Books like 'Kensuke's Kingdom'
Readers who enjoyed Kensuke's Kingdom by Michael Morpurgo also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
historical action / adventure 20th century mystery military, war & conflict historical-fiction survival family children friendship
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The Things We Cannot Say by Kelly Rimmer
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 39 ratingsIn 1942, Europe remains in the relentless grip of war. Just beyond the tents of the Russian refugee camp she calls home, a young woman speaks her wedding vows. It’s a decision that will alter her destiny…and it’s a lie that will remain buried until the next century.Since she was nine years old, Alina Dziak knew she would marry her best friend, Tomasz... -
![The Book Thief by Markus Zusak]()
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 63 ratingsLibrarian's note: An alternate cover edition can be found hereIt is 1939. Nazi Germany. The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier, and will be busier still.By her brother's graveside, Liesel's life is changed when she picks up a single object, partially hidden in the snow...Categorized as:
children classics coming-of-age family friendship historical-fiction realistic survival -
![Beneath a Scarlet Sky by Mark T. Sullivan]()
Beneath a Scarlet Sky by Mark T. Sullivan
Rated: 4.41 of 5 stars · 43 ratingsBased on the true story of a forgotten hero, Beneath a Scarlet Sky is the triumphant, epic tale of one young man’s incredible courage and resilience during one of history’s darkest hours. Pino Lella wants nothing to do with the war or the Nazis. He’s a normal Italian teenager—obsessed with music, food, and girls—but his days of innocence are numbered... -
![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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![Kane & Abel by Jeffrey Archer]()
Kane & Abel by Jeffrey Archer
Rated: 4.31 of 5 stars · 40 ratingsBorn on the same day near the turn of the century on opposite sides of the world, both men are brought together by fate and the quest of a dream. These two men -- ambitious, powerful, ruthless -- are locked in a relentless struggle to build an empire, fuelled by their all-consuming hatred...Categorized as:
classics coming-of-age family historical-fiction realistic war 20th-century action-adventure -
![The Alice Network by Kate Quinn]()
The Alice Network by Kate Quinn
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 43 ratingsAn alternate cover for this ASIN can be found here.In an enthralling new historical novel from national bestselling author Kate Quinn, two women—a female spy recruited to the real-life Alice Network in France during World War I and an unconventional American socialite searching for her cousin in 1947—are brought together in a mesmerizing story of courage and redemption. 1947... -
![A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles]()
A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles
Rated: 4.31 of 5 stars · 78 ratingsA newer cover edition of this title can be found here.He can’t leave his hotel. You won’t want to.From the New York Times bestselling author of Rules of Civility—a transporting novel about a man who is ordered to spend the rest of his life inside a luxury hotel... -
![Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly]()
Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 43 ratingsNEW YORK TIMES "BESTSELLER For readers of "The Nightingale" and "Sarah s Key, " inspired by the life of a real World War II heroine, this powerful debut novel reveals an incredible story of love, redemption, and terrible secrets that were hidden for decades. New York socialite Caroline Ferriday has her hands full with her post at the French consulate and a new love on the horizon... -
![All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr]()
All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 88 ratingsMarie-Laure lives in Paris near the Museum of Natural History, where her father works. When she is twelve, the Nazis occupy Paris and father and daughter flee to the walled citadel of Saint-Malo, where Marie-Laure’s reclusive great uncle lives in a tall house by the sea. With them they carry what might be the museum’s most valuable and dangerous jewel...Categorized as:
classics coming-of-age family friendship historical-fiction journey realistic survival -
![Turn Left for Gibraltar by David Black, James Langton]()
Turn Left for Gibraltar by David Black, James Langton
