Books like 'Kent State'
Readers who enjoyed Kent State by Deborah Wiles also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
historical 20th century military, war & conflict historical-fiction war politics high-school social-commentary realistic university
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The Light in Hidden Places by Sharon Cameron
Rated: 4.54 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsThe extraordinary story of Stefania Podgorska, a Polish teenager who chose bravery and humanity by hiding thirteen Jews in her attic during WWII -- from #1 New York Times bestselling author Sharon Cameron.One knock at the door, and Stefania has a choice to make..Categorized as:
children friendship high-school historical-fiction military realistic war 20th-century -
![The Memory Keeper of Kyiv by Erin Litteken]()
The Memory Keeper of Kyiv by Erin Litteken
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsPerfect for fans of The Tattooist of Auschwitz and The Beekeeper of Aleppo.In the 1930s, Stalin’s activists marched through the Soviet Union, espousing the greatness of collective farming. It was the first step in creating a man-made famine that, in Ukraine, stole almost 4 million lives... -
![Refugee by Alan Gratz]()
Refugee by Alan Gratz
Rated: 4.43 of 5 stars · 30 ratingsJOSEF 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...Categorized as:
children friendship grief high-school historical-fiction multi-pov politics realistic -
![Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys]()
Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys
Rated: 4.35 of 5 stars · 40 ratingsWhile the Titanic and Lusitania are both well-documented disasters, the single greatest tragedy in maritime history is the little-known January 30, 1945 sinking in the Baltic Sea by a Soviet submarine of the Wilhelm Gustloff, a German cruise liner that was supposed to ferry wartime personnel and refugees to safety from the advancing Red Army... -
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![The Warsaw Orphan by Kelly Rimmer]()
The Warsaw Orphan by Kelly Rimmer
Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsIn the spring of 1942, young Elzbieta Rabinek is aware of the swiftly growing discord just beyond the courtyard of her comfortable Warsaw home. She has no fondness for the Germans who patrol her streets and impose their curfews, but has never given much thought to what goes on behind the walls that contain her Jewish neighbors...Categorized as:
crime friendship grief historical-fiction military war 20th-century action-adventure -
![The Girl Who Escaped from Auschwitz by Ellie Midwood]()
The Girl Who Escaped from Auschwitz by Ellie Midwood
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 16 ratings“We must die standing up for something.”“And what are we standing up for?”“The most important thing there is. Freedom.”Millions of people walked through Auschwitz’s gates, but she was the first woman who escaped. This powerful novel tells the inspiring true story of Mala Zimetbaum, whose heroism will never be forgotten, and whose fate altered the course of history…Nobody leaves Auschwitz alive... -
![The Promise by Ruth Saberton]()
The Promise by Ruth Saberton
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsNo matter what promises you make, some dark secrets refuse to stay buried... When Nell Summers stumbles across a photograph in her late father’s belongings, the faded image of a young soldier leads her to question everything she knows...Categorized as:
historical-fiction war military fiction ww2 historical 20th-century violent-conflict -
![We Are Not Free by Traci Chee]()
We Are Not Free by Traci Chee
Rated: 4.35 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsNATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST From New York Times best-selling and acclaimed author Traci Chee comes We Are Not Free, the collective account of a tight-knit group of young Nisei, second-generation Japanese American citizens, whose lives are irrevocably changed by the mass U.S. incarcerations of World War II. Fourteen teens who have grown up together in Japantown, San Francisco...Categorized as:
friendship grief high-school historical-fiction multi-pov realistic sad social-commentary -
![The War Prayer by Mark Twain, John Groth]()
The War Prayer by Mark Twain, John Groth
Rated: 4.43 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsWritten by Mark Twain during the Philippine-American War in the first decade of the twentieth century, The War Prayer tells of a patriotic church service held to send the town's young men off to war. During the service, a stranger enters and addresses the gathering...Categorized as:
historical-fiction military politics social-commentary university war 20th-century adult -
![To Wake the Giant: A Novel of Pearl Harbor by Jeff Shaara]()
To Wake the Giant: A Novel of Pearl Harbor by Jeff Shaara
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsThe New York Times bestselling master of military historical fiction tells the story of Pearl Harbor as only he can in the first novel of a gripping new series set in World War II’s Pacific theater. In 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt watches uneasily as the world heads rapidly down a dangerous path...Categorized as:
