Book Review Form

Monday, April 22, 2013

Top Ten Historical Fiction for Teens

Love reading about the past?  Here are the top ten historical fiction books for teens, from Booklist.

Sophia's War: A Tale of Revolution by Avi: In Avi's intriguing novel based closely on historical events, 12-year-old Sophia, who is living in British-occupied New York City in 1776, becomes a spy who helps alert American forces to Benedict Arnold's treachery.  Juvenile Fiction Avi
 
The Diviners by Libba Bray:  Bray dives into the Roaring Twenties and mixes a little bit of murder, a little bit of the occult, and a whole lot of fun in this novel that's focused on a 17-year-old New York City flapper.  New Teen Fiction Bray

The Lightning Dreamer: Cuba's Greatest Abolitionist by Margarita Engle: Told in multiple voices, Engle's richly metaphorical novel-in-verse is a fictionalized biography of the 19th-century Cuban abolitionst poet Gertrudis Gomez de Avellaneda, known as Tula.  Available through interlibraryloan

Scarlet by A.C. Gaughen: Debut author Gaughen offers an affecting take on an old tale in this rip-roaring adventure narrated by Scarlet, who has joined Robin Hood's gang disguised as a boy.  Available through interlibraryloan

The Fire Horse Girl by Kay Honeyman: When Jade Moon is born in 1906---the year of the Fire Horse, an ominous sign for Chinese girls--her father ships the stubborn teenager off to California where danger waits at every turn.  Available through interlibraryloan

Keeping the Castle by Patrice Kindl: In Yorkshire, England, 17-year-old Althea Crawley is on a quest to marry rich so that she may secure the family's only inheritance, a dilapidated castle. This witty take on classic Regency offers frothy fun for Jane Austen fans.  Available through interlibraryloan
  
The Revolution of Evelyn Serrano by Sonia Manzano: When Evelyn's activist grandmother arrives from Puerto Rico in 1969, the 14-year-old is inspired to join the Young Lords, who are working closely with the Black Panthers. Manzano based this honest novel on real-life political events.  Available through interlibraryloan

Jump into the Sky by Shelley Pearsall: After young Levi travels to North Carolina to meet his father, an elite paratropper in WWII, he experiences Jim Crow-era racism for the first time, as well as poignant emotions as he gets to know his dad.  Available through interlibraryloan

Dodger by Terry Pratchett:  Rich language, sharp characters, and a well-realized Victorian setting combine this story of a trickster hero who expertly navigates the underbelly of London in search of justice and love.  New Teen Fiction Pratchett

Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein: In 1943, a British fighter plane crashes in Nazi-occupied France and the survivor tells a tale of friendship, war, espionage, and great courage as she relates what she must to survive while keeping secret all that she can.  Teen Fiction Wein

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