Fans of Margi Preus’ award-winning middle-grade historical fiction set in Japan (Heart of a Samurai and The Bamboo Sword) now have the chance to delve further into samurai history with Pamela S. Turner’s action-packed biography of the legendary warrior Minamoto Yoshitsune.

It’s no small feat to reach back hundreds of years into the past to tell this story, but Turner, who has written nonfiction books on science, including the Orbis Pictus Honor Book The Frog Scientist, is more than equal to the task. She sets the stage with a short introduction that places Yoshitsune in historical context: “Yoshitsune’s story unfolds in the late twelfth century, during the adolescence of the samurai,” and goes on to tell readers that Yoshitsune was at the heart of the awakening of this bold, rebellious culture.

And then we delve right in. Yoshitsune’s story begins in 1160, and Turner wastes no time in letting readers know just how high the stakes were for this boy, whose father left him “a lost war, a shattered family, and a bitter enemy.” Turner traces Yoshitsune’s early life, from exile in a monastery to teenage runaway, and his long journey to acquire the skills of a warrior by mastering the sword and shooting arrows from warhorses.  Readers then follow Yoshitsune’s famous career as he joins his half-brother Yoritomo in an uprising against the most powerful samurai in Japan, to his death in 1189.

Teachers and librarians will be pleased to see the extensive back matter, including an informative author’s note, source notes, a timeline, bibliography and glossary. Although the setting and time period may be new for young American readers, Gareth Hinds’ arresting brush and ink illustrations create a gorgeous package and help to extend Turner’s rich, vivid narrative. Samurai Rising is compelling nonfiction at its best.

Although this is a Junior Library Guild selection for grades nine and up, younger readers comfortable with the subject matter of war will also enjoy this title—and so will adults with an interest in Japan.

Deborah Hopkinson lives near Portland, Oregon. Her most recent book for young readers is Beatrix Potter and the Unfortunate Tale of a Borrowed Guinea Pig.

Following the slow rise and eventual demise of the world’s first submachine gun, Tommy is the story of one man’s dream to help his country on the battlefield and the unfortunate ways his dream became a national nightmare.

Retired Colonel John Thompson dedicated his life to developing a lightweight, handheld, automatic rifle that soldiers could use in advanced warfare. After failing to convince the Army to develop one in-house, Thompson created the private company Auto-Ordnance. On November 11, 1918—World War I’s Armistice Day—the company realized their goal, but with the Great War now over, the new challenge was to find a market for “the most dangerous small arm in the world.” As the company struggled to secure sales, the fearsome “Tommy gun” fell into the wrong hands and appeared at the center of many Prohibition-era America’s crime scenes and gang-related activities. 

Karen Blumenthal puts her prodigious journalistic skills to great use, revealing how the gun played a significant role in a pivotal moment in America’s history—as well as the invention’s unintended political and social ripple effects.

This article was originally published in the July 2015 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

Set during the Nazi occupation of Denmark in World War II, The Boys Who Challenged Hitler is the true account of a group of righteously rebellious Danish teens who dared to defy their own government, as well as their deadly captors, to defend their endangered beliefs in humanity and freedom.

Early in the war, 15-year old Knud Pedersen heard the echoes of combat nearby. He’d read in the newspaper that Nazi soldiers had attacked and invaded his neighboring country of Norway, but while the Norwegians were fighting, his own politicians in the Danish capitol were busy appeasing the Germans. Disgusted by his country’s stance, Knud decides to take matters into his own hands and assembles a group of underground schoolboy rebels to do anything they can to deter and delay the Germans. They call themselves The Churchill Club, after Great Britain’s fiery leader, and carry out most of their guerrilla attacks—destroying signs, stealing weapons, disabling cars—in broad daylight and aboard bicycles, because they have family curfews and school the next morning. But as the war grows more intense, how long can Knud and the boys evade capture? Will all their work make any difference in the grand scheme of the war? And how far will they take their sabotage?

Widely acclaimed author Phillip Hoose has written eight novels, including the National Book Award-winning Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice, and he often turns his attention to historical events. He extracted the true tale of The Boys Who Challenged Hitler from 25 hours of interviews and nearly 1,000 email exchanges with Knud himself. Hoose’s unique eye for storytelling frames these immensely complex and monolithic issues through the lens of a young person’s perspective, making them interesting, relevant and fathomable.

Justin Barisich is a freelancer, satirist, poet and performer living in Atlanta. More of his writing can be found at littlewritingman.com.

Franklin D. Roosevelt was born to privilege and raised for a life in politics. It was both a blessing and a curse that he came to power when the nation faced insurmountable struggles: first the Great Depression and then the events leading to World War II. FDR and the American Crisis looks at those critical times in our nation’s history and how they affect our lives to this day.

