A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness (2011)

A moving and heartbreakingly honest modern fairy tale.

Recommended grade level: 6 and up; maybe older for sensitive readers

Pages: 216 (for ISBN 9781406311525)

Genre(s) and keywords: fantasy, (light) horror, drama, British import, Europe (England), Kylie’s Favorites

Tone/Style: mysterious, sad

Pace: moderate to fast

Topics: monsters, fables, ill parents

Themes: being honest with oneself, death, acceptance, grief and loss, denial, change, moving on, family

Summary:  The monster showed up just after midnight. As they do. But it isn’t the monster Conor’s been expecting. He’s been expecting the one from his nightmare, the one he’s had nearly every night since his mother started her treatments, the one with the darkness and the wind and the screaming… The monster in his back garden, though, this monster is something different. Something ancient, something wild. And it wants the most dangerous thing of all from Conor. It wants the truth.

The Girl in the Blue Coat by Monica Hesse (2016)

This World War II mystery set in the occupied Netherlands demonstrates the horrors of the Holocaust.

Recommended grade level: 7-11

Pages:   309 (for ISBN 9780316260602)

Genre(s) and keywords: historical fiction, mystery, international, Europe (the Netherlands)

Tone/Style: bleak, fearful, desperate

 

Pace: moderate

Topics: the Holocaust, World War II, the Netherlands, investigations, missing persons

Themes: resistance against oppression, grief and loss, selfishness, risks

Summary: Amsterdam, 1943. Hanneke spends her days procuring and delivering sought-after black market goods to paying customers, her nights hiding the true nature of her work from her concerned parents, and every waking moment mourning her boyfriend, who was killed on the Dutch front lines when the Germans invaded. She likes to think of her illegal work as a small act of rebellion.

Shadow on the Mountain by Margi Preus (2012)

This WWII fiction draws students’ attention to the resistance against Nazi rule in Norway.

Recommended grade level: 6-10

Pages: 304 (for ISBN 9781419704246)

Genre(s) and keywords: historical fiction, adventure, international, Europe (Norway)

Tone/Style: danger-filled, exciting

Pace: moderate

Topics: World War II, Norway, spies, skiing

Themes: resistance, courage, treachery

Summary: Fourteen-year-old Espen and his friends are swept up in the resistance movement in Nazi occupied Norway. He gets his start delivering illegal newspapers, then graduates to the role of courier, and finally becomes a spy, dodging the Gestapo along the way.

Geek Girl by Holly Smale (2013)

This light, funny book speaks to the geek in all of us.

Recommended grade level: 6-10

Pages: 378 (for ISBN 9780007489442)

Genre(s) and keywords: humor, chick lit, British import, international, Europe (England)

Tone/Style: self-deprecating, geeky

Pace: moderate

Topics: modeling, geeks, crushes, fashion and style

Themes: reinventing oneself, friendship, leaving your comfort zone

Summary: Geek + runway = a runaway UK hit! Geek Girl is the first book in a hilarious, internationally bestselling series that’s perfect for fans of Louise Rennison and The Princess Diaries.

A Night Divided by Jennifer A. Nielsen (2015)

A quietly tense historical fiction drama that sheds light on life in Soviet East Berlin.

Recommended grade level: 4-7

Pages: 317 (for ISBN 9780545682428)

Genre(s) and keywords: historical fiction, international, Europe (Germany)

Tone/Style: bleak

Pace: moderate

Topics: the Berlin Wall, Communism, separated families, escape plans, digging

Themes: freedom, trust, when to take risks, family, defiance of government, oppression

Summary: With the rise of the Berlin Wall, twelve-year-old Gerta finds her family divided overnight. She, her mother, and her brother Fritz live on the eastern side, controlled by the Soviets. Her father and middle brother, who had gone west in search of work, cannot return home. Gerta knows it is dangerous to watch the wall, to think forbidden thoughts of freedom, yet she can’t help herself. She sees the East German soldiers with their guns trained on their own citizens; she, her family, her neighbors and friends are prisoners in their own city.