World War II Booklist

World History > Modern Age > World War II (1939-1945)

Book recommendations pertaining to World War II.

See Also: The Holocaust

Asian Front

Book Title	Author	PubDate	Reading Age	Time Period	Time Frame	Geographic Area	Country	Topic	Genre	Format
Women Heroes of World War II―the Pacific Theater: 15 Stories of Resistance, Rescue, Sabotage, and Survival	Atwood, Kathryn J.	2016	YA A	Modern Age	1932-1945	Asia	Various	WWII	NF Bio	B
Anya's War	Alban, Andrea	2011	YA	Modern Age	1937-1945	Asia	China	WWII Jewish Immigration	F	N
The Library of Legends	Chang, Janie	2020	YA A	Modern Age	1937-1945	Asia	China	WWII	F	N
Under the Broken Sky	Smith, Sherri L.	2019	UMG	Modern Age	1939-1945	Asia	Japan China	Manchuria WWII	F	N
The House of Sixty Fathers	DeJong, Meindert	1956	MG	Modern Age	1939-1945	Asia	China	WWII	F	CB
The Last Rose of Shanghai: A Novel	Dai Randel, Weina	2021	A	Modern Age	1940	Asia	China	WWII Jewish Immigration	F	N
When My Name Was Keoko	Park, Linda Sue	2012	UMG	Modern Age	1940-1945	Asia	Korea	WWII	F	CB
Island War	Reilly Giff, Patricia	2020	MG	Modern Age	1941-1945	Aleutian Islands	United States	WWII	F	N
The Attack on Pearl Harbor: An Interactive History Adventure	Lassieur, Allison	2016	MG	Modern Age	1941	United States	United States Japan	WWII Pearl Harbor	NF	CB
History Smashers: Pearl Harbor	Messner, Kate	2021	MG UMG	Modern Age	1941	United States	United States Japan	WWII Pearl Harbor	NF	B
The Songbird and the Rambutan Tree	Abendanon, Lucille	2024	UMG YA	Modern Age	1942-1945	Asia	Indonesia	WWII	F	N
On the Horizon: World War II Reflections	Lowry, Lois	2020	MG UMG	Modern Age	1942-1945	North America Asia	United States Japan	WWII	F	CB
Raid of No Return	Hale, Nathan	2019	MG UMG	Modern Age	1942	North America	United States	WWII Doolittle Raid Pearl Harbor	NF	GN
Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes	Coerr, Eleanor	1977	MG	Modern Age	1943-1955	Asia	Japan	WWII Hiroshima	F	CB
The Blossom and the Firefly	Smith, Sherri L.	2020	YA A	Modern Age	1945	Asia	Japan	WWII	F	CB
Barefoot Gen 1	Nakazawa, Keiji	2004	YA A	Modern Age	1945	Asia	Japan	WWII Hiroshima	F OV	GN
Barefoot Gen 2	Nakazawa, Keiji	2004	YA A	Modern Age	1945	Asia	Japan	WWII Hiroshima	F OV	GN
In Harm's Way: The Sinking of the U.S.S. Indianapolis and the Extraordinary Story of Its Survivors	Stanton, Doug	2003	YA A	Modern Age	1945	South Pacific	Japan United States	WWII USS Indianapolis	NF	BN
Barefoot Gen 3	Nakazawa, Keiji	2005	YA A	Modern Age	1945	Asia	Japan	WWII Hiroshima	F OV	GN
A Place to Belong	Kadohata, Cynthia	2019	UMG YA	Modern Age	1946	Asia	Japan	WWII Hiroshima Japanese Internment	F	N

