Books like 'Words on Fire'
Readers who enjoyed Words on Fire by Jennifer A. Nielsen & آرزو قلیزاده also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
historical action / adventure military, war & conflict 20th century europe east-europe lithuania historical-fiction children war
-
The Last Green Valley by Mark T. Sullivan
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 32 ratingsFrom the author of the #1 bestseller Beneath a Scarlet Sky comes a new historical novel inspired by one family’s incredible story of daring, survival, and triumph... -
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.. -
Prisoner B-3087 by Alan Gratz
Rated: 4.46 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsSurvive. At any cost.10 concentration camps.10 different places where you are starved, tortured, and worked mercilessly.It's something no one could imagine surviving.But it is what Yanek Gruener has to face.As a Jewish boy in 1930s Poland, Yanek is at the mercy of the Nazis who have taken over. Everything he has, and everyone he loves, have been snatched brutally from him...Categorized as:
children coming-of-age family friendship historical-fiction poc-mc realistic survival -
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 coming-of-age family friendship historical-fiction poc-mc realistic social-commentary -
-
The Violinist of Auschwitz by Ellie Midwood
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsIn the depths of hell, can hope rise? And can love triumph over hatred?In Auschwitz, every day is a fight for survival. Alma is inmate 50381, the number tattooed on her skin in pale blue ink. She is cooped up with thousands of others, torn from loved ones, trapped in a maze of barbed wire. Every day people disappear, never to be seen again... -
Nellie's Heartbreak: A compelling saga from the bestselling author the Mulberry Lane and Harpers Emporium series by Rosie Clarke
Rated: 4.57 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsA new stand-alone saga set in Yorkshire around out the outbreak of the second world war and the unlikely relationship between a master and servant.As a small child, Nellie Peace was always dreaming but sensed her mother’s rejection... -
Triumph of the Shipyard Girls by Nancy Revell
Rated: 4.70 of 5 stars · 10 ratings***ORDER YOUR COPY NOW*** THE EIGHTH NOVEL IN THE BESTSELLING SHIPYARD GIRLS SERIES! ‘Emotional and gripping’ Take a Break______________________________Sunderland, 1943: With the future of Britain so uncertain, the women are trying to keep their lives at home on an even keel.Head-welder Rosie is just about managing to keep her double life hidden from little sister Charlotte’s prying eyes... -
Then by Morris Gleitzman
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsFelix and Zelda have escaped the train to the death camp, but where do they go now? They're two runaway kids in Nazi-occupied Poland. Danger lies at every turn of the road. With the help of a woman named Genia and their active imaginations, Felix and Zelda find a new home and begin to heal, forming a new family together... -
Echo by Pam Muñoz Ryan
Rated: 4.32 of 5 stars · 28 ratingsAn impassioned, uplifting, and virtuosic tour de force from a treasured storyteller!Lost and alone in a forbidden forest, Otto meets three mysterious sisters and suddenly finds himself entwined in a puzzling quest involving a prophecy, a promise, and a harmonica...Categorized as:
children coming-of-age family friendship historical-fiction poc-mc realistic survival -
After by Morris Gleitzman
Rated: 4.39 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsA Holocaust survival story that combines hopeful melancholy with gentle humourFollowing a heartbreaking struggle to survive as a Jewish child in Germany, Felix faces perhaps his greatest challenge—to find hope when he's lost almost everything.As Europe goes through the final agonizing stages of the war, Felix struggles to reconcile hatred and healing... -
The Blackbird Girls by Anne Blankman
Rated: 4.39 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsOn a spring morning in 1986, neighbors Valentina Kaplan and Oksana Savchenko wake up to an angry red sky. A reactor at the nuclear power plant where their fathers work--Chernobyl--has exploded. Before they know it, the two girls, who've always been enemies, find themselves on a train bound for Leningrad to stay with Valentina's estranged grandmother, Rita Grigorievna...Categorized as:
children coming-of-age east-europe europe family friendship historical-fiction poc-mc -
Making Bombs for Hitler by Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch
Rated: 4.35 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsLida 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... -
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:
coming-of-age family friendship historical-fiction poc-mc realistic social-commentary survival -
A Night Divided by Jennifer A. Nielsen
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 28 ratingsWith the rise of the Berlin Wall, twelve-year-old Gerta finds her family suddenly divided. She, her mother, and her brother Fritz live on the eastern side, controlled by the Soviets. Her father and middle brother, who had gone west in search of work, cannot return home. Gerta knows it is dangerous to watch the wall, to think forbidden thoughts of freedom, yet she can't help herself... -
-
Soon by Morris Gleitzman
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsAfter the Nazis took my parents I was scared. After they killed my best friend I was angry. After I joined the partisans and helped defeat the Nazis I was hopeful. Soon, I said, we'll be safe. I was wrong.Soon continues the incredibly moving story of Felix, a Jewish boy still struggling to survive in the wake of the liberation of Poland after the end of World War Two... -
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 family friendship historical-fiction poc-mc realistic social-commentary survival -
This Light Between Us: A Novel of World War II by Andrew Fukuda