National Book Award finalist Albert Marrin briefly describes Roosevelt’s youth and his steady climb in the political realm, but the book takes off with his victory over Herbert Hoover for the presidency. Hoover’s reputation suffered as the Depression wore down national morale, and Roosevelt’s New Deal helped millions get a new start—though it forever changed the government’s role in the lives of its citizens.

FDR was a central figure in World War II, though his legacy is similarly complicated. The American “war effort” finally turned the economy around, but his leadership involved alliances with mass murderers, lying to the nation and layer upon layer of secret and often questionable deals. He seems to be made of equal parts hero and villain, able to connect with virtually anyone, but overwhelmingly regarded as cold and remote at the same time.

FDR and the American Crisis is eerily timely. As Marrin writes, “[W]e need to know about the thirty-second president because we cannot understand our world today without understanding his role in shaping it.”

Beloved children’s and young adult author Katherine Paterson has won two Newbery Medals, two National Book Awards and numerous other honors. However, it was only when she realized her children had never heard family stories over the kitchen sink—they’d long had a dishwasher—that she penned a memoir.

Paterson’s life story is full of adventures. In anecdotes ranging from the hilarious (a pet snake interrupting a Board of Education meeting) to the heartbreaking (the sudden death of her son’s best friend), she takes readers from her birth in war-torn China to her life as a Christian missionary in Japan, a teacher in rural Virginia, a young mother in East Coast suburbia and beyond. A timeline, family tree, photos and other documents—including a manuscript scribbled on by her young daughter—help readers visualize people and events.

Readers who grew up with Paterson’s books will relish this insight into her life and will appreciate discovering what inspired her well-loved stories (although some sections, like the one chronicling her husband’s time in hospice care, contain mature content). This is a highly recommended read for Paterson fans, or anyone who delights in children’s literature.

Jill Ratzan reviews for School Library Journal and works as a school librarian at a small independent school in New Jersey.

This article was originally published in the November 2014 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

The talented and versatile Candace Fleming, who writes novels and delectable picture books as well as groundbreaking nonfiction for young readers, shows why there’s so much excitement about nonfiction in children’s literature these days. The fall of imperial Russia and the fascinating story of the Nicholas II and Alexandra might seem more suited for a college history class. But in Fleming’s capable hands, readers will find themselves caught up in one of the most intriguing—and sometimes heartbreaking—stories of the 20th century.

Fleming reveals that her own fascination with the famed imperial family and the murders of Nicholas and Alexandra and their five children compelled her to undertake the project. “After some reading and research, I came to realize, more than anything, that I needed to find the answers to the question that kept nagging me: How did this happen?”

In tracing the complex answer to this question, Fleming deftly provides a portrait of the Romanovs and their times. The book is designed with young readers in mind. Historic photographs help make an unfamiliar time period vivid and real, and throughout the narrative, sections titled “Beyond the Palace Gates” illuminate the external events and the historical context that led to revolution and the fall of Russia’s last tsar.

Fleming’s meticulous research is documented in impeccable source notes and an impressive bibliography, making this a model for student researchers. All this and compelling storytelling make The Family Romanov: Murder, Rebellion, and the Fall of Imperial Russia stand out as a must-read for teens, and, of course, their curious parents.

"Let's face it: Parents should come with an instruction booklet," Sarah O'Leary Burningham tells teens. "Without instructions how are you supposed to know what makes them tick and what buttons will totally set them off?" In How to Raise Your Parents: A Teen Girl's Survival Guide, Burningham reveals the most effective techniques for understanding adults, handling professional worriers (i.e. parents), maneuvering around them and coming out a winner in the independence game.

Inspired by her own power struggle with parents when she was 16, Burningham interviewed hundreds of teens and parents of teens, and she delivers straight-talk in a funny and fun-to-read format. Dishing out loads of advice on coping with typical teen stressors like curfew, grades, dating, driving and money, she doesn't shy away from tackling touchier subjects either—like body piercings, tattoos and sexual identity. "When your parents were teenagers," Burningham points out, "they used typewriters and kept a bottle of Wite-Out at their desks. Can you imagine life with no backspace, no spell-check, no Google?" Learning to soothe parental fear is essential for gaining the freedoms you want, she notes, so letting parents into your world a little can help. For instance, say you love being on MySpace and you're savvy about keeping personal details offline, but your parents are still skeptical (OK, freaking) about it—Burningham suggests letting them see your profile "and maybe even letting them see a blog entry or two" to calm their concerns. After all, worrying about you "is part of their job description," and that is one thing you won't be able to change.

Armed with How to Raise Your Parents, teens will have the inside track on effective strategies for communicating, negotiating and compromising their way to the freedoms and privileges they're after—skills that will come in handy whether they want their own cell phone, a new hair color or a set of car keys!

