Alan Gratz has mastered something rare in middle-grade fiction: he trusts young readers with difficult history. Books like Refugee and Prisoner B-3087 don't simplify the past or protect kids from hard truths—they show how young people have always faced impossible situations with courage, resourcefulness, and hope. His fast-paced chapters and rotating perspectives keep even reluctant readers turning pages while teaching them something essential about the world.
If your young reader has devoured Gratz's books and is asking "What should I read next?", you're in the right place. These fifteen authors write the kind of books that kids actually want to read—stories that matter, move quickly, and respect their readers' intelligence. Whether you're a parent, teacher, librarian, or a young reader yourself, here are your next great reads.
Start here: Salt to the Sea (ages 12+)
Ruta Sepetys writes historical fiction that uncovers the stories textbooks skip. Like Gratz, she focuses on young people caught in history's darkest moments, telling their stories with both unflinching honesty and deep compassion.
Salt to the Sea follows four teenagers fleeing toward the Baltic coast in the final days of World War II, all converging on the Wilhelm Gustloff—a ship whose sinking would become the deadliest maritime disaster in history, yet most people have never heard of it. Sepetys alternates between the four perspectives, each character carrying secrets and wounds from the war, each desperate to survive.
What makes Sepetys essential for Gratz fans is her ability to make history feel immediate and personal. She researches meticulously, then writes with the pacing of a thriller. Her books work beautifully in classroom settings but never feel like assignments—they're stories that grab you and don't let go.
Why it works: Same commitment to illuminating overlooked history through young people's eyes. Sepetys gives you Gratz's historical authenticity and urgent pacing, perfect for readers ready for slightly more mature content.
Also try: Between Shades of Gray (about Lithuanian deportation to Siberia), Out of the Easy (1950s New Orleans)
Start here: The Book Thief (ages 12+)
Markus Zusak's The Book Thief is that rare book that works for readers from middle school through adulthood. Narrated by Death—weary, philosophical, unexpectedly compassionate—it follows Liesel Meminger through Nazi Germany as she steals books and shares them with the Jewish man hiding in her basement.
Like Gratz, Zusak shows how ordinary young people find extraordinary courage in impossible circumstances. Liesel's story isn't about grand heroism—it's about small acts of resistance: reading in bomb shelters, sharing stories, choosing kindness when cruelty would be easier. The writing is more lyrical than Gratz's straightforward style, but the emotional impact is similar: you finish these books understanding history differently.
Fair warning: this one hits hard emotionally. Have tissues ready. But it's also beautiful and ultimately hopeful, showing how humanity persists even in the darkest times.
Why it works: Shows WWII through a young person's eyes with unforgettable emotional power. Perfect for readers ready to move from middle-grade to YA.
Start here: Number the Stars (ages 9-12) or The Giver (ages 10+)
Lois Lowry is a two-time Newbery Medal winner who writes about moral courage with clarity and grace. Number the Stars is historical fiction set in Nazi-occupied Denmark, following ten-year-old Annemarie Johansen as her family helps smuggle her Jewish best friend Ellen to safety. It's gentler than Gratz's Holocaust books but no less powerful, showing how ordinary people made heroic choices.
The Giver takes a different approach—dystopian fiction set in a society that's eliminated pain, conflict, and choice in pursuit of "Sameness." When twelve-year-old Jonas is selected to become the next Receiver of Memory, he discovers what his community has sacrificed for comfort. It raises questions about freedom, memory, and what makes life worth living—themes that resonate with Gratz's exploration of refugees and displaced people.
Both books are classics for good reason. They're taught widely in schools because they work—accessible enough for younger middle-grade readers while containing depths that reward discussion and rereading.
Why it works: Tackles serious moral questions through young protagonists making difficult choices. Number the Stars is perfect for readers just entering Gratz's age range; The Giver for those ready for more complex themes.
Start here: Code Name Verity (ages 13+)
Elizabeth Wein writes World War II fiction that feels less like history lessons and more like watching friendships tested past their breaking point—then discovering they held anyway. Code Name Verity follows two young women, a pilot and a spy, whose friendship becomes the most reliable thing in a war designed to destroy trust.
The narrative structure is brilliant and devastating: a captured British spy writes her confession for Nazi interrogators, gradually revealing the story of how she and her best friend ended up here. Every chapter shifts your understanding of what's happening and who can be trusted. It's more complex than typical middle-grade fare—this is firmly YA—but for mature readers who loved Gratz's Prisoner B-3087, Wein delivers similar emotional impact.
