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
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Wellington City LibrariesYouth team at Wellington City Libraries
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A dictator calls : a novel
Kadare, Ismail
Paper Book
Longlisted for the International Booker Prize The Wall Street Journal, A Best Book of the Year Using a sophisticated and literary version of the ever-popular game of telephone to examine the relationship of writers with tyranny, Ismail Kadare reflects on three particular...
Albania | Albanian author
Free : coming of age at the end of history
Ypi, Lea
Paper Book
Lea Ypi grew up in one of the most isolated countries on earth, a place where communist ideals had officially replaced religion. Albania, the last Stalinist outpost in Europe, was almost impossible to visit, almost impossible to leave. It was a place of queuing and scarcity, of political executions...

Albania | Albanian author

The storm to come
Glatstein, Jacob
Paper Book
As the Holocaust begins to unfold from a brutal plan into a nightmare reality, two nine-year-old boys, one German, one Jewish, find themselves living in a hell-on-earth where children come home from school to find their parents gone, where sometimes school isn't even safe, and no-one can be trusted.

Austria | Polish-born Jewish author writing about Jewish life in Vienna prior to World War II

A song for summer
Ibbotson, Eva.
Paper Book
As Hitler's Reich casts its menacing shadow over Europe, Ellen Carr, daughter of a militant suffragette and raised to be an intellectual, takes a job in Austria as housemother at the Hallendorf School of Music, Drama and Dance. What she finds there is an eccentrically magical world.

Austria | Austrian author

Threads that bind
Hatzopoulou, Kika
Paper Book
In the city of Alante, the descendants of the Greek gods live alongside mortals. Io is the youngest of three sisters, descended from the Fates. She is able to see threads- shimmering silver lines connecting every person. When a new relationship is formed, a new thread...

Greece | Greek author

Today is the last day of the rest of your life
Lust, Ulli
Paper Book
Back in 1984, a rebellious, 17-year old and punked-out Ulli List set out for a wild hitchhiking trip across Italy, from Naples through Verona and Rome, ending up in Sicily. 25 years later, this talented Austrian cartoonist has looked back at that tumultuous summer and delivered a long, dense and...

Austria | Austrian 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...

Belarus | Belarusian author

The diary of a young girl
Frank, Anne
Paper Book
One of the most moving and eloquent accounts of the Holocaust, read by tens of millions of people around the world since its publication in 1947. The Diary of a Young Girl is the record of two years in the life of a remarkable Jewish girl whose triumphant humanity in the...

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

The cat I never named : a true story of love, war, and survival
Sabic-El-Rayess, Amra
Paper Book
The stunning memoir of a Muslim teen struggling to survive in the midst of the Bosnian genocide--and the stray cat who protected her family through it all. *Six Starred Reviews*"Extraordinary." - Booklist | "A must-read." - School Library...

Bosnia and Herzegovina | Bosnian author

Street without a name : childhood and other misadventures in Bulgaria
Kassabova, Kapka.
Paper Book
After years on the outside, Bulgaria has finally made it into the EU club, but beyond the cliches about undrinkable plonk, cheap property, and assassins with poison-tipped umbrellas, the country remains a largely unknown quantity. Born on the muddy outskirts of Sofia, Kapka Kassabova grew up under...

Bulgaria | Bulgarian author

The Walnut Mansion
Jergovic?, Miljenko
Paper Book
An epic novel of twentieth-century Balkan life, from the decline of the Ottoman Empire through the bloodshed of the Bosnian War This grand novel encompasses nearly all of Yugoslavia's tumultuous twentieth century, from the decline of the Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman Empires...

Croatia | Croatian author

The island of missing trees
Shafak, Elif
Paper Book
A REESE'S BOOK CLUB PICK Winner of the 2022 BookTube Silver Medal in Fiction * Shortlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction "A wise novel of love and grief, roots and branches, displacement and home, faith and belief. Balm for our bruised times." -David...

Cyprus | Turkish author writing in the context of the Greek-Turkish conflict on the island of Cyprus

The unbearable lightness of being
Kundera, Milan
Paper Book
A special 20th anniversary hardcover edition of this classic work of world literature When The Unbearable Lightness of Being was first published in English, it was hailed as "a work of the boldest mastery, originality, and richness" by critic Elizabeth Hardwick and named one of the best...

