Historical fiction
Older children and teenagers will enjoy these compelling stories set in times past - from exciting adventures to thought-provoking tales of troubled times.
With a range of periods, locations and themes there is something here for everyone.
Find more historical fiction for older children and teenagers.
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The Red Necklace
Author: Sally Gardner
Publisher: Orion Children's Books
Interest age: 11+
Reading age: 10+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.
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Chains
Author: Laurie Halse Anderson
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Interest age: 12+
Reading age: 10+A brilliantly told, exciting story, with a brave and dignified heroine, which reveals the complexities of this chapter of American history.
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Revolver
Author: Marcus Sedgwick
Publisher: Orion Children's Books
Interest age: 12+
Reading age: 11+'They say dead men tell no tales, but they're wrong. Even the dead tell stories.'
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The Kite Rider
Author: Geraldine McCaughrean
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Interest age: 11+
Reading age: 11+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.
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Bracelet of Bones
Author: Kevin Crossley-Holland
Publisher: Quercus
Interest age: 11+
Reading age: 9+Solveig is a fourteen-year-old Norwegian who, in 1036, follows her father to Constantinople, where he is a member of the Viking guard.
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Life: An Exploded Diagram
Author: Mal Peet
Publisher: Walker Books Ltd
Interest age: 14+
Reading age: 13+In this intelligent young adult novel, Clem's coming-of-age story of first love and burgeoning sexuality is woven around a tense account of the mounting Cuban Missile Crisis
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Prisoner of the Inquisition
Author: Theresa Breslin
Publisher: Corgi Children's
Interest age: 12+
Reading age: 11+Zarita, only daughter of the town magistrate, lives a life of wealth and privilege
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VIII
Author: H M Castor
Publisher: Templar Publishing
Interest age: 12-13
Reading age: 11+This outstanding young adult novel tells the story of Henry VIII, from his earliest days as precocious young Prince Hal, right up until his death
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Velvet
Author: Mary Hooper
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Interest age: 12-13
Reading age: 12+This novel engagingly depicts the Victorian fascination with spiritualism and also paints a vivid picture of life for a working class girl in this era
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Code Name Verity
Author: Elizabeth Wein
Publisher: Electric Monkey
Interest age: 14+
Reading age: 14+Two young women become unlikely best friends during WWII, until one is captured by the Gestapo...
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A World Between Us
Author: Lydia Syson
Publisher: Hot Key Books
Interest age: 13-16
Reading age: 14+Spirited young nurse Felix shakes off her restrictive family to follow her heart and her political convictions to Spain to support the Republican cause in the Spanish Civil War.
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The Quietness
Author: Alison Rattle
Publisher: Hot Key Books
Interest age: 14+
Reading age: 14+Growing up in Victorian London, Queenie and Ellen lead very different lives, but they find themselves drawn together in dark and dangerous circumstances.
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Wild Boy
Author: Rob Lloyd Jones
Publisher: Walker Books
Interest age: 9+
Reading age: 9+In 1840s London, Wild Boy leads a miserable life in a travelling freak show. Treated as a monster and excluded from society, he develops an unusual talent for observation.
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The Jade Boy
Author: Cate Cain
Publisher: Templar
Interest age: 9+
Reading age: 10+What is Count Cazalon's sinister plan - and can Jem and his friends stop him?
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Sawbones
Author: Catherine Johnson
Publisher: Walker Books
Interest age: 11+
Reading age: 11+In 18th century London, 16-year-old Ezra is working as apprentice to a highly respected surgeon, William McAdam.