This is the book teachers and librarians press into the hands of kids who say they don't like historical fiction, because it's impossible not to care about these characters and their impossible situation.
Why it works: Same era, same commitment to showing courage under impossible pressure, but with more narrative complexity. For readers ready to graduate from middle-grade to YA historical fiction.
Start here: Hatchet (ages 10-14)
Gary Paulsen is the master of survival fiction. Hatchet drops thirteen-year-old Brian Robeson into the Canadian wilderness after a plane crash with nothing but the hatchet his mother gave him. No rescue is coming quickly. No adult can save him. Brian must figure out shelter, fire, food, and how to stay sane when completely alone.
What connects Paulsen to Gratz is the focus on young protagonists forced to become capable far faster than they thought possible. Brian's transformation from scared kid to competent survivor mirrors how Gratz's characters must adapt to impossible circumstances. The writing is lean and muscular—Paulsen doesn't waste words, which keeps the pacing tight.
This is the book that hooks reluctant readers, especially boys who say they "don't like reading." It's pure survival, pure problem-solving, and it moves fast. There are four more books in the Brian's Saga series for kids who need more.
Why it works: Same focus on young people forced to be resourceful under pressure, but wilderness survival instead of historical crisis. Perfect for readers who connect with Gratz's action and pacing.
Start here: Esperanza Rising (ages 9-13)
Pam Muñoz Ryan writes historical fiction that centers often-overlooked perspectives, showing American history from angles many students never encounter in textbooks. Esperanza Rising follows a wealthy Mexican girl who loses everything when her father is murdered and must flee with her mother to California during the Great Depression, becoming migrant farm workers.
Like Gratz's Refugee, this is a book about displacement, resilience, and discovering strength you didn't know you had. Esperanza must learn skills she never needed as a rich girl—how to sweep, cook, care for babies, and survive on wages barely enough to live on. Ryan shows both the hardship of migrant labor and the community and dignity people maintained despite those hardships.
This is often taught in fifth or sixth grade, and it works because Ryan trusts young readers with economic injustice and cultural displacement without making it feel like a lecture. The story comes first; the lessons emerge naturally.
Why it works: Historical fiction about displacement and resilience with a strong young female protagonist. Perfect thematic match for Refugee readers.
Also try: Echo (interconnected stories across time, featuring a magical harmonica)
Start here: Holes (ages 9-14)
Louis Sachar's Holes is that perfect book: funny and serious, accessible and deep, a page-turner that's also structurally brilliant. Stanley Yelnats is sent to Camp Green Lake (which has neither greenery nor a lake) after being falsely accused of stealing shoes. His punishment: dig one five-foot hole every day in the desert heat. The warden claims it builds character, but Stanley suspects there's something else going on.
Sachar weaves together three timelines—Stanley's present, his family's cursed past, and the legend of outlaw Kissin' Kate Barlow—and gradually reveals how they all connect. It's a masterclass in plotting, with humor that never undercuts the genuine stakes. Like Gratz, Sachar respects his readers enough to let them piece together connections rather than explaining everything.
This book works for a huge age range. Younger readers love it as an adventure; older readers appreciate the intricate plotting and themes about justice, fate, and friendship. It's been a middle-grade staple since 1998 for good reason.
Why it works: Features a young protagonist facing injustice with resilience and intelligence. The multiple-timeline structure will appeal to readers who appreciate Gratz's use of alternating perspectives.
Start here: The One and Only Ivan (ages 8-12) or Wishtree (ages 8-12)
Katherine Applegate writes deceptively simple books that land with surprising emotional force. The One and Only Ivan is narrated by a gorilla living in a shopping mall circus, inspired by the true story of Ivan, who spent 27 years in a concrete enclosure in Washington. When a baby elephant arrives and Ivan realizes she deserves better, he must figure out how to save her.
Like Gratz, Applegate writes about beings in captivity finding ways to protect others even when they can't save themselves. The prose is spare and accessible, perfect for younger or struggling readers, but the themes—captivity, friendship, hope, change—resonate deeply. It won the Newbery Medal and makes readers of all ages cry (in a good way).
Wishtree is similarly powerful: a 200-year-old oak tree narrates a story about a Muslim family facing discrimination in their new community. It's gentle but doesn't shy from difficult topics—perfect for starting conversations about belonging and acceptance.
Why it works: Books that look simple but tackle serious themes with grace. Perfect for younger Gratz readers or those who need a gentler entry point to difficult subjects.
Start here: Ghost (ages 10-14, first in Track series) or Long Way Down (ages 13+)
Jason Reynolds writes contemporary fiction that pulses with the same urgency as Gratz's historical work. His books tackle systemic injustice, poverty, and violence, but through stories so propulsive and real that young readers can't put them down.
