Reviews by Category: Historical Fiction

Teen Review
The Plague by Albert Camus

The Plague

By Albert Camus
Star Rating
★★★★

Rated by
R. Antao
Apr 1, 2025

Doctor Bernard Rieux, a well known doctor in the French-Algerian city of Oran, begins to notice a pattern of rats falling dead in the streets. He is unaware of its importance until the concierge of his building dies following a strange fever. Concerned by the unrecognizable symptoms, Dr. Rieux calls a meeting where it is decided that the symptoms match those of the Bubonic Plague. After the city is put under lockdown, Dr. Rieux must learn how to navigate a confined world where the lives of the people are in his hands. 

Teen Review
Prisoner B-3087 by Alan Gratz

Prisoner B-3087

By Alan Gratz
Star Rating
★★★★★

Rated by
Alex
Apr 1, 2025

Prisoner B-3087 by Alan Gratz is a powerful novel based on the true story of Jack Gruener, a Jewish boy who survived the horrors of the Holocaust. The story follows Yanek, a young boy whose life is shattered when the Nazis invade Poland. As he is forced from his home and taken through ten different concentration camps, he endures unimaginable cruelty, starvation and loss. Despite everything, Yanek refuses to give up hope, clinging to the promise of survival.

Teen Review
The Book Thief book cover

The Book Thief

By Markus Zusak
Star Rating
★★★★★

Rated by
Tristan Jenkins
Mar 30, 2025

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak is one of the most powerful stories that I have read. Taking place during the Holocaust, this book’s depth is immediately apparent (as is any story in the face of such a great tragedy.) The story centers around a girl named Liesel, who loses her family at the novel’s opening, and thus finds herself in the care of the Huberman family. The Huberman family provides Liesel with a new warmth that had been lacking previously in her life–they represent, for her, a true family.

Teen Review
The Devil’s Arithmetic by Jane Yolen

The Devil’s Arithmetic

By Jane Yolen
Star Rating
★★★★

Rated by
Owen
Mar 30, 2025

The Devil’s Arithmetic is a novel written by Jane Yolen. It begins with Hannah Stern, a 12 year old Jewish girl from current day New Rochelle, celebrating Passover with her relatives. Suddenly, Hannah is transported to 1941, where she is mistaken for a girl named Chaya. Hannah and the other Jewish people in her village are then tricked into going to a Nazi concentration camp. Hannah and her new friends go through all kinds of torture and eventually can’t take it anymore.

Teen Review
The Book Thief book cover

The Book Thief

By Markus Zusak
Star Rating
★★★★★

Rated by
Tristan J.
Mar 27, 2025

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak is one of the most powerful stories that I have read. Taking place during the Holocaust, this book’s depth is immediately apparent (as is any story in the face of such a great tragedy.) The story centers around a girl named Liesel, who loses her family at the novel’s opening, and thus finds herself in the care of the Huberman family. The Huberman family provides Liesel with a new warmth that had been lacking previously in her life–they represent, for her, a true family.

Teen Review
The Button War by Avi

The Button War

By Avi
Star Rating
★★★★★

Rated by
Anonymous
Mar 22, 2025

The Button War by Avi is a historical fiction novel set in Poland during World War I, focusing on a group of boys who engage in a competition involving the collection of the buttons of soldiers. The story follows the protagonist, a boy named Patryk, as he experiences the war among countries as well as among his friends. The Button War has themes of loyalty, ambition, the destructive nature of war and the loss of innocence.

Teen Review
I Must Betray You

I Must Betray You

By Ruta Sepetys
Star Rating
★★★★★

Rated by
Taylor Jenson
Mar 20, 2025

I Must Betray You by Ruta Sepetys is a book that really tugs on your heartstrings. It follows Cristian Florescu, a 17-year-old boy who lives in Romania when it was still behind the iron curtain. He lives in a Romania where you have no privacy and your loved ones could be spying on you and reporting back to higher authorities. A Romania where if you step out of line or break a single rule, you could be sent away forever.

Teen Review
Days of Infamy by Harry Turtledove

Days of Infamy

By Harry Turtledove
Star Rating
★★★★

Rated by
Anonymous
Mar 17, 2025

Harry Turtledove's Days of Infamy is an action-packed alternate history novel that presents a chilling "what if" scenario of a successful Japanese invasion of Hawaii following the attack on Pearl Harbor. The novel vividly portrays the chaos and terror that engulf the islands as Japanese forces occupy and attempt to control the local population.

Teen Review
Give Me Back My Legions! by Harry Turtledove

Give Me Back My Legions!

By Harry Turtledove
Star Rating
★★★★

Rated by
Anonymous
Mar 17, 2025

Harry Turtledove's Give Me Back My Legions! is an action-packed historical novel set in an alternate timeline where the Roman Empire never fully conquered the Germanic tribes. The plot centers on the dramatic clash between the Roman legions, led by the historical figure Publius Quinctilius Varus, and the Germanic coalition, led by Arminius, in the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest.

Teen Review
Hitler's War by Harry Turtledove

Hitler's War

By Harry Turtledove
Star Rating
★★★★

Rated by
Anonymous
Mar 17, 2025

Harry Turtledove's Hitler's War is an action-packed entry in the World War series, continuing the gripping alternate history where aliens invade Earth during World War II. This installment delves deeper into the global conflict, showcasing humanity's ongoing struggle against the technologically superior Race.

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