Rated: 4.36 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsA story of World War II about the unlikeliest of pen pals--a Japanese American boy and a French Jewish girl--as they fight to maintain hope in a time of war.In 1935, ten-year-old Alex Maki from Bainbridge Island, Washington is disgusted when he's forced to become pen pals with Charlie Levy of Paris, France--a girl. He thought she was a boy... -
The Butterfly by Patricia Polacco
Rated: 4.36 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsSince the Tall Boots--the Nazis--have marched into Monique's small French village, terrorizing it, nothing surprises her. Until the night Monique encounters "the little ghost" sitting at the end of her bed... -
The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris
Rated: 4.36 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsThis edition is edited and updated for younger readers (12 and older), and also contains extra materials, including classroom discussion points, additional photos, maps and documents and other educational resources. I tattooed a number on her arm. She tattooed her name on my heart. In 1942, Lale Sokolov arrived in Auschwitz-Birkenau... -
I Survived the Battle of D-Day, 1944 by Lauren Tarshis
Rated: 4.36 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsThis installment in the New York Times bestselling I Survived series from Lauren Tarshis shines a spotlight on the Normandy landings, just in time for the 75th anniversary of D-Day!A battle that would change the course of World War II...Eleven-year-old Paul's French village has been under Nazi control for years. His Jewish best friend has disappeared. Food is scarce... -
We Are Wolves by Katrina Nannestad
Rated: 4.36 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsSometimes it's good to be wild.Sometimes you have to be wild.When the Russian Army marches into East Prussia at the end of the war, the Wolf family must flee. Liesl, Otto and their baby sister Mia find themselves lost and alone, in a blizzard, in the middle of a war zone. Liesl has promised Mama that she will keep her brother and sister safe.But sometimes, to survive, you have to do bad things... -
Daughter of the Reich by Louise Fein
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsFor fans of The Nightingale and All the Light We Cannot See, a spellbinding story of impossible love set against the backdrop of the Nazi regime. She must choose between loyalty to her country or a love that could be her destruction… As the dutiful daughter of a high-ranking Nazi officer, Hetty Heinrich is keen to play her part in the glorious new Thousand Year Reich... -
Hum If You Don't Know the Words by Bianca Marais
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsPerfect for readers of The Secret Life of Bees and The Help, a perceptive and searing look at Apartheid-era South Africa, told through one unique family brought together by tragedy.Life under Apartheid has created a secure future for Robin Conrad, a ten-year-old white girl living with her parents in 1970s Johannesburg...Categorized as:
coming-of-age family historical-fiction poc-mc realistic social-commentary survival war -
Two Captains by Veniamin Kaverin
Rated: 4.31 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsTwo Captains is the most renowned novel of the Russian writer Veniamin Kaverin. The plot spans from 1912 to 1944. For more than half a century the book has been loved by children and adults alike. The novel has undergone more than 100 printings, including translations into other languages. Based on its story, plays have been staged and an opera has been written...Categorized as:
children coming-of-age east-europe europe friendship historical-fiction war 20th-century -
-
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... -
I Survived: The Bombing of Pearl Harbor, 1941 by Lauren Tarshis
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsPlease Read Notes: Brand New, International Softcover Edition, Printed in black and white pages, minor self wear on the cover or pages, Sale restriction may be printed on the book, but Book name, contents, and author are exactly same as Hardcover Edition. Fast delivery through DHL/FedEx express... -
What Only We Know by Catherine Hokin
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsA door slammed and the unmistakable sound of boots came crashing up the hall. Liese held her little daughter’s hand so tightly, the tiny fingers had turned purple. The SS officer’s hand was at Liese’s throat before she saw him move. ‘I can kill you easily, then I can kill your daughter.’ He relaxed his grip a little. ‘Or perhaps I could kill her first?’England, forty years later... -
When The World Was Ours by Liz Kessler
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsA novel about three childhood friends living during the Second World War whose fates are closely intertwined, even when their lives take very different courses.Three friends. Two sides. One memory.Vienna. 1936... -
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... -
Moloka'i by Alan Brennert
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 42 ratingsSet in Hawai'i more than a century ago, this is the story of Rachel Kalama, a spirited seven-year-old Hawaiian girl, who dreams of visiting far-off lands like her father, a merchant seaman. Then one day a rose-colored mark appears on her skin, and those dreams are stolen from her... -
The War Girls of Goodwill House: The start of a brand new historical saga series by Fenella J. Miller for 2022 by Fenella J Miller
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsAs war looms, can they keep the home fires burning?Lady Joanna Harcourt and her daughter Sarah discover their life of luxury at Goodwill House is over. Because with Lord Harcourt away fighting, the Harcourt girls are facing financial ruin. Lady Joanna is terrified of losing their home, but for Sarah, this means her dreams of becoming a doctor are over...Categorized as:
coming-of-age family friendship historical-fiction war ww2 20th-century action-adventure -
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... -
Angels of the Resistance by Noelle Salazar