Ghost follows Castle "Ghost" Cranshaw, a natural runner trying to leave his past behind (his father shot at him and his mom; they ran for their lives). When he's recruited for an elite track team, he has to learn that running away and running toward are different things. The Track series (four books, each following a different team member) works beautifully as quick reads that still pack emotional depth.
Long Way Down is more intense: sixty seconds in an elevator as fifteen-year-old Will decides whether to follow "the rules" and avenge his brother's murder. Written in verse, it's a gut-punch that raises questions without easy answers—similar to how Gratz explores moral complexity in wartime.
Why it works: Contemporary rather than historical, but same focus on young people facing systemic injustice and making hard choices. Reynolds' pacing and authentic voice hook reluctant readers.
Start here: Bud, Not Buddy (ages 9-13) or The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963 (ages 9-13)
Christopher Paul Curtis writes historical fiction with humor, heart, and protagonists who refuse to let circumstances crush them. Bud, Not Buddy, set during the Great Depression, follows ten-year-old Bud Caldwell as he escapes abusive foster care and travels to find the father he's never met. Curtis captures the era's hardships without losing sight of Bud's determination and the small kindnesses that sustain him.
The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963 starts as a funny family story about the "Weird Watsons" of Flint, Michigan, but when they drive South to visit relatives, they arrive in Birmingham just as the 16th Street Baptist Church is bombed. Curtis shows how ordinary families were swept into history's most painful moments.
Both books balance humor with serious historical content in ways that help younger readers access difficult topics. They're regularly taught in schools but genuinely enjoyable—kids laugh and cry and learn, often without realizing how much they're absorbing.
Why it works: Historical fiction that makes the past feel alive while respecting young readers' emotional capacity. Curtis shares Gratz's gift for making history personal and immediate.
Start here: The Crossover (ages 10-14)
Kwame Alexander writes in verse, which makes his books look quick and accessible—and they are—but they carry surprising emotional weight. The Crossover follows twelve-year-old Josh Bell and his twin brother JB as they navigate middle school, basketball, first crushes, and their father's declining health.
The verse format means each page moves quickly, making this perfect for reluctant readers or kids who feel intimidated by thick books. But Alexander packs each poem with meaning—the rhythm mirrors basketball's movement, and the emotions hit hard. It won the Newbery Medal and Coretta Scott King Award for good reason.
While not historical fiction like Gratz's work, Alexander shares the commitment to authentic young voices facing real challenges. His books show contemporary Black family life with joy, complexity, and honesty.
Why it works: Fast-paced, emotionally resonant, perfect for readers who need high-interest books in accessible formats. The verse makes it approachable; the substance makes it memorable.
Also try: Booked (soccer and words), Rebound (prequel about their dad)
Start here: Chains (ages 10-14, first in Seeds of America trilogy) or Fever 1793 (ages 11-14)
Laurie Halse Anderson writes historical fiction that centers voices often erased from history textbooks. The Seeds of America trilogy follows enslaved teenagers during the Revolutionary War, showing how the fight for American freedom looked completely different depending on who you were.
Chains follows Isabel, a thirteen-year-old enslaved girl promised freedom when her owner dies—only to be sold to cruel Loyalists in New York. As both Patriots and British offer freedom to enslaved people who fight for their side, Isabel must navigate impossible choices about loyalty, survival, and what freedom actually means.
Fever 1793 plunges sixteen-year-old Mattie into Philadelphia's yellow fever epidemic, where thousands die and society breaks down. Anderson doesn't sugarcoat the horror—bodies in the streets, families torn apart, social order collapsing—but shows how young people find courage and purpose in crisis.
Why it works: Historical fiction that illuminates perspectives left out of traditional narratives, with protagonists showing remarkable resilience. Anderson and Gratz both trust young readers with difficult truths.
Start here: The Lightning Thief (ages 9-14, first in Percy Jackson series)
Rick Riordan takes Gratz's formula—ordinary kid thrust into extraordinary circumstances—and adds Greek gods with family drama. Percy Jackson discovers his dyslexia and ADHD aren't disabilities but signs he's a demigod, son of Poseidon, whose brain is wired for ancient Greek and whose restlessness comes from battle reflexes.
When Zeus's master lightning bolt is stolen and Percy gets blamed, he has ten days to find it before the gods go to war and destroy Western civilization. The stakes are Gratz-level high, but with more wisecracks and mythological monsters.
