Collection: Historical Fiction

The multi-million bestselling novel about a young girl's journey towards healing and the transforming power of love, from the award-winning author of The Invention of Wings and The Book of Longings

Set in South Carolina in 1964, The Secret Life of Bees tells the story of Lily Owens, whose life has been shaped around the blurred memory of the afternoon her mother was killed. When Lily's fierce-hearted Black "stand-in mother," Rosaleen, insults three of the deepest racists in town, Lily decides to spring them both free. They escape to Tiburon, South Carolina--a town that holds the secret to her mother's past. Taken in by an eccentric trio of Black beekeeping sisters, Lily is introduced to their mesmerizing world of bees and honey, and the Black Madonna. This is a remarkable novel about divine female power, a story that women will share and pass on to their daughters for years to come.

*Instant New York Times Bestseller*

The Davenports delivers a totally escapist, swoon-worthy romance while offering a glimpse into a period of African American history often overlooked.

"The perfect read for fans of escapist historical fiction." --NBC's TODAY

The Davenports are one of the few Black families of immense wealth and status in a changing United States, their fortune made through the entrepreneurship of William Davenport, a formerly enslaved man who founded the Davenport Carriage Company years ago. Now it's 1910, and the Davenports live surrounded by servants, crystal chandeliers, and endless parties, finding their way and finding love--even where they're not supposed to.

There is Olivia, the beautiful elder Davenport daughter, ready to do her duty by getting married . . . until she meets the charismatic civil rights leader Washington DeWight and sparks fly. The younger daughter, Helen, is more interested in fixing cars than falling in love--unless it's with her sister's suitor. Amy-Rose, the childhood friend turned maid to the Davenport sisters, dreams of opening her own business--and marrying the one man she could never be with, Olivia and Helen's brother, John. But Olivia's best friend, Ruby, also has her sights set on John Davenport, though she can't seem to keep his interest . . . until family pressure has her scheming to win his heart, just as someone else wins hers.

Inspired by the real-life story of the Patterson family, The Davenports is the tale of four determined and passionate young Black women discovering the courage to steer their own path in life--and love.

"The Davenports has it all: romance, heartbreak, courage." --Ebony
"A fresh, utterly enchanting read." --Ayana Gray, New York Times bestselling author of the Beasts of Prey trilogy
"Deftly written . . . A dazzling debut." --Kirkus (starred review)
"Stunningly wrought . . . Presents a cast of take-charge women." --PW (starred review)
"It has the compulsive readability of Gossip Girl." --Booklist (starred review)
"Compelling . . . distinct and satisfying." --BCCB
"Skilled . . . Well-written . . . Sure to please." --SLJ
"If this whole series existed right now, I'd tear through it to the exclusion of everything else in my life." --Teen Librarian Toolbox

One of the darkest periods in history...

In a Jewish ghetto, Max Rosen and his sister Zena struggle to live after their father is taken away by the Nazis. With barely enough food to survive, the siblings make a daring escape from Nazi soldiers into the nearby forest.Max and Zena are brought to a safe camp by Jewish resistance fighters. But soon, bombs are falling all around them. Can Max and Zena survive the fallout of the Nazi invasion?

The Newbery Medal-winning tale of an orphan boy whose dream of becoming a master potter leads to unforeseen adventure in ancient Korea.

Tree-ear is an orphan boy in a 12th-century Korean village renowned for its ceramics. When he accidentally breaks a delicate piece of pottery, he volunteers to work to pay for the damage. Putting aside his own dreams, Tree-ear resolves to serve the master potter by embarking on a difficult and dangerous journey, little knowing that it will change his life forever.

"Despite the odds against him, Tree-ear becomes courageous, brave and selfless, a hero as enduring as the porcelain Park so lovingly describes." (New York Times)

"Intrigues, danger, and a strong focus on doing what is right turn a simple story into a compelling read. A timeless jewel." (Kirkus starred review)

*A broken piece of pottery sets events in motion as an orphan struggles to pay off his debt to a master potter. This finely crafted novel brings 12th-century Korea and these indelible characters to life." (School Library Journal starred review)

"Tree-ear's determination and bravery in pursuing his dream of becoming a potter takes readers on a literary journey that demonstrates how courage, honor and perseverance can overcome great odds and bring great happiness. Park effectively conveys 12th century Korea in this masterful piece of historical fiction." (Kathleen Odean, chair of the Newbery Award Selection Committee)

From the author of A Place to Hang the Moon comes a hopeful World War II story about three scrappy siblings on the Lower East Side of Manhattan.

