Historical Fiction for Teens
Teens have lived through amazing times all around the world, and sometimes make history themselves. MS=Books for middle school readers, GN = graphic novel (updated 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: Available
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The Lamplighter
After her father’s untimely death, Temperance takes his job as the town’s lamplighter, keeping lamps lit in the dark foggy nights even as girls in the town disappear. MS
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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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: All copies in use
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Under the Same Stars
Three teens separated by generations unveil the mysterious disappearance of two girls in Nazi Germany.
Format: Book
Availability: All copies in use
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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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Trajectory
In the face of sexism and racism, Eleanor makes use of her hidden math skills to help the military design a secret weapon in World War II.
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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Adventures of Mary Jane
Before she meets Huck Finn, Mary Jane has her own adventures on the Mississippi, facing swindlers, con men, angry mobs, and deadly illness.
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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Code Name Kingfisher
Jewish sisters Mila and Hannie pose as Christians in Nazi-occupied Amsterdam, but Hannie’s insistence on helping other Jewish children escape the country threatens what little safety they have. MS
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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