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsAs 1941 draws to a close, brave young men are fighting for freedom in countries across the globe. But for Sub-Lieutenant Harry Gilmour, washed up in neutral Spain alongside ‘interned belligerents’ from both sides of the war, hostilities have come to a pause.Before long, his unlikely comrades must once again become his enemies, and he is back at the frontline of the battle for the Mediterranean... -
![The Girl From the Island by Lorna Cook]()
The Girl From the Island by Lorna Cook
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsA world at war.One woman will risk everything.Another will uncover her story.1940: When the island of Guernsey is invaded by the Nazis, two sisters are determined to rebel in any way they can. But when forced to take in a German soldier, they are shocked to find a familiar face on their doorstep – a childhood friend who has now become their enemy...Categorized as:
coming-of-age family friendship historical-fiction war ww2 20th-century action-adventure -
![Fall of Giants by Ken Follett]()
Fall of Giants by Ken Follett
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 72 ratingsThis is an epic of love, hatred, war and revolution. This is a huge novel that follows five families through the world-shaking dramas of the First World War, the Russian Revolution, and the struggle for votes for women. It is 1911. The Coronation Day of King George V. The Williams, a Welsh coal-mining family is linked by romance and enmity to the Fitzherberts, aristocratic coal-mine owners... -
![Echo by Pam Muñoz Ryan]()
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... -
![Once We Were Brothers by Ronald H. Balson]()
Once We Were Brothers by Ronald H. Balson
Rated: 4.32 of 5 stars · 28 ratingsThe gripping tale about two boys, once as close as brothers, who find themselves on opposite sides of the Holocaust.Elliot Rosenzweig, a respected civic leader and wealthy philanthropist, is attending a fundraiser when he is suddenly accosted and accused of being a former Nazi SS officer named Otto Piatek, the Butcher of Zamosc... -
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![City of Thieves by David Benioff]()
City of Thieves by David Benioff
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 68 ratingsDuring the Nazis’ brutal siege of Leningrad, Lev Beniov is arrested for looting and thrown into the same cell as a handsome deserter named Kolya. Instead of being executed, Lev and Kolya are given a shot at saving their own lives by complying with an outrageous directive: secure a dozen eggs for a powerful Soviet colonel to use in his daughter’s wedding cake... -
![Karolina's Twins by Ronald H. Balson]()
Karolina's Twins by Ronald H. Balson
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsFrom the author of Once We Were Brothers comes a saga inspired by true events of a Holocaust survivor’s quest to fulfill a promise, return to Poland and find two sisters lost during World War II.Lena Woodward, an elderly woman, enlists the help of both lawyer Catherine Lockhart and private investigator Liam Taggart to appraise the story of her harrowing past in Nazi occupied Poland... -
![The Lords of Discipline by Pat Conroy]()
The Lords of Discipline by Pat Conroy
Rated: 4.31 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsA novel you will never forget... This powerful and breathtaking novel is the story of four cadets who have become bloodbrothers. Together they will encounter the hell of hazing and the rabid, raunchy and dangerously secretive atmosphere of an arrogant and proud military institute. They will experience the violence. The passion. The rage. The friendship. The loyalty. The betrayal...Categorized as:
classics coming-of-age family friendship historical-fiction realistic war 20th-century -
![The Venice Sketchbook by Rhys Bowen]()
The Venice Sketchbook by Rhys Bowen
Rated: 4.26 of 5 stars · 31 ratingsLove and secrets collide in Venice during WWII in an enthralling novel of brief encounters and lasting romance by the New York Times bestselling author of The Tuscan Child and Above the Bay of Angels.Caroline Grant is struggling to accept the end of her marriage when she receives an unexpected bequest. Her beloved great-aunt Lettie leaves her a sketchbook, three keys, and a final whisper…Venice... -
![Winter Garden by Kristin Hannah]()
Winter Garden by Kristin Hannah
Rated: 4.23 of 5 stars · 40 ratingsCan a woman ever really know herself if she doesn’t know her mother? From the author of the smash-hit bestseller Firefly Lane and True Colors comes a powerful, heartbreaking novel that illuminates the intricate mother-daughter bond and explores the enduring links between the present and the past Meredith and Nina Whitson are as different as sisters can be... -
![A Soldier of the Great War by Mark Helprin]()
