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Seattle Picks: Teen - Historical Fiction

Teens have lived through amazing times all around the world. MS=Books for middle school readers, GN = graphic novel (updated November 2023)

The Seattle Public Library

28 items

  • Rieke's life changes when war breaks out in Europe and her home of Czernowitz, known as a safe haven for Jewish people, is invaded.
    BookNew York : Balzer + Bray, [2023] — YA ARNOLD 2023
  • In 1976, amidst Jamaica's civil unrest, Irie and Jilly connect despite their very different backgrounds. But as the political divide worsens around them, their differences threaten to drive them apart.
    BookNew York : Wednesday Books, 2023. — YA BROMFIELD 2023
  • As parts of Los Angeles burn from the Rodney King riots in 1994, Jordan's desire to help his father protect the family business leads him to transport a handgun across the city. MS
    BookNew York ; Boston : Little, Brown and Company, 2022. — J CHO
  • When Lamb begins an interracial friendship with Marny in the Jim Crow South, it sets off a series of life-changing and tragic events.
    BookNew York : Holiday House, [2023] — YA CLINE-RANS 2023
  • Helena and Penelope attempt to join the Culinarians, a cadre of chefs for society's elite in 1830s London, and when they meet Elijah with similar ground-breaking hopes, they hope to educate him and bring him up as well. MS
    BookNew York, NY : HarperTeen, [2022] — YA COHEN 2022
  • Mexican American brothers Pedro and Daniel find joy and resilience through their unbreakable bond, even amidst experiences of abuse at home, coming out, troubles at school, and the AIDS epidemic. MS
    BookMontclair [New Jersey] : Levine Querido, [2023] — YA EREBIA 2023
  • In 1996 Los Angeles, Rana Joon wants to live her authentic life, but her strict Iranian parents will never accept her as queer.
    BookNew York : Atheneum, 2023. — YA ETAAT 2023
  • Isabel's family is Jewish, but during the Spanish Inquisition, they must practice their faith in secret. When she meets a boy whose thirst for art and passion is as strong as hers, her family's safety is threatened.
    BookNew York : Scholastic Press, an imprint of Scholastic Inc., 2021. — YA GORDON 2021
  • Rich young ladies by day, brawling vigilantes by night, Kiki and Ana fight for fun and justice until Kiki's older brother is found dead. MS
    BookNew York : Feiwel and Friends, 2022. — YA GREY 2022
  • In 1758 Korea, eighteen-year-old palace nurse Hyeon's world turns upside down when four women are murdered in the same night. When her mentor becomes the main suspect, Hyeon takes matters into her own hands to uncover the truth. MS
    BookNew York : Feiwel and Friends, 2022. — YA HUR 2022
  • In 1934 Chicago, Joe discovers the underground queer community while also getting wrapped up in his cousin’s risky money-making scheme.
    BookNew York, New York : Algonquin, 2023. — YA KLISE 2023
  • When closeted Micah meets out-and-proud CJ at a club in the height of the AIDS epidemic, their bond is immediate, but will their relationship last in such a fearful time?
    BookNew York, NY : Scholastic Press, 2022. — YA KONIGSB 2022
  • African Town

    Inspired by the True Story of the Last American Slave Ship

    Latham, Irene
    After 110 African captives board the last illegal slave ship to Alabama, survivors endure horrors and build the ongoing community and legacy of African Town. Told in verse. MS
    BookNew York : G. P. Putnam's Sons, 2022. — YA LATHAM 2022
  • After her parents are murdered by the state police, Csilla vows to leave her homeland for Israel, but when she meets a young man mourning his lover, the two of them join protests against Soviet rule.
    BookNew York : Alfred A. Knopf, [2022] — YA LOCKE 2022
  • The Davenports are one of the few wealthy Black families in 1910 Chicago. Sisters Olivia and Helen Davenport, along with their maid Amy-Rose and Olivia's best friend Ruby, navigate class, gender expectations, racism, family struggles, and…
    BookNew York : Dial Books, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC, 2023. — YA MARQUIS 2023
  • When eighteen-year-old Shelby, the daughter of an Air Force intelligence officer, falls for a Soviet pilot accused of being a KGB spy, she decides to risk everything to help him. But soon she begins to question who, if anyone, she can…
    BookNew York : Farrar Straus Giroux, 2023. — YA MCCRINA 2023
  • In 1922 New York City, Nicol̀s Caraveo learns that his cousin, Daisy, has been passing as white and is engaged to a wealthy man named Tom. Nick becomes drawn into the decadent world of his new neighbor, Jay, a young man from Daisy's past…
    BookNew York : Feiwel & Friends, 2022. — YA MCLEMOR 2022
  • After the Soviets arrest Pavol for disrupting their incursion of Czechoslovakia, he kills himself, rather than face the punishing life in the salt mines that destroyed his father. How will his two best friends and pregnant girlfriend move…
    BookMinneapolis : Carolrhoda Lab, [2022] — YA MILLER-LAC 2022
  • Margot's brief romance with Harry ended with her pregnant and him missing in action in World War I. Now he's come home looking for answers and their child, but her family's shame may be too much for them both.
    BookSomerville, Massachusetts : Walker Books, 2022. — YA NICHOLLS 2022
  • Evgenia, a peasant and a bolshevik, agrees to help wealthy Anna cross the country to safety, not realizing the secret she holds may cost them both their lives.
    BookNew York : Roaring Brook Press, 2022. — YA ONEIL 2022