World Historical Fiction


Fiction
Title: Anahita's Woven Riddle
Author: Meghan Nuttall Sayres
Summary: In 19th century Iran, intelligent, strong-willed Anahita convinces her father and the mullah that she should only marry the man clever enough to understand the riddle she has woven into her wedding carpet.


Title: Annexed
Author: Sharon Dogar
Summary: Anne Frank's powerful Diary of a Young Girl is re-imagined here through the eyes of Peter van Pels, following him from the cramped attic in Amsterdam to the death camps at Auschwitz.


Title: Before We Were Free
Author: Julia Alvarez
Summary: Twelve-year-old Anita shares her family's personal and political struggles under the Dominican Republic's ruthless dictator in 1960


Title: Betrayal of Maggie Blair
Author: Elizabeth Laird
Summary: 16-year-old Maggie escapes execution after she and her grandmother are arrested for witchcraft. She flees to her uncle's family, but must set out to rescue him when he is imprisoned for religious dissent in this novel set in 17th century Scotland.


Title: Between Shades of Gray
Author: Ruta Sepetys
Summary: Fifteen-year-old Lina and her family are taken from their Lithuanian home and transported to Siberia where they struggle to survive the harsh conditions in several different prison camps.


Title: Blood Red Horse
Author: K. M. Grant
Summary: In the 12th century, Will's beloved warhorse, Hosanna, is stolen by Saracens during an English Crusade which allows Hosanna to witness the war from both sides of the conflict.


Title: Book Thief
Author: Markus Zusak
Summary: During World War II, a young German girl steals books and shares them with both her neighbors and the Jewish man hiding in her basement.


Title: Breadwinner
Author: Deborah Ellis
Summary: Parvana must masquerade as a boy to support her mother and sister in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan, which forbids women to leave home without a male escort.


Title: Broken Memory: A Novel of Rwanda
Author: Elisabeth Combres
Summary: Emma is a young girl when she witnesses her mother's murder by Hutu soldiers during the Rwandan genocide. She is able to escape and takes refuge with a kind, older woman, but memories of the war still haunt her.


Title: Child of Dandelions
Author: Shenaaz Naji
Summary: In 1972 President Idi Admin of Uganda is forcing all citizens of Indian descent to leave the country. 15-year-old Sabine's life starts to unravel as she realizes her family and friends are in serious danger.


Title: Cleopatra Confesses
Author: Carolyn Meyer
Summary: Young Cleopatra may be her father's favorite daughter, but she still struggles to maintain power and respect in her competitive family. Follow Cleopatra from her days as a young princess to her ascension to the throne as the next queen of Egypt.


Title: Climbing the Stairs
Author: Padma Venkatraman
Summary: Fifteen-year-old Vidya dreams of going to college, but that fantasy is destroyed when her father is injured. Vidya has to move into her grandfather's traditional house, where women are supposed to get married, not educated.


Title: Daughter of Xanadu
Author: Dori Jones Yang
Summary: Sixteen-year-old Mongolian princess Emmajin longs to be a warrior in her grandfather's army, but the Khan asks her to gather intelligence about a group of foreign visitors instead, one of whom happens to be an attractive young man named Marco Polo.


Title: Elephant Run
Author: Roland Smith
Summary: Fourteen-year-old Nick leaves London to escape the Blitz, but finds that his family's teak plantation in Burma is just as dangerous when the Japanese invade and his father is sent to a POW camp.


Title: Falconer's Knot: A Story of Friars, Fliration, and Foul Play
Author: Mary Hoffman
Summary: In the 12th century, Will's beloved warhorse, Hosanna, is stolen by Saracens during an English Crusade which allows Hosanna to witness the war from both sides of the conflict.


Title: Folly
Author: Marthe Jocelyn
Summary: Two intertwining stories chronicle the experiences of a teenage girl who becomes pregnant while working in an upper-class London household in the 1800s, and her baby boy who recalls being raised years later in a Foundling Hospital.