What makes Riordan perfect for Gratz fans is how he writes reluctant heroes who discover their worth through action. His books hook kids who think they "hate reading"—fast-paced, funny, with cliffhanger chapters and protagonists who feel like real middle schoolers, just with celestial parents and world-ending quests.
Why it works: Same propulsive pacing and young protagonists rising to impossible challenges, but fantasy adventure instead of historical crisis. Riordan is gateway drug to reading for millions of kids.
Also try: The Kane Chronicles (Egyptian mythology), Magnus Chase (Norse mythology), Trials of Apollo
Start here: Out of My Mind (ages 10-14) or Stella by Starlight (ages 9-13)
Sharon Draper writes about young people fighting to be seen, heard, and valued in systems designed to overlook them. Out of My Mind follows Melody, a brilliant eleven-year-old with cerebral palsy who can't speak or walk. Everyone assumes she's intellectually disabled, but Melody has a photographic memory and a lot to say—if only someone would listen.
When she finally gets a device that lets her communicate, she must prove her intelligence to teachers and students who've underestimated her for years. It's not historical fiction, but it shares Gratz's focus on resilience against systemic injustice. Draper makes readers think about who gets heard and why.
Stella by Starlight moves to 1932 North Carolina, where eleven-year-old Stella witnesses a Ku Klux Klan meeting and must find her voice to help her community resist. It's historical fiction that doesn't flinch from showing racism's violence while celebrating Black community resilience.
Why it works: Protagonists fighting injustice with courage and intelligence. Draper, like Gratz, writes books that build empathy while telling gripping stories.
Start here: Ghost Boys (ages 10-14) or Towers Falling (ages 9-12)
Jewell Parker Rhodes writes contemporary and historical fiction that helps young readers understand current events through accessible, emotionally resonant stories. Ghost Boys was written in response to police shootings of Black children—twelve-year-old Jerome is shot while playing with a toy gun, and as a ghost, he meets Emmett Till and other "ghost boys" killed throughout history.
It's heavy material, but Rhodes handles it with care appropriate for middle-grade readers, focusing on hope, understanding, and the possibility of change. Like Gratz, she doesn't protect kids from difficult truths but presents them in ways that open conversation rather than shut it down.
Towers Falling helps kids understand 9/11—Deja is in fifth grade on the fifteenth anniversary, learning about an event that shaped her world but happened before she was born. Rhodes shows how history continues affecting us even when we don't understand it yet.
Why it works: Books that help young readers understand difficult current and historical events through relatable protagonists. Rhodes shares Gratz's mission of using fiction to build historical and social awareness.
Alan Gratz fans are looking for books that respect their intelligence, move quickly, and matter. Here's how to navigate these recommendations based on what your reader needs right now:
For more WWII and Holocaust fiction:
Start with Markus Zusak's The Book Thief, Lois Lowry's Number the Stars, or Ruta Sepetys' Salt to the Sea
For historical fiction about different eras/events:
Christopher Paul Curtis (Depression, Civil Rights), Laurie Halse Anderson (Revolutionary War, 1793 epidemic), Pam Muñoz Ryan (Depression-era California), Jewell Parker Rhodes (9/11, contemporary history)
For contemporary issues and social justice:
Jason Reynolds, Sharon Draper, Jewell Parker Rhodes
For reluctant readers who need fast pacing:
Gary Paulsen's Hatchet, Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson, Louis Sachar's Holes, Kwame Alexander's verse novels
For readers ready for more complexity:
Elizabeth Wein's Code Name Verity, Ruta Sepetys' work, Jason Reynolds' Long Way Down
For younger readers (ages 8-11) just entering Gratz's range:
Katherine Applegate, Lois Lowry's Number the Stars, Pam Muñoz Ryan's Esperanza Rising
For readers who love multiple perspectives:
Louis Sachar's Holes, Ruta Sepetys' Salt to the Sea, Kwame Alexander's work
The authors on this list understand what Alan Gratz knows: young people can handle difficult truths when those truths come wrapped in compelling stories. These aren't books that talk down to kids or oversimplify complex issues. They're books that trust young readers to think, feel, question, and grow.
Whether you're a parent trying to keep a young reader engaged, a teacher building a classroom library, or a librarian doing readers' advisory, these books deliver. They work as independent reading and as springboards for discussion. They entertain and educate without feeling like either is an afterthought.
Most importantly: kids actually want to read them. They stay up past bedtime to finish. They recommend them to friends. They remember them years later. That's the mark of truly great middle-grade fiction—and every author on this list has earned that distinction.
Happy reading, and may your to-