When 12-year-old Dory Byrne's pop left New York City's Lower East Side to fight Hitler, he promised her and her brothers that they'd be safe. Like he always said, "the neighborhood will give you what you need."

There's the lady from the bakery, who saves them leftover crullers. The kind landlord who checks in on them. And every Thursday night, the Byrnes enjoy a free bowl of seafood stew at Mr. Caputo's restaurant. . . which is where Dory learns about the abandoned hand-pulled elevator that is the only way to get to Caputo's upper floors.

But when a new landlord threatens their home in the community that's raised them and kept them safe, the secret elevator--and the abandoned hotel it leads to--provides just the solution they need.

Based on a very real place in old New York and steeped in the history of World War II, Nothing Else but Miracles is a warm and inviting story of resilience, the tight-knit community of the Lower East Side, and the miracles that await in unexpected places.

Kate Albus is the award-winning author of A Place to Hang the Moon, a JLG Gold Standard Selection, An Indie Pick, An ALSC Notable Children's Book, A CCBC Choice book, and an SCBWI Crystal Kite Award Winner. Nothing Else But Miracles is rich with details from her grandparents' stories of Coney Island and the Fulton Fish Market.

A New York Public Library Best Book of the Year
A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection

Soon to be a major anime series from the makers of Attack on Titan!


ENGLAND AT WAR
The foolish King Ethelred has fled, and Askeladd's band is one of hundreds plundering the English countryside. Yet victory brings no peace to the elderly Danish King Sweyn, who worries that his untested, sensitive son Canute will never be ready to take the throne. The king's attempt to force his son to become a man places the young prince within the grasp of the gleeful killer Thorkell! Whoever holds Canute holds the key to the thrones of England and Denmark - and Askeladd has his own reasons for joining the fray!

"With its rich visual details, emotional pull and strong characters, this historical epic is an instant winner." - Anime News Network

Winner of the Japan Media Arts Awards Grand Prize for Manga and the Kodansha Manga Award

From the acclaimed author of Planetes

NAMED A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR BY THE WASHINGTON POST

SHORTLISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION

"Brilliant, beautiful, heartbreaking."--J.Courtney Sullivan, New York Times Book Review

"TRESPASSES vaults Kennedy into the ranks of such contemporary masters as McCann, Claire Keegan, Colin Barrett, and fellow Sligo resident, Kevin Barry." --Oprah Daily

Set in Northern Ireland during the Troubles, a shattering novel about a young woman caught between allegiance to community and a dangerous passion.

Amid daily reports of violence, Cushla lives a quiet life with her mother in a small town near Belfast, teaching at a parochial school and moonlighting at her family's pub. There she meets Michael Agnew, a Protestant barrister who's made a name for himself defending IRA members. Against her better judgment, Cushla lets herself get drawn in by him and his sophisticated world, and an affair ignites. Then the father of a student is savagely beaten, setting in motion a chain reaction that will threaten everything, and everyone, Cushla most wants to protect.

"Abé is an exquisite storyteller." --Fiona Davis, New York Times bestselling author of The Magnolia Palace

The New York Times bestselling author of The Second Mrs. Astor returns with a spellbinding new book perfect for fans of HBO's The Gilded Age and readers of Marie Benedict, Karen Harper, and Allison Pataki. This sweeping novel of historical fiction is inspired by the true rags-to-riches story of Arabella Huntington--a woman whose great beauty was surpassed only by her exceptional business acumen, grit, and artistic eye, and who defied the constraints of her era to become the wealthiest self-made woman in America.

1867, Richmond, Virginia: Though she wears the same low-cut purple gown that is the uniform of all the girls who work at Worsham's gambling parlor, Arabella stands apart. It's not merely her statuesque beauty and practiced charm. Even at seventeen, Arabella possesses an unyielding grit, and a resolve to escape her background of struggle and poverty.

