Anonymous wrote:DS (13) is trying to find a good history book to read over the thanksgiving break. He says he too old for the “who was/is” series and has tried some historial graphic novels but hasn’t found an author he likes. Very open to anytime in history. Thoughts/ recommendations?

There is a series of books modified for Young Adults - Unbroken and Boys in the Boat come to mind.

Anonymous wrote:Between Shades of Gray, by Ruta Sepetys. A historical fiction novel about a Lithuanian family deported to Siberia based on the author’s family and friends’ lived experiences under Soviet occupation. A New York Times bestseller and also made into a movie (Amazon) Ashes in the Snow.

I read this with my teen - very enlightening.

Has your child read the Graphic Novel Trilogy March?

Alls Quiet on the Western Front

Between Shades of Gray, by Ruta Sepetys. A historical fiction novel about a Lithuanian family deported to Siberia based on the author’s family and friends’ lived experiences under Soviet occupation. A New York Times bestseller and also made into a movie (Amazon) Ashes in the Snow.

Devotion

The Family Romanov

There's a graphic novel called Berlin by Jason Lutes that is incredible, if you'd like to lean the graphic novel way.
When I was about that age, maybe a little older, I read The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich. Loved it. Still one of my Top 20 of all time. Gave it it to my ~14 yo DS and he loved it too.

Has he read the Diary of Anne Frank? Or anything by Chaim Potok? Those books deal with important historical, social, moral and personal themes — through the eyes of teens.

Take that kid to the library and let him wander! That’s prime wandering around the library by yourself and finding your own niche age.

Avi might seem young but I enjoyed True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle (and Johnny Tremain).

If he's open to historical fiction with a twist of fantasy then he should look at Guy Gavriel Kay-- like Lions of Al-Rassan. His books are 80% accurate historical fiction but the names of places are slightly changed and there is room for non-historical elements.

Daughter of Time is a mystery novel by Josephine Tey which is basically about solving the murder of the princes in the tower.

Don't KNow Much About History by Kenneth C. Davis

Not exactly history, but he might try:

biographies

fiction written in other time periods that would provide a contemporaneous view of history - Mark Twain, Laura Ingalls Wilder, Louisa May Alcott, Robert Louis Stevenson, etc.

historical fiction and time-travel fiction.
He might like Victory by Susan Cooper

Have you looked on the reading lists for colleges and high schools (summer programs in particular)?

An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States for Young People, by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz

George Takei's graphic memoir of his time in the Japanese internment camps or John Lewis's graphic memoir March.

Jacqueline Hartman, Troublemaker for Justice (a bio of Bayard Rustin)

Steve Sheinkin, Undefeated: Jim Thorpe and the Carlisle Indian School Football Team

K. R. Gaddy, Flowers in the Gutter

Has he read Nathan Hale? (might be a too young for him though).
https://www.amazon.com/Nathan-Hale/

Or Joe Giorello?
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09ZSDJKQQ/

DS (13) is trying to find a good history book to read over the thanksgiving break. He says he too old for the “who was/is” series and has tried some historial graphic novels but hasn’t found an author he likes. Very open to anytime in history. Thoughts/ recommendations?