historical-fiction military politics war 20th-century action-adventure adult audiobook -
![Line of Fire by W.E.B. Griffin, Dick Hill]()
Line of Fire by W.E.B. Griffin, Dick Hill
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsLine of Firebrings to life a desperate mission of World War 2 that captures the drama and courage of the men who fought it.Two Marines, reporting on Japanese air activity, are trapped on a small Coastwatcher island. A special rescue team is assembled to save them—under enemy gunsight. It is an exciting and powerful story of real heroism that only W.E.B. Griffin could tell..Categorized as:
high-school historical-fiction military war 20th-century action-adventure adult audiobook -
![Resistance by Jennifer A. Nielsen, Jesse Vilinsky]()
Resistance by Jennifer A. Nielsen, Jesse Vilinsky
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsChaya Lindner is a teenager living in Nazi-occupied Poland. Simply being Jewish places her in danger of being killed or sent to the camps. After her little sister is taken away, her younger brother disappears, and her parents all but give up hope, Chaya is determined to make a difference...Categorized as:
children friendship grief high-school historical-fiction realistic social-commentary war -
![No Less Than Victory: A Novel of World War II by Jeff Shaara]()
No Less Than Victory: A Novel of World War II by Jeff Shaara
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsAfter the success at Normandy, the Allied commanders are confident that the war in Europe will soon be over. But in December 1944, in the Ardennes Forest, the Germans launch a ruthless counteroffensive that begins the Battle of the Bulge. The Führer will spare nothing to preserve his twisted vision of a “Thousand Year Reich,” but stout American resistance defeats the German thrust...Categorized as:
historical-fiction military politics war 20th-century action-adventure adult audiobook -
![Allies by Alan Gratz, Jamie Cline]()
Allies by Alan Gratz, Jamie Cline
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsD-Day, June 6, 1944: the most expansive military endeavor in history. No less than world cooperation would bring down Hitler and the Axis powers. And so people—and kids—across the globe lent their part. From the young US soldiers in the boats to spies in the French countryside, the coordination of thousands came together...Categorized as:
children friendship high-school historical-fiction military multi-pov politics realistic -
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![Covenant With Death by John Harris]()
Covenant With Death by John Harris
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsThey joined for their country. They fought for each other.When war breaks out in 1914, Mark Fenner and his Sheffield friends immediately flock to Kitchener's call. Amid waving flags and boozy celebration, the three men - Fen, his best friend Locky and self-assured Frank, rival for the woman Fen loves - enlist as volunteers to take on the Germans and win glory... -
![They Went Left by Monica Hesse]()
They Went Left by Monica Hesse
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsGermany, 1945. The soldiers who liberated the Gross-Rosen concentration camp said the war was over, but nothing feels over to eighteen-year-old Zofia Lederman. Her body has barely begun to heal; her mind feels broken... -
![Sharpe's Waterloo by Bernard Cornwell]()
Sharpe's Waterloo by Bernard Cornwell
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 33 ratingsJune 1815: The Duke of Wellington, the Prince of Orange, and Napoleon will meet on the battlefield...and decide the fate of EuropeWith the emperor Napoleon at its head, and enormous French army is marching toward Brussels. The British and their allies are also converging on Brussels - in preparation for a grand society ball...Categorized as:
historical-fiction military politics war 20th-century action-adventure adult audiobook -
![A Prince Without a Kingdom by Timothée de Fombelle]()
A Prince Without a Kingdom by Timothée de Fombelle
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsThis was the only treasure that Vango was after: the secret of his life.Vango has been in danger for as long as he can remember. He has spent his life running along rooftops, fleeing to mysterious islands, and abandoning those he loves in order to protect them from the demons of his past. But Vango will not run for much longer... -
![Daughters of War by Lizzie Page]()
Daughters of War by Lizzie Page
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsAn emotional tale of wartime love and sacrifice, inspired by an incredible true story… As a teenager in Chicago, May always dreamed of travelling the world. So when she meets handsome George Turner, she jumps at the chance to return to London as his wife. Ten years later, May is wondering if she’s made a terrible mistake. It’s 1914 and war has been declared in Europe... -
![The Factory Girls of Lark Lane by Pam Howes]()
The Factory Girls of Lark Lane by Pam Howes
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsCan friendship get them through the struggles of war? 1940, Liverpool: Alice Turner and her best friend, Millie Markham, work for the war effort at Rootes munitions factory, making shell caps and Halifax bombers. Alice’s sweetheart Terry is home from the front for a brief period of leave. She’s been in love with him since school, and the women are excitedly planning a whirlwind wedding... -
