapons, edge around the corner, and prepare to open fire. What they find during the U.S -led attack on the "most dangerous city on Earth," however, is not an insurgent bent on revenge, but a tiny...
A girl called Echo. Pemmican Wars 1, Pemmican Wars
Vermette, Katherena
Paper Book
Echo Desjardins, a 13-year-old Métis girl adjusting to a new home and school, is struggling with loneliness while separated from her mother. Then an ordinary day in Mr. Bee's history class turns extraordinary, and Echo's life will never be the same. During Mr. Bee's lecture, Echo finds herself...
Grendel's guide to love and war
Kaplan, A. E.
Paper Book
The Perks of Being a Wallflower meets Revenge of the Nerds in this tale of a teen misfit who seeks to take down the bro next door, but ends up falling for his enemy's sister and uncovering difficult truths about his family in the process. Tom Grendel lives a quiet...
Heroism begins with her : inspiring stories of bold, brave, and gutsy women in the U.S. Military
Conkling, Winifred
Paper Book
For fans of Rad American Women A-Z, Rebel Girls, and Women Who Dared comes an inspiring collection of more than 80 profiles about the brave women in the US military who fought hard for their country and even harder for what they believed in. From the Revolutionary War to present day, women...
Honor
McClelland, Susan
Paper Book
Told from dual perspectives, this remarkable true story for YA readers recounts the tale of two individuals--a Ukrainian teen in the early 2010s and a Jewish boy in hiding during WWII--whose lives are entwined through a box of letters. When Nataliia, a teenager in Ukraine,...
Invisible Wounds : Graphic Journalism
Ruliffson, Jess
Paper Book
Over the past five years, Jess Ruliffson has travelled across the country interviewing veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars. She shares the stories of men, women, and non-binary people who struggle to reconcile their wartime experiences with their postwar lives. In this compassionate book,...
LGBTQ service in the armed forces
Harris, Duchess
Paper Book
LGBTQ Service in the Armed Forces looks at enlisted LGBTQ people and legislation that made their experience in the US military difficult. It also discusses how LGBTQ soldiers served during times of war but were often discharged for their gender identity or sexuality after the war. Features include a...
A million quiet revolutions
Gow, Robin
Paper Book
Robin Gow's A Million Quiet Revolutions is a modern love story, told in verse, about two teenaged trans boys who name themselves after two Revolutionary War soldiers. A lyrical, aching young adult romance perfect for fans of The Poet X, Darius the Great is Not Okay, and...
One real American : the life of Ely S. Parker, Seneca Sachem and Civil War general
Bruchac, Joseph
Paper Book
Ely S. Parker (1828-1895) is one of the most unique, but littleknown figures in US history. A member of the Seneca, an Iroquois nation, Parker was an attorney, engineer, and tribal diplomat. Raised on a reservation but schooled at a Catholic institution, he learned English at a young age and became...
The perfect horse : the daring rescue of horses kidnapped during World War II
Letts, Elizabeth
Paper Book
In this inspiring young readers adaptation of the New York Times bestseller, one American troop will save the world's most precious horses during the final stretch of World War II. When American Colonel Hank Reed and his soldiers captures a German spy, they uncover an...
Pigeons at war : how avian heroes changed history
Goldsmith, Connie
Paper Book
For more than five thousand years, people all over the world have worked with pigeons to send and receive important messages. These birds carried weather reports in ancient Egypt, letters between Mongolian warriors in the 1200s, news in nineteenth-century Europe, and more. Homing pigeons...
Pure grit : how American World War II nurses survived battle and prison camp in the Pacific
Farrell, Mary Cronk.
Paper Book
In the early 1940s, young women enlisted for peacetime duty as U.S. Army nurses. But when the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 blasted the United States into World War II, 101 American Army and Navy nurses serving in the Philippines were suddenly treating wounded and dying soldiers while...
A rebel in Auschwitz : the true story of the resistance hero who fought the Nazis from inside the camp
Fairweather, Jack
Paper Book
With exclusive access to previously hidden diaries, family and camp survivor accounts, and recently declassified files, critically acclaimed and award-winning journalist Jack Fairweather brilliantly portrays the remarkable man who volunteered to face the unknown in the name of truth and country....
Rock 'n' roll soldier : a memoir
Kohler, Dean Ellis.
Paper Book
* Galley distribution at conferences
Rolling blackouts : dispatches from Turkey, Syria, and Iraq
Glidden, Sarah
Paper Book
"Sarah Glidden's remarkable Rolling Blackouts adds a new twist to the [graphic journalism] form. Glidden accompanies a team of journalists through Syria and Iraq and her muted watercolours record not only the lives of people in war zones but the way the media interacts with them. Highly...
