Historical fiction for older children and teenagers

Naeli travels from India to England to find her lost father, but what mysteries will she uncover along the way? A pacy historical adventure. 

When Isaiah discovers a time portal in the basement of his tower block, he meets Jacob, who lived in the same building when it was a workhouse in the 1830s. This gripping, multilayered time-slip novel explores poverty from both a historical and contemporary perspective.

An accessible, humanitarian perspective on the Partition of India in 1947, seen through the experiences of three children and their families. 

When war comes to London in 1939, Ronnie Smith is more worried about the battle to convince his younger brother that the swaggering Johnny, their mum’s new boyfriend, is a bad ​’un. Compelling and moving, with peril galore. 

Haoyou feels powerless when the man responsible for his father’s death demands to marry his mother. Determined to support her himself, the young boy joins a travelling circus.

In 18th century London, 16-year-old Ezra is working as apprentice to a highly respected surgeon, William McAdam. 

Gardner skilfully sets the scene, in which extra-sensory abilities can be turned to many uses, and where good and evil, identity and destiny are not as clear cut as we might think.

Nat Field, an orphaned American actor, is taken ill during a performance and slips back in time to the Tudor era.

Now he’s a teenager, Julian wants to hear the details of what happened to Grandmère during her childhood in France in World War Two. A compelling graphic novel about courage in adversity, and how kindness and humanity can overcome evil. 

In Nazi-occupied Amsterdam in 1942, Hannie joins the Resistance. In the modern day, Liv is trying to cope with bullies at school. Historical fiction of the highest order – heart-breaking, thought-provoking and vital.

‘They say dead men tell no tales, but they’re wrong. Even the dead tell stories.’