Showing titles in Historical Fiction

War has been declared, and the lives of three sisters – Lydia, Peggy and Teddy – are about to be turned upside down. As bombs rain down on London, the girls will lose their homes, their things, their loved ones... but they will find lost kittens, friendships with fellow rebels, the need for art, the strength to carry on and a greater sense of family than ever. And with each other's help and the radical changes that war brings, the sisters will discover the essence of who they truly are. 1939.

This timely and powerful novel tells the story of three different children seeking refuge. Josef 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. With his homeland torn apart by violence and destruction, he and his family begin a long trek toward Europe.

Brought to you by Penguin. Return to the spellbinding magical world of the Hatmakers in this sweeping, epic and exciting new adventure on the high seas - perfect for fans of Nevermoor, A Pinch of Magic and Harry Potter. ‘Be swept along by the brisk plot and cliffhanger chapters’ The...

September, 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. Finding an ally in someone he never expects, they set out together to uncover the secrets that lie with the skull. What they discover will change Jimmy - and the village - forever.

When Charlie’s longed-for brother is born with a serious heart condition, Charlie’s world is turned upside down. Upset and afraid, Charlie flees the hospital and makes for the ancient forest on the edge of town. There Charlie finds a boy floating face-down in the stream, injured, but alive. But when Charlie sets off back to the hospital to fetch help, it seems the forest has changed. It’s become a place as strange and wild as the boy dressed in deerskins.

At only seventeen years old, Ian Kabra is head of the Cahills, the most powerful family in the world. He has presidents on speed dial, generals at his beck and call. Ian knows he's an ideal leader and the only man for the job. There's just one small problem: He's already messed up big time. A Cahill from the past calling himself the Outcast has risen to challenge Ian with an impossible test. The Outcast has re-created four of history's greatest disasters and dared Ian to stop him.

The Ancient Egypt Sleepover consists of twenty-one short chapters, perfect for listening to in class. It is thrilling but also realistic, making it the go-to fiction choice for primary school teachers covering Ancient Egypt in KS2 history.

“Max in the House of Spies is everything you could hope for in a book,” -R. J. Palacio, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Wonder, White Bird, and Pony “Espionage! Secrets! Suspense! If you’ve ever dreamed of being a spy, this book is for you.” -Alan Gratz, #1 New York Times...

Violet Veil wants nothing more than to prove her worth and become her father’s apprentice at Veil & Sons Undertakers. And one rain-soaked night she gets her chance when she meets a boy, Oliver, who is wandering around the graveyard. Only, the last time Violet saw Oliver, he was indoors and very much dead, waiting to be buried. Violet has just found her first case and it doesn’t get bigger than this: can she, with the help of her dog, Bones, help Oliver solve his own ‘murder’. 

An unforgettable tale of an orphan in Victorian London, based on the boy whose plight inspired Dr Barnardo to found his famous children's homes. When his mother dies, Jim Jarvis is left all alone in London. He is sent to the workhouse but quickly escapes, choosing a hard life on the streets of the city over the confines of the workhouse walls. Struggling to survive, Jim finally finds some friends...only to be snatched away and made to work for the remorselessly cruel Grimy Nick, constantly guarded by his vicious dog, Snipe. Will Jim ever manage to be free?

Alice and Sonny's family yacht is in Egypt, ready to pick up famous actress Estelle Fortune, and take her to London to film her next blockbuster movie. But just before the boat leaves, Alice discovers that Estelle has vanished! In her room is a note, threatening that unless a large amount of money is paid in Malta in a few days' time, Estelle will be thrown overboard. As the Lady Rose sets sail, Alice, Sonny and their new friend Winnie must work out who is threatening Estelle, but can they save her?

WITH A NEW AFTERWORD BY EMMA CARROLL 'A touching, utterly convincing book' JACQUELINE WILSON 'What a deep, dark, deceptively simple, brilliant novel it is' EMMA CARROLL 'Poignant and realistic . . . Carrie's War captures the true reality of war for a child, and it doesn't sentimentalise war'...

Tom Palmer celebrates the unsung athletic heroes of the Armistice in a powerful intergenerational tale of the fell-running messengers on the front-line of war. Lily has lots of worries. She's struggling to compete in her fell-running races and, worse, she's losing her gran to Alzheimer's. But...

Read by actress Ruth Jones, Eva Ibbotson's hugely entertaining The Star of Kazan is a timeless classic for listeners young and old. In 1896, in a pilgrim church in the Alps, an abandoned baby girl is found by a cook and a housemaid. They take her home, and Annika grows up in the servants'...

Annabelle has lived in Wolf Hollow all her life: a quiet place still scarred by two world wars. But when cruel, manipulative Betty arrives in town, Annabelle's calm world is shattered along with everything she's ever known about right and wrong. When Betty accuses gentle loner Toby - a traumatised ex-soldier - of a terrible act, Annabelle knows he's innocent. Then Betty disappears.... Now Annabelle must protect Toby from the spiralling accusations and hysteria until she can prove to Wolf Hollow what really happened to Betty.

Penguin presents, the downloadable audiobook edition of Goodnight Mr Tom, read by Patrick Malahide. Young Willie Beech is evacuated to the country as Britain stands on the brink of WW2. A sad, deprived child, he slowly begins to flourish under the care of old Tom Oakley - but his new-found...

The story is told by Coriander, daughter of a silk merchant in 1650s London. Her idyllic childhood ends when her mother dies and her father goes away, leaving Coriander with her stepmother, a widow who is in cahoots with a fundamentalist Puritan preacher. She is shut away in a chest and left to die, but emerges into the fairy world from which her mother came, and where time has no meaning. When she returns, charged with a task that will transform her life, she is seventeen.

In this delightful historical mystery, seven boys in Ancient Rome solve strange crimes . . . thanks to some help from their cranky teacher, a little bit of logic, and a lot of amusing misadventure. Yes, Rufus wrote CAIUS IS A DUMBBELL on his tablet at school, but no, he did not break into the...

Gunnar is the son of a Viking chieftain, living peacefully with his mother, father, and their people - until they are raided by Skuli and his Wolf Men, who raze his home to the ground and take his father’s life. Gunnar swears to avenge his father’s death and save his mother from Skuli - but first he must run to save himself facing murderous raiders, hand to hand battles, mythical flying wolves, and a relentless sea journey to the Land of Fire and Ice... Unknown to Gunnar, his life has been foretold, and he finds he has a destiny greater than his own story.

Eloise has always loved Joan of Arc. Noble, honest and brave, she was everything Eloise wishes to be. And on a bright sunny day in Orleans, Eloise has a very special daydream… A superb re-imagining of Joan of Arc by master storyteller and author of War Horse. “There was only one creature on...