Historical Literature For Teens

A match at bowls was being played in which Drake and other high officers of the fleet were engaged, when a small armed vessel was seen running before the wind into Plymouth Harbor, with all sails set. Her commander landed in haste, and eagerly sought the place where the English lord admiral and his captains were standing. He was master of a Scottish privateer, and he told the English officers that he had that morning seen the Spanish Armada off the Cornish coast.

Desperate to flee a political marriage to her cousin, King Richard II's closest advisor, Lord Shiveley - a man twice her age, with shadowy motives - Evangeline runs away and joins a small band of servants journeying back to Glynval, their home village. Pretending to be mute, she gets to know Westley le Wyse, their handsome young leader, who is intrigued by the beautiful servant girl.

Ted Bell's Nick of Time is an epic adventure story starring young Nick McIver, who uses a time machine to rescue two young children taken prisoner by pirates. Along the way, with courageous feats of derring-do, not to mention his resourcefulness, our young hero - "the most reliable boy in England" - changes the course of events in two time periods, the Napoleonic Wars and World War II.

London, 1593. Sixteen-year-old Will Hughes is busy working on Shakespeare’s stage, stuffing his corsets with straw and pretending to be someone else. Offstage, he’s playing a part, too. The son of traitors, Will is desperate to keep his identity secret—or risk being killed in the bloody queen’s imperial schemes. All he wants is to lay low until he earns enough coin to return to his family.

Wren Southerland’s reckless use of magic has cost her everything: She's been dismissed from the Queen’s Guard and separated from her best friend - the girl she loves. So when a letter arrives from a reclusive lord, asking Wren to come to his estate, Colwick Hall, to cure his servant from a mysterious illness, she seizes her chance to redeem herself.

Now well into her apprenticeship with magician Emery Thane, 20-year-old Ceony Twill is continuing to discover the joy of paper magic. She adores bringing her spells to life in surprising ways, from learning the power of distortion to creating a beloved paper dog. And she secretly hopes that the romance she foresaw blossoming between her and the peculiar yet strikingly handsome Emery finally becomes real.

In this exciting retelling of the classic Little Red Riding Hood fairytale, Melanie Dickerson sweeps listeners away into a thrilling adventure and a charming romance.

Fritzi is a witch. A survivor of a brutal attack on her coven, she's determined to find her only surviving family member and bring the hexenjägers—zealot witch hunters—to justice for the lives they ended. To do this, she will need to take down their leader—Kommandant Dieter Kirch. Otto is a hexenjäger and a captain, the second in command to Dieter Kirch—but that's just his cover. Years ago, the hexenjägers burned his innocent mother alive and since then, he has been planning a move against the witch hunters that tore his family apart.

Joy McCullough's bold novel in verse is a portrait of an artist as a young woman, filled with the soaring highs of creative inspiration and the devastating setbacks of a system built to break her. McCullough weaves Artemisia's heartbreaking story with the stories of the ancient heroines, Susanna and Judith, who become not only the subjects of two of Artemisia's most famous paintings but sources of strength as she battles to paint a woman's timeless truth in the face of unspeakable and all-too-familiar violence.

He was called to fulfill a mighty quest, filled with fierce battles. A quest to bring hope to the kingdom. Having narrowly escaped death at the hands of the evil Shadow Warriors, Sir Gavin is given a new name by the Prince to signify his new allegiance to the cause of the one he once swore to kill. Called to share this message to everyone in the land of Arrethtrae, Sir Gavinaugh takes up his sword and embarks on an epic journey.

At only seventeen years old, Ian Kabra is head of the Cahills, the most powerful family in the world. He has presidents on speed dial, generals at his beck and call. Ian knows he's an ideal leader and the only man for the job. There's just one small problem: He's already messed up big time. A Cahill from the past calling himself the Outcast has risen to challenge Ian with an impossible test. The Outcast has re-created four of history's greatest disasters and dared Ian to stop him.

Kathryn Miller Haines’ debut Iris Anderson mystery received considerable buzz for its stellar 15-year-old heroine and engrossing 1940s period details. With her father back from the war, Iris is eager to help him with his private eye business—especially since his mobility is limited thanks to a missing leg. Now with a case involving a boy she knows from school to investigate, Iris leaps into action and soon finds herself in the middle of a harrowing adventure.

It’s 1949 and 18-year-old pitching phenom Mickey Tussler is back with the rejuvenated minor league Brewers in the sequel to The Legend of Mickey Tussler (the basis for the television movie A Mile in His Shoes). Despite Mickey’s proclamation that he will never play baseball again after last season’s violent conclusion, his manager - and now surrogate father - Arthur Murphy cajoles the emotionally fragile, socially awkward boy with autism into giving it another shot.

Summer, 1944. As Allied soldiers prepare to land in France, Marc and his friends must destroy a battalion of German tanks that could halt the invasion in its tracks. The tide of war has turned against the Nazis, but desperation has made them more brutal than ever. Henderson's Boys' final mission will be their most dangerous. With food and weapons in short supply, survival is the biggest challenge of all.

Sybella, novitiate of the convent of Saint Mortain and Death’s vengeance on earth, is still reeling from her God’s own passing, and along with him a guiding hand in her bloody work. But with her sisters on the run from their evil brother and under the watchful eye of her one true friend (and love) at court, the soldier known as Beast, Sybella stands alone as the Duchess of Brittany’s protector.

To save her mother from Olga's evil clutches, Filomena and her friends will set off for new lands and new adventures. Without a moment to lose, Filomena must travel to the legendary land of Camelot to find the sword of Excalibur—the only thing that can save Fil's mother from Olga's mysterious illness that has poisoned her body. But Camelot is not all that it seems. Fil and the crew quickly realize that there is another fairy tale that has taken hold in the land of Arthurian Legend. . . that of the Wizard of Oz!

Mafatu's name means "Stout Heart," but his people call him a coward. Ever since the sea took his mother's life and spared his own, he has lived with deep fear. By the time he is twelve years old, Mafatu can bear it no longer. He must conquer his fear alone...even if it means certain death. This classic tale of a young boy's hidden strength has been a favorite of readers of all ages since 1940.

No one expects a princess to be brutal. And Lada Dragwlya likes it that way. Ever since she and her gentle younger brother, Radu, were wrenched from their homeland of Wallachia and abandoned by their father to be raised in the Ottoman courts, Lada has known that being ruthless is the key to survival. She and Radu are doomed to act as pawns in a vicious game, an unseen sword hovering over their every move. For the lineage that makes them special also makes them targets.

Maria hasn't told her friends about the strange glowing ring she found. It seems to be giving her powers - special abilities that let her enter a world she's been dying to experience. Here's her chance to learn what she longs to know: how Michael feels about her. Michael feels all alone on Earth, and he's searching for a place to belong. He didn't count on discovering someone to care about right here in Roswell. Now, he's falling for his best friend. But what he doesn't know, and Maria doesn't realize, is that she's drawing danger to them all....

Best friends Tamanna and Yasmine cannot believe their good fortune when a school is set up in their Afghan village; however, their dreams for the future are shattered when the Taliban burn down the school and threaten the teacher and students with death. As Tamanna faces an arranged marriage to an older man, and the Taliban target Yasmine’s Western-educated family, the girls realize they must flee.