30+ Historical Fiction Graphic Novels for Tweens & Teens
Engage your tween or teen in learning more about significant historical events or periods in history with the titles in this huge list of over thirty historical fiction graphic novels for tweens and teens (ages 8-16 years).
The list includes a range of fictional stories, memoirs and biographies, all presented in the accessible style of a graphic novel, with titles suitable for children from age 8 to 16 years.
From the holocaust to natural disasters to immigrant and refugee experiences across the world, these historical fiction graphic novels are a fabulous addition to library, classroom and home bookshelves. As many of the titles share mature themes, careful consideration of the individual child and their tolerance of such themes is important.
30+ Historical Fiction Graphic Novels for Tweens & Teens
As with all of the lists in our Graphic Novels for Kids collection, each title in this list of Historical Fiction Graphic Novels links to an Amazon and/or Book Depository page (these are affiliate links and I may earn a small commission at no cost to you) where you can find reviews for titles you might not be personally familiar with.
Hidden: A Child’s Story of the Holocaust by Loic Dauvillier An inspirational introduction to the topic of the Holocaust for children. A grandmother gently shares her story with her granddaughter of her early life during the Holocaust, including being separated from the other students at school, being separated from her parents and sent to stay with strangers, surviving by hiding in small spaces and not recognising her mother on her return from the concentration camps. Age 8+ years. Available: Amazon | The Book Depository |
I Survived the Sinking of the Titanic 1912 by Lauren Tashis A great introduction to an intriguing moment in history, the graphic novel format makes this history lesson accessible to a wide range of readers. The book begins with a tense and suspenseful fictional story about George and his sister Phoebe who are travelling with their Aunt on the Titanic, and then goes on to include pages of interesting facts about the ship and its real life passengers. Age 8+ years. Available: Amazon | The Book Depository |
Other titles in the I Survived graphic novel series include;
See the entire series: Amazon | The Book Depository |
One Dead Spy (Nathan Hales Hazardous Tales #1) by Nathan Hale The historic Nathan Hales (not the author) was an officer and (not very good) spy for the American rebels during the Revolutionary War and this first title in the Hazardous Tales series shares the story of Nathan Hales as he is facing death by execution. Available: Amazon | The Book Depository |
Other titles in the Hazardous Tales graphic novel series include;
See the entire series: Amazon | The Book Depository |
When Stars Are Scattered by Victoria Jamieson and Omar Mohamed Omar and his younger brother, Hassan, have spent most of their lives in a refugee camp in Kenya. When Omar is given the opportunity to go to school, he hopes it could be the change for their future that the brothers need. Heartbreak and hope exist together in this wonderful biographical graphic novel about family and hope. Age 9+ years. Available: Amazon | The Book Depository |
Flying Machines: How the Wright Brothers Soared by Alison Wilgus An engaging biographical look at the contributions the Wright Brothers made to aviation, from their beginnings in a bicycle shop in Dayton, Ohio through to the fields of North Carolina where they planned to make their famous flights. Age 9+ years. Available: Amazon | The Book Depository |
Disasters in History: A Graphic Novel Collection by various authors Sharing 8 true life tragedies, this historical fiction graphic novel collection includes the stories of Pearl Harbor, the space shuttle Challenger explosion and the Great Chicago Fire. Age 9+ years. Available: The Book Depository |
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White Bird by R J Palacio As part of Julian’s school assignment he asks his grandmother to share her story as a teenage Jewish girl in southern France during WWII. Her story of survival is a remarkable tale of human kindness and unspeakable bravery. Age 10+ years. Available: Amazon | The Book Depository |
Catherine’s War by Julia Billet Nazi resisters in occupied France help a young Jewish teen, separated from her own family, stay one step ahead of the Nazi round-ups that threaten to send her to the concentration camps in this true story of the kindness of strangers and the power of the arts to help us all find a way through the darkest of times. Age 10+ years. Available: Amazon | The Book Depository |
Survivors of the Holocaust: True Stories of Six Extraordinary Children by Kath Shackleton The heartbreaking, true stories of six children who whose lives were turned upside down during WW II – from the passing of the Nuremberg Law in 1935 legalising anti-Jewish measures to the terrifying Kristallnacht or ‘Night of the Broken Glass’, from the horrific reality of the concentration camps including Dachau and Auschwitz-Birkenau and Dr Mengele’s cruelty to the air raids during the Blitz. Age 10+ years. Available: Amazon | The Book Depository |