Title: Forgotten Fire
Author: Adam Bagdasarian
Summary: Vahan is the spoiled youngest son of an Armenian family living in Turkey in 1915, but he must grow up quickly when Armenians begin being arrested and killed by the Turkish government.


Title: Goldsmith's Daughter
Author: Tanya Landman
Summary: Born under an “ill-fated sky,” Itacate has been labeled as bad luck by her superstitious Aztec culture. But she refuses to follow the strict rules that exist for women in 16th century Mexico, instead pursuing her dream of becoming a goldsmith as well as forbidden love.


Title: Heart of a Samurai : based on the true story of Nakahama Manjiro
Author: Margi Preus
Summary: After a shipwreck in 1841 forces him and four other Japanese fishermen onto a remote island, 14-year-old Manjiro is rescued and brought to America, where he experiences prejudice, learns strange customs, and helps forge connections between East and West


Title: I Am Rembrandt's Daughter
Author: Lynn Cullen
Summary: In Amsterdam in the mid-1600s, Cornelia's life as the illegitimate child of renowned painter Rembrandt is marked by plague and poverty, as well as despair at ever earning her father's love, until she sees hope for a better future in the eyes of a wealthy suitor.


Title: Kiss the Dust
Author: Elizabeth Laird
Summary: Thirteen-year-old Tara's privileged life is lost forever when the Iraqi government discovers her father is in the Kurdish resistance movement of the 1980s.


Title: Long Walk to Water
Author: Linda Sue Park
Summary: This narrative is based on the true story of an eleven-year-old, Salva Dut, surviving in war-torn Sudan in 1985. Alongside this story is the story of Nya in 2008 who must walk eight hours a day to find water for her family. Salva must flee his village or be killed by rebel soldiers. Both stories are ultimately filled with hope.


Title: Lost Crown
Author: Sarah Elizabeth Miller
Summary: The four Russian Grand Duchesses; Olga, Tatiana, Maria, and Anastasia, tell of the fall of the Romanov Dynasty from each of their points of view. This includes vintage photos and a glossary of Russian terms.


Title: Million Shades of Gray
Author: Cynthia Kadohata
Summary: Thirteen-year-old Y'Tin has always wanted to be an elephant handler. When his dream finally comes true, his Vietnamese village is attacked and he escapes into the jungle with his elephant.


Title: Nobody’s Princess
Author: Esther Friesner
Summary: A tale of Helen of Troy’s early years when she learns she is not only beautiful, but also powerful, adventurous, and ready to live life on her own terms. This story from Greek mythology includes a cast of gods and heroes.


Title: Pirates! The True and Remarkable Adventures of Minerva Sharpe and Nancy Kington, Female Pirates
Author: Celia Rees
Summary: Dark and tragic events on her father's Jamaican sugar plantation send Nancy Kington and her half-sister, Minerva Sharpe, into hiding among pirates in the 1700s.


Title: Private Peaceful
Author: Michael Morpurgo
Summary: When Thomas (Tommo) Peaceful lied about his age to join the British Army and fight alongside his brother, Charlie, in World War I, he had no idea he'd witness such horrific violence, death, and destruction.


Title: Red Necklace: A Story of the French Revolution
Author: Sally Gardner
Summary: At the beginning of the French Revolution Sido, the daughter of a rich marquis and Yann, a gypsy orphan meet in the midst of murder, mayhem, and secrecy.


Title: Red Umbrella
Author: Christina Diaz Gonzalez
Summary: In 1961 Lucia's parents send her and her brother, Frank, alone to the United States because they fear for their children’s safety due to the violent retribution the government is dealing out to those who oppose the communist regime.


Title: Revolution is Not a Dinner Party
Author: Ying Chang Compestine
Summary: Ling can't believe how much her comfortable, protected life transforms when Chairman Mao’s Cultural Revolution includes food shortages, other governmental austerity measures and her father’s imprisonment.


Title: When My Name Was Keoko
Author: Linda Sue Park
Summary: Older brother Tae-yul and younger sister Sun-hee are Korean, but must forsake their heritage during the Japanese occupation of Korea in the 1940s.