Pop-Culturalist.com

I personally love to read to escape, to be transported to another person’s life. Reading a book or watching a movie/TV show are the closest we’ll ever get to experiencing the world through new eyes (at least, until the tech world has its way and we’re all wearing virtual reality headsets but seriously if that’s the future just shoot me now).

I recently picked up Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys (reluctantly, I might add, given the dark subject matter) and was immediately hooked. And so, I thought, why not share some of my favorite teen historical fiction set around World War II with my dear Pop Culturalist readers? Yes, I know, I have extremely specific thoughts. You’re welcome.

1. Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys

What can I say? It’s a novel that grabs you immediately from the first page about four teenagers, all with secrets, set during World War II (believe me, I would never have thought I was going to like it as much as I did based on the setting and the book description). The teens meet aboard the Wilhelm Gustloff, a ship that’s taking refugees to safety. The rest, as they say, is history.

2. What I Saw and How I Lied by Judy Blundell

This National Book Award winner is actually set post World War II. The story starts out innocently enough, focusing on 15-year-old Evie, the main protagonist, and her family life. Her stepfather, Joe, has returned from the war and decides to take the family on vacation to Florida. But once there, secrets and lies are exposed and soon Evie realizes that nothing is as it seems. Really trying hard not to spoil anything here, guys.

3. I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith

This is a treasure of a book that flies under the radar. Written by Dodie Smith, the author of 101 Dalmatians, it’s a lovely gem of a novel that is written from the perspective of seventeen-year-old Cassandra Mortmain, who documents her family’s life in a crumbling English castle during the 1930s. Full of sharp, poignant observations, it’s a book that will stay with you long after you’ve read it.

4. A Brief History of Montmaray by Michelle Cooper

So this book is actually quite similar in setting and feeling to I Capture the Castle but does have a bit more action in it–it’s about sixteen-year-old Sophie Fitzosborne who also decides to document her family’s life on Montmaray, a fictional island off the coast of Britain, in 1936. The war is suddenly at their doorstep when two German officials land on their island. How does Sophie and her family deal with the intruders? You’ll have to read to find out.

Salt to the Sea and A Brief History of Montmaray covers copyright Penguin Random House
What I Saw and How I Lied cover copyright Scholastic
I Capture the Castle cover copyright Macmillan