Pie in the Sky by Remi Lai In this graphic novel hybrid (it has sections of text between illustrated panels), Chinese brothers Jingwen and Yanghao move to Australia with their mother, and Jingwen feels like he’s landed on another planet. To distract himself he dreams of all the cakes he would make in the Pie in the Sky bakery his father had planned to open before he died unexpectedly. A wonderful story exploring important issues related to immigration, language barriers, family and grief. Age 10+ years. Available: Amazon | The Book Depository |
The Great Chicago Fire (History Comics) by Kate Hannigan Each of the titles in the History Comics series brings a significant historic event to life – in book one, this is the story of the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, told from the perspective of siblings who have been separated from their parents as they flee the blaze. Age 10+ years. Available: Amazon | The Book Depository |
Other titles in the History Comics series include:
See the entire series: Amazon | The Book Depository |
They Called Us Enemy by George Takei In 1942, at the order of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, every person of Japanese descent on the west coast of America was shipped to one of ten relocation centers where they would be held for years under armed guard. This is one young boy’s account of his family’s experience behind the barbed wire fences. Age 11+ years. Available: Amazon | The Book Depository |
Primates: The Fretless Science of Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey and Birute Galdikas by Jim Ottaviano The insightful stories into the lives of three of the greatest primatologists and their groundbreaking work is cleverly woven into this engaging non fiction graphic novel. Age 11+ years. Available: Amazon | The Book Depository |
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Displacement by Kiku Hughes Cleverly blending fact with fiction, Displacement tells the story of a modern day, biracial teenager transported back to the time of her grandmother’s detention in a Japanese internment camp in the US during World War II. A great title for engaging students with an important historical period – that wasn’t actually that long ago, that also highlights valuable parallels to recent political events. Age 12+ years. Available: Amazon | The Book Depository |
The Legend of Auntie Po by Shing Yin Khor Thirteen-year-old Mei is a Chinese-American girl who works as a cook with her father in a logging camp in the Sierra Nevadas in the 1880s. Chinese workers are severely discriminated against and as Mei tries to come to terms with all the forces pressing on her identity – such as the Chinese Exclusion Act and her wish to go to college, she reimagines the myths of Paul Bunyan through stories about Auntie Po – a Chinese heroine with a blue giant blue ox, Pei Pei. Age 12+ years. Available: Amazon | The Book Depository |
Brazen: Rebel Ladies Who Rocked the World by Penelope Bagieu From the world famous to the little known, including Nellie Bly, Mae Jemison, Josephine Baker and Naziq al-Abid, this fabulously drawn collection shares the stories of 29 remarkable women who lived full and daring lives across nations and centuries, to inspire today’s children. Age 12+ years. Available: Amazon | The Book Depository |
American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang In American Born Chinese the adolescent Chinese-American experience is explored through three separate but interwoven stories – Jin Wang and his experiences as the only Chinese American student at a new school, the Monkey King who doesn’t actually want to be a monkey, and Danny and his embarrassing stereotypical Chinese cousin, Chin-Kee – who is literally ruining Danny’s life. A clever graphic novel exploring isolation, stereotypes and self acceptance. Age 12+ years. Available: Amazon | The Book Depository |
Zeus: King of the Gods (book 1 of the Olympians series) by George O’Connor This is the tale of how the Titans and Greek Gods came to be. It’s the story of the titan, Kronos, who eats each of his children as they are born, except Zeus, the youngest child. Sharing the adventures, battles and monsters of ancient greek mythology in an exciting comic book style, this series is sure to engage fans of books like Percy Jackson. Age 12+ years. Available: Amazon | The Book Depository |
Anne Frank’s Diary: The Graphic Adaptation by Ari Folman This graphic novel adaptation takes parts of Anne Frank’s original diary and further illuminates the difficultly of the grave situation she and her family experienced, with clever insight into their daily lives and Anne’s personal thoughts and emotional struggles. Age 12+ years. Available: Amazon | The Book Depository |
A Bag of Marbles by Joseph Joffo Based on Joffo’s memoir, A Bag of Marbles shares the story of two young Jewish boys as they flee Paris ahead of the Nazi invasion, hoping to make it to the non-occupied zone. A suspenseful, touching story sharing amazing acts of kindness and bravery. Age 12+ years. Available: Amazon | The Book Depository |
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Illegal by Eoin Colfer & Andrew Donkin The story of Ebo, a boy in Africa who leaves his home in a desperate attempt to find his brother and sister and make a new life together in Europe. Ebo doesn’t have any papers, little money and is always worried about being picked up by the police. His journey involves a perilous trip across the Sahara desert and a life-threatening sea voyage in the hands of unscrupulous people smugglers. Age 13+ years. Available: Amazon | The Book Depository |
