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7 YAs to Read After Ruta Sepetys’ The Fountains of Silence

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November’s YA book club read, The Fountains of Silenceby #1 New York Times bestselling author Ruta Sepetys, is set in 1950s Madrid, under the fascist dictatorship of Francisco Franco, as 18-year-old oil heir and wannabe-photographer Daniel Matheson hopes to discover the world his Spanish mother was born into. A chance run-in with young Ana leads him onto a dark path that glitters with secrets, lies, and violence among the last embers of the Spanish civil war. The B&N special book club edition included vintage media reports, oral history from the author’s research, commentary and so much more, painting a stunning portrait of Spanish history.

If you’re craving more rich, detailed (and perhaps devastating) YA historical fiction, we’ve got just the fix with these seven reads, including a few other titles from Sepetys herself.

Lovely War, by Julie Berry
When Hephaestus catches his wife Aphrodite, the Goddess of Love, with Ares, the God of War, Aphrodite attempts to explain the the connections among love, war, and art in the mortal world. She illustrates her points with the stories of two WWI-era couples: Hazel and James, a British pianist and the aspiring architect she follows to the front; and Aubrey and Colette, an African-American musician and the grieving Belgian girl he meets in the midst of the war. As the four are brought together by friendship and music, Aphrodite hovers nearby, weighing the couples’ (and her own) hopes for a happy ending against the conflicting interests of death and revenge. Lovely War is a story of love, healing, and meddling gods you won’t want to miss.

The War Outside, by Monica Hesse
It’s 1944, in a Texas internment camp, where two girls—Japanese American Haruko and German American Margot—are drawn into a friendship (and maybe romance?) that becomes a lifeline as the world falls apart around them. Haruko can’t stop worrying about her brother, off fighting in Europe, while Margot is consumed with worry that imprisonment in the U.S. has drawn her German father into Nazi sympathies. Now more than ever, both girls need something to cling to, but how can anyone trust anyone else in a camp full of people branded as traitors?

Girl in the Blue Coat, by Monica Hesse
In Amsterdam in 1943, Hanneke buries her grief for her boyfriend, killed in combat, in delivering black-market goods. Her work is illegal but flies under the radar in a dangerous time—until a customer asks for her help in locating not an item but a person, a Jewish teen who disappeared from her hiding place within the woman’s house. Soon Hanneke has seen too much to remain uninvolved, and her life is transformed by her commitment to the Resistance.

Salt to the Sea, by Ruta Sepetys
Master historical fiction writer Sepetys returns to World War II for the first time since Between Shades of Gray. Narration is shared among three refugees—a pregnant, undocumented Polish girl; a Prussian boy with a secret; a guilt-stricken Lithuanian nurse—and Alfred, a German soldier dreaming of a girl he left behind. The refugees meet when attempting to evacuate on Alfred’s ship, the ill-fated Wilhelm Gustloff. Just hours after the ship leaves shore, it’s torpedoed by Soviet fire, kicking off a new struggle to survive. Through four distinct voices, Sepetys highlights a significant but little-known chapter of WWII maritime history.

Out of the Easy, by Ruta Sepetys
Sepetys’ novels Salt to the Sea and Between Shades of Gray gave readers a window on under-reported historical events, but it’s Out of the Easy that remains my feminist fave. Set in New Orleans’ French Quarter in 1950, Sepetys’ novel follows Josie Moraine, known to everyone around her as the daughter of a prostitute. Desperate to escape her mother’s reputation and the secrets of the city, Josie has her sights set on attending an elite college far away. But when someone in the Quarter is mysteriously killed, Josie is torn between her plans and her loyalty to her mother.

The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak
This highly celebrated and enchanting novel tells the story of Liesel, a girl trying to survive in Nazi Germany, from the perspective of Death, whose starting to wear a little thin with all the souls he’s been collecting. Liesel’s story clearly shows the horrors and the cost of war, but it also shows the hope people can hold on to and some of the good moments that shine through. It’s a beautiful story that allows you to sit back and wonder about bigger things like fate, death, and the human condition. And if you’ve already devoured The Book Thief, you can check out some of Zusak’s other, equally beautiful works, including I am the Messenger and Underdogs.

Bridge of Clay, by Markus Zusak
Internationally renowned author Zusak returns for the first time in thirteen years with a multigenerational saga about five brothers tasked with raising each other after their father disappears. Chronicling their parents’ histories, their lives on their own, and how their lives changed yet again when the father who abandoned them returns, this is a story of secrets, grief, murder, guilt, and kinship.


What are you reading after
The Fountains of Silence?

The post 7 YAs to Read After Ruta Sepetys’ <i>The Fountains of Silence</i> appeared first on The B&N Teen Blog.


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