European Front

Book Title	Author	PubDate	Reading Age	Time Period	Time Frame	Geographic Area	Country	Topic	Genre	Format
Seized by the Sun: The Life and Disappearance of World War II Pilot Gertrude Tompkins	Atwood, Kathryn J.	2016	YA A	Modern Age	1912-1944	Asia	Various	WWII Women's Aviation	NF Bio	B
Maria: A Novel of Maria von Trapp	Moran, Michelle	2024	A	Modern Age	1913-1960	Europe North America	Austria United States	WWII musical theater	F	N
The Postcard	Berest, Anne	2023	A	Modern Age	1918-2019	Europe	France	WWII Jewish Life antisemitism Holocaust Survivors	F	N
X, Y & Z: The Real Story of How Enigma Was Broken	Turing, Dermot	2019	YA A	Modern Age	1932-1942	Europe	Poland Great Britain	WWII Enigma Machine	F	B
All the Light We Cannot See	Doerr, Anthony	2014	YA A	Modern Age	1934-2014	Europe	France Germany	WWII	F	N
Leonora in the Morning Light	Carter, Michaela	2021	YA A	Modern Age	1937-1940	Europe	France Great Britain	WWII Art	F	B
Just a Girl: A True Story of World War II	Levi, Lia	2022	MG	Modern Age	1938-1945	Europe	Italy	WWII Jews in Hiding Nazi Occupation	NF	CB
The War That Saved My Life	Brubaker Bradley, Kimberly	2015	MG	Modern Age	1939-1945	Europe	Great Britain	WWII	F	CB
You Wouldn't Want to Be a Secret Agent During World War II	Malam, John	2010	LE MG	Modern Age	1939-1945	Europe	Great Britain France	WWII	NF	PB
Genevieve's War	Reilly Giff, Patricia	2017	MG	Modern Age	1939	Europe	France	WWII	F	N
Max in the House of Spies: A Tale of World War II	Gidwitz, Adam	2024	MG UMG	Modern Age	1939	Europe	Great Britain Germany	WWII Kindertransport Espionage	F	CB
The War I Finally Won	Brubaker Bradley, Kimberly	2018	MG	Modern Age	1939-1945	Europe	Great Britain	WWII	F	CB
The Underground Library	Ryan, Jennifer	2024	A	Modern Age	1939-1941	Europe	Great Britain	WWII	F	N
You Wouldn't Want to Be a World War II Pilot	Graham, Ian	2009	LE MG	Modern Age	1939-1945	Europe	Great Britain	WWII	NF	PB
We Were the Lucky Ones	Hunter, Georgia	2018	YA A	Modern Age	1939-1946	Europe	Poland	WWII	F	N
Code Name Pauline: Memoirs of a World War II Special Agent	Cornioley, Pearl Witherington	2015	YA A	Modern Age	1939-1945	Europe	France Great Britain	WWII	NF Bio	B
Salt to the Sea	Sepetys, Ruta	2017	YA A	Modern Age	1940-1945	Europe	East Prussia	WWII	F	N
Snow Treasure	McSwigan, Marie	2006	MG	Modern Age	1940	Europe	Norway	WWII	F	CB
Between Shades of Gray	Sepetys, Ruta	2012	YA A	Modern Age	1940-1945	Europe	Lithuania Russia	WWII	F	N
The Bookseller of Dachau	Ryan, Shari J.	2021	A	Modern Age	1940-2018	Europe	Germany United States	WWII	F	N
The Little Riders	Shemin, Margaretha	1993	MG	Modern Age	1940-1945	Europe	Holland	WWII Nazi Occupation	F	CB
The Paper Girl of Paris	Taylor, Jordyn	2020	YA A	Modern Age	1940-1945	Europe	France	WWII	F	N
The Boys Who Challenged Hitler	Hoose, Phillip	2015	YA A	Modern Age	1940-1945	Europe	Denmark	WWII German Occupation	NF	N
Safiyyah's War	Noor Khan, Hiba	2024	MG UMG	Modern Age	1940-1942	Europe	France	WWII Nazi Occupation Muslim Resistance	F	N
Catherine's War	Billet, Julia	2020	UMG	Modern Age	1942-1945	Europe	France	WWII Jews in Hiding Nazi Occupation	F	GN
Twenty and Ten	Bishop, Claire Hutchet	1952	MG	Modern Age	1940-1944	Europe	France	WWII Jews in Hiding Nazi Occupation	F	CB
The Night War	Brubaker Bradley, Kimberly	2024	MG UMG	Modern Age	1942	Europe	France	WWII Resistance	HF	CB
The Kitchen Front	Ryan, Jennifer	2022	A	Modern Age	1942	Europe	Great Britain	WWII	F	N
Wrath Becomes Her	Polydoros, Aden	2023	YA A	Modern Age	1943	Europe	Lithuania	WWII Jewish Resistance	HF	N
Code Name Verity	Wein, Elizabeth	2013	YA	Modern Age	1943	Europe	Great Britain France	WWII	F	N
Girl in the Blue Coat	Hesse, Monica	2017	YA A	Modern Age	1943-1945	Europe	Netherlands	WWII Nazi Occupation	F	N
Light Perpetual	Spufford, Francis	2021	A	Modern Age	1944	Europe	Great Britain	WWII	F	N
A Whale in Paris	Presley, Daniel Polders, Claire	2019	MG	Modern Age	1944-1945	Europe	France	WWII Nazi Occupation	F	CB
Number the Stars	Lowry, Lois	2011	MG	Modern Age	1945	Europe	Denmark	WWII	F	CB
The Dollmaker of Krakow	Romero, R. M.	2016	UMG	Modern Age	1945	Europe	Poland	WWII	F HF	CB
Kursed	Smith, Lindsay	2015	YA	Modern Age	1945	Europe	Soviet Union	WWII	HF	N