Collis Huntington, railroad baron and self-made multimillionaire, is drawn to Arabella from their first meeting. Collis is married and thirty years her senior, yet they are well-matched in temperament, and flirtation rapidly escalates into an affair. With Collis's help, Arabella eventually moves to New York, posing as a genteel, well-to-do Southern widow. Using Collis's seed money and her own shrewd investing instincts, she begins to amass a fortune.

Their relationship is an open secret, and no one is surprised when Collis marries Arabella after his wife's death. But "The Four Hundred"--the elite circle that includes the Astors and Vanderbilts--have their rules. Arabella must earn her place in Society--not just through her vast wealth, but with taste, style, and impeccable behavior. There are some who suspect the scandalous truth, and will blackmail her for it. And then there is another threat--an unexpected, impossible romance that will test her ambition, her loyalties, and her heart . . .

An American Beauty brings to vivid life the glitter and drama of a captivating chapter in history--and a remarkable woman who lived by her own rules.

"This story of one woman's ascent offers a fascinating look at the choices she made to become a Gilded Age titan."-- Kirkus Reviews

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Stalking Jack the Ripper series comes the steamy conclusion to Kingdom of the Wicked trilogy.

Two curses.
One prophecy.
A reckoning all have feared.

And a love more powerful than fate. All hail the king and queen of Hell.

Emilia is reeling from a shocking discovery about her sister, Vittoria. But before she faces the demons of her past, Emilia yearns to claim her king, the seductive Prince of Wrath, in the flesh. She doesn't just desire his body; she wants his heart and soul--but that's something the enigmatic demon can't promise her.

When a high-ranking member of House Greed is assassinated, damning evidence somehow points to Vittoria as the murderer. Now, Emilia will do anything to get to the bottom of these accusations against the sister she thought she knew.

Together, Emilia and Wrath play a sin-fueled game of deception to solve the murder and stop the unrest that's brewing between witches, demons, shape-shifters, and the most treacherous foes of all: the Feared. Emilia was warned that when it came to the Wicked, nothing was as it seemed. But have the true villains been much closer all along?

#1 New York Times bestselling author Kerri Maniscalco delivers sizzling romance, sexy secrets, and unexpected twists in this unforgettable conclusion to the Kingdom of the Wicked series!

Suggested for ages 16 and up.

A gripping historical novel about a spirited girl who joins a sisterhood working to undermine the Confederates--from the award-winning author of We Cast a Shadow

"I knew from page one that this wasn't going to be a typical journey through a familiar history. . . . A splendid work."--Robert Jones, Jr., author of The Prophets

Ady, a curious, sharp-witted girl, and her fierce mother, Sanite, are inseparable. Enslaved to a businessman in the French Quarter of New Orleans, the pair spend their days dreaming of a loving future and reminiscing about their family's rebellious and storied history. When mother and daughter are separated, Ady is left hopeless and directionless until she stumbles into the Mockingbird Inn and meets Lenore, a free Black woman with whom she becomes fast friends. Lenore invites Ady to join a clandestine society of spies called the Daughters. With the courage instilled in her by Sanite--and with help from these strong women--Ady learns how to put herself first. So begins her journey toward liberation and imagining a new future.

The American Daughters is a novel of hope and triumph that reminds us what is possible when a community bands together to fight for their freedom.

The graphic novel adaptation of Octavia E. Butler's bestselling literary science-fiction masterpiece Kindred is a #1 New York Times bestseller and the winner of the 2018 Eisner Award for Best Adaptation from Another Medium.

Kindred continues to draw in new readers with its deep exploration of the violence and loss of humanity caused by slavery in the United States, and its complex and lasting impact on the present day. Adapted by celebrated academics and comics artists Damian Duffy and John Jennings, this graphic novel powerfully renders Butler's mysterious and moving story, which spans racial and gender divides in the antebellum South through the 20th century.

Butler's most celebrated, critically acclaimed work tells the story of Dana, a young black woman who is suddenly and inexplicably transported from her home in 1970s California to the pre-Civil War South. As she time-travels between worlds, one in which she is a free woman and one where she is part of her own complicated familial history on a Southern plantation, she becomes frighteningly entangled in the lives of Rufus, a conflicted white slaveholder and one of Dana's own ancestors, and the many people who are enslaved by him.