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 12 ratings“Angels of the Resistance brings to life a deadly-effective and deeply moving sisterhood.” —Kate Quinn, New York Times bestselling author of The Rose CodeFrom the bestselling author of The Flight Girls comes a story inspired by true events, about courageous women who risked everything for country, for family, and for each other... -
Yellow Star by Jennifer Roy, Tavia Gilbert
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 24 ratings“In 1945 the war ended. The Germans surrendered, and the ghetto was liberated. Out of over a quarter of a million people, about 800 walked out of the ghetto. Of those who survived, only twelve were children. I was one of the twelve.” For more than fifty years after the war, Syvia, like many Holocaust survivors, did not talk about her experiences in the Lodz ghetto in Poland... -
-
Small Country by Gaël Faye
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 24 ratings‘A luminous and poignant novel about childhood, war, exile and identity…this is literature at its most powerful’ Le Parisien Magazine Burundi, 1992. For ten-year-old Gabriel, life in his comfortable expat neighbourhood of Bujumbura with his French father, Rwandan mother and little sister, Ana, is something close to paradise... -
Don't Tell the Nazis by Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsMarsha Forchuk Skrypuch (author of Making Bombs for Hitler) crafts a story of ultimate compassion and sacrifice based on true events during WWII.The year is 1941. Krystia lives in a small Ukrainian village under the cruel -- sometimes violent -- occupation of the Soviets... -
Cartas de Cuba / Letters from Cuba by Ruth Behar
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsLa inspiradora historia de una joven jud�a que escapa de Polonia para rehacer su vida en Cuba, mientras trabaja para rescatar al resto de su familia. La situaci�n se est� poniendo terrible para los jud�os en Polonia en v�speras de la Segunda Guerra Mundial. El padre de Esther ha huido a Cuba y ella es la primera en seguir sus pasos y reencontrarse con �l en la isla... -
Maybe by Morris Gleitzman
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratings1946. Europe is in ruins. Millions dream of finding happiness somewhere else, and 14 year-old Felix is one of them. When he's offered a journey to somewhere far away, he seizes the opportunity. So does someone very dear to him, even though she wasn't actually invited. They have high hopes for their new land... -
The Skylarks’ War by Hilary McKay
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsClarry and her older brother Peter live for their summers in Cornwall, staying with their grandparents and running free with their charismatic cousin, Rupert. But normal life resumes each September - boarding school for Peter and Rupert, and a boring life for Clarry at home with her absent father, as the shadow of a terrible war looms ever closer... -
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... -
Number the Stars by Lois Lowry
Rated: 4.15 of 5 stars · 81 ratingsTen-year-old Annemarie Johansen and her best friend Ellen Rosen often think of life before the war. It's now 1943 and their life in Copenhagen is filled with school, food shortages, and the Nazi soldiers marching through town. When the Jews of Denmark are "relocated," Ellen moves in with the Johansens and pretends to be one of the family...Categorized as:
children coming-of-age family friendship historical-fiction poc-mc realistic survival -
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... -
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
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... -
-
The Berlin Boxing Club by Robert Sharenow
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsSydney Taylor Award-winning novel Berlin Boxing Club is loosely inspired by the true story of boxer Max Schmeling's experiences following Kristallnacht. Karl Stern has never thought of himself as a Jew. But the bullies at his school in Nazi-era Berlin, don't care that Karl has never been in a synagogue or that his family doesn't practice religion... -
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...Categorized as:
children coming-of-age family friendship historical-fiction poc-mc realistic survival -
Kensuke's Kingdom by Michael Morpurgo
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsWhen Michael is washed up on an island in the Pacific after falling from his parent's yacht, the Peggy Sue, he struggles to survive on his own. But he soon realises there is someone close by, someone who is watching over him and helping him to stay alive... -
Sebastian by Christoph Fischer
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsSebastian is the story of a young man who has his leg amputated before World War I. When his father is drafted to the war it falls on to him to run the family grocery store in Vienna, to grow into his responsibilities, bear loss and uncertainty and hopefully find love...Categorized as:
coming-of-age family historical-fiction survival war ww2 20th-century action-adventure -
Heroes: A Novel of Pearl Harbor by Alan Gratz
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsA new novel from #1 New York Times bestselling author Alan Gratz ( Refugee ; Ground Zero ; Two Degrees ) is a major publishing moment. A new World War II novel from Alan Gratz? That's even bigger! Get ready for an action-packed, inventive, and powerful take on the attack on Pearl Harbor, as only Alan Gratz can tell it. December 6, 1941: Best friends Frank and Stanley have it good... -
Those In Peril: A dramatic, feel-good and moving WW2 saga, perfect for curling up with by Margaret Mayhew
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsIn 1940, as the shadows are lengthening over Europe, painter Louis Duval decides to leave his studio in Brittany and, in his small motor boat, make the short but perilous journey to England. His aim is not to flee from the enemy, but to join the Resistance to fight for his beloved France...
Or - use our amazing romance book finder to get recommendations based on your favorite content tropes and themes. Mix and match at will.