Between Shades of Gray

By Ruta Sepetys
(YA F Sepe)
344 pages 2011 Historical Fiction

Lina lives happily with her family in 1941 Lithuania. Tensions are rising in her country now that the Soviets occupy it. Then the worst happens – her father doesn’t come home one day. Soviet soldiers come for her and her little brother and mother in the night. They are forced onto a cattle train with other Lithuanians, who the Soviets call thieves and prostitutes, and taken deep into Siberia and forced to work at labor camps for little to no food or shelter. Can Lina find it in herself to carry on when the rest of the world seems to have forgotten her people? An eye-opening story of a dark and little-known history that remained secret far too long. (Grades 8 & up)

Reviewed by Teen Librarian Sara H.

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Forge

By Laurie Halse Anderson
(YA F Ande)
297 pages 2010 Historical Fiction

Sequel to Chains. After escaping from slavery, Curzon and Isabel get separated. Curson joins the Continental Army at Valley Forge, but is recaptured when his old master, Mister Bellingham, visits the camp. Forced once again into his service, he’s astonished to find Isabel was captured by him as well. As Curson works to rebuild their relationship, his feelings towards Isabel begin to change into something more than friendship. Together they plan a daring escape. Will they succeed again? (Grades 6 & up)

Reviewed by Teen Librarian Shelly P.

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Newes from the Dead

By Mary Hooper
(YA F Hoop)
263 pages 2008 Historical Fiction

Anne Green should be dead. The teenaged housemaid was hanged as a murderer for killing her infant child. There were many witnesses to her hanging, and her body has been turned over to a group of doctors for dissection. But she awakens in her coffin, in a semi-conscious state, unable to move or speak, terrified she’s about to be buried alive. However, a sharp eyed medical student notices a slight fluttering of her eyes, and thus begins the race to save Anne from the impending dissection and another meeting with the hangman. Based on true events in 1650’s England. (Grades 9 & up)

Reviewed by Teen Librarian Kay G.

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The King's Rose

By Alisa M. Libby
(YA F Libb)
297 pages 2009 Historical Fiction

15-year-old Catherine Howard has caught the eye of the aging King Henry VIII. The young cousin of the infamous Anne Boleyn, Catherine must fulfill her family’s desire for power by marrying the king despite the fact she is in love with another. Follow the rich and colorful life of the fifth wife of King Henry from her betrothal and brief reign as the Queen of England to her ultimate treason and beheading in this intriguing period piece. (Grades 8 & up)

reviewed by Teen Librarian Elizabeth S.

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