Rec. fiction for teens that is about WWI

[Alicia64]

My 14 year olds are studying WWI -- and I'd love to give them fiction books that tell a story based during WWI.

 

Were there any that your kids loved?

 

Thanks!

 

Alley

[Lori D.]

Not loved, but both DSs were powerfully moved by All Quiet on the Western Front (Remarque), which is a graphic, intense portrayal of the psychological effect of trench warfare on soldiers. I tend to recommend it for age 15-16 and up, but a 14yo who is not sensitive could possibly handle it. However, I strongly suggest using it as a work to dig into, rather than as a supplemental independent read.

 

No personal experience but War Horse (Morpungo) might work for your 14yo. You might also find something from this list of elementary-age through Young Adult works from: Library Thing: Children's Books about World War I.

Edited October 17, 2017 by Lori D.

[Alicia64]

Not loved, but both DSs were powerfully moved by All Quiet on the Western Front (Remarque), which is a graphic, intense portrayal of the psychological effect of trench warfare on soldiers. I tend to recommend it for age 15-16 and up, but a 14yo who is not sensitive could possibly handle it. However, I strongly suggest using it as a work to dig into, rather than as a supplemental independent read.

 

No personal experience but War Horse (Morpungo) might work for your 14yo. You might also find something from this list of elementary-age through Young Adult works from: Library Thing: Children's Books about World War I.

 

Thanks Lori! I was looking at All Quiet on the Western Front. I'll have to wait. One boy is super sensitive. Thank you for the book list!

 

Alley

[aaplank]

Rilla of Ingleside by L.M. Montgomery is told from the Canadian home front perspective. That story has stuck with me over the years and I consider it to be even better than Anne of Green Gables.

[Alicia64]

aaplank: Thank you! It's ordered!

[Alicia64]

Any more?

[aaplank]

It's not fiction, but a great retelling, with excellent photos, of the amazing Christmas truce. I highly recommend it to juxtapose the reality of trench warfare with the beautiful humanity on both sides.

 

https://www.amazon.com/Truce-Jim-Murphy/dp/0545130492/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1508330367&sr=8-1&keywords=Truce+book

[Sebastian (a lady)]

I've been underwhelmed by many of the fiction books I've read about the war, however many of the histories and biographies read as exciting as if they were fiction.

 

I think it is just hard to give an accurate portrayal of what the war was like without making it trivial.

 

Gentleman of War by Dan van der Vat about the German cruiser Emden 

 

Lyn MacDonald has several books that are based on interviews and oral histories with WWI veterans.

 

My dh recommends Guns of August and The Proud Tower (which is about just before the war).

 

I also enjoyed The Last Romantic by Hannah Pakula (about the queen of Romania) and The War Romance of the Salvation Army, an old book by Grace Livingston Hill.  Despite Hill's reputation and the title, it is actually the official history of the Salvation Army's involvement in WWI.

 

The Last Summer before the War is a recent book by Helen Simonson about a town in UK as the war breaks out.

 

 

[egao_gakari]

If you've got a girl, the final two Betsy-Tacy books by Maud Hart Lovelace (Betsy and the Great World, and Betsy's Wedding) tell of Betsy's experiences in Europe right as the war breaks out, and the war is in the background for the first couple years of her married life until America enters the war and her husband joins up. The recent editions have a bunch of information at the end about the author's life during that time period, too. But I'm not sure how intelligible those books would be, without having read the whole series. (It begins with short books written on about a 2nd/3rd grade reading level, when Betsy is 5 years old, and the books "grow up" and get longer and more complex as Betsy and the readers grow up.) All of them are sweet, playful books that seem very true-to-life--probably because they're the author's slightly-fictionalized memoirs!

 

One of the earlier books (Heaven to Betsy) is notable (to me at least!) for being the only kids' book I'm aware of where the main character changes churches and begins attending a different denomination than her parents. It's not a major plot point or anything, but she visits the new church, finds it suits her better, respectfully asks her parents' permission, and remains a member of that denomination for the rest of the series. (These aren't at all religious books. It's just that religion was a major part of small-town life at that time, so occasionally the author makes mention of So-and-so who is a Welsh Calvinistic Methodist, So-and-so who's Syriac Orthodox, etc.)

