Books about World War II for teens

Duty Calls: Dunkirk

The Second World War has inspired many stories, and told the stories of many people over the years. These books for teenagers take a variety of different approaches to representing the events of World War II.

Books about WWII for children

  • Code Name Verity

    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...

  • Code Name Kingfisher

    Code Name Kingfisher

    Author: Liz Kessler
    Publisher: Simon & Schuster
    Interest age: 9-11
    Reading age: 9+

    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.

  • Between Shades of Gray

    Between Shades of Gray

    Author: Ruta Sepetys
    Publisher: Puffin
    Interest age: 14+
    Reading age: 14+

    Set in 1941, Between Shades of Grey is an extraordinary and haunting story based on first-hand family accounts and memories from survivors.

  • White Bird

    White Bird

    Author: R J Palacio
    Publisher: Penguin
    Interest age: 12-16
    Reading age: 9+

    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. 

  • That Burning Summer

    That Burning Summer

    Author: Lydia Syson
    Publisher: Hot Key
    Interest age: 13-14
    Reading age: 13+

    In the long hot summer of 1940, planes are doing battle over the channel, and the south coast of England is braced for a German invasion.

  • Duty Calls: Battle of Britain

    Duty Calls: Battle of Britain

    Author: James Holland
    Publisher: Puffin Books
    Interest age: 11+
    Reading age: 11+

    It's the Battle of Britain and 19-year-old pilot officer Archie Jackson is in control of the RAF's newest fighter aircraft, a Supermarine Spitfire.

  • Duty Calls: Dunkirk

    Duty Calls: Dunkirk

    Author: James Holland
    Publisher: Puffin Books
    Interest age: 12+
    Reading age: 9+

    The exciting story of a teenage recruit who finds himself caught up in the evacuation of troops from Dunkirk in 1940.

  • Hero on a Bicycle

    Hero on a Bicycle

    Author: Shirley Hughes
    Publisher: Walker Books
    Interest age: 11+
    Reading age: 11+

    The first novel from much-loved author and illustrator Shirley Hughes is a thrilling and moving story about a boy and his bicycle, set against a dramatic background of war-torn Italy

  • An image of the cover of The Children of Willesden Lane by Mona Golabek and Lee Cohen

    The Children of Willesden Lane

    Author: Mona Golabek and Lee Cohen
    Publisher: Hachette
    Interest age: 11-14
    Reading age: 12+

    Aspiring concert pianist Lisa Jura is just 14 when she is forced to leave Germany behind and travel to England on the Kindertransport. Told by her daughter Mona, it's an eye-opening insight into life as a young refugee during World War Two.

  • When the World Was Ours

    When the World Was Ours

    Author: Liz Kessler
    Publisher: Simon & Schuster
    Interest age: 12-15
    Reading age: 12+

    Elsa, Max, and Leo are three friends who live in Vienna - but as Hitler's rise to power begins to cast a shadow over Europe, they find themselves torn in different directions. This moving and well researched book about the holocaust is only suitable for readers 12+.