![War Girl Ursula by Marion Kummerow]()
War Girl Ursula by Marion Kummerow
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsBerlin 1943: Compassion is a crime. A prisoner escapes. A guard looks the other way. Why does Ursula Hermann risk her life and brave the Gestapo to save a man she barely knows? Ursula has always lived the law, never broken the rules in her life. That is until the day she finds escapee British airman Tom Westlake and all the right she’s worked so hard to maintain goes wrong..Categorized as:
grief historical-fiction military social-commentary war 20th-century action-adventure betrayal -
![The Tuscan Girl by Angela Petch]()
The Tuscan Girl by Angela Petch
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsShe ran away through the pine trees when the soldiers came. Staggering into the hiding place, she felt a fluttering in her belly, like a butterfly grazing its wings, and knew instantly she had something to fight for. Present day: When her fiancé is tragically killed in an accident, twenty-six-year-old Alba is convinced she’s to blame... -
![When the Sky Falls by Phil Earle]()
When the Sky Falls by Phil Earle
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsInspired by a true story. It's 1940, and Joseph has been packed off to stay with Mrs F, a gruff woman with no great fondness for children. To Joseph's amazement, she owns the rundown city zoo where Joseph meets Adonis, a huge silverback gorilla. Adonis is ferociously strong and dangerous, but Joseph finds he has an affinity with the lonely beast... -
![Baseball Saved Us by Ken Mochizuki]()
Baseball Saved Us by Ken Mochizuki
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsShorty and his family, along with thousands of Japanese Americans, are sent to an internment camp after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Fighting the heat and dust of the desert, Shorty and his father decide to build a baseball diamond and form a league in order to boost the spirits of the internees. Shorty quickly learns that he is playing not only to win, but to gain dignity and self-respect as well...Categorized as:
children friendship historical-fiction realistic social-commentary war 20th-century book -
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![Letters from the Lighthouse by Emma Carroll]()
Letters from the Lighthouse by Emma Carroll
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsWe weren't supposed to be going to the pictures that night. We weren't even meant to be outside, not in a blackout, and definitely not when German bombs had been falling on London all month like pennies from a jar. February, 1941. After months of bombing raids in London, twelve-year-old Olive Bradshaw and her little brother Cliff are evacuated to the Devon coast...Categorized as:
children friendship grief historical-fiction military war 20th-century action-adventure -
![When We Were Young & Brave by Hazel Gaynor]()
When We Were Young & Brave by Hazel Gaynor
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsTheir motto was to be prepared, but nothing could prepare them for war. . .The New York Times bestselling author of The Girl Who Came Home sets her unforgettable new novel in China during WWII, inspired by true events surrounding the Japanese Army’s internment of teachers and children from a British-run missionary school.China, December 1941... -
![The Eleventh Hour by Michael R. Phillips]()
The Eleventh Hour by Michael R. Phillips
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsSeries premiere special price! The Prussian Baron von Dortmann and his daughter face the uncertainty of life just before WW II as their faith and relationships are tested... -
![My Family for the War by Anne C. Voorhoeve]()
My Family for the War by Anne C. Voorhoeve
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsWinner of the Mildred L. Batchelder medal for most oustanding children's book in translation.Escaping Nazi Germany on the kindertransport changes one girl's life foreverAt the start of World War II, ten-year-old Franziska Mangold is torn from her family when she boards the kindertransport in Berlin, the train that secretly took nearly 10,000 children out of Nazi territory to safety in England...Categorized as:
children friendship high-school historical-fiction military realistic war 20th-century -
![Death Coming Up the Hill by Chris Crowe]()
Death Coming Up the Hill by Chris Crowe
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsA strikingly innovative and powerful story, Death Coming Up the Hill portrays the momentous events of the year 1968 as seen through the eyes of a perceptive seventeen-year-old boy. "Take a look at this gripping, fast-moving quick pick." —The BulletinIt’s 1968, and war is not foreign to seventeen-year-old Ashe... -
![Lifeboat 12 by Susan Hood]()
Lifeboat 12 by Susan Hood
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 16 ratings“This page-turning true-life adventure is filled with rich and riveting details and a timeless understanding of the things that matter most.”—Dashka Slater, author of The 57 Bus “Brilliantly told in verse, readers will love Ken Sparks.” —Patricia Reilly Giff, two-time Newbery Honor winner “Lyrical, terrifying, and even at times funny... -