A Soldier of the Great War by Mark Helprin
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsFrom acclaimed novelist Mark Helprin, a lush, literary epic about love, beauty, and the world at war.Alessandro Giuliani, the young son of a prosperous Roman lawyer, enjoys an idyllic life full of privilege: he races horses across the country to the sea, he climbs mountains in the Alps, and, while a student of painting at the ancient university in Bologna, he falls in love...Categorized as:
classics coming-of-age family historical-fiction nautical war 20th-century action-adventure -
![Abigail by Magda Szabó]()
Abigail by Magda Szabó
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsAbigail, the story of a headstrong teenager growing up during World War II, is the most beloved of Magda Szabó’s books in her native Hungary. Gina is the only child of a general, a widower who has long been happy to spoil his bright and willful daughter... -
![Bluebird by Sharon Cameron]()
Bluebird by Sharon Cameron
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsA historical novel, set in postwar New York City.In 1946, Eva leaves behind the rubble of Berlin for the streets of New York City, stepping from the fiery aftermath of one war into another, far colder one, where power is more important than principles, and lies are more plentiful than the truth... -
![The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer, Annie Barrows]()
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer, Annie Barrows
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 87 ratingsA remarkable tale of the island of Guernsey during the German Occupation, and of a society as extraordinary as its name.“Treat yourself to this book, please - I can’t recommend it highly enough.” (Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat, Pray, Love)“I wonder how the book got to Guernsey? Perhaps there is some sort of secret homing instinct in books that brings them to their perfect readers... -
![The Last Restaurant in Paris by Lily Graham]()
The Last Restaurant in Paris by Lily Graham
Rated: 4.36 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsParis 1944. To save her people, she served the enemy.In enemy-occupied Paris, as the locals go to bed starving and defeated by the war, music and laughter spills through the door of a little restaurant, crowded with German soldiers. The owner Marianne moves on weary feet between its packed tables, carrying plates of steaming, wholesome food for the enemy officers... -
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![Anna at War by Helen Peters]()
Anna at War by Helen Peters
Rated: 4.67 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsAs life for German Jews becomes increasingly perilous, Anna’s parents put her on one of the last trains leaving for England. But the war follows her to Kent, and soon Anna finds herself caught up in web of betrayal and secrecy...Categorized as:
historical-fiction law-enforcement war ww2 20th-century action-adventure book children-books -
![Rosa's Gold - A Story of Holocaust Echoes by Ray Kingfisher]()
Rosa's Gold - A Story of Holocaust Echoes by Ray Kingfisher
Rated: 4.31 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsNicole Sutton is a young girl with problems. A tragic car accident has taken away her brother, and ripped her parents' marriage apart. Together with her mother she moves to a new house, a new town, and a life she never wanted. In the dusty cellar of the house she stumbles upon a well-worn notebook – the scribbled war memoirs of Mac, an old soldier... -
![The Seventh Moon by Marius Gabriel]()
The Seventh Moon by Marius Gabriel
Rated: 4.31 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsFrom the international bestselling author of THE MASK OF TIME and THE ORIGINAL SIN. As World War II rages, Francine Lawrence and her small daughter, Ruth, wait in the fading splendor of Raffles Hotel in Singapore for Francine's British husband. But when he is delayed, Francine, half-Chinese and unwelcome there, is forced to begin a terrifying journey... -
![Listen to the Moon by Michael Morpurgo, Mike Grady]()
Listen to the Moon by Michael Morpurgo, Mike Grady
Rated: 4.31 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsThe stunning new novel of World War One from Michael Morpurgo, the nation’s favourite storyteller and multi-million copy bestseller. May, 1915. Alfie and his fisherman father find a girl on an uninhabited island in the Scillies - injured, thirsty, lost…and with absolutely no memory of who she is, or how she came to be there. She can say only one word: Lucy... -
![Code of Honor by Alan Gratz]()
