I'm about to begin tutoring a 10th grader in world history, and one of the things I'd like to do is assign her a good historical fiction novel. A well-done story, set in the midst of historical events, is an effective way to spark interest in the events, and leads to a deeper appreciation of history in general; it seems like a good angle to try.
But there's a lot of bad writing out there, so I was hoping there might be a few parents of teenage readers (or maybe even a few YA historical fiction writers!) out there who could make a recommendation or two--what are some great historical fiction books, with an accessible style and themes young adults would appreciate?
it depends what kind of stories the student likes, their age (how old is 10th grade? 15? 16?), and what you consider to be YA
when I was a teenager I read and really enjoyed Kate Quinn's Empress of Rome series (4 books and a collection of shorter stories - I have only read the first 3 books though) which are set in ancient Rome, starting with the year of the 4 emperors iirc, but those are not really YA and can be a little heavy, suicide and murder and sex etc. I can't vouch for their historical accuracy however