Soldier boy
Hutton, Keely
Paper Book
An unforgettable novel based on the life of Ricky Richard Anywar, who at age fourteen was forced to fight as a soldier in the guerrilla army of notorious Ugandan warlord Joseph Kony Soldier Boy begins with the story of Ricky Richard Anywar, abducted in 1989 to fight...
Soldiers Unknown
Lowry, Chag/ Ekedal, Rahsan (ART)
Paper Book
The Klamath River, 1918. The native Yurok people of Northern California have been untouched by the savage world war raging in Europe--until now. Three cousins are called to serve a nation that has given little but cruelty to their people. Thurst into battle on the Western Front, these young men...
This light between us : a novel of World War II
Fukuda, Andrew Xia
Paper Book
Winner of the American Library Association's Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature For readers of The Librarian Of Auschwitz, This Light Between Us is a powerfully affecting story of World War II about the unlikeliest of pen pals--a Japanese...
A thousand sisters : the heroic airwomen of the Soviet Union in World War II
Wein, Elizabeth
Paper Book
Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults Finalist! The gripping true story of the only women to fly in combat in World War II--from Elizabeth Wein, award-winning author of Code Name Verity In the early years of World War II, Josef Stalin issued an order that made the...
Threads of blue
LaFleur, Suzanne M.
Paper Book
The thrilling sequel to the acclaimed Beautiful Blue World follows a brave girl who must flee her country during wartime and work undercover to defeat the enemy. For fans of The War That Saved My Life and Wolf Hollow.   "A thoughtful, pellucid story ....
Trajectory
Gordon, Cambria
Paper Book
A Sydney Taylor Honor 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...
Unbroken : an Olympian's journey from airman to castaway to captive
Hillenbrand, Laura.
Paper Book
In this captivating and lavishly illustrated young adult edition of her award-winning #1 New York Times bestseller, Laura Hillenbrand tells the story of a former Olympian's courage, cunning, and fortitude following his plane crash in enemy territory. This adaptation of Unbroken...
Unconventional warfare
Lynch, Chris
Paper Book
"All the sizzle, chaos, noise and scariness of war is clay in the hands of ace storyteller Lynch." -- Kirkus Reviews for the World War II seriesDiscover the secret missions behind America's greatest conflicts.Danny Manion has been fighting his entire life. Sometimes with his fists. Sometimes...
Under a Fire-Red Sky
McCaughrean, Geraldine
Paper Book
From award-winning and New York Times bestselling author Geraldine McCaughrean, an utterly immersive and unforgettable novel set during the London Blitz, inspired by the author's father With World War II on their doorstep, the children of Greenwich, England, are being...
Under the cover of mercy : a novel
Connolly, Rebecca
Paper Book
Can one nurse on a mission of mercy and rebellion turn the tide of WWI? November 1914 The Great War has come to Brussels, the Germans have occupied the city, and Edith Cavell, Head Nurse at Berkendael Medical Institute, faces an...
We rule the night
Bartlett, Claire Eliza
Paper Book
Two girls use forbidden magic to fly and fight -- for their country and for themselves -- in this riveting debut that's part Shadow and Bone, part Code Name Verity. Seventeen-year-old Revna is a factory worker, manufacturing war machines for the...
The Wilhelm Gustloff story
Capek, Michael
Paper Book
The Wilhelm Gustloff Story studies the Wilhelm Gustloff, a German passenger liner sunk in World War II's closing months while carrying thousands of refugees. Vivid text and images bring the ship to life, examining its construction, technology, crew, and passengers, as well as its place in history....
Wolf Hollow : a novel
Wolk, Lauren
Paper Book
A Newbery Honor Book New York Times Bestseller A Kirkus Reviews Best Middle Grade Book of the Century "Wolf Hollow has stayed with me long after I closed the book. It has the feel of an instant classic." --Linda Sue Park, Newbery Medalist and...
The woman all spies fear : code breaker Elizebeth Smith Friedman and her hidden life
Greenfield, Amy Butler
Paper Book
An inspiring true story, perfect for fans of Hidden Figures, about an American woman who pioneered codebreaking in WWI and WWII but was only recently recognized for her extraordinary contributions. A YALSA EXCELLENCE IN NONFICTION FINALIST * A KIRKUS REVIEWS BEST BOOK...
Women heroes of World War I : 16 remarkable resisters, soldiers, spies, and medics
Atwood, Kathryn J.
Paper Book
A commemoration of brave yet largely forgotten women who served in the First World War nbsp; In time for the 2014 centennial of the start...
Zintka!: Lost Bird of Wounded Knee - Zintkala Nuni
Colerick, Brad
Paper Book
A true story of "found & lost". . . and found again. Zintka tells the troubled tale of a Native American girl caught between two worlds, accepted by neither. A Lakota (Sioux) baby and her mother who were fleeing for safety became victims in the Wounded Knee Massacre of 1890. The baby was found four...
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