Code of Honor by Alan Gratz
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsLive by the code. Die by the code?Kamran Smith has it all. He’s the star of the football team, dates the most popular girl, and can’t wait to enlist in the army like his big brother, Darius. Although Kamran’s mother is from Iran, Kamran has always felt 100% American. Accepted.And then everything implodes.Darius is accused of being a terrorist. Kamran refuses to believe it...Categorized as:
children coming-of-age family historical-fiction law-enforcement realistic survival war -
![The Little Ship: A heart-warming, sweeping wartime saga full of heart which will stay with you for ages by Margaret Mayhew]()
The Little Ship: A heart-warming, sweeping wartime saga full of heart which will stay with you for ages by Margaret Mayhew
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsSet largely on the Essex coast before the war, Matt, Guy, and their young cousin Lizzie meet up for holidays and bum around in an old boat. Guy is the eldest, handsome, skilled at everything, a tad selfish. Matt is quieter and has a crippled right arm... -
![Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay]()
Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 44 ratingsParis, July 1942: Ten-year-old Sarah is brutally arrested with her family in the Vel' d'Hiv' roundup, the most notorious act of French collaboration with the Nazis. but before the police come to take them, Sarah locks her younger brother, Michel, in their favorite hiding place, a cupboard in the family's apartment. She keeps the key, thinking that she will be back within a few hours... -
![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...Categorized as:
children coming-of-age family friendship historical-fiction law-enforcement realistic survival -
![The Valley of Lost Secrets by Lesley Parr]()
The Valley of Lost Secrets by Lesley Parr
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsSeptember 1939.When Jimmy is evacuated to a small village in Wales, it couldn't be more different from London. Green, quiet and full of strangers, he instantly feels out of place.But then he finds a skull hidden in a tree, and suddenly the valley is more frightening than the war. Who can Jimmy trust? His brother is too little; his best friend has changed... -
![Sentinels of Fire by P.T. Deutermann]()
Sentinels of Fire by P.T. Deutermann
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsP.T. Deutermann's World War II navy series began with the award-winning Pacific Glory, followed by the brilliantly reviewed Ghosts of Bungo Suido. His new novel Sentinels of Fire tells the tale of a lone destroyer, the USS Malloy, part of the Allied invasion forces attacking the island of Okinawa and the Japanese home islands... -
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![Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline]()
Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline
Rated: 4.18 of 5 stars · 76 ratingsThe #1 New York Times Bestseller“A lovely novel about the search for family that also happens to illuminate a fascinating and forgotten chapter of America’s history. Beautiful... -
![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... -
![Harm's Way by James Bassett]()
Harm's Way by James Bassett
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsRockwell Terry is a career naval captain who has served since WWI. Now is the dawn of another world war as his ship patrols outside Pearl Harbor. He leads a sheltered life, goes nowhere and sees no one. With the outbreak of the war, his past begins to emerge... -
![The Lion at Sea by Max Hennessy]()
The Lion at Sea by Max Hennessy
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsMidshipman Kelly Maguire has always had a love affair with the sea. And when war clouds gather over Europe, Maguire is put to the test along with the marine might of the Royal Navy. From the Hellish battles of Gallipoli to the barbarous action at Antwerp, Maguire begins to learn the lessons a sailor must face. Glory and danger abound in this sizzling saga of adventure, blood and guts... -
![The Other Side Of Paradise: An epic and moving love story under the shadow of war by Margaret Mayhew]()
The Other Side Of Paradise: An epic and moving love story under the shadow of war by Margaret Mayhew
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsShe lived only for pleasure...until war forced her to find courage she did not know she had, and love where she least expected it. It is 1941, and while Britain is in the grip of war, life in the Far East is one of wealth and privilege... -
![All the Flowers in Paris: A Novel by Sarah Jio]()