Nazi Germany

Book Title	Author	PubDate	Reading Age	Time Period	Time Frame	Geographic Area	Country	Topic	Genre	Format
The Faithful Spy	Hendrix, John	2018	YA A	Modern Age	1906-1945	Europe	Germany	WWII German Occupation	NF Bio	GN
The German Wife	Rimmer, Kelly	2022	A	Modern Age	1930-1950	Europe North America	Germany United States	WWII Operation Paperclip	F	N
Flowers in the Gutter	Gaddy, K. R.	2020	YA A	Modern Age	1932-1945	Europe	Germany	WWII	NF	B
White Rose	Wilson, Kip	2019	YA A	Modern Age	1935-1943	Europe	Germany	WWII	F	N
Maus I	Spiegelman, Art	1986	YA A	Modern Age	1935-1945	Europe	Germany	WWII	HF F	GN
Maus II	Spiegelman, Art	1992	YA A	Modern Age	1935-1945	Europe	Germany	WWII	HF F	GN
When the World Was Ours	Kessler, Liz	2021	UMG YA	Modern Age	1936-1945	Europe	Austria	WWII Holocaust	F	N
Nothing Sung and Nothing Spoken	Tyndall, Nita	2022	YA A	Modern Age	1938-1945	Europe	Germany	WWII LGBTQ+	F	N
The Book Thief	Zusak, Markus	2007	YA UMG	Modern Age	1939-1945	Europe	Germany	WWII	F	N
The Berlin Boxing Club	Sharenow, Robert	2012	YA A	Modern Age	1939-1945	Europe	Germany	WWII	F	N
Parallel Journeys	O'Brien, Tim	2000	YA A	Modern Age	1939-1945	Europe	Germany	WWII Auschwitz	F	B
Names in a Jar	Gold, Jennifer	2021	YA A	Modern Age	1939-1987	Europe	Poland	Holocaust WWII	F	N
The Last Checkmate: A Novel	Saab, Gabriella	2021	YA	Modern Age	1939-1945	Europe	Poland Germany	WWII Chess Auschwitz	F	N
The Shadow War	Smith, Lindsay	2020	YA	Modern Age	1942	Europe	Germany	WWII	HF	N
An Elephant in the Garden	Morpurgo, Michael	2010	MG	Modern Age	1944	Europe	Germany	WWII	F	CB
My Long List of Impossible Things	Barker, Michelle	2020	YA A	Modern Age	1945	Europe	Germany	WWII	F	N

US Homefront

Book Title	Author	PubDate	Reading Age	Time Period	Time Frame	Geographic Area	Country	Topic	Genre	Format
Classified: The Secret Career of Mary Golda Ross	Sorell, Traci	2021	LE MG	Modern Age	1925-2008	North America	United States	WWII Cherokee Nation Indigenous Americans Space Race Women in Science	NF	PB
Bomb: The Race to Build --and Steal-- the World's Most Dangerous Weapon	Sheinkin, Steve	2018	YA	Modern Age	1938	North America	United States	WWII Atomic Bomb	NF	B
Atomic Women: The Untold Story of the Scientists Who Helped Create the Nuclear Bomb	Montillo, Roseanne	2020	YA A	Modern Age	1938-1945	North America	United States	WWII Atomic Bomb	NF	B
Double Victory: How African American Women Broke Race and Gender Barriers to Help Win World War II	Mullenbach, Cheryl	2013	YA A	Modern Age	1939-1945	North America	United States	WWII	NF Bio	B
Code Girls (Young Readers Edition)	Mundy, Liza	2019	UMG YA	Modern Age	1939-1945	North America	United States	WWII Code Breakers	NF	B
Yonder	Standish, Ali	2022	MG UMG	Modern Age	1939 - 1943	North America	United States	WWII	F	CB
Code Girls: The Untold Story of the American Women Code Breakers of World War II	Mundy, Liza	2018	YA A	Modern Age	1939-1945	North America	United States	WWII Code Breakers	NF	B
Heroes: A Novel of Pearl Harbor	Gratz, Alan	2024	UMG YA	Modern Age	1941 - 1941	North America	United States	WWII Pearl Harbor	F	N
Great or Nothing	McCullough, Joy Tung Richmond, Caroline Sharpe, Tess Spotswood, Jessica	2022	YA	Modern Age	1942-1943	North America Europe	United States Great Britain	WWII American Home Front Little Women Retelling	F	N
Code Talker	Bruchac, Joseph	2006	UMG	Modern Age	1942-1954	North America	United States	WWII Navajo Nation Indigenous Americans	F	N
Lily's Crossing	Reilly Giff, Patricia	1999	MG	Modern Age	1944	North America	United States	WWII	F	N
The Port Chicago 50	Sheinkin, Steve	2017	YA	Modern Age	1944	North America	United States	WWII Civil Rights	NF	N
Willow Run	Reilly Giff, Patricia	2005	MG	Modern Age	1944	North America	United States	WWII	F	N
Mare's War	Davis, Tanita S.	2009	YA	Modern Age	1944	North America	United States	WWII Women's Army Corps	NF	N

