Historical and War (YA)

If you like reading novels set in times gone by you might find something interesting on this list. Also included are some war books (many and varied wars! Including the American Revolution, World War II, the Iraq War). Some are more 'historical' than others!

Updated April 29, 2024
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Wellington City Libraries
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Freedom swimmer
Chim, Wai
A powerful story of friendship, bravery, and a desperate bid for freedom, inspired by true events. Ming survived the famine that killed his parents during China's "Great Leap Forward", and lives a hard but adequate life, working in the fields. When a group of city boys comes to the...
Historical setting: Maoist China
The Count of Monte Cristo
Dumas, Alexandre
Dumas's epic novel of justice, retribution, and self-discovery--one of the most enduringly popular adventure tales ever written--in a newly revised translation. This beloved novel tells the story of Edmond Dantès, wrongfully imprisoned for life in the supposedly impregnable...

Historical setting: 1800s France

The secret life of Kitty Granger
Falksen, G. D.

Historical setting: 1960s London

These violent delights
Gong, Chloe
An Instant New York Times Bestseller! A BuzzFeed Best Young Adult Book of 2020 Perfect for fans of The Last Magician and Serpent & Dove, this heart-stopping debut is an imaginative Romeo and Juliet retelling set in 1920s Shanghai...

Historical setting: 1920s Shanghai, China

The weight of our sky
Hanna Alkaf
A music loving teen with OCD does everything she can to find her way back to her mother during the historic race riots in 1969 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in this heart-pounding literary debut. Melati Ahmad looks like your typical movie-going, Beatles-obsessed sixteen-year-old....
Historical setting: 1960s Malaysia
The forest of stolen girls
Hur, June
Suspenseful and richly atmospheric, June Hur's The Forest of Stolen Girls is a haunting historical mystery sure to keep readers guessing until the last page. 1426, Joseon (Korea). Hwani's family has never been the same since she and her younger sister went missing...

Historical setting: 1420s Korea

The librarian of Auschwitz
Iturbe, Antonio
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...

Historical setting: World War II

Alex & Eliza : a love story
De la Cruz, Melissa
From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Witches of East End and the Descendants series comes the love story of young Alexander Hamilton and Elizabeth Schuyler. 1777. Albany, New York.   As battle cries of the American Revolution echo in...
Historical setting: American Revolution, 1770s USA
Courting darkness
LaFevers, Robin
First in a duology, this darkly thrilling page-turner set in the world of the best-selling His Fair Assassin series is perfect for fans of THRONE OF GLASS, RED QUEEN, and GAME OF THRONES. Told in alternating perspectives, when Sybella discovers there is another trained assassin from...

Historical setting: 1400s France

Butterfly yellow
Lai, Thanhha
Winner of the Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction! Perfect for fans of Elizabeth Acevedo, Ibi Zoboi, and Erika L. Sánchez, this gorgeously written and deeply moving novel is the YA debut from the award-winning author of Inside Out & Back Again. 4 starred reviews! In the...

Historical setting: Vietnam War, 1950s - 1970s

Dreamland burning
Latham, Jennifer
A compelling dual-narrated tale from Jennifer Latham that questions how far we've come with race relations. Some bodies won't stay buried. Some stories need to be told. When seventeen-year-old Rowan Chase finds a skeleton on her family's property, she...

Historical setting: 1920s USA

The gentleman's guide to vice and virtue
Lee, Mackenzi
A Kirkus Prize nominee and Stonewall Honor winner with 5 starred reviews! A New York Times bestseller! Named one of the best books of 2017 by NPR and the New York Public Library! "The queer teen historical you didn't know was missing from your life."--Teen...

Historical setting: Victorian England

Luck of the Titanic
Lee, Stacey
From the New York Times bestselling author of The Downstairs Girl comes the richly imagined story of Valora and Jamie Luck, twin British-Chinese acrobats traveling aboard the Titanic on its ill-fated maiden voyage. Valora Luck has two things: a ticket...