All the Flowers in Paris: A Novel by Sarah Jio
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsTwo women are connected across time by the city of Paris, a mysterious journal, and shocking secrets, sweeping from World War II to the present--for readers of Sarah's Key. When Caroline wakes up in a Paris hospital with no memory of her past, she's confused to learn that she's lived a sad, reclusive life for years in a sprawling apartment on the Seine... -
![Wolf Hollow by Lauren Wolk]()
Wolf Hollow by Lauren Wolk
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsGrowing up in the shadows cast by two world wars, Annabelle has lived a mostly quiet, steady life in her small Pennsylvania town. Until the day new student Betty Glengarry walks into her class. Betty quickly reveals herself to be cruel and manipulative, and while her bullying seems isolated at first, things quickly escalate, and reclusive World War I veteran Toby becomes a target of her attacks... -
![Into the Darkest Day by Kate Hewitt]()
Into the Darkest Day by Kate Hewitt
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsShe had to step outside and hold the paper up to the moonlight to read it, but when she was able to make out the words, her heart felt as if it would drop right out of her chest. Because the message was in German.1944, London:When Lily meets enigmatic GI Matthew in war-torn London, she doesn’t expect to fall in love... -
![I Saw Her That Night by Drago Jančar]()
I Saw Her That Night by Drago Jančar
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsI Saw Her That Night, a love story in time of war, is a novel about a few years in the life and mysterious disappearance of Veronika Zarnik, a young bourgeois woman from Ljubljana, sucked into the whirlwind of a turbulent period in history... -
![The Invisible Bridge by Julie Orringer]()
The Invisible Bridge by Julie Orringer
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 32 ratingsA grand love story and an epic tale of three brothers whose lives are torn apart by war.Paris, 1937. Andras Lévi, a Hungarian Jewish architecture student, arrives from Budapest with a scholarship, a single suitcase, and a mysterious letter he has promised to deliver to C. Morgenstern on the rue de Sévigné... -
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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... -
![The Pearl Thief by Fiona McIntosh]()
The Pearl Thief by Fiona McIntosh
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsSeverine Kassel is asked by the Louvre in 1963 to aid the British Museum with curating its antique jewellery, her specialty. Her London colleagues find her distant and mysterious; her cool beauty the topic of conversations around its quiet halls. No one could imagine that she is a desperately damaged woman, hiding her trauma behind her chic, French image... -
![Wild Blue Yonder by M.W. Arnold]()
Wild Blue Yonder by M.W. Arnold
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsAir Transport Auxiliary pilot Doris Winter is accused of stealing a valuable item from a famous Hollywood movie star, now a captain in the US Army Air Corps, after a dance at the air base in England where he's stationed. Gathering her close friends together, she's determined to clear her name... -
![On the Wings of Hope by Ella Zeiss, Helen MacCormac]()
On the Wings of Hope by Ella Zeiss, Helen MacCormac
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsAs World War II draws to a close, can two young people find love, hope—and freedom?February 1942: Terrifying reports of the Wehrmacht’s advance across the Soviet Union spread like wildfire, striking new fear into the already oppressed German families living there.Harri Pfeiffer, now sixteen, is summoned to the forced labour camp in Chelyabinsk... -
![Ghosts of Bungo Suido by P.T. Deutermann]()
Ghosts of Bungo Suido by P.T. Deutermann
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsA thrilling WWII adventure set in a submarine in the Pacific, by the Boyd Award-winning author of Pacific Glory In late 1944, America's naval forces face what seems an insurmountable threat from Japan: immense Yamato-class battleships, which dwarf every other ship at sea. Built in secrecy, these ships seem invincible, and lay waste to any challengers... -
![Daughters of Paris by Elisabeth Hobbes]()
Daughters of Paris by Elisabeth Hobbes
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsParis 1930sColette – daughter of a wealthy Parisian. No-one expects her to amount to anything other than socialite wife. But there’s more to Colette than meets the eye…Fleur – daughter of a maid in Colette’s household...
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