It’s no secret that historical fiction is a love of mine. It’s the primary way my kids were exposed to history. I especially loved the teen years because I could chose books that interested both myself and them! This is a collection of World War Two Books for Teens (both younger and older) that you won’t want to miss! It includes so many of my favorites that I read with my teens.
World War Two Books for Teens
World War Two is one of the most written about topics in history. It involved so many countries and on so many fronts. Every year there are tons of books for both young and old written during WW2 times. I for one know that my Goodreads Tab for WW2 contains many more books than any other period in history.
WWII Books for Younger Teens
1. The Boy in Striped Pajamas by John Boyne- Berlin, 1942: When Bruno returns home from school one day, he discovers that his belongings are being packed in crates. His father has received a promotion and the family must move to a new house far, far away, where there is no one to play with and nothing to do. A tall fence stretches as far as the eye can see and cuts him off from the strange people in the distance.
But Bruno longs to be an explorer and decides that there must be more to this desolate new place than meets the eye. While exploring his new environment, he meets another boy whose life and circumstances are very different from his own, and their meeting results in a friendship that has devastating consequences.
2/3. The War That Saved My Life (and it’s sequel The War I Finally Won) by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley – Ten-year-old Ada has never left her one-room apartment. Her mother is too humiliated by Ada’s twisted foot to let her outside. So when her little brother Jamie is shipped out of London to escape the war, Ada doesn’t waste a minute—she sneaks out to join him.
So begins a new adventure for Ada, and for Susan Smith, the woman who is forced to take the two kids in. As Ada teaches herself to ride a pony, learns to read, and watches for German spies, she begins to trust Susan—and Susan begins to love Ada and Jamie. But in the end, will their bond be enough to hold them together through wartime? Or will Ada and her brother fall back into the cruel hands of their mother?
Ada’s saga continues in The War I Finally Won, when Ada awakes from surgery on her club foot, the news that greets her will change the course of her life. Doors that her mother had shut tightly are swinging open—
4. Number the Stars by Lois Lowry – Through the eyes of ten-year-old Annemarie, we watch as the Danish Resistance smuggles almost the entire Jewish population of Denmark, nearly seven thousand people, across the sea to Sweden. The heroism of an entire nation reminds us that there was pride and human decency in the world even during a time of terror and war.
5. White Bird: A Wonder Story (graphic novel) by R. J. Palacio – In R. J. Palacio’s bestselling collection of stories Auggie & Me, which expands on characters in Wonder, readers were introduced to Julian’s grandmother, Grandmère. Here, Palacio makes her graphic novel debut with Grandmère’s heartrending story: how she, a young Jewish girl, was hidden by a family in a Nazi-occupied French village during World War II; how the boy she and her classmates once shunned became her savior and best friend.
NOTE: Although fiction, this graphic novel features a helpful glossary referencing the historical events and people upon which it is based.
6. Lost in the Pacific, 1942: Not a Drop to Drink by Tod Olson – World War II, October 21, 1942. A B-17 bomber drones high over the Pacific Ocean, sending a desperate SOS into the air. The crew is carrying America’s greatest living war hero on a secret mission deep into the battle zone. But the plane is lost, burning through its final gallons of fuel. At 1:30 p.m., there is only one choice left: an emergency landing at sea. If the crew survives the impact, they will be left stranded without food or water hundreds of miles from civilization. Eight men. Three inflatable rafts. Sixty-eight million square miles of ocean. What will it take to make it back alive?
7. Bomb: The Race to Build–and Steal–the World’s Most Dangerous Weapon by Steve Sheinkin – In December of 1938, a chemist in a German laboratory made a shocking discovery: When placed next to radioactive material, a Uranium atom split in two. That simple discovery launched a scientific race that spanned three continents.
In Great Britain and the United States, Soviet spies worked their way into the scientific community; in Norway, a commando force slipped behind enemy lines to attack German heavy-water manufacturing; and deep in the desert, one brilliant group of scientists was hidden away at a remote site at Los Alamos. This is the story of the plotting, the risk-taking, the deceit, and genius that created the world’s most formidable weapon. This is the story of the atomic bomb.
8. They Called Us Enemy: Expanded Edition by George Takei, Justin Eisinger, Steven Scott, and Harmony Becker – featuring historical documents, scripts, sketches, photos, and more! They Called Us Enemy is Takei’s firsthand account of those years behind barbed wire, the terrors and small joys of childhood in the shadow of legalized racism, his mother’s hard choices, his father’s tested faith in democracy, and the way those experiences planted the seeds for his astonishing future.
9. I Escaped WWII Pearl Harbor by Scott Peters and Ellie Crowe – 15-year-old Billy embarks on a perilous journey to save his father during the World War Two assault on Pearl Harbor. Initially dismissed as a mere drill, the reality quickly dawns on Billy and his family. The island of Oahu is under attack! Worse, his dad is down there on the USS Oklahoma, laid up in the sick bay with two broken legs. He’ll never be able to escape on his own. But what can Billy do? He’s just a kid and he’s way out of his element. Still, he has to act. Braving a hail of gunfire, Billy navigates his way to the harbor, boards a rescue vessel, and daringly ascends the rapidly sinking Oklahoma battleship. In the chaos below deck, he finds his injured father, setting the stage for a dramatic rescue.
WW2 Books for Older Teens
1. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak – When Death has a story to tell, you listen.