![An Elephant in the Garden by Michael Morpurgo]()
An Elephant in the Garden by Michael Morpurgo
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsWith Lizzie’s father fighting in World War II, her mother takes on the job of a zoo keeper to provide for her family. Lizzie, her mother, and her eight-year-old brother Karli have become especially attached to an orphaned elephant named Marlene... -
![Grenade by Alan Gratz]()
Grenade by Alan Gratz
Rated: 4.15 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsHere it is! The hugely anticipated follow-up to Gratz's NYT bestselling, critically acclaimed phenomenon REFUGEE. This is another searing and heart-pounding look at kids making their way through war.A New York Times bestseller!It's 1945, and the world is in the grip of war.Hideki lives on the island of Okinawa, near Japan... -
![The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien]()
The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien
Rated: 4.15 of 5 stars · 44 ratingsThis depicts the men of Alpha Company. They battle the enemy (or maybe more the idea of the enemy), and occasionally each other. In their relationships we see their isolation and loneliness, their rage and fear. They miss their families, their girlfriends and buddies; they miss the lives they left back home... -
![Pack Up Your Troubles: War at Home 6 by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles]()
Pack Up Your Troubles: War at Home 6 by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratings1919: The war is over, but peace is yet to come. As men are demobbed, women must give up positions that gave them freedom. Edward is given an important job at the Peace Conference in Paris, but it means more lonely months away from Beattie and his hoped-for reconciliation. Fred's unit is sent to the Rhine, and Cook feels a guilty relief that her uprooting has been postponed...Categorized as:
children friendship historical-fiction military war 20th-century action-adventure adult -
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![Sharpshooter by Chris Lynch]()
Sharpshooter by Chris Lynch
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsSome things are worth fighting for.Of all his friends, Ivan is the only one looking forward to war.That's because Ivan has never backed down from a fight--especially when it comes to fighting for what's right. He has protected his friends from bullies for years. And now, as war erupts in Vietnam, Ivan wants nothing more than to fight for his country, just as his father did in World War II...Categorized as:
friendship historical-fiction military realistic war 20th-century action-adventure book -
![Midnight Clear by William Wharton]()
Midnight Clear by William Wharton
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsChristmas Eve 1944, and six young US soldiers are sent close to the German lines to establish an observation post in an abandoned chateau in the Ardennes Forest. Hearing strange noises, they gradually realise that they are surrounded. But perhaps the Germans are as reluctant to fight as themselves... -
![The 13th Valley by John M. Del Vecchio]()
The 13th Valley by John M. Del Vecchio
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsPraise for "The 13th Valley," a Finalist for the American Book Award: "There have been a number of excellent books about Vietnam...but none has managed to communicate in such detail the day-to-day pain, discomfort, frustration and exhilaration of the American military experience in Vietnam." --Joe Klein, "The New York Times Book Review"" "The" novel about the Vietnam War.. -
![Elephant Run by Roland Smith]()
Elephant Run by Roland Smith
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsIn 1941, bombs drop from the night skies of London, demolishing the apartment Nick Freestone lives in with his mother. Deciding the situation in England is too unstable, Nick's mother sends him to live with his father in Burma, hoping he will be safer living on the family's teak plantation. But as soon as Nick arrives, trouble erupts in this remote Burmese elephant village... -
![I'll Be Seeing You by Suzanne Hayes, Loretta Nyhan]()
I'll Be Seeing You by Suzanne Hayes, Loretta Nyhan
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 18 ratings"I hope this letter gets to you quickly. We are always waiting, aren't we? Perhaps the greatest gift this war has given us is the anticipation..." It's January 1943 when Rita Vincenzo receives her first letter from Glory Whitehall. Glory is an effervescent young mother, impulsive and free as a bird. Rita is a sensible professor's wife with a love of gardening and a generous, old soul...Categorized as:
friendship grief historical-fiction military realistic war 20th-century action-adventure -
![The Last Test of Courage by Chris Glatte]()
The Last Test of Courage by Chris Glatte
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsAs WWII surges forward, the Cooper family struggles to survive on the front lines…and on the home front.Clyde Cooper and his fellow paratroopers have returned to Australia after a highly successful operation in New Guinea. But the respite is brief as a new mission looms on the horizon... -
![Lines of Courage by Jennifer A. Nielsen]()
Lines of Courage by Jennifer A. Nielsen
