Good Reads

Roberto joins the Italian freedom fighters in this chilling sequel to "Stonesin Water." ...More

It's 1944 and Anna's village in Sudetenland has not yet felt the brunt of the war although her beloved elder brother is at the front and her younger one is a fanatical member of the Nazi Youth. When she finds an escaped Russian soldier hiding in their barn, nearly dead, humanity conquers fear and she hides him in a disused bunker and continues to feed him knowing that if caught she'd be executed as a traitor. She doesn't dare tell even her family. As the front approaches their village it seems the Russian prisoner will soon be re-united with his comrades - but will Anna's already suspicious brother uncover her guilty secret first and expose her to a traitor's fate, and her family to destruction?
An incredibly realistic and moving account of how one girl refuses to accept Nazi ideology and has the courage of her own conviction. ...More

Discovered in the attic in which she spent the last years of her life, Anne Frank's remarkable diary has since become a world classic -- a powerful reminder of the horrors of war and an eloquent testament to the human spirit. In 1942, with Nazis occupying Holland, a thirteen-year-old Jewish girl and her family fled their home in Amsterdam and went into hiding. For the next two years, until their whereabouts were betrayed to the Gestapo, they and another family lived cloistered in the "Secret Annex" of an old office building. Cut off from the outside world, they faced hunger, boredom, the constant cruelties of living in confined quarters, and the ever-present threat of discovery and death. In her diary Anne Frank recorded vivid impressions of her experiences during this period. By turns thoughtful, moving, and amusing, her account offers a ...More

Martin Conway comes from a family filled with heroes and disgraces. His grandfather was a statesman who worked at the US Embassy in London during WWII. His father is an alcoholic who left his family. His sister is an overachieving Ivy League graduate. And Martin? Martin is stuck in between--floundering.
But during the summer after 7th grade, Martin meets a boy who will change his life forever. Jimmy Harker appears one night with a deceptively simple question: Will you help?
Where did this boy come from, with his strange accent and urgent request? Is he a dream? It's the most vivid dream Martin's ever had. And he meets Jimmy again and again--but how can his dreams be set in London during the Blitz? How can he see his own grandather, standing outside the Embassy? How can he wake up with a head full of people and facts and events tha ...More

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2007 Boston Globe/Horn Book Award Winner
2006 National Book Award for Youth Winner

Various diaries, letters, and other manuscripts chronicle the experiences of Octavian, a young African American, from birth to age 16, as he is brought up as part of a science experiment in the years leading up to and during the Revolutionary War. ...More

In this Paulsen classic, a treasured rifle passed down through generations isthe cause of a tragic accident. ...More

In 1775, on the eve of the Revolutionary War, disagreements between the Whigs and the Tories are intense, and 14-year-old Hannah Andrews is suddenly in the middle. Together with her beloved horse, Hannah takes a bold step to fight for freedom. ...More

With insight and compassion, Rinaldi explores the possibility that Patrick Henry's immortal cry of "Give me liberty, or give me death," which roused a nation to arms, was first spoken by his wife, Sarah, as she pleaded to be released from her mental health confinement. ...More

At 14, Terry Anders has been abandoned by his parents, with no choice but to make his own way. After assembling pieces of a kit car from his father's garage, he sets out from Cleveland to Portland to search for an uncle he hardly knows. ...More

This 1989 Coretta Scott King Award winner is the story of one young man's tour of duty in Vietnam as well as a testament to the thousands of young people who lived and died during the war. ...More

In the summer of 1965, cousins Grace, Dolly, and Theo are dealing with the fact their family has been torn apart by the Vietnam War. The idyllic days they used to enjoy are now marred by uncertainty and tension in this powerful novel by a Newbery Honor author. ...More

Winner - 2005 Michael L. Printz Award
A BookPage Notable Title
In a riveting debut, Rosoff pens a novel told from the point of view of 15-year-old Daisy, an American girl who is sent to her aunt's farm in England. When London is attacked and war breaks out, Daisy forges an extraordinary bond with her cousins. ...More

Winner - 2006 Mildred L. Batchelder Award
Adam is conscripted by Napoleon's army, which is gathering strength for its campaign against Russia. A young lieutenant requisitions Adam as his personal valet in this tale that explores the importance of friendship in persevering against overwhelming odds. ...More

Alonso, a dirt-poor teenager living in Peru, helps out at the public health clinic his mother, Magdalena, opened, so that he can see Rosa, the beautiful and wealthy daughter of the clinicas doctor. Alonso and Rosa are both shattered when Magdalena is assassinated by a revolutionary terrorist organization. Left with no hope, Alonso might be seduced into becoming a guerrilla in the same organization that killed his mother. Rosa becomes disgusted with her fatheras complacency and leaves wealth and safety behind to somehow help what is left of Alonsoas family. In this comingof- age novel, C. A. Schmidt tells the story of how love can find its way through poverty and war. ...More

Following their much-acclaimed "The Queen's Own Fool" and "Girl in a Cage," Yolen and Harris craft their most chilling and affecting story yet in their adventure-filled Scottish Quartet. ...More

This moving fictionalized account follows the true story of John Kipling, the teenage son of famed author Rudyard Kipling, who entered the British Army during World War I and was killed during his first battle. ...More

2008 California Young Readers Medal- Young Adult Winner
2005 ALA Young Adult Top Ten Selection

From the Children's Laureate of England comes a stunning novel about the First World War. Private Thomas Peaceful has lied about his age to enlist. As Thomas stands night watch, his memories are full of his childhood. But each moment brings him closer to something he cannot bear to think about. From the Children's Laureate of England comes a stunning novel about the First World War. Private Thomas Peaceful has lied about his age to enlist. As Thomas stands night watch, his memories are full of his childhood. But each moment brings him closer to something he cannot bear to think about. ...More

As World War I rages, 15-year-old Sasha, a well-to-do and sheltered English girl, wants to become a nurse. When she helps at a hospital, Sasha is able to see when someone is going to die. When she sees her brother in a premonition, she pretends to be a nurse and goes behind the front lines to prevent his death. ...More

This Newbery Medal Book describes how a ten-year-old Danish girl's bravery is tested when her best friend is threatened by Nazis in 1943. ...More