Celebrating Women's History Month: Historical Fiction for Teens

 

Fever, 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson
In 1793 Philadelphia, sixteen-year-old Matilda Cook, separated from her sick mother, learns about perseverance and self-reliance when she is forced to cope with the horrors of a yellow fever epidemic.

A Mad, Wicked Folly by Sharon Biggs Waller
In 1909 London, as the world of debutante balls and high society obligations closes in around her, seventeen-year-old Victoria must figure out just how much is she willing to sacrifice to pursue her dream of becoming an artist.

Flygirl by Sherri L. Smith
During World War II, a light-skinned African American girl "passes" for white in order to join the Women Airforce Service Pilots.

Hattie Big Sky by Kirby Larson
After inheriting her uncle's homesteading claim in Montana, sixteen-year-old orphan Hattie Brooks travels from Iowa in 1917 to make a home for herself and encounters some unexpected problems related to the war being fought in Europe.


More Books --
And I Darken by Kiersten White
Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys
Blood Water Paint by Joy McCullough
Butterfly Yellow by Thanhha Lai
The Carnival at Bray by Jessie Ann Foley
Catherine, Called Birdy by Karen Cushman
Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein
Copper Sun by Sharon Draper
The Dark Days Club by Alison Goodman
Fatal Throne: The Wives of Henry VIII Tell All by M.T. Anderson
Girl in the Blue Coat by Monica Hesse
The Hired Girl by Laura Amy Schlitz
Lies We Tells Ourselves by Robin Talley
The Luxe by Anna Godbersen
My Lady Jane by Cynthia Hand
Orphan Monster Spy by Matt Killeen
The Passion of Dolssa by Julie Berry
Those Shallow Graves by Jennifer Donnelly
The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi
Under a Painted Sky by Stacey Lee
What the Night Sings by Vesper Stamper


Check out these books on display at the Arnold Branch through April 3, 2021.

Historical Fiction for Teens

While historical fiction is not my favorite genre of books, it is a request that I get fairly often.  So here are some historical fiction books for teens . . .

Five 4ths of July by Pat Raccio Hughes
On July 4th, 1777, fourteen-year-old Jake Mallory and his friends are celebrating their new nation's independence, but over the next four years Jake finds himself in increasingly adventurous circumstances.

Heart of a Samurai by Margi Preus
In 1841, rescued by an American whaler after a terrible shipwreck leaves him and his four companions castaways on a remote island, fourteen-year-old Manjiro, who dreams of becoming a samurai, learns new laws and customs as he becomes the first Japanese person to set foot in the United States.


Beware, Princess Elizabeth by Carolyn Meyer
After the death of her father, King Henry VIII, in 1547, thirteen-year-old Elizabeth must endure the political intrigues and dangers of the reigns of her half-brother Edward and her half-sister Mary before finally becoming Queen of England eleven years later.

Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson
After being sold to a cruel couple in New York City, a slave named Isabel spies for the rebels during the Revolutionary War.

Private Peaceful by Michael Morpurgo
When Thomas Peaceful's older brother is forced to join the British Army, Thomas decides to sign up as well, although he is only fourteen years old, to prove himself to his country, his family, his childhood love, Molly, and himself.


More Historical Fiction for Teens --
And in the Morning by John Wilson
Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys
Blue Fingers: A Ninja's Tale by Cheryl Aylward Whitesel
Boston Jane: An Adventure by Jennifer L. Holm
The Convicts by Iain Lawrence
Crossing Stones by Helen Frost
Daniel Half Human and the Good Nazi by David Chotjewitz
The Extra by Kathryn Lasky
The Kite Rider by Geraldine McCaughrean
The Mourning Wars by Karen Steinmetz
Much Ado About Grubstake by Jean Ferris
Tales of the Madman Underground by John Barnes
Three Rivers Rising: A Novel of the Johnstown Flood by Jame Richards
The Watch that Ends the Night: Voices from the Titanic by Allan Wolf
Witch Child by Celia Rees

Veteran's Day, Part 2

Continuing in our observance of Veteran's Day, here are some great books for teens on the war experience . . .

Forge by Laurie Halse Anderson
Curzon matures from boy to man over the course of the winter with the army at Valley Forge.

Girl in Blue by Ann Rinaldi
To escape an abusive father and an arranged marriage, fourteen-year-old Sarah, dressed as a boy, leaves her Michigan home to enlist in the Union Army, and becomes a soldier on the battlefields of Virginia.

Eyes of the Emperor by Graham Salisbury
Following orders from the United States Army, several young Japanese American men train K-9 units to hunt Asians during World War II.

Soldier Boys by Dean Hughes
Two boys, one German and one American, are eager to join their respective armies during World War II, and their paths cross at the Battle of the Bulge.

Search and Destroy by Dean Hughes
Recent high school graduate Rick Ward, undecided about his future and eager to escape his unhappy home life, joins the army and experiences the horrors of the war in Vietnam.

Sunrise Over Fallujah by Walter Dean Myers
Robin Perry, from Harlem, is sent to Iraq in 2003 as a member of the Civilian Affairs Battalion, and his time there profoundly changes him.

Purple Heart by Patricia McCormick
While recuperating in a Baghdad hospital from a traumatic brain injury sustained during the Iraq War, eighteen-year-old soldier Matt Duffy struggles to recall what happened to him and how it relates to his ten-year-old friend, Ali.