[birchbark]

Not fiction, but my teen loved The Yanks are Coming by Albert Marrin.

 

[gracie01]

I enjoyed Megiddo's Shadow by Arthur Slade.

 

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[madteaparty]

No one is going to mention Good Soldier Svjek?

[Kidlit]

Another recommendation for Rilla of Ingleside, though it is sort of heavy on the romance. It’s my favorite of LM Montgomery’s novels, which is saying something because I’m quite a fan. It shows the Canadian aspect of the war beautifully. My girls (ages 13 and 11) and I just finished it as a read aloud a few months ago, capping off eighteen months of reading the Anne series together.

 

 

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[hornblower]

Not a book but the two man stage show Billy Bishop Goes to War. 

There's an old CBC recording of it floating around in places. iTunes Canada has it https://itunes.apple.com/ca/movie/billy-bishop-goes-to-war/id741236502

 

We all love Vera Brittain's Testament of Youth but it's non fiction, long and I think probably better for a 16+....

 We've read several recommendations on this list: https://www.theguardian.com/childrens-books-site/2014/jun/30/best-first-world-war-ww1-books-for-children-and-teens

 

Also check out the BBC's Home Front radio drama. It's a bit soap opera'ish at times but it totally sucked me in. You can get it on a podcast app. It's a 4 year project - they are releasing episodes the same week as the action takes place, 100 years later. So it started broadcasting in the summer of 1914 and will finish next year with Armistice Day. It is about the situation in the UK,  and so we only hear about what's happening in Europe and Africa second hand but very fascinating. Rationing, bombing raids etc. 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b047qhc2

 

BBC did a whole online series for the 100 year anniversary of WW1 so I'd look through their pages. 

 

[prairiewindmomma]

The Guns of August by Barbara Tuchman, mentioned above, is a FABULOUS book, but I wouldn't recommend it for a 14 yo unless they have college level reading skills (the ability to handle dense, complex material). All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Remarque would probably be a better fit. Chronicle of Youth: The War Diary 1913-1917 by Vera Brittain might also work. My Experience in the World War by John J. Pershing is on my next-to-read list, but it's probably not interesting to teen boys unless they are into logistics and politics.

[Lori D.]

Also check out the BBC's Home Front radio drama. It's a bit soap opera'ish at times but it totally sucked me in. You can get it on a podcast app. It's a 4 year project - they are releasing episodes the same week as the action takes place, 100 years later. So it started broadcasting in the summer of 1914 and will finish next year with Armistice Day. It is about the situation in the UK,  and so we only hear about what's happening in Europe and Africa second hand but very fascinating. Rationing, bombing raids etc. 

 

That sounds cool! :)

 

Off and on for the past few years, DS#1 has been watching a similarly laid-out video documentary series: The Great War 100 Years Ago This Week -- each week of WW1 is summed up in an 8-10 minute weekly video.

[Kidlit]

Not a book but the two man stage show Billy Bishop Goes to War.

 

There's an old CBC recording of it floating around in places. iTunes Canada has it https://itunes.apple.com/ca/movie/billy-bishop-goes-to-war/id741236502

 

We all love Vera Brittain's Testament of Youth but it's non fiction, long and I think probably better for a 16+....

 

We've read several recommendations on this list: https://www.theguardian.com/childrens-books-site/2014/jun/30/best-first-world-war-ww1-books-for-children-and-teens

 

Also check out the BBC's Home Front radio drama. It's a bit soap opera'ish at times but it totally sucked me in. You can get it on a podcast app. It's a 4 year project - they are releasing episodes the same week as the action takes place, 100 years later. So it started broadcasting in the summer of 1914 and will finish next year with Armistice Day. It is about the situation in the UK, and so we only hear about what's happening in Europe and Africa second hand but very fascinating. Rationing, bombing raids etc.

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b047qhc2

 

BBC did a whole online series for the 100 year anniversary of WW1 so I'd look through their pages.

 

 

I’m not the OP, but I just wanted to say thanks for sharing. This sounds fascinating!

 

 

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[eagleynne]

Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks. It's about the tunnelers of WW1, and it is very intense but good. I would recommend it for older teens or not very sensitive younger teens.