Children’s literature is rich with accounts of World War II. However, these recent, incredible titles cover under-explored events, figures, regions, and even creative literary approaches that warrant a spotlight in the canon. From fictionalized accounts of real-life individual and collective bravery, graphic novels highlighting the multigenerational effects of war, to fantasy-infused tales of revenge against horrific historical crimes, these books can build out WWII collections in need of updating.

Picture Books

Cohen, Deborah Bodin & Kerry Olitzky. Twist, Tumble, Triumph: The Story of Champion Gymnast Ágnes Keleti. illus. by Martina Peluso. Lerner/Kar-Ben. 2025. ISBN 9798765619773.
Gr 1-3–The incredible story of Ágnes Keleti, an elite Hungarian gymnast who was on her way to Olympic glory when World War II derailed her opportunity. Poignant illustrations capture the range of Keleti’s emotions as she was banned from her training gym, faced the threat of Nazi invasion, fled her beloved country, then returned home to resume her Olympic dream. Keleti’s significant dedication to gymnastics will engage sports lovers who might not otherwise be lured into the narrative. Her life experiences will captivate new generations of readers and simultaneously teach important history lessons.

Schwartz, Ella. Violin of Hope. illus. by Juliana Oakley. Lerner/Kar-Ben. 2024. ISBN 9798765604199.
Gr 2-4–A nonfiction picture book about a well-loved violin that was seized by Nazis from a Jewish family in World War II. It is based on “Violins of Hope,” a project where Jewish craftspeople restore instruments all but destroyed during WWII, as both a memorial and a celebration of the human spirit. The color palette includes saturated ivories and teal greens, lending a vintage feeling to the modern illustrations. The pictures have a sketched quality, and they darken and brighten with the tone of the text. The book is composed like a prose poem, with special attention to rhythm and flow, and is best read aloud. A heartfelt story of loss, hope, and overcoming, based on true events.

Middle Grade

Bouwman, H.M. Scattergood. Holiday House/Neal Porter. 2025. ISBN 9780823457755.
Gr 4-7–It’s 1941, and 12-year-old Iowa farm girl Peggy holds a terrible secret: her cousin and best friend, Delia, has terminal leukemia, and Delia isn’t allowed to know. The adults in their lives don’t want Delia to spend her last few months of life worrying about death. Meanwhile, the war in Europe feels closer to home as the Quaker residents in town reopen Scattergood School to serve as a hostel for refugees fleeing Nazi persecution. Peggy’s curiosity takes her to Scattergood. As Delia grows weaker, Peggy must learn how to continue living in spite of her grief and to support those around her dealing with their own losses. Through Peggy’s strong support system, Bouwman depicts small-town life at its best. A powerful coming-of-age work about life, loss, and community.

Greene, Joshua M. Fighter in the Woods: The True Story of a Jewish Girl who Joined the Partisans in World War II. Scholastic/Focus. 2025. ISBN 9781546135852.
Gr 3-7–A graphic and gripping biography of a young Holocaust survivor based on interviews with the subject. This is the true account of Celia Cimmer, a young Jewish teen living in Poland at the start of World War II, who showed incredible bravery and determination in the face of unimaginable brutality and loss. Most of Cimmer’s family was murdered trying to escape from the ghetto, but Cimmer and her sister survived and made their way to join their two older brothers in the Partisan resistance in the woods. An important addition to any collection, this is also perfect for fans of Lauren Tarshis’s “I Survived” series who are ready to move on to more complex books.

Hoffman, Alice. When We Flew Away: A Novel of Anne Frank Before the Diary. Scholastic. 2024. ISBN 9781338856941.
Gr 3-7–It’s May 1940, and readers meet 10-year-old Anne Frank and her sister Margot on their walk home from school, while also learning about the rising Nazi influence in Germany that prompted the family to immigrate to Amsterdam when Anne was four. Facts about the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands are presented straightforwardly and simply, and are jarring regardless of readers’ familiarity with the Holocaust. This ambitious and beautifully written fictionalized prequel of Anne’s life before the Annex allows readers to see her from others’ perspectives. A story that needs to be remembered, this works equally well as an introduction to Anne Frank as it does as a fictional supplement to readers already familiar with her diary.