Boxers and Saints by Gene Luen Yang The two titles within this graphic novel set present powerful, parallel stories representing opposite sides and points of view of The Boxer Rebellion of China that began in 1899. The first is the story of Little Bao, a peasant boy abused by Western missionaries to China. The second is that of a village girl, Vibiana, who finally finds refuge and acceptance among the Christian missionaries, something she has never found in her own family and community. Age 13+ years. Available: Amazon | The Book Depository |
In the Shadow of the Fallen Towers by Don Brown Don Brown’s series of non-fiction historical graphic novels provide important historical context to important world events for middle and high school age students – in this title portraying the experiences of real individuals who lived through the terrorist attacks of 9/11, and their aftermath, including survivors, those tasked with sorting through and removing the building and remains, the government attempts to hold the terrorists accountable, and the increase in anti-Muslim racism that followed. Age 13+ years. Available: Amazon | The Book Depository |
Escape from Syria by Samya Kullab Written by a former Lebanon based reported, Escape from Syria is told from the perspective of a teenage girl, sharing the story of a family forced to free Syria to find asylum in Lebanon, enduring swindling smugglers, treacherous ocean crossings, and jihadist militias. Age 13+ years. Available: Amazon | The Book Depository |
Drowned City: Hurricane Katrina & New Orleans by Don Brown A powerful insight into the devastation caused in New Orleans by Hurricane Katrina and the amplification of the tragedy for those in the city as a result of inadequate planning by emergency services and government authorities. Age 13+ years. Available: Amazon | The Book Depository |
Between Shades of Gray. Adapted by Andrew Donkin 15 year old Lina is a Lithuanian girl living an ordinary life until Soviet officers invade her home. Separated from her father, Lina, her mother, and her young brother are sent to a Siberian work camp where they are forced to fight for their lives. Lina finds solace in her art, secretly embedding clues in her drawings in the hope that they will make their way to her father’s prison camp. Age 13+ years. Available: Amazon | The Book Depository |
Becoming RBG: Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s Journey to Justice by Debbie Levy The inspiring biographical story of Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s life including her fight against social inequality and prejudice, as an advocate for women’s rights and gender equality, and how the events of her life and her personal hardships helped to shape her path. Age 13+ years. Available: Amazon | The Book Depository |
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini The unforgettable story of a wealthy Afghastanian boy and his friendship with his servant’s son in a dangerous time. When an tragic, violent event changes the lives of both boys forever, wealthy Amir learns the importance of loyalty, redemption, and education. Includes violence that sensitive readers may struggle with. Age 14+ years. Available: Amazon | The Book Depository |
I Am Alfonso Jones by Tony Medina Addressing Black Lives Matter movement and police brutality, this is the story of Alfonso Jones – a young black teen gunned down in a department story when the hanger he was holding was mistaken for a gun. Alfonso is now on a ghost train hearing the stories of other lives lost to police shootings, while his friends and family seek justice in the present. Age 14+ years. Available: Amazon | The Book Depository |
Kindred: The Graphic Novel Adaptation by Octavia E. Butler Kindred is the story of Dana, a young black woman who is inexplicably transported from her home in 1970s California to the pre-Civil War South. As she time-travels between the two worlds, one in which she is a free woman and one where she is part of her own complicated history on a southern plantation, she becomes frighteningly entangled in the lives of Rufus, a white slaveholder and one of Dana’s own ancestors, and the many people who are enslaved by him. Age 14+ years. Available: Amazon | The Book Depository |
The Faithful Spy: Dietrich Bonhoeffer and the Plot to Kill Hitler by John Hendrix This graphic novel hybrid shares the biographical story of theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer – a staunch resistor of the Nazi regime, and his role in a plot to kill Hitler that led to his own capture, internment in concentration camps and eventual execution. Age 14+ years. Available: Amazon | The Book Depository |
Trinity: A Graphic History of the First Atomic Bomb by Jonathan Fetter-Vorm From the top secret science to the harrowing decision to drop it first, this dramatic, graphic history of the race to build the first atomic bomb provides a great overview of the science and history, as well as the political and ethical considerations of using such a weapon. Age 14+ years. Available: Amazon | The Book Depository |
For more great graphic novels for kids, browse our collection of Adventure Graphic Novels for Kids, click through to see these great Graphic Novel Adaptations of Classics for tweens and teens or check out these Graphic Novels featuring Strong Girls.