Czechia | Czech author

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

The willow king : the birds of the muses
Friedenthal, Meelis
Paper Book
In this astonishingly atmospheric novel, Friedenthal enters the bowels of Shakespeare's century to tell the story of anguished modernity, and of the advent of the Age of Enlightenment.

Estonia | Estonian author

The man who spoke Snakish
Kivirähk, Andrus
Paper Book
A bestseller in the author's native country of Estonia, where the book is so well known that a popular board game has been created based on it, The Man Who Spoke Snakish is the imaginative and moving story of a boy who is tasked with preserving ancient traditions in the face of modernity.<...

Estonia | Estonian author

Maresi
Turtschaninoff, Maria
Paper Book
A world where girls live in fear. A safe haven far away. But is it far enough? This is Maresi's story.

Finland | Finnish author (originally written in Swedish)

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
Long ago, following a cataclysm called 'The Rupture', the world was shattered into floating celestial islands, known now as Arks. Ophelia lives on Anima, an Ark where objects have souls. Beneath her worn scarf and thick glasses, Ophelia hides two powers- the ability to read the past of objects and...

France | French author

The Count of Monte Cristo
Dumas, Alexandre
Paper Book
Thrown in prison for a crime he has not committed, Edmond Dantes is confined to the grim fortress of the Ch teau d'If. There he learns of a great hoard of treasure hidden on the Isle of Monte Cristo and becomes determined not only to escape but to unearth the treasure and use it to plot the...

France | French author

No and me
Vigan, Delphine de.
Paper Book
Lou Bertignac has an IQ of 160 and a good friend in class rebel Lucas. At home her father puts a brave face on things but cries in secret in the bathroom, while her mother rarely speaks and hardly ever leaves the house. To escape this desolate world, Lou goes often to Gare d'Austerlitz to see 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
Gla?ser, Mechthild
Paper Book
Amy Lennox doesn't know quite what to expect when she and her mother pick up and leave Germany for Scotland, heading to her mother's childhood home of Lennox House on the island of Stormsay. Amy's grandmother, Lady Mairead, insists that Amy must read while she resides at Lennox House...

Germany | German author

My soul twin
Haratischwili, Nino
Paper Book
Eight years have passed since Stella last saw Ivo, but when he returns, the reunion of their unconventional family will change the course of her ordinary life. As children, Stella and Ivo grew close as their parents embarked on an affair that would shatter both families. Later, as teenagers,...

Germany | Georgian-born German author

Golden boy : Beethoven's youth
Ross, Mikae?l
Paper Book
Master cartoonist Mikael Ross (The Thud) tells the story of Beethoven's years leading up to Beethoven's first major public appearance in Vienna in 1795. The Beethoven family lived a difficult life in Bonn. Only young Ludwig and his talent at the piano offer any hope for the future - if he would stop...

Germany | German author-illustrator

The rebels
Márai, Sándor
Paper Book

Hungary | Hungarian author

Moonstone : the boy who never was
Sjo?n
Paper Book
The mind-bending miniature historical epic is Sjón's specialty, and Moonstone: The Boy Who Never Was is no exception. But it is also Sjón's most realistic, accessible, and heartfelt work yet. It is the story of a young man on the fringes of a society that is itself at the fringes of the...

Iceland | Icelandic author

Bog child
Dowd, Siobhan.
Paper Book
DIGGING FOR PEAT in the mountain with his Uncle Tally, Fergus finds the body of a child, and it looks like she’s been murdered. As Fergus tries to make sense of the mad world around him—his brother on hunger-strike in prison, his growing feelings for Cora, his parents arguing over the...

Ireland | Irish author

The call
Ó Guilin, Peadar
Paper Book
You have three minutes to save your life . . .THREE MINUTESYou wake up alone in a horrible land. A horn sounds. The Call has begun.TWO MINUTESThe Sidhe are close. They're the most beautiful and terrible people you've ever seen. And they've seen you.ONE MINUTENessa...

Ireland | Irish author

We want everything : the novel of Italy's hot autumn
Balestrini, Nanni
Paper Book
Explosive novel of Italy's revolutionary 1969 by leading Italian novelist It was 1969, and temperatures were rising across the factories of the north as workers demanded better pay and conditions. Soon, discontent would erupt in what became known as Italy's "Hot Autumn." ...