Hood, Susan. Lifeboat 5. S. & S. 2024. ISBN 9781665943246.
Gr 4-8–Hood’s latest is a companion to Lifeboat 12 that highlights the powerful strength of friendship and family in the most perilous of events. Bess, 15, is desperate to escape the German air strikes in London and the personal attacks made by school bullies. She and her younger brother win an evacuation spot on the SS City of Benares traveling to Canada. But when a German U-boat torpedo strikes their ship, it becomes a race against time to evacuate and survive in the frigid water until help arrives. This novel-in-verse evokes the raw emotions of a teenager and her curious brother, struggling in the relentless sea to find peace and safety in a lesser-known tragic World War II nautical event. A highly recommended purchase for all libraries who cherished Lifeboat 12 and seek another inspiring true story of a young girl’s extraordinary resilience

Kelly, Erin Entrada. At Last She Stood: How Joey Guerrero Spied, Survived, and Fought for Freedom. Greenwillow. 2025. ISBN 9780063218901.
Gr 4-8–Kelly’s biography reveals the extraordinary life of Josefina “Joey” Guerrero. At 22, she contracted Hansen’s disease (leprosy) yet remained steadfast in her Catholic faith and unwavering in her commitment to serve. Short in stature but mighty in courage, Guerrero had a friendly nature and bilingual abilities in Tagalog and English, making her an ideal operative for the U.S. and Philippine resistance forces during World War II. She transported classified information through enemy lines while aiding wounded soldiers, earning President Truman’s Medal of Freedom. Kelly’s meticulously researched work provides rich context on Philippine colonization, WWII, and Hansen’s disease.

Khan, Hiba Noor. Safiyyah’s War. HarperCollins. 2024. ISBN 9780063351868.
Gr 5 Up–During World War II, upwards of 1,000 Jewish people in France were hidden and ultimately escorted out of Paris through the catacombs under the Grand Mosque of Paris. The story of this resistance movement, led by the mosque’s spiritual leader at that time, has largely gone untold. Inspired by this resistance, Khan has crafted an intricate tale from the perspective of a young Algerian French Muslim girl named Safiyyah. As she is forced to say goodbye to her best friend whose family flees south and her cousin who joins the army against the Nazis, Safiyyah watches her world change and her sense of stability diminish. When Safiyyah finds herself in a situation where she must help her Jewish neighbor, she begins to realize the secrets her father has been keeping and joins him in his efforts to save innocent lives. Khan’s lyrical and detailed prose immerses readers in Safiyyah’s world.

Nayeri, Daniel. The Teacher of Nomad Land: A World War II Story. Levine Querido. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9781646145669.
Gr 3-7–Babak and Sana’s father devoted his life to teaching others; but after he is claimed as a casualty of World War II, the brother-sister duo must find a way to survive on their own. Babak and Sana embark on a perilous journey across Iran to find the nomadic people their father taught, hoping to find a home among them. Initially lacking confidence in his own teaching abilities, Babak slowly finds his conviction to bring people together through teaching languages, strongly proclaiming the importance of education as a tool for communication and forging bonds. Nayeri highlights events in Iran during WWII, an often-overlooked perspective of the war in a country caught between occupation by Allied and Axis forces. A powerful novel about an often-forgotten region of the era that highlights the power of education through shared communication to create bonds.

Sepetys, Ruta & Steve Sheinkin. The Bletchley Riddle. Viking. 2024. ISBN 9780593527542.
Gr 6-10–This dual-narrative novel follows siblings Jakob and Lizzie Novis through World War II–era London just prior to the Blitz. Jakob, 19, is working as a codebreaker at Bletchley Park, trying to unlock the secrets of the German Enigma machine. His younger sister Lizzie wants to remain in England but is caught in a furious battle with her American grandmother over an attempt to bring her to the U.S. While Jakob doesn’t believe their mother is alive, when he and Lizzie start receiving coded messages in the mail, the siblings unite to uncover the truth. Not only do Sepetys and Sheinkin present a history of cryptography within details of life at Bletchley Park, they also highlight the Enigma-cracking contributions of well-known figures (e.g., Alan Turing) along with the lesser-known Polish team of Marian Rejewski, Henryk Zygalski, and Jerzy Różycki. With broad appeal for both WWII and mystery enthusiasts, this should have a place in all libraries serving tweens and teens.

Watkins, Steve. Wolves at the Door. Scholastic. 2024. ISBN 9781546109983.
Gr 5 Up–This novel begins in Königsberg, East Prussia, where sisters Asta and Pieta, alongside their mother, endure the British bombings of their city. Safety proves elusive and tragedy strikes, forcing them to embark on a perilous journey to the Baltic Sea. The narrative takes a disastrous turn when the family seeks refuge aboard an evacuation ship, the MV Wilhelm Gustloff, and it is torpedoed by a Soviet submarine, resulting in the highest death toll in maritime history with over 9,000 lives lost. The title refers to the plight of orphaned children, known as Wolfskinder, who roamed through Lithuania scavenging for survival, embodying both the physical and emotional challenges they faced. This book’s historical significance and poignant narrative offer a realistic, empathetic understanding of the impact of war.