Ashley Rhodes-Courter was three years old when police came to arrest her birth mother and place Ashley and her brother Luke in foster care. Nearly nine years later, shortly before her 12th birthday, Ashley finally moved in with Gail and Phil Courter, who would become her adoptive parents. At age 21, a recent college graduate, she decided to tell her story in a memoir to ensure that the voices of children in foster care would be heard. The result, Three Little Words, is a remarkable tribute to the strength of the human spirit.

Ashley's mother, who was abandoned by her own teenage mother, was 17 when she gave birth to Ashley. During Ashley's nine years in foster care, which included 14 placements, she moved from home to home, sometimes taking all her clothing and possessions stuffed in garbage bags and sometimes having to leave everything behind. The only things that were consistent in her life for all of those years were wondering when she would move again and feeling that she was special to no one. Most of her foster homes were overcrowded; in one she was exposed to pornography; and in another she was cruelly abused, beaten, forced to spend the days outside in the hot Florida sun and squat under a counter for hours. The turning point for Ashley was at age nine when Mary Miller was assigned as her volunteer court-appointed advocate. Mary rescued Ashley from being lost in the foster care system and promised to find her a forever family, but moving in with Gail and Phil was not simply a happy ending to her story. Ashley still feared that the Courters would send her back, leading her to test them in many ways. The couple saw things differently and only time and their unfailing commitment finally led Ashley to realize that she was home, surrounded by the love that had so long been missing from her life.

Teens can glean many lessons from Ashley's story the risk of adolescent pregnancies, the value of family connections, the importance of telling the truth and those who work as advocates for children and seek to understand their voices will find this memoir captivating.

Alice Pelland, an adoptive mother, guardian ad litem and foster parent, writes from Hillsborough, North Carolina.

At age 14, Nadia Shivack developed an eating disorder. She named it Ed, which tells you something about her whimsical and humorous approach to a serious problem. Later, as an inpatient treated for anorexia and bulimia, Nadia drew illustrations of her battles with and capitulations to Ed on napkins and notepads after meals, in order to calm her mind and distract herself from thinking about food. Those drawings have been adapted into a fascinating and refreshingly honest account of her struggle, Inside Out: Portrait of an Eating Disorder. In addition to being beautiful to look at, the book includes a page of resources with information for others who deal with anorexia and bulimia. The author’s hope is that by getting the subject out in the open, she can ensure that other girls won’t feel they have to keep it hidden the way she did. And with Inside Out, she succeeds brilliantly in accomplishing this goal.

The ongoing conflict in the Middle East is a complex one, at times as perplexing to adults as it is to children. But somewhere between the newscast sound bites and the impassioned political, religious and ideological debates lie the stories of real people, of those whose lives have been unalterably affected by the violence. One of those stories is that of Ibtisam Barakat.

Now a poet, educator and activist living in Missouri, Ibtisam was a child of three in the West Bank city of Ramallah when the Six-Day War of 1967 broke out between Israel and its Arab neighbors. Keeping a promise to herself not to forget, but instead to reach for the raft of remembering, in Tasting the Sky, Ibtisam recalls those frightening days and their aftermath from the point of view of her childhood self. Following a harrowing flight from her home, during which young Ibtisam loses her shoes and becomes temporarily separated from her family, the Barakat family eventually find their way to Jordan, where they remain as refugees for more than four months. When they return to their shell-shocked, occupied Ramallah neighborhood, Ibtisam, her parents and her two older brothers must learn to navigate a new reality, gradually adjusting to life under a constant state of war.

The genius of Barakat's memoir is that, by couching it in the perspective of a very young child, she is able to convey intimate observations and astute insights without lecturing her readers. Instead, in this spare memoir, she gains readers' interest and sympathy by providing a glimpse into how families, especially children, cope with the realities of war, living in a near-constant state of fear but nevertheless finding ways from stealing a tray of pastries to caring for a baby goat to preserve childhood and family life. Realistic, tender, sympathetic stories like this are all too rare, but can be the most effective tools to raise awareness, engage dialogue and open hearts and minds to the views of others.

Finally, teen readers can dig into Your Own, Sylvia: A Verse Portrait of Sylvia Plath by Stephanie Hemphill. What better way to learn about the tragic, prize-winning poet than through verse? This series of short poems discusses incidents in the poet’s life, from her birth in Boston in 1932 to her suicide in London in 1963, and includes short biographical notes that offer the reader additional details. The poems are written from the imagined perspectives of family members, friends and other acquaintances. Hemphill’s depiction of Plath is lively and unique. In a note to readers, Hemphill calls her book a work of fiction, explaining that she has taken liberties imagining conversations and descriptions and interpreting the feelings of the real people speaking in these poems. Here’s a poem written from the viewpoint of Plath’s best friend in fifth grade: She wizards her way / through woods and fences, / makes things happen. / Sylvia sees a door / where other people see a wall, / but where will it lead? Your Own, Sylvia (the title is taken from the closing Plath used on letters to her mother) will mesmerize teenagers interested in poetry and one acclaimed poet’s mercurial path through life.