History For Teens

Hattie Owen prefers to be steeped in the familiarity of her small-town life than to think about the vast world beyond her own. Her family's boarding house is where she feels most at home, with its eccentric tenants and predictable routines, so different from the controlling and repressive home of her well-to-do grandparents who live nearby.

If your best friend is named Huckleberry Finn, and there's a girl in your life named Becky Thatcher, a villain named Injun Joe, and you and your friends get into all kinds of mischief and adventures, then you must be that ever-lovin' charmer from Missouri, Tom Sawyer!

Marion Blumenthal Lazan's unforgettable memoir recalls the devastating years that shaped her childhood. Following Hitler's rise to power, the Blumenthal family - father, mother, Marion, and her brother, Albert - were trapped in Nazi Germany. They managed eventually to get to Holland, but soon thereafter it was occupied by the Nazis. For the next six and a half years the Blumenthals were forced to live in refugee, transit, and prison camps that included Westerbork in Holland and the notorious Bergen-Belsen in Germany.

Captured by slave traders when only 15, At-mun never forgot his roots as a prince. Nor did he ever lose his princely dignity and the courage to hold his head high. Sold at auction in America and haunted by the memory of his young sister left behind in Africa, At-mun, now Amos, began his long march to freedom. He dreamed of being free and of buying the freedom of his closest friends.

Anita de la Torre never questioned her freedom living in the Dominican Republic. But by her 12th birthday in 1960, most of her relatives have emigrated to the United States, her Tío Toni has disappeared without a trace, and the government’s secret police terrorize her remaining family because of their suspected opposition of el Trujillo’s dictatorship.

Sarah Miller's accomplished debut presents a fictionalized account of Anne Sullivan's life and her time as Helen Keller's teacher. Arriving at Ivy Green in 1887, Anne was a partially blind orphan who had been tasked with teaching the difficult blind, deaf, and mute girl to communicate. Anne quickly learned, along with Helen, that "words are a miracle".

John Bunyan, author of Pilgrim's Progress, only mentioned one of his children in his memoirs: Mary. Born blind in 17th-century England, she held a special place in her father's heart. When Mr. Bunyan was arrested for unlawful preaching, young Mary travels the streets of Bedford each day, bringing soup to the prison. She resolves to prove she is independent and not hindered by her blindness. Only when she realizes she needs help does she turn to the Lord, the source of all strength.

Seventeen young adult authors across the queer spectrum have come together to create a collection of beautifully written diverse historical fiction for teens. From a retelling of Little Red Riding Hood set in war-torn 1870s Mexico featuring a transgender soldier, to two girls falling in love while mourning the death of Kurt Cobain, forbidden love in a 16th-century Spanish convent, or an asexual girl discovering her identity amid the 1970s roller-disco scene, All Out tells a diverse range of stories across cultures, time periods and identities, shedding light on an area of history often ignored or forgotten.

The distinguished American civil rights leader, W. E. B. DuBois first published these fiery essays, sketches, and poems individually in 1920 in the Atlantic, the Journal of Race Development, and other periodicals. Reflecting the author's ideas as a politician, historian, and artist, this volume has long moved and inspired readers with its militant cry for social, political, and economic reform. It is essential reading for all students of African American history.

Eleven-year-old Kevin Cartwright can hardly believe his ears when his father, a brave soldier wounded in the Revolutionary War, announces that he is leaving Philadelphia and never coming back. He is heading into the untamed wilderness of New Jersey, where he hopes to find a peaceful place to raise Kevin and his little sister. But in 1783, New Jersey is filled with secret traps and hidden dangers. Before the family has traveled far, Kevin is captured by the mysterious Captain Grey and his murderous band of pirates. These lawless men of the sea say they have killed the boy’s father and sister. Will Kevin be next?

Abducted to 1763, Peter Schock and Kate Dyer begin to understand that history has reached a tipping point. The antigravity machine is in the hands of the cruel and ambitious Lord Luxon -- who has set his sights on the most valuable prize of all: America. He is determined to manipulate time to his advantage, no matter what the cost.

Everyone has heard of Albert Einstein - but what exactly did he do? How much do kids really know about Albert Einstein besides the funny hair and genius label? For instance, do they know that he was expelled from school as a kid? Finally, here's the story of Albert Einstein's life, told in a fun, engaging way that clearly explores the world he lived in and changed.

They say you can't teach an old dog new tricks. But what about relativity? Physics professor Chad Orzel and his inquisitive canine companion, Emmy, tackle the concepts of general relativity in this irresistible introduction to Einstein's physics. Through armchair- and sometimes passenger-seat-conversations with Emmy about the relative speeds of dog and cat motion or the logistics of squirrel-chasing, Orzel translates complex Einsteinian ideas into examples simple enough for a dog to understand.

The Bismark was the greatest warship ever built, with guns so powerful and accurate it could destroy an enemy ship while safely staying outside the line of fire. But the Allies had to sink it...or risk losing the war. William Shirer, famed World War II correspondent and author of The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, captures every suspenseful moment of the perilous mission.

In the mid- to late-19th century, a burgeoning science called electricity promised to shine new light on a rousing nation. Inventive and ambitious minds were hard at work. Soon that spark was fanned, and a war was under way to be the first to light - and run - the world with electricity. Thomas Alva Edison, the inventor of direct current (DC), engaged in a brutal battle with Nikola Tesla and George Westinghouse, the inventors of alternating current (AC). There would be no ties in this race - only a winner and a loser - and the prize was a nationwide monopoly in electric current.

This spirited retelling brings us Shakespeare’s cast of immortal characters with excerpts from the original dialogue told in a way that young listeners can grasp....

Fifteen-year-old Amari witnesses the murder of her family and the destruction of her remote African village. She endures countless humiliations as she is beaten, branded, and forced to board a slave ship. The atrocities continue as she struggles through endless days of backbreaking work and daily degradation on a plantation.

It is 1944. A teenager named Rudolf (Rudi) Vrba has made up his mind. After barely surviving nearly two years in the Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland, he knows he must escape. Even if death is more likely. Rudi has learned the terrible secret hidden behind the heavily guarded fences of concentration camps across Nazi-occupied Europe: the methodical mass killing of Jewish prisoners. As trains full of people arrive daily, Rudi knows that the murders won’t stop until he reveals the truth to the world―and that each day that passes means more lives are lost.

Many years ago, the magical kingdom of Avalon was left desolate and encased in ice when the evil Snow Queen waged war on the powerful country. Its former citizens are now refugees in a world mostly devoid of magic - which is why the crown prince and his protectors are stuck in...Arizona. Prince Alexei, the sole survivor of the Avalon royal family, is in hiding in a town so lame that magic doesn't even work there. Few know his secret identity, but his friend Tala is one of them. Tala has secrets of her own - namely, that she's a spell breaker, someone who negates magic.

Warsaw, 1942. Sixteen-year old Mira smuggles food into the ghetto to keep herself and her family alive. When she discovers that the entire ghetto is to be "liquidated" - killed or "resettled" to concentration camps - she desperately tries to find a way to save her family. She meets a group of young people who are planning the unthinkable: an uprising against the occupying forces. Mira joins the resistance fighters who, with minimal supplies and weapons, end up holding out for 28 days, longer than anyone had thought possible.