Japanese Internment Camps

Book Title	Author	PubDate	Reading Age	Time Period	Time Frame	Geographic Area	Country	Topic	Genre	Format
Fred Korematsu Speaks Up	Atkins, Laura Yogi, Stan	2017	MG UMG	Modern Age	1919-2005	North America	United States	WWII Japanese Internment	NF Bio	CB
Stealing Home	Torres, J	2021	MG UMG	Modern Age	1941-1945	North America	Canada	WWII Japanese Internment	F GN	GN
Weedflower	Kadohata, Cynthia	2009	UMG	Modern Age	1942-1945	North America	United States	WWII Japanese Internment	F	CB
Sylvia & Aki	Conkling, Winifred	2011	MG	Modern Age	1942-1945	North America	United States	WWII Japanese Internment Segregation	F	CB
Baseball Saved Us	Mochizuki, Ken	1993	MG LE	Modern Age	1942-1945	North America	United States	WWII Japanese Internment	F	PB
When the Emperor Was Divine	Otsuka, Julie	2003	YA A	Modern Age	1942-1945	North America	United States	WWII Japanese Internment	F	N
No-No Boy	Okada, John	1957	YA A	Modern Age	1942-1945	North America	United States	WWII Japanese Internment	F OV	N
Paper Wishes	Sepahban, Lois	2016	MG	Modern Age	1942-1945	North America	United States	WWII Japanese Internment	F	CB
Displacement	Hughes, Kiku	2020	YA A	Modern Age	1942-1945	North America	United States	WWII Japanese Internment	HF	GN
They Called Us Enemy	Takei, George	2019	YA A	Modern Age	1942-1945	North America	United States	WWII Japanese Internment	NF Bio OV	GN
We Are Not Free	Chee, Traci	2020	YA A	Modern Age	1942-1945	North America	United States	WWII Japanese Internment	F OV	N
Farewell to Manzanar	Houston, Jeanne Wakatsuki	1973	YA A	Modern Age	1942-1945	North America	United States	WWII Japanese Internment	NF Bio OV	B
The Bracelet	Uchida, Yoshiko	1996	LE MG	Modern Age	1942-1945	North America	United States	WWII Japanese Internment	F OV	PB
Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet	Ford, Jamie	2009	YA A	Modern Age	1942-1945	North America	United States	WWII Japanese Internment	F	N
Within These Lines	Morrill, Stephanie	2019	YA A	Modern Age	1942-1945	North America	United States	WWII Japanese Internment	F	N
The War Outside	Hesse, Monica	2018	YA A	Modern Age	1944-1945	North America	United States	WWII Japanese Internment	F	N

All Theaters (General)

Book Title	Author	PubDate	Reading Age	Time Period	Time Frame	Geographic Area	Country	Topic	Genre	Format
World War II Infantrymen: An Interactive History Adventure	Otfinoski, Steven	2013	MG	Modern Age	1939-1945	World	Various	WWII	NF	CB
World War II: Kids Who Survived Tell Their Stories	Nicholson, Dorinda	2015	UMG	Modern Age	1939-1945	World	Various	WWII	NF Bio	PB
World War II Spies: An Interactive History Adventure	Burgan, Michael	2013	MG	Modern Age	1939-1945	World	Various	WWII	NF	CB
Guts & Glory: World War II	Thompson, Ben	2017	UMG	Modern Age	1939-1945	World	Various	WWII	NF	CB
World War II Naval Forces: An Interactive History Adventure	Raum, Elizabeth	2013	MG	Modern Age	1939-1945	World	Various	WWII	NF	CB
World War II: The Definitive Visual History	DK	2009	YA A	Modern Age	1939-1945	World	Various	WWII	NF	B
World War II Pilots: An Interactive History Adventure	Burgan, Michael	2013	MG	Modern Age	1939-1945	World	Various	WWII	NF	CB

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List of abbreviations:

Reading Age	Genre	Format
LE = lower elementary MG = middle grade (8-12 yrs.) UMG = upper-middle grade (11-14 yrs.) YA = young adult (14+) A = adult (18+)	NF - non fiction F = fiction Bio = biography HF = historical fantasy AH = alternate history OV - own voices M = mythology S = spine book	PB = picture book GN = graphic novel ER = early reader CB = chapter book B = book (NF) N = novel M = memoir