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsJennifer A. Nielsen, author of A Night Divided and Rescue , artfully weaves together the stories of five kids living through World War I who each hold the key to each other’s futures... if they are lucky -- and brave -- enough to find each other. World War I stretches its cruel fingers across Europe, where five kids feel war's scarcity and challenges in different ways...Categorized as:
historical-fiction war children friendship realistic military middle-grade young-adult -
![Wave Me Goodbye by Jacqueline Wilson]()
Wave Me Goodbye by Jacqueline Wilson
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsSeptember, 1939. As the Second World War begins, ten-year-old Shirley is sent away on a train with her schoolmates. She doesn’t know where she’s going, or what’s going to happen to her when she gets there. All she has been told is that she’s going on ‘a little holiday’...Categorized as:
children friendship historical-fiction military war 20th-century action-adventure audiobook -
![Revolution by Deborah Wiles]()
Revolution by Deborah Wiles
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsIt's 1964, and Sunny's town is being invaded. Or at least that's what the adults of Greenwood, Mississippi, are saying. All Sunny knows is that people from up north are coming to help people register to vote. They're calling it Freedom Summer. Meanwhile, Sunny can't help but feel like her house is being invaded, too...Categorized as:
children friendship high-school historical-fiction politics realistic social-commentary war -
![Girl in the Blue Coat by Monica Hesse, Natalia Payne]()
Girl in the Blue Coat by Monica Hesse, Natalia Payne
Rated: 4.04 of 5 stars · 28 ratingsAmsterdam, 1943. Hanneke spends her days procuring and delivering sought-after black market goods to paying customers, her nights hiding the true nature of her work from her concerned parents, and every waking moment mourning her boyfriend, who was killed on the Dutch front lines when the Germans invaded. She likes to think of her illegal work as a small act of rebellion... -
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![The Songbird and the Rambutan Tree by Lucille Abendanon]()
The Songbird and the Rambutan Tree by Lucille Abendanon
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsBatavia, Dutch East Indies, 1942.Emmy has the voice of an angel but hasn’t sung a note since a family tragedy. With war looming, her father plans to ship her off to a singing school in England for safety. But all Emmy wants to do is stay in Batavia with her best friend, Bakti, even if it means putting up with her snooty classmate, Violet... -
![The Sorrow Of War: A Novel of North Vietnam by Bảo Ninh]()
The Sorrow Of War: A Novel of North Vietnam by Bảo Ninh
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsBao Ninh, a former North Vietnamese soldier, provides a strikingly honest look at how the Vietnam War forever changed his life, his country, and the people who live there...Categorized as:
high-school historical-fiction military politics realistic university war 20th-century -
![White Rose by Kip Wilson]()
White Rose by Kip Wilson
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsIn a searing indictment of silent complicity, White Rose shines a light on one remarkable young woman's insistence on the power of truth, no matter the cost. A timely call to resistance. - Joy McCullough, author of Blood Water Paint White Rose is a resonant testament to courage. In a time of horrific brutality, young people found a nonviolent way to resist...Categorized as:
friendship high-school historical-fiction politics realistic social-commentary war 20th-century -
![Remembrance by Theresa Breslin]()
Remembrance by Theresa Breslin
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsIt was the largest conflict the world had ever known. It covered three continents and lasted five years. Millions of soldiers returned wounded, millions more never returned at all. In the summer of 1915, in a small village in Scotland, the Great War has already begun to irrevocably alter the course of five young lives...Categorized as:
friendship historical-fiction military realistic war 20th-century action-adventure book -
![The Darkest Hour by Caroline Tung Richmond]()
The Darkest Hour by Caroline Tung Richmond
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsNever underestimate a pretty face.My name is Lucie Blaise.I am sixteen years old.I have many aliases, but I am none of the girls you see.What I am is the newest agent of the CO-7.And we are here to take down Hitler.After the Nazis killed my brother on the North African front, I volunteered at the Office of Strategic Services in Washington, DC, to do my part for the war effort... -
![I Pledge Allegiance by Chris Lynch]()
I Pledge Allegiance by Chris Lynch
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsFour best friends. Four ways to serve their country.Morris, Rudi, Ivan, and Beck are best friends for life. So when one of the teens is drafted into the Vietnam War, the others sign up, too. Although they each serve in a different branch, they are fighting the war together--and they pledge to do all they can to come home together...Categorized as:
friendship high-school historical-fiction military realistic war 20th-century action-adventure
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