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
Drag items up and down to your preferred order then select the "Save Order" button.
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...
The house of one thousand eyes
Barker, Michelle
Paper Book
Who can Lena trust to help her find out the truth? Life in East Germany in the early 1980s is not easy for most people, but for Lena, it's particularly hard. After the death of her parents in a factory explosion and time spent in a psychiatric hospital recovering from the trauma,...
The passion of Dolssa
Berry, Julie
Paper Book
A Printz Honor Book "Gorgeous and evocative . . . magnificent."--The New York Times   Medieval France: Dolssa is an upper-crust city girl with a secret lover and an uncanny gift. Branded a heretic, she's on the run from the friar who condemned her...
The incredible true story of the making of the Eve of destruction /
Brashear, Amy,
Paper Book
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. Unfortunately that's impossible now that film moguls have picked Griffin Flat as the location for a...
The light in hidden places : a novel based on the true story of Stefania Podgórska
Cameron, Sharon
Paper Book
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 -- now a Reese's Book Club YA Pick! One knock at the door, and Stefania has a...
Becoming Beatriz
Charles, Tami
Paper Book
"A compelling read about the quest for fame!" -Debbie Allen, star of Fame "Redemption is a heartbeat away." -Guadalupe Garcia McCall, author of the Pura Belpre Award winner Under the Mesquite Beatriz dreams of a life spent dancing-...
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...
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-...
Mazie
Crowder, Melanie
Paper Book
*"Deserves a standing ovation." --Kirkus Reviews (starred review) *" This is a terrific and realistic piece of historical fiction that is perfect for theater lovers and historical fiction fans." --SLC (starred review) *"The peppy first-person...
Lady of disguise /
Dickerson, Melanie,
Paper Book
Only the hidden treasure will allow Louisa and her sister to gain their freedom. England, 1388: All her life, Louisa has dreamed of finding the rumored "Giant's Treasure," a collection of ancient, lost riches said to be hidden on a mountaintop in Scotland, guarded by a fierce...
Walls /
Elliott, Laura,
Paper Book
This powerful Cold War novel tells the story of two cousins, one German and the other an American Army brat, as they navigate the political and social turmoil that threatens their friendship and ends in the abrupt rise of the Berlin Wall-which may separate them forever. ...
Foul lady fortune
Gong, Chloe
Paper Book
Assassin. Immortal. Spy.From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of These Violent Delights comes the first book in a captivating new duology following an ill-matched pair of spies posing as a married couple to investigate a series of brutal murders...
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 : a novel of the Salem witch trials
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...
As long as the lemon trees grow
Katouh, Zoulfa
Paper Book
An epic, emotional, breathtaking story of love and loss set amid the Syrian revolution. Burning with the fires of hope and possibility, AS LONG AS THE LEMON TREES GROW will sweep you up and never let you go. This brand new paperback edition contains exclusive bonus...
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 dangerous forbidden romance rocks a Texan oil town in 1937, when segregation was a matter of life and death. A Top Ten Most Challenged Book of the Year "This is East Texas, and there's lines. Lines you cross, lines you don't cross. That clear?" New...
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...
Shades of gray
Reeder, Carolyn.
Paper Book
The Civil War may be over, but for 12-year-old Will Page, who considers the Yankees responsible for the deaths of his parents and brother and sisters, the pain will never end. And now Will has to go live with his Uncle Jed, who refused to fight for the Confederate cause. But is Uncle Jed the...
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...
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...
The fountains of silence
Sepetys, Ruta
Paper Book
A #1 New York Times Bestselling AuthorMadrid, 1957. Under the fascist dictatorship of General Francisco Franco, Spain is hiding a dark secret. Meanwhile, tourists and foreign businessmen flood into the country under the welcoming guise of sunshine and wine. Among them is eighteen-year-old Daniel...
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...

Library staff! You can create and contribute to lists. Contact your catalog administrator or log in here.