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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Free : coming of age 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...

Albania | Albanian 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 : the oral history of a nuclear disaster
Aleksievich, Svetlana
Ebook
Winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature and Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award A journalist by trade, who now suffers from an immune deficiency developed while researching this book, presents personal accounts of what happened to the people of Belarus after the nuclear reactor...

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

The island of missing trees
Shafak, Elif
Audiobook

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
International Bestseller * Winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Fiction "Far more than a conventional novel. It is a meditation on life, on the erotic, on the nature of men and women and love . . . full of telling details, truths large and small, to which just about every...

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

You can't kill Snow White
Alemagna, Be?atrice
Paper Book
In this dark, genre-defying picture-book adaptation of Snow White, acclaimed artist Beatrice Alemagna tells the story from the point of view of the jealous stepmother queen, to complicate the question of goodness and set into high relief the shadow side, with its capacity...

France | French author-illustrator

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

The Count of Monte Cristo
Dumas, Alexandre
Paper Book
**AS SEEN ON WRITE AROUND THE WORLD WITH RICHARD E GRANT** A brilliant story of intrigue, retribution, revenge and redemption. Imprisoned for a crime he didn't commit, Edmond Dant s spends fourteen bitter years in a dungeon. When his daring escape...

France | French 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

The call
O? 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

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

When I grow up : the lost autobiographies of six Yiddish teenagers
Krimstein, Ken
Paper Book
An NPR Best Book of the Year A Washington Post Best Book of the Year A Chicago Tribune Fall "Best Read" An Alma most anticipated book of November From the prize-winning author of The Three Escapes of Hannah...

Lithuania | American-born author writing about Lithuanian Jewish teens on the brink of World War II, based on their recently-discovered diaries.

Between shades of gray
Sepetys, Ruta.
Paper Book
The inspiration for the major motion picture Ashes in the Snow! "Few books are beautifully written, fewer still are important; this novel is both." --The Washington Post From New York Times and international bestseller and Carnegie...

Lithuania | Lithuanian-American 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

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

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
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
Carlos Ruiz Zafon's haunting gothic mystery, 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

Vita nostra
Di?a?chenko, Marina
Paper Book
"Vita Nostra" -- a cross between Lev Grossman's "The Magicians" and Elizabeth Kostova's "The Historian" [...] is the anti-Harry Potter you didn't know you wanted." -- The Washington Post "Vita Nostra has become a powerful influence on my own writing. It's a book that has the potential...

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 2022A Bank Street College of Education Best Book of 2022 War has come to the idyllic town of Rondo. Can...

Ukraine | Ukrainian author-illustrator


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