Things for Teens - Book Lists

Early Historical Fiction for Teens

Biblical times, Greek Mythology, Ancient Egypt, etc.

The words Teen, Children and Adult let you know where in the library you can find the book.

Alphabet of Dreams by Susan Flectcher – 2006 - Teen

Mitra and her little brother, Babak, are beggars in the ancient city of Rhagae. But they are not what they seem, secretly they are of royal blood. Babak has a strange gift: If he sleeps with an item belonging to someone, he can know that person's dreams. Mitra believes that they can use this gift to help them regain their standing.

Breathe by Penni Russon – 2007 - Teen

Although Undine is excited about leaving Tasmania for a trip to see her father in Greece, she is also conflicted about using the magic that wells up inside her and confused about her personal relationships, including the one with her best friend Trout.

Casting the Gods Adrift by Geraldine McCaughrean – 2002 – Teen

Tutmose, an apprentice sculptor, and his nearly-blind brother, Ibrim, an apprentice musician, are content at the court of Pharaoh Akhenaten, but their father rages against Pharoah's rejection of traditional Egyptian gods and plots a deadly revenge.

Corydon & the Fall of Atlantis by Tobias Druitt – 2007 - Teen

Corydon, an outcast Greek boy with the leg of a goat, reluctantly sets off on another adventure with the "monsters" of Greek mythology when the Minotaur is apparently kidnapped by the people of Atlantis.

Dark Sons by Nikki Grimes – 2005 - Teen

Alternating poems compare and contrast the conflicted feelings of Ishmael, son of the Biblical patriarch Abraham, and Sam, a teenager in New York City, as they try to come to terms with being abandoned by their fathers and with the love they feel for their younger stepbrothers.

Goddess of Yesterday by Caroline Cooney – 2002 - Teen
In ancient Sparta, young Anaxandra must assume a false identity to ensure her safety. She guards against the jealousy and suspicion of Helen, the beautiful wife of King Meneleus, whose actions will trigger a tragic war with Troy.

Ithaka by Adele Geras – 2006 - Teen

The island of Ithaka is overrun with uncouth suitors demanding that Penelope choose a new husband, as she patiently awaits the return of Odysseus from the Trojan War.

The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan – 2005 – Teen

Twelve-year-old Percy Jackson learns he is a demigod, the son of a mortal woman and Poseidon, god of the sea.  His mother sends him to a summer camp for demigods where he and his new friends set out on a quest to prevent a war between the gods. (This series is not technically an Historical Fiction book because it takes place in modern times.)

Sequel: Sea of Monsters and The Titan’s Curse

The Moon Riders by Theresa Tomlinson – 2006 - Teen

When thirteen-year-old Myrina of the Mazagardi tribe joins the Moon Riders, a revered band of warrior women, she becomes caught up in the life of the Trojan princess Cassandra and the epic, ten-year Trojan War.

Nightsong : the Legend of Orpheus and Eurydice by Michael Cadnum – 2006 – Children

Expands on the myth of Orpheus, a young poet and musician who undertakes a terrifying journey to ask the rulers of the Underworld to return the princess Euridice, his beloved bride, after she is killed by a venomous serpent.

Not the End of the World by Geraldine McCaughrean – 2005 – Teen

Noah's daughter, daughters-in-law, sons, wife, and the animals describe what it was like to be aboard the ark while they watched everyone around them drown.

Pharaoh's Daughter by Julius Lester – 2000 - Teen
A fictionalized account of a Biblical story in which an Egyptian princess rescues a Hebrew infant who becomes a prophet of his people while his sister finds her true self as a priestess to the Egyptian gods.

The Pig Scrolls, by Gryllus the Pig by Paul Shipton – 2005 - Teen

A translation of an ancient Greek manuscript written by Gryllus, a talking pig who was once a man, which describes the many adventures that he and his companions--a junior prophetess named Sybil and a bumbling goatherd--experience while traveling to Delphi to try to prevent the universe from coming to an end.

Sirena by Donna Jo Napoli – 1998 - Teen

The gods grant immortality to the mermaid Sirena when she rescues a human man from the sea and they fall in love, but his mortality creates great conflict between love and honor when he is called to defend Greece in the Trojan War.

Talisman by Lynne Ewing – 2003 – Teen

As Maggie reflects on the difficulty she will have with her final duty as mentor to the daughters of Moon Goddess Selene, she recalls her first battles with the evil Atrox, two thousand years earlier when she was a youth in Athens.

Troy by Adele Geras – 2000 - Teen

Told from the point of view of the women of Troy, portrays the last weeks of the Trojan War, when women are sick of tending the wounded, men are tired of fighting, and bored gods and goddesses find ways to stir things up.

compiled from various web and print sources updated 1/08

 

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