Historical Fiction Book Clubs

A series of linked stories explores the lifelong effects of trauma on a platoon of soldiers during and after the Vietnam War.

During a Passover Seder, 12-year-old Hannah is mysteriously transported from 1980s New York to Poland during World War II. When Hannah is forced into a concentration camp, her survival depends on understanding the depraved arithmetic the Nazis use to keep track of their prisoners.

"Stop! Thief!" are the words often shouted at him, so a young orphan takes that as his name as he struggles to survive in Warsaw during World War II.

When the Watson family pays Grandma a visit in Alabama, they find themselves caught up in the battle for civil rights.

Based on the true story of Navajo code talkers, this novel recounts the exploits of Ned Begay, a sixteen-year-old Navajo soldier in World War II. Ned's language skills prove to be invaluable as the Americans work to send secret messages to help them in their fight.

An unflinching look at the brutality of the American slave trade, Draper's novel tells the story of Amari, a young African girl who is enslaved.

Mattie Cook's simple life in Philadelphia is shattered when an epidemic of yellow fever rages through the city in the summer of 1793. Attempting to flee with her grandfather, Mattie finds that escaping disaster won't be so simple.

In this thought-provoking exploration of bias and injustice, a twelve-year-old boy meets the ghost of Emmett Till (an African-American teen who was lynched in 1955) in the afterlife.

Liesel Meminger is a foster child living in Nazi Germany in 1939. Surrounded by violence, hardship, and war, Liesel is watched over by Death, who narrates her story.

This historical novel follows Sun-hee and her brother Tae-yul as their family grapples with political change, prejudice, and war during the Japanese occupation of Korea.

In 1947, British India was divided into two separate and independent countries: India, a mostly Hindu nation, and Pakistan, a predominantly Muslim nation. The partition leaves Nisha, a girl with both Hindu and Muslim heritage, without a clear place to call home. She and her family must make a treacherous journey to try to find a safe haven in a country rocked by turmoil and violence.

While spending the summer at her grandmother's house in Lambert, South Carolina, Candice finds an intriguing old letter in the attic. She joins forces with a neighbor to follow the clues in the letter and find a hidden treasure — but solving the mystery means uncovering past injustices in Lambert.

A horse named Joey fights on the battlefield during World War I — but longs to reunite with the boy who raised him.

This novel traces five generations of a single family from their enslavement on a plantation through contemporary times.