Young Adult

Eger, Edith Eva. The Ballerina of Auschwitz: Young Adult Edition of The Choice. S. & S./Atheneum. 2024. ISBN 9781665952552.
Gr 8 Up–At age 96, Dr. Eger tells her harrowing and ultimately inspiring Holocaust survivor story in this YA version of her 2017 autobiography The Choice. The first-person, present-tense narration compels readers to live moment by moment through teenage Eger’s one-and-a-half years of horror at Auschwitz, Mauthausen, and Gunskirchen. Dancing is the thread that holds her life together—the powerful gymnast and ballerina skills she learns as a young person, her dance to “The Blue Danube” at Auschwitz, and her return to dancing as she learns to live again. Urging readers to always choose freedom, this is an important personal telling of Holocaust suffering and survival.

Fleming, Candace. The Enigma Girls: How Ten Teenagers Broke Ciphers, Kept Secrets, and Helped Win World War II. Scholastic/Focus. 2024. ISBN 9781338749571.
Gr 8 Up–A thrilling account of how teen girls helped break Nazi code intercepted during World War II. Through impeccable research and magnetic writing, Fleming uncovers the lives of young women who were recruited to live and work at Bletchley Park in the UK countryside, often leaving their homes for the first time, without knowing how they would be aiding the war effort. From all walks of life and with different skills to commend them, the WRNS or Wrens, part of the women’s branch of the Royal Navy, were sworn to secrecy and threatened with treason charges and death if their mission was ever revealed to their families. Readers are given a mix of personal stories set against the backdrop of major WWII events, such as the London Blitz, Pearl Harbor, and D-Day. This compelling blend of WWII, cryptography, and women’s history will mesmerize readers and perhaps inspire them to make an indelible impact on history, too.

Polydoros, Aden. Wrath Becomes Her. Inkyard. 2023. ISBN 9781335458032.
Gr 9 Up–Vera is not a human being; she’s a “kishuf” golem, made immortal by the word truth inked on her forehead. Crafted by her creator Ezra from clay and pieces of his murdered daughter Chaya through an ancient, forbidden practice, Vera has one purpose—exact revenge on the Nazis who killed Chaya. The questions she begins to ask about who and what she really is intensify when she encounters Akiva, the boy Chaya loved, though surviving the Nazis long enough to find Ezra may be impossible, even for a golem. Specifics of Jewish lore, coupled with the impeccably researched history, inform and educate even as readers are swept along by all of the righteous violence of Inglourious Basterds with the important and illuminating inclusion of the actual culture being erased. This book is a gut-wrenching, eminently important Holocaust narrative that centers Jewish humanity and is a punch in the face to fascism.

Graphic Novels

Smith, Sherri L. Pearl. illus. by Christine Norrie. Scholastic/Graphix. 2024. ISBN 9781338029437.
Gr 7 Up–Amy is of Japanese and Hawaiian descent, born and raised on Oahu where she is regaled with tales of her great-grandmother, who was an ama—a Japanese woman who would free dive for pearls off the coast. In 1941, Amy is chosen to travel to Japan on behalf of her American family to finally meet her great-grandmother, who is ill. Unfortunately, the attack on Pearl Harbor pulls the U.S. into World War II and prevents Amy from returning to Hawaii. She is taken by the Japanese government and forced to interpret English-language messages. This graphic novel is fictional but inspired by amazing true events. A fine work that navigates tumultuous historic events, this is a good choice for readers who can’t get enough of WWII stories.

van Lieshout, Maria. Song of a Blackbird. illus. by author. First Second. 2025. ISBN 9781250869814.
Gr 10 Up–Van Lieshout’s graphic novel debut opens with a blackbird who acts as a third-person omniscient narrator, calling out to those who are suffering to hear its sympathetic song. Readers get two alternating yet intertwined stories: Annick in Amsterdam, 2011, and Emma in Amsterdam, 1943. Annick is a young girl searching for answers to her ailing grandmother’s past, while Emma, a student, is searching for small gleams of light, which she finds by helping those in need through an era of darkness. Through different characters, the horrific intent of Hitler and the Nazis is made transparent, and the text on how Hitler came to power is comprehensible for developing minds, allowing for critical thinking and discourse about historical events. Though not for the faint of heart, this touching, gripping, and heartbreaking historical graphic novel doesn’t shy away from the dark sides of the true events it’s based on, while still offering a ray of hope for the genuine good out there.