Historical setting: 1912 North Atlantic

Last night at the Telegraph Club
Lo, Malinda
Winner of the National Book Award A New York Times Bestseller "The queer romance we've been waiting for."--Ms. Magazine Seventeen-year-old Lily Hu can't remember exactly when the feeling took root--that desire to look, to move closer, to touch....

Historical setting: 1950s USA

This rebel heart
Locke, Katherine
A tumultuous tale of the student-led 1956 Hungarian revolution--and an all too timely look at the impact of Communism and the USSR in Eastern Europe--set in a fabulist, colorless post-WWII Budapest from Sydney Taylor Honor winner Katherine Locke.   "A haunting, beautiful...

Historical setting: Hungarian Revolution of 1956

An emotion of great delight
Mafi, Tahereh
From bestselling and National Book Award-nominated author Tahereh Mafi comes a stunning novel about love and loneliness, navigating the hyphen of dual identity, and reclaiming your right to joy--even when you're trapped in the amber of sorrow. It's 2003, several months since the US...

Historical setting: Iraq War (2003-)

Daughters of a dead empire
O'Neil, Carolyn Tara
"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...

Historical setting: 1918 Russia

Dodger
Pratchett, Terry
New York Times Bestseller! Beloved and bestselling author Sir Terry Pratchett's Dodger, a Printz Honor Book, combines high comedy with deep wisdom in a tale of one remarkable boy's rise in a fantasy-infused Victorian London. Seventeen-year-old Dodger is content as a sewer scavenger....

Historical setting: Victorian London

The fountains of silence : a novel
Sepetys, Ruta
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...

Historical setting: 1950s Spain

Between shades of gray
Sepetys, Ruta.
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...

Historical setting: World War II Lithuania

Flygirl
Smith, Sherri L.
Ida Mae Jones dreams of flight. Her daddy was a pilot and being black didn't stop him from fulfilling his dreams. But her daddy's gone now, and being a woman, and being black, are two strikes against her. When America enters the war with Germany and Japan, the Army creates the WASP, the...

World War II USA

Milkweed
Spinelli, Jerry.
A stunning novel of the Holocaust from Newbery Medalist, Jerry Spinelli. And don't miss the author's highly anticipated new novel, Dead Wednesday! He's a boy called Jew. Gypsy. Stopthief. Filthy son of Abraham. He's a boy who lives in the streets...

Historical setting: World War II Poland

Jo & Laurie
Stohl, Margaret
Bestselling authors Margaret Stohl and Melissa de la Cruz bring us a romantic retelling of Little Women starring Jo March and her best friend, the boy next door, Theodore "Laurie" Laurence. 1869, Concord, Massachusetts- After the publication of her first novel, Jo March is...

Historical setting: 1860s USA

Code name Verity
Wein, Elizabeth.
Don't miss Elizabeth Wein's stunning new novel, Stateless! The beloved #1 New York Times bestseller, a "fiendishly plotted" (New York Times) "heart-in-your mouth adventure" (Washington Post) that...

Historical setting: World War II England

Kemosha of the Caribbean
Wheatle, Alex
A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection "Inspired by accounts of women pirates, this fantastical tale represents the era's cruelty without romanticizing it. Kemosha's love and persistence combine with forceful action, the terror of harsh racism and passionate, colourful language." -...

Historical setting: 1600s Jamaica

White Rose
Wilson, Kip
"In a searing indictment of silent complicity, White Rose shines a light on one remarkable young woman's insistence on the power of truth, no matter the cost. A timely call to resistance." - Joy McCullough, author of Blood Water Paint "White Rose is a resonant...

Historical setting: World War II Germany

The book thief
Zusak, Markus
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * ONE OF TIME MAGAZINE'S 100 BEST YA BOOKS OF ALL TIME The extraordinary, beloved novel about the ability of books to feed the soul even in the darkest of times. When Death has a story to tell, you listen.

Historical setting: World War II Germany


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