The Blackbird Girls

By Anne Blankman

On a spring morning, neighbors Valentina Kaplan and Oksana Savchenko wake up to an angry red sky. A reactor at the nuclear power plant where their fathers work--Chernobyl--has exploded. Before they know it, the two girls, who've always been enemies, find themselves on a train bound for Leningrad to stay with Valentina's estranged grandmother, Rita Grigorievna. In their new lives in Leningrad, they begin to learn what it means to trust another person. Oksana must face the lies her parents told her all her life. Valentina must keep her grandmother's secret, one that could put all their lives in danger. And both of them discover something they've wished for: a best friend. But how far would you go to save your best friend's life? Would you risk your own?

• Historical Fiction - set in Ukraine & Russia in 1980s and 1940s
• Social Issues - Prejudice & Discrimination
• Awards: National Jewish Book Award Winner, Sydney Taylor Award Honor Book

Blackbird Girls

Blackbird Girls
by Anne Blankman

After the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster, Valentina and Oksana, who are enemies at school, are evacuated to safety in Leningrad, Russia, with Valentina's grandmother. They learn to trust one another as we learn painful family stories from the present and the past.

Lifeboat 12

Lifeboat 12
by Susan Hood

A group of British children, their escorts, and some sailors struggle to survive in a lifeboat when the ship taking them to safety in Canada is torpedoed by a German submarine during World War II. Historical fiction, told in verse.

The Inquisitor's Tale: Or, the Three Magical Children and Their Holy Dog

By Adam Gidwitz

On a dark night in 1242, travelers from across France cross paths at an inn and begin to tell stories of three unusual children and their adventures with history, prophesies, and a greyhound brought back from the dead.

Lucky Broken Girl

By Ruth Behar

In 1960s New York, fifth-grader Ruthie, a Cuban Jewish immigrant, must rely on books, art, her family, and friends in her multicultural neighborhood when an automobile accident puts her in a body cast for months.

A Death-Struck Year

By Makiia Lucier

When the Spanish influenza epidemic reaches Portland, Oregon, in 1918, seventeen-year-old Cleo leaves behind the comfort of her boarding school to work for the Red Cross.

Salt to the Sea

By Ruta Sepetys

As World War II draws to a close, refugees try to escape the war's final dangers, only to find themselves aboard a ship with a target on its hull.

The Seventh Most Important Thing

By Shelley Pearsall

In 1963, 13-year-old Arthur is sentenced to community service helping the neighborhood Junk Man after Arthur throws a brick at the old man's head in a moment of rage, but the junk he collects might be more important than he suspects.

Arcady's Goal

By Eugene Yelchin

When twelve-year-old Arcady is sent to a children's home after his parents are declared enemies of the state in Soviet Russia, soccer becomes a way to secure extra food, respect, and protection, but it may also be his way out if he can believe in himself.

Some Kind of Courage

By Dan Gemeinhart

In 1890 Washington the only family Joseph Johnson has left is his half-wild Indian pony, Sarah, so when she is sold by a man who has no right to do so, Joseph sets out to get her back--and he plans to let nothing stop him in his quest.

Chasing Secrets

By Gennifer Choldenko

Thirteen-year-old Lizzie and her secret friend Noah, who is hiding in her house, plan to rescue Noah's father from the quarantined Chinatown, and save everyone they love from contracting the plague that is spreading in 1900 San Francisco.

Full Cicada Moon

By Marilyn Hilton

In 1969 twelve-year-old Mimi and her family move to an all-white town in Vermont, where Mimi's mixed-race background and interest in "boyish" topics like astronomy make her feel like an outsider.

Zane and the Hurricane

By Rodman Philbrick

A twelve-year-old boy and his dog become trapped in New Orleans during the horrors of Hurricane Katrina.

The War That Saved My Life

By Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

A young disabled girl and her brother are evacuated from London to the English countryside during World War II, where they find life to be much sweeter away from their abusive mother.

King of the Mound: My Summer with Satchel Paige

By Wes Tooke

Twelve-year-old Nick loves baseball so after a year in the hospital fighting polio and with a brace on one leg, Nick takes a job with the team for which his father is catcher and gets to see the great pitcher, Satchel Paige, play during the 1935 season.

Prisoner of Night and Fog

By Anne Blankman

In 1930s Munich, the favorite niece of rising political leader Adolph Hitler is torn between duty and love after meeting a fearless and handsome young Jewish reporter. Sequel: Conspiracy of Blood and Smoke.

Navigating Early

By Clare Vanderpool

At the end of World War II, Jack Baker is suddenly sent after his mother's death from the plains of Kansas to a boys' boarding school in Maine. There, Jack encounters Early Auden, the strangest of boys, who reads the number pi as a story and collects clippings about the sightings of a great black bear in the nearby mountains.

90 Miles to Havana

By Enrique Flores-Galbis

Julian and his two brothers are sent by their parents to Miami, as part of the "Pedro Pan" operation, from the dangerous streets of Havana, Cuba, where violence and revolution threaten everyday life. But when the boys get to Florida, they are thrown into a world where bullies seem to run rampant and it's not always clear how best to protect themselves without their parents there to help.

The Rock and the River

By Kekla Magoon

14-year-old Sam is caught in a conflict between his father, who advocates a nonviolent approach to seeking civil rights for African Americans, and his older brother, who has joined the more extreme Black Panther Party. Sam and his friends experience first hand the impact of racism on their community and the police in the explosive environment of 1968 Chicago.

Okay For Now

By Gary D. Schmidt

14-year-old Doug has just moved from New York city to a small town upstate. His oldest brother's serving in Vietnam, his other brother makes his life miserable, and his dad is either at work or making life miserable at home. He fights against the perception he's just a "skinny thug," finding refuge with some unlikely friends and by saving an old book of valuable illustrations.