Held up as an essential work in feminist, science-fiction, and fantasy genres, as well as a cornerstone of the Afrofuturism movement, the intersectionality of race, history, and the treatment of women addressed in the book still remain critical topics in contemporary dialogue, both in the classroom and in the public sphere.

Frightening, compelling, and richly imagined, Kindred offers an unflinching look at our complicated social history, transformed by the graphic novel format into a visually stunning work for a new generation of readers.

"Sophie Irwin is an exciting and original voice. She's a must-buy author for me."―Taylor Jenkins Reid, New York Times bestselling author of Carrie Soto Is Back

Internationally bestselling author Sophie Irwin brings us another delightful, escapist historical romance, led by an audacious heroine who has suddenly inherited a fortune--but it has strings attached...

When shy Miss Eliza Balfour married the austere Earl of Somerset, twenty years her senior, it was the match of the season--no matter that he was not the husband Eliza wanted.

Now, ten years later, Eliza is widowed. Suddenly, she is left titled, rich, and, for the first time in her life, utterly in control of her own future. She's always lived by society's conventions, but now, Eliza has resolved to do as she wants. And what she wants is to head to Bath with her cousin Margaret, pursue painting, learn to drive, and flirt with Bath's most alluring new resident, the infamous Lord Melville.

But when the ripples of Eliza's behavior reach her late husband's nephew--who broke Eliza's heart, years ago--Eliza will learn that freedom does not come without consequences. The only way to ensure she can keep her fortune is to avoid all scandal--but where's the fun in that?

This interactive board book lets you mix up the heads, bodies, and tails of ten real dinosaurs in order to create a thousand different imaginary ones, like the Stegodocus, the Oviplosaurus, or the Diploraptops. Each flap features a fun fact about the dinosaur, so you can figure out how yourFlip-o-saurus would behave. There's also a handy chart that shows the relative sizes of the ten dinosaurs that make up the "ingredients" of your new creature, and gives the meaning and pronunciation of their names. The charming illustrations and sturdy die-cut pages will provide lots of mix-and-match fun for any young dino fan.

Three volumes in one! A prestige treatment of Inoue's epic samurai series with bonus content, color pages, storyboard samples and more!

Real-life figure Miyamoto Musashi was the most celebrated samurai of all time. The quintessential warrior-philosopher, Musashi authored A Book of Five Rings, a classic treatise in the canon of world philosophy and military strategy. But the path to enlightenment is an endless journey, and to get there through violent means--by way of the sword--makes mere survival an even greater challenge.

Glimmering Waves

In a remote seaside village, an abandoned infant is left to the care of a reclusive old man who has all but renounced the ways of the world. This helpless child is destined to become Sasaki Kojirō--the legendary archrival of Miyamoto Musashi. Inoue's unique take on this enigmatic figure lays the foundation for his fictional account of the most famous rivalry in Japanese history.

The bloodiest battle in American history is under way . . .

It's 1863, and Thomas and his little sister, Birdie, have fled the farm where they were born and raised as slaves. Following the North Star, looking for freedom, they soon cross paths with a Union soldier. Everything changes: Corporal Henry Green brings Thomas and Birdie back to his regiment, and suddenly it feels like they've found a new home. Best of all, they don't have to find their way north alone--they're marching with the army.But then orders come through: The men are called to battle in Pennsylvania. Thomas has made it so far . . . but does he have what it takes to survive Gettysburg?

Written in real time, as the Nazis consolidated their power over the winter of 1933, The Oppermanns captures the fall of Weimar Germany through the eyes of one bourgeois Jewish family, shocked and paralyzed by an ideology they cannot comprehend.

In the foment of Weimar-era Berlin, the Oppermann brothers represent tradition and stability. One brother oversees the furniture chain founded by their grandfather, one is an eminent surgeon, one a respected critic. They are rich, cultured, liberal, and public spirited, proud inheritors of the German enlightenment. They don't see Hitler as a threat. Then, to their horror, the Nazis come to power, and the Oppermanns and their children are faced with the terrible decision of whether to adapt--if they can--flee, or try to fight.

Written in 1933, nearly in real time, The Oppermanns captures the day-to-day vertigo of watching a liberal democracy fall apart. As Joshua Cohen writes in his introduction to this new edition, it is "one of the last masterpieces of German-Jewish culture." Prescient and chilling, it has lost none of its power today.