Thursday 15 November 2012

War & Conflicts - Book List


Sunday was Remembrance Day so  we thought now was a good time to share a list of children's/YA novels about war and conflicts. This is one of Little M's favourite genres too.

Some of these novels are probably best suited to older readers because of the.....uh, violence. Some of these novels are historical fiction, others use the topic of war more loosely to create a different kind of novel. A couple of these books are memoirs.

We have read some of these books and if we've read them recently, there is a link to our review. We've also included a list of books that we haven't read but that have been recommended to us. 
 
Please feel free to include any other books that have war or conflict as a theme in the comments section.

 
 
 
Books we have read:
 
World War I
War Horse – Michael Morpurgo


World War II

Between Shades of Gray – Ruta Sepetys (review 1 & review 2)

Code Name Verity – Elizabeth Wein (review)

The Silver Sword – Ian Serraillier (review)

The Book Thief – Markus Zusak

Hitler’s Angel – William Osborne (review)

Once – Morris Gleitzman

Carrie’s War – Nina Bawden

Goodnight Mister Tom – Michelle Magorian

The Diary of a Young Girl – Anne Frank (non-fiction/only part read)

The Seeing – Diana Hendry (post-WWII) (review)

Hitlers Canary – Sandi Toksvig

 
Civil Wars & Conflicts

Never Fall Down – Patricia McCormick (review)

Now Is the Time For Running – Michael Williams (review)

A World Between Us – Lydia Syson (review)

A Soldier’s Secret – Marissa Moss (review)

 

Afghanistan

This Is Not Forgiveness – Celia Rees (review)

Billie Templar’s War – Ellie Irving (review)

Shadow – Michael Morpurgo

 

Futuristic/Speculative Wars

Insignia – SJ Kincaid (review)

Katya’s World - Jonathan L. Howard (review)

 
 
Other Recommendations 
We have not read these books. They have been recommended by various people.
 

World War I

Private Peaceful – Michael Morpurgo

Also, see Booktrust's list

 

World War II

Far From My Home, Never to Return - Nadia Seluga (Polish child’s WWII Memoir)

The Endless Steppe - Esther Hauzig’s (memoir)

The Upstairs Room – Joanna Reiss (autobiography, Dutch occupation)

When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit – Judith Kerr (Jewish girl in Germany)

At the Firefly Gate – Linda Newbury (romantic ghost story)

The Machine Gunners – Robert Westall

Blitzcat – Robert Westall (about a cat)

Tamar – Mal Peet (Dutch resistance)

Once, Then , Now, After – Morris Gleitzmann quartet (We’ve read Once. It's brilliant!)

Waiting for Anya – Michael Morpurgo

A Medal For Leroy – Michael Morpurgo (inspired by first black officer in British army)

The Chalet School in Exile – Elinor Brent-Dyer

The Great Escape - Megan Rix (pets left by evacuees)

I Am David – Anne Holm (escapee from a communist camp)

The Rabbit Girl – Mary Arrigan (evacuees)

 

Afghanistan

The Breadwinner – Deborah Ellis (11 year old who becomes a breadwinner in Afghanistan)

A Million Angels – Kate Maryon

 

Zimbabwe

Out of Shadows – Jason Wallace

 

India

The Wheel of Surya – Jamila Gavin

 

Futuristic/Speculative

How I Live Now – Meg Rosoff


Non-Fiction: Britain & World War I
Here's a list of non-fiction titles on The Guardian website.


There are more suggestions from Alex Baugh (The Children's War blogger) on her Remembrance Day guest post for us.


Have you read any of these books?
Can you recommend any other books with war and conflict as a theme?
 

 

 

4 comments:

  1. What a great list! I always think that it'd be great to highlight some interesting books about war in the run up to Remembrance Sunday, but I've never done it!

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    1. Thanks Clover; Alex from The Children's War helped me out with a great post on Remembrance Day this year :)

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  2. This is a very nice list. There are a few that are new to me, so I'll have to find them. I am always open to new books and you have reviewed a few that I really enjoyed - like Hitler's Angel by William Osborne.

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    1. Thanks Alex, I'm always amazed when we read a children's 'war' novel before you do ( I think you're the specialist on that one!); probably because we get the UK published ones before they're out in the US.

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