20 of the best historical fiction books for tweens & teens

For this post, we've scoured our shelves and carefully selected 20 of the best (and our personal favorite) historical fiction books for tweens & teens! Whether you love sweet stories from the 19th century or prefer a thrilling revolutionary-era tale, we think that every reader will find something new to enjoy in this list! 

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A's Favorites:

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They Loved to Laugh
By: Kathryn Worth
Time Period: 1830's​
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They Loved to Laugh is a moving story about Martitia, an orphaned teen, who goes to live with a strange family. While she's there, Martitia has to learn how to take care of herself, how to stand up to criticism, and how to laugh. This is an incredible, sweet book - I think  you’ll enjoy it! 



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The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle
By: Avi
Time Period: 1830's
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f you love historical fiction, murder, and mysteries, then the True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle is for you! Told by a teenage girl sailing to America in the 1830s, this book will hold you captive from the first to the last page. ​



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A Long Way From Chicago
By: Richard Peck
Time Period: 1930's
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Mary Alice is a quiet, happy high schooler from Chicago during the Great Depression. However, the depression hits her family hard, and Mary Alice is dismissed to a small Illinois town to live with her formidable grandma Dowdel. Will Mary and Grandma survive the next year together? You'll have to read this funny book to find out! 


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Little Women
By: Louisa May Alcott
Time Period: 1860's
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Little Women is a charming book about 4 teen sisters growing up together during the civil war. The book talks all about their adventures, new friendships, and hard lessons learned. It is a wonderful read for girls of almost any age! 

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​Photo courtesy of penguinrandomhouse.com

Homesick
By: Jean Fritz
Time Period: 1920's
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Homesick is a fictional tale, based on truth, about the author’s childhood in China. She vividly describes meeting and losing friends and always longing for America - a land she has never seen, but always loved. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this! 



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Escape into the Night 
By: Lois Walfrid Johnson
Time Period: 1850's
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Do you love adventure and history? If so, the incredibly thrilling book Escape Into the Night is for you! It’s all about a riverboat captain’s daughter who discovers a young runaway slave on the boat. Will she hide him, or let him be discovered? You’ll have to find out yourself! 



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Leyla: The Black Tulip
By: Alev Lytle Croutier
Time Period: 1720's
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Leyla: The Black Tulip is about a young woman who becomes a servant in a Turkish Harem.  It’s a very interesting, eye-opening tale of  time periods and cultures that are very different from ours, and I would strongly recommend it!



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Like a River
By: Kathy Cannon Wiechman
Time Period: 1860's
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​Like A River is told from the point of view of two different characters, and it will open your eyes to some of the realities of the civil war. It is one of the most interesting, un-put-downable books I read this year! ​​

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​B's Favorites:

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Standing in the Light
By: ​Mary Pope Osborne
Time Period: 1760's
Rumors have it that Indians are causing trouble in the area. It seems that they haven’t been causing too much trouble, but when a girl and her brother go missing, can they escape?


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Intruders at Rivermead Manor
By: ​Kathryn Reiss
Time Period: 1930's
If you would ask any of Kit's friends to describe her, they would say that she was curious, happy, and always in on the scoop. After all, she was a junior reporter. Now, all of her characteristics have to be used ifs he wants to solve the Mystery at Rivermead Manor. 


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​Photo courtsey of Amazon.com

My Name is America: The Journal of James Edmond Pease
By: Jim Murphy
Time Period: 1860's
John Edmond Pease Reporting for duty! This boy is running from his rough past (and his cruel guardians) as he signs up to fight in the civil war.


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Photo courtesy of barnesandnoble.com

Cleopatra VII
By: ​Kristiana Gregory
Time Period:  ​57 B.C.
Read the thoughts of Egypt’s most famous queen as she tells you all her secrets. Discover the many twists that make her life so interesting!

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Hardy Boys: The Secret of the Lost Tunnel
By: ​Franklin W. Dixon
Time Period:  1930's
In this addition of the series about the boy detectives, Frank and Joe stumble on to the trail of hidden gold. Can they find it before their efforts get sabotaged?
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Color Me Dark
By: Patricia McKissack 
Time Period:  1910's
This is the diary of Nellie Love. She is a colored girl who has been witnessing the bad treatment of people of her color. Nellie is very determined to change that.
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Nancy Drew: The Hidden Window Mystery
By: Carolyn Keene
Time Period:  1930's
Nancy Drew has had a knack for sniffing out mystery, but this one seems to seek her out. It all starts with a mysterious newspaper ad that advertises a reward for information on a window that has been missing. Yes, I said a window.

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​Books We Both Love:

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Dust of Eden
By: Mariko Nagai
Time Period: 1940's
​Dust of Eden will make you gasp and cry at the same time. It is a very short book told through poems, and is about a young girl and her family  World War II. It is emotional and absolutely beautiful - we would totally reccomend reading it! 
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Johnny Tremain
By: Esther Forbes
Time Period: 1770's
Meet Johnny, a striving silversmith who is thirsty for adventure. Unfortunately, Johnny has a bad hand, but he tries to keep that from hindering him.


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Anne of Green Gables
By: L.M. Montgomery
Time Period: 1870's
If you have a good imagination you will fit right in with Anne Shirley. Red-headed Anne takes on the world with her imagination and spunk.
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The Mystery of the Clockwork Sparrow
By: ​Katherine Woodfine
Time Period: 1910's​
This is a MUST READ! Join Lil, Sophie, Joe and Billy as they sip tea and stop London’s most notorious villains.

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Photo courtesy of katherinewoodfine.co.uk

Peril in Paris
By: ​Katherine Woodfine
Time Period: 1910's
Peril in Paris is the first book in a follow-up series to the Mystery of the Clockwork Sparrow. Join Sophie and Lil on their first undercover mission, where they must use their wits in an exciting, sophisticated city abroad. ​​
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Thank you so much for joining us! We hope that you found some books that you will absolutely love. 
With Love,
​A & B

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