Crawley's Library

  1.        Hoffman, Alice, Incantation , 2016 Estrella is 16 growing up in Spain around 1500 in the village where her family has lived for 500 years. She has a best friend Catalina. Her life unravels about her as the deep secret is slowly revealed that her family are not the devout Catholics she thought but part of a community of underground Jews who attend a special "church." This is in a world where books are burned in the streets, and Jews from the nearby ghetto are murdered, A tangent to this is Catalina’s jealousy because Estrella has taken her boyfriend, who remains loyal. Does the best friend reveal her secret which leads to the demise of her mother, brother and her trying to save herself and her grandmother? A story of horror and hope.  Here's a review from Goodreads and here's one from the Historical Novel Society . Tags – YA, Historical fiction, Spanish Inquisition, Catholicism, Judaism, loyalty, friendship, persecution

  1.        Winters, Cat, Steep and thorny way. Amulet, USA, 2016. Borrowing from Shakespeare Hamlet, this book portrays the struggles of Hannalee, the daughter of a white woman and an African American man in Oregon 1923. Her father is killed in suspicious circumstance. The Ku Klux Klan are a dominant force. She bravely seeks the truth and justice. A twisting of historical facts and supernatural forces.  Here's a review from Goodreads and here's one by the Guardian . Tags – YA, Historical fiction, Ku Klux Klan, America 1920s, supernatural, mixed relations, African Americans

  1.        Lai, Thanhha, Butterfly Yellow. New York: Harper 2019.   Handing over her young brother at an airport in Vietnam to save him, not realising she could not go with him.   The war is over, she an orphan Hang heads to America to find her brother. Makes an unlikely alliance with a young Texan cowboy, Lee Roy and so the search begins.   A warm and heartfelt story of courage and the losses of war. Winner of the Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction. Here's a review from Goodreads and here's the book's page on the author's website.. Tags – YA, Historical fiction, refugees, Vietnam, USA, reunions, Vietnam war 1961- 1975, family

  1.        Anderson, M.T. Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation: The Pox Party . Candlewick, Canada 2008   Set in the backdrop of African slaves fighting for freedom Octavian learns that he and his mother are objects, with others, of experiments conducted by so called 'rational philosophers' to learn whether Africans are a separate and distinct species.   A provocative twisting of history and science fiction that leaves you reaching for the sequel.   Here's the Goodreads page and here's a review by the Guardian .   Tags – YA, Historical fiction, American revolution, slaves, scientific experiments, smallpox, slavery, African Americans                                              ...

  1.        Adler, Jack, Parthian, Road to Seres . Bellissima, USA, 2006. First in a trilogy, two young Parthians, brother and sister (Larius and Kyra) are caught up in rivalry between Rome and Parthia in first century A.D. Their father is killed in battle, they become wards of the state. To protect his sister Larius becomes entangled in politics and the history of the time. They remain strong and heroic throughout. A window into the complexities of Roman times. Here's the Goodreads page . Tags – YA, Historical fiction, Rome fiction, Ancient Rome, Romans, Brothers, Sisters

  1.        Rees, Celia, Witch Child. Candlewick, USA, 2002. Mary is a foundling child, raised by her grandmother in rural England 1659. The town judges her healing powers as witchery and she is hung in the public square. Mary is suspected of having similar powers, her mother steals her away and puts her on a boat to America to the care of another family. Unwittingly this puts her again in the face of intolerance and judgement due her inherited healing powers in the puritan community. So, Mary’s moving story continues, based on diaries written by her and found hidden in a quilt hundreds of years after she pens her last unfinished sentence. Read the Good Reads review, plus another from a reputable blog with the quirky name of Book Smugglers . and a review from Love Reading 4 Kids Tags -YA, 17 th century, witches, Historical fiction, Salem, diary, witch trial

  1.        Wein, Elizabeth, Code name Verity . Little, Brown books for young readers, USA, 2013. A second world war adventure where the two female characters from different walks of life form a friendship forged in war, one is a pilot, Maddie, and the other a spy, Queenie. Captured by the Germans the major part of the book is in her voice narrating her capture and survival techniques. Historically accurate, a page turner that truly puts you in war turn Germany and in the minds of those two brave girls. Read here a review from Good Reads , and learn more about the author from her web site. Tags – WWII, YA, Gestapo, French Resistance, Espionage, spy, interrogation, women, females