I’m a part-time professor of English and a full-time admirer of history, fairy tales, and people who fight oppression. I’ve loved stories my whole life, and I believe that the right words can have the power to change the world. That’s certainly an important message in my debut novel, The Story That Cannot Be Told, which is set during the Romanian Revolution of 1989. I primarily write historical fiction for middle grade readers, in large part because I love researching history, but my work also often includes folklore, fairy tales, or the supernatural—and of course, there’s always an adventure on the horizon.
In late 1800s Lithuania, young Audra gets caught up in an underground network of book smugglers while fleeing from Russian Cossack soldiers and attempting to save her family. Many of Nielsen’s novels would fit well on this list, but I particularly adore the message in this book about the power of words and storytelling when fighting oppression.
Audra lives on a quiet farm in Lithuania, but she understands that danger is never far away. Her parents warn her to stay close to home and avoid the patrolling Russian Cossack soldiers. The Russians, who occupy Lithuania, insist that everyone there must become Russian-they have banned Lithuanian books, religion, culture, and even the language. When Cossacks arrive abruptly at their door, Audra's parents insist that she flee, taking with her an important package and instructions for where to deliver it. In hopes of rescuing her parents, she becomes caught up in a growing resistance movement, Lithuanians intent on preserving…
A Jewish boy in the 1930s, a Cuban girl in the 1990s, and a Syrian boy in 2015 all attempt to flee violent times in their homelands, only to face hardship and danger while searching for safety abroad. In stories about war and revolution, the perspective of refugees is often overlooked, so it’s wonderful to see those voices centered here. I also love the way the different stories (and characters) are ultimately connected.
This action-packed novel tackles topics both timely and timeless: courage, survival, and the quest for home.
JOSEF is a Jewish boy living in 1930s Nazi Germany. With the threat of concentration camps looming, he and his family board a ship bound for the other side of the world . . .
ISABEL is a Cuban girl in 1994. With riots and unrest plaguing her country, she and her family set out on a raft, hoping to find safety in America . . .
MAHMOUD is a Syrian boy in 2015. With his homeland torn apart by violence and destruction, he…
When Elliot finds herself dead for the third time, she can't remember her past, is getting the cold shoulder from her best friend, and has no idea why she keeps repeating the same mistakes across her previous lives. Elliot just wants to move on, but first, she'll be forced to…
Set during WWII, this novel follows a Ukrainian girl who, with other children, is forced to make bombs for the German army. The story is captivating and fast-paced, and it’s hard not to admire the protagonist, Lida, who risks everything in her fight to do what she believes is right. I think books like this are so important because they ask readers to think hard about what they would do in similar situations.
For readers who were enthralled by Alan Gratz's Prisoner B-3087 comes a gripping novel about a lesser-known part of WWII.
Lida thought she was safe. Her neighbors wearing the yellow star were all taken away, but Lida is not Jewish. She will be fine, won't she?But she cannot escape the horrors of World War II.Lida's parents are ripped away from her and she is separated from her beloved sister, Larissa. The Nazis take Lida to a brutal work camp, where she and other Ukrainian children are forced into backbreaking labor. Starving and terrified, Lida bonds with her fellow prisoners, but…
Set in late 1800s Cuba, during their wars for independence from Spain and the first wave of reconcentration camps, this entry holds a special place on my list because it’s written in free verse. I believe poetry can capture emotion in a raw, powerful way that prose sometimes can’t, and Engle’s work serves as a perfect example of this. Through alternating perspectives, this book shows readers the horrors of war alongside the power of hope and compassion.
The Surrender Tree: Poems of Cuba's Struggle For Freedom / El árbol de la rendición: poemas de la lucha de cuba por su libertad is a lyrical, Newbery Honor-winning history in poems, and this bilingual edition has the Spanish and English text available in one book.
¿La Guerra Chiquita? ¿Cómo puede haber una guerra chiquita? ¿Acaso algunas muertes son más pequeñas que otras, dejan madres que lloran un poco menos?
It is 1896. Cuba has fought three wars for independence and still is not free. People have been rounded up in reconcentration camps with too little food and too much…
Set in Denmark during WWII, this novel has long been considered a classic—and for good reason, too. Well-researched and heart-wrenching, the story follows 10-year-old Annemarie, who risks her life to save those around her during the Danish resistance movement. I fell in love with this book as a child, so it’s no stretch to say that it helped inspire me to someday write my own stories about revolution and resistance.
A powerful story set in Nazi occupied Denmark in 1943. Ten-year-old Annemarie Johansen is called upon for a selfless act of bravery to help save her best-friend, Ellen - a Jew.
It is 1943 and for ten-year-old Annemarie Johansen life is still fun - school, family, sharing fairy stories with her little sister. But there are dangers and worries too - the Nazis have occupied Copenhagen and there are food shortages, curfews and the constant threat of being stopped by soldiers. And for Annemarie the dangers become even greater... her best-friend Ellen is a Jew. When Ellen's parents are taken…
In 1989 Communist Romania, everything is dangerous—reading the wrong kind of books, watching the wrong kind of movies, listening to the wrong kind of music. But the most dangerous thing of all is to write.
Weaving together the real history of the Romanian Revolution and traditional Romanian folktales and fairy tales, my debut novel tells the story of Ileana, a young girl who desperately wants to be a writer—and who will do anything to save the people she loves—no matter the cost.
A mysterious stranger traps teen siblings in a precarious game where each must overcome their embittered past for the other to survive.
This suspenseful, yet winsome novel explores the power of family and forgiveness. But take heed. The truth can cut like shards of glass, especially for those who’d rather…
The Adventures of Lucky and Mr. Pickle
By
MJ Howson,
The Stormy Night is the first in a series of nine children's books for ages 8-12. The stories follow two dogs–a senior, disabled dog and a newly adopted puppy–as they learn to become friends and family.
The Adventures of Lucky and Mr. Pickle series are chapter books, not picture books.…
