New Historical Fiction for Teens
We’ve updated our list of historical novels for teens. While World War II continues to feed authors’ imaginations, there are also a lot of fantastic stories from other times. Here are a few of our favorites. (Created April 2025)
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Black Star
Charley’s dreams of becoming the first pro woman baseball player are challenged when she and her friends decide they will play ball on the white side of town. MS
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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One Step Forward
Matilda Young’s activism in 1917 leads her to protest at the White House for women’s suffrage, and then to jail, where she writes about the loneliness and violence she suffers for her cause. MS
Format: Book
Availability: All copies in use
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Westfallen
Three young teens in 1944 communicate via radio with three young teens in 2023. When the 1944 kids prevent a fire, the 2023 kids lose a friend, and when the 2023 kids tell the 1944 kids about D-Day, they wake up in Nazi America. MS
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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To the Bone
Ellis’s life as an indentured servant in 1609 Jamestown is lonely and difficult, but as winter sets in and the colonists begin dying, her main goal is to survive.
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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The Brightwood Code
After making a mistake that may have cost soldiers their lives, Edda is haunted by her secret job in World War I, so when a caller to her switchboard reveals Edda's guilt, she must hunt down her tormentor.
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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A Suffragist's Guide to the Antarctic
Clara lies about her age and citizenship in order to join a British expedition to the South Pole in 1914, but when their ship is stuck in the ice, her fight for women’s rights must take a back seat to survival.
Format: Book
Availability: All copies in use
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Everything Is Poison
Carmela aspires to join the staff of her mother’s apothecary in 17th century Rome, hoping to prove that they aren’t witches but healers.
Format: Book
Availability: All copies in use
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Eyes Open
Despite her father’s objections and the oppressive rules of the nuns at her school, budding poet Sónia resists the Portuguese regime publicly and clings to her artist boyfriend, Ze Miguel, even after he is imprisoned.
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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The Bletchley Riddle
In 1940, Lizzie and her older brother Jakob are brought separately to Bletchley Park, where they work in secret with others to decode the Enigma Machines, which hold the codes and the secrets of the German military. MS
Format: Book
Availability: All copies in use
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