Italy | Italian author

What hell is not
D'Avenia, Alessandro
Paper Book
  From the bestselling Italian author comes a novel based on the true story of a priest who refused to surrender... The school year is finished, exams are over and summer stretches before seventeen-year-old Federico, full of promise and opportunity. But then he accepts a...

Italy | Italian author

The solitude of prime numbers
Giordano, Paolo
Paper Book
"Mesmerizing...an exquisite rendering of what one might call feelings at the subatomic level." -The New York Times From the author of Heaven and Earth, a sensational novel about whether a "prime number" can ever truly connect with someone else A...

Italy | Italian author

A Latvian Kiwi : a journey from war-ravaged Europe to the challenges of a new country
Elepans, Guntar John
Paper Book
The author was conscripted by the Germans to fight the Russians in World War 2. This is the story of his war-time experiences, and his life in New Zealand.

Latvia | Latvian-New Zealand author

Among the living and the dead : a tale of exile and homecoming on the war roads of Europe
Verzemnieks, Inara
Paper Book
"It's long been assumed of the region where my grandmother was born...that at some point each year the dead will come home," Inara Verzemnieks writes in this exquisite story of war, exile, and reconnection. Her grandmother's stories recalled one true home: the family farm left behind in Latvia,...

Latvia | Latvian author

Ashes in the snow
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! This special movie tie-in edition features 16 pages of color movie stills starring Bel...

Lithuania | Lithuanian-American author

The letter for the king
Dragt, Tonke
Paper Book
A young messenger. A secret mission. A kingdom in peril.

The Netherlands | Dutch author

On the edge of gone
Duyvis, Corinne
Paper Book
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 their hometown of...

The Netherlands | Dutch author

Sophie's world
Gaarder, Jostein
Paper Book
The international bestseller about life, the universe and everything. 'A simply wonderful, irresistible book' DAILY TELEGRAPH 'A terrifically entertaining and imaginative story wrapped round its tough, thought-provoking philosophical heart' DAILY...

Norway | Norwegian author

172 hours on the moon
Harstad, Johan
Paper Book
Three teenagers are going on the trip of a lifetime. Only one is coming back. It's been more than forty years since NASA sent the first men to the moon, and to grab some much-needed funding and attention, they decide to launch an historic international lottery in which three...

Norway | Norwegian author

Lena, the sea and me
Parr, Maria.
Paper Book
A heartwarming and action-packed story of friendship from Norway's answer to Astrid Lindgren. This classic in the making from award-winning author Maria Parr is packed full of laugh-out-loud adventures and paints an honest picture of the highs and lows of friendship and growing up. Dark clouds are...

Norway | Norwegian author

Flights
Tokarczuk, Olga
Paper Book
WINNER OF THE NOBEL PRIZE IN LITERATURE WINNER OF THE MAN BOOKER INTERNATIONAL PRIZE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST FOR TRANSLATED LITERATURE A visionary work of fiction by "A writer on the level of W. G. Sebald" (Annie Proulx) "A...

Poland | Polish author

Mr. Lightbulb
Wawszczyk, Wojtek
Paper Book
Our protagonist comes from a broken home. Quite literally. Freak accidents at the steelworks where his parents work have left his mom snapped and his dad flattened. One day, he mistakenly swallows a glob of molten metal giving himself the strange power to radiate heat and light - like a lightbulb....

Poland | Polish author-illustrator

The return
Cardoso, Dulce Maria
Paper Book
Everyone has gone away... We too should no longer be here. Luanda, 1975. The Angolan War of Independence has been raging for at least a decade, but with the collapse of the Salazar dictatorship, defeat for the Portuguese is now in sight. Thousands of settlers are fleeing back to...

Portugal | Portuguese author

A curse of roses
Pinguicha, Diana
Paper Book
Based on Portuguese legend, this #OwnVoices historical fantasy is an epic tale of mystery, magic, and making the impossible choice between love and duty... With just one touch, bread turns into roses. With just one bite, cheese turns into lilies. There's a famine...