It is 1939. Nazi Germany. The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier, and will become busier still. Liesel Meminger is a foster girl living outside of Munich, who scratches out a meager existence for herself by stealing when she encounters something she can’t resist–books. With the help of her accordion-playing foster father, she learns to read and shares her stolen books with her neighbors during bombing raids as well as with the Jewish man hidden in her basement.
2. Maus by Art Spiegelman – A brutally moving work of art—widely hailed as the greatest graphic novel ever written—Maus recounts the chilling experiences of the author’s father during the Holocaust, with Jews drawn as wide-eyed mice and Nazis as menacing cats.
Maus is a haunting tale within a tale, weaving the author’s account of his tortured relationship with his aging father into an astonishing retelling of one of history’s most unspeakable tragedies. It is an unforgettable story of survival and a disarming look at the legacy of trauma.
3. The Diary of Anne Frank by Anne Frank – Discovered in the attic where she spent the last years of her life, Anne Frank’s remarkable diary has become a world classic—a powerful reminder of the horrors of war and an eloquent testament to the human spirit.
4. Night by Elie Wiesel – offers much more than a litany of the daily terrors, everyday perversions, and rampant sadism at Auschwitz and Buchenwald; it also eloquently addresses many of the philosophical as well as personal questions implicit in any serious consideration of what the Holocaust was, what it meant, and what its legacy is and will be.
5. Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein – Code Name Verity is a visceral read of danger, resolve, and survival that shows just how far true friends will go to save each other. This updated edition features a brand-new short story, essay from the author, a discussion guide, and more.
6. We Are Not Free by Traci Chee – the collective account of a tight-knit group of young Nisei, second-generation Japanese American citizens, whose lives are irrevocably changed by the mass U.S. incarcerations of World War II.
Non-Fiction World War 2 Books
1. World War II: An Interactive History Adventure (You Choose: History) – Everything in this book happened to real people. And YOU CHOOSE what side you’re on and what you do next. The choices you make could lead you to survival or to death.
2. World War II for Kids: A History with 21 Activities – excerpts from actual wartime letters written to and by American and German troops, personal anecdotes from people who lived through the war in the United States, Germany, Britain, Russia, Hungary, and Japan, and gripping stories from Holocaust survivors—all adding a humanizing global perspective to the war.
These 21 activities show children how it felt to live through this monumental period in history. Kids can:
• play a rationing game or try the butter extender recipe to understand the everyday sacrifices of rationing goods
• try their hands at military strategy in coastal defense, break a military code, and play a latitude-longitude tracking game
• interview a veteran to help preserve the memories of one of our country’s greatest generations
And much more!
3. World War II: Visual Encyclopedia (DK Children’s Visual Encyclopedias) – shows children the causes, battles, people, and aftermath, while cutting-edge CGI technology brings infamous events back to life. Learn about weaponry, tanks, ships, aircraft, campaigns, and military strategies. Read firsthand accounts of major campaigns and battles throughout the war. Uncover hundreds of biographies of wartime leaders and brave soldiers who served on the battlefields. Find out how technological advances influenced the final outcome.
Key information is available at a glance, alongside data boxes, facts and stats, and inspiring quotations. From the fastest fighter plane to the longest battle, you’ll discover everything you ever wanted to know, and much, much more.
4. WWII Military Airplanes Coloring Book For Kids – What a cool way to explore the aircraft used in WW2!
5. Remember World War II: Kids Who Survived Tell Their Stories – allows readers to understand the war not as seen through the eyes of soldiers but through the eyes of children who survived the bombings, the blackouts, the hunger, the fear, and the loss of loved ones caused by the war. The author shares her own recollections of being able to see the faces of Japanese pilots as they headed for the naval base at Pearl Harbor to drop their deadly bombs on unsuspecting American ships and soldiers, then shares her feelings at having to leave her father behind as the rest of the family is evacuated to the U.S. mainland.
6. Uprooted: The Japanese American Experience During World War II – takes a close look at the history of racism in America and carefully follows the treacherous path that led one of our nation’s most beloved presidents to make this decision. Meanwhile, it also illuminates the history of Japan and its own struggles with racism and xenophobia, which led to the bombing of Pearl Harbor, ultimately tying the two countries together.
More American History Resources
Our Favorite American History Resources – this is a collection of our TCC authors most favorite resources for teaching American History in your homeschool.
Our Favorite Historical Fiction World War II Book Reviews – (written by Meredith Henning) We tend to focus on specific historical time periods in our homeschool and the historical fiction associated with the time surrounding and leading up to World War II carry much interest with my gang. We’ve read some great historical fiction over the years and I’d like to share some of our favorites with you!
7 American History Homeschool Lessons Your Kids Will Love – (written by Erin at YouAreAnArtist) Are you looking for fun ways to incorporate American history homeschool lessons? Maybe you already have a history curriculum, but you’re looking for ways to make it more hands-on and engaging. Chalk pastels may be just what you need to get your kids to fall in love with history!
Timeline Based Middle School American History – (written by Heidi at StartsAtEight) This is sort a chronology (timeline) meets notebooking meets unit studies with lesson plans laid out over 2 years.
Early American History: A literature approach – (written by Renae Deckard) One of the resources I found at the beginning of our homeschooling was Beautiful Feet Book’s Early American History. I wasn’t sure how to implement the Principle Approach philosophy, but this curriculum was a good introduction.
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