Portugal | Portuguese author

Solenoid
Ca?rta?rescu, Mircea
Paper Book
WINNER of the Dublin Literary Award 2024 and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize 2022 NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF 2022 by the New Yorker, Publishers Weekly, The Financial Times, Words Without Borders A highly-acclaimed master work of...

Romania | Romanian author

The hunger angel : a novel
Mu?ller, Herta.
Paper Book
A masterful new novel from the winner of the 2009 Nobel Prize, hailed for depicting the "landscape of the dispossessed" with "the concentration of poetry and the frankness of prose" (Nobel Prize Committee) It was an icy morning in January 1945 when the patrol came for seventeen-year...

Romania | Romanian-German 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

Isolde
Odoevt?s?eva, Irina
Paper Book
The first English translation of a pioneering Russian writer: a hypnotically dark classic of love, deceit and wayward youth in Paris

Russia | Russian author

Gamayun tales I : an anthology of modern Russian folktales
Utkin, Alexander
Paper Book
Enter a world of magic and adventure in this stunning series based on traditional Russian folklore. Collected into a beautiful new paperback edition for the first time! Alexander Utkin's Gamayun Tales are fresh and modern adaptations of familiar Russian folktales, teamed with...

Russia | Russian author-illustrator

The librarian of Auschwitz
Iturbe, Antonio
Paper Book
Fourteen-year-old Dita is one of the many imprisoned by the Nazis at Auschwitz. Taken, along with her mother and father, from the Terezín ghetto in Prague, Dita is adjusting to the constant terror that is life in the camp. When Jewish leader Freddy Hirsch asks Dita to take charge of the eight...

Spain/Germany | Spanish author

Marina
Ruiz Zafón, Carlos
Paper Book
A gothic tale for readers of all ages from the author of the bestselling The Shadow of the Wind. Barcelona, 1980. scar Drai finds himself drawn to an old dilapidated mansion where he meets the captivating and elusive Marina. She leads him to the cemetery to witness a mysterious ritual- on the...

Spain | Spanish author

Wonderful feels like this
Lövestam, Sara
Paper Book
When a bullied teenager bonds with an 89-year-old jazz musician a beautiful friendship begins in a novel that celebrates the power of music across generations.

Sweden | Swedish author

The end
Strandberg, Mats
Paper Book
When will the world end? With a massive comet, hurtling toward Earth, humanity now knows the exact date. 17-year-old Simon wants to spend his last weeks with the people he cares about most, especially his ex-girlfriend, Tilda. Since Lucinda was diagnosed with cancer, she's retreated into herself....

Sweden | Swdish author

Swimming in darkness
Harari, Lucas
Paper Book
Pierre is a young man at a crossroads. He drops out of architecture school and decides to travel to Vals in the Swiss Alps, home to a thermal springs complex located deep inside a mountain. The complex, designed by architect Peter Zumthor, had been the subject of Pierre's thesis. The mountain holds...

Switzerland | Swiss author

Heidi
Spyri, Johanna
Paper Book
The classic story of a little orphan girl in the Swiss Alps, with beautiful cover illustrations by Anna Bond, the artist behind world-renowned stationery brand Rifle Paper Co. At the age of five, little orphan Heidi is sent to live with her grandfather in the Alps. Everyone in...

Switzerland | Swiss author

Vita nostra
Di͡achenko, Marina
Paper Book
The definitive English language translation of the internationally bestselling Russian novel - a brilliant dark fantasy combining psychological suspense, enchantment, and terror that makes us consider human existence in a fresh and provocative way. 'A book that has the potential to...

Ukraine | Ukrainian author

How war changed Rondo
Romanyshyn, Romana
Paper Book
A Kirkus Best Book of 2021: A Best Picture Book for Starting ConversationsA USBBY Outstanding International Book of 2022 A Bank Street College of Education Best Book of 2022 War has come to the idyllic town of Rondo. Can...

Ukraine | Ukrainian author-illustrator

The orphanage : a novel
Z?H?adan, Serhii?
Paper Book
A devastating story of the struggle of civilians caught up in the conflict in eastern Ukraine   Chosen as one of "Six Books to Read for Context on Ukraine" by the New York Times   Selected by Publishers Weekly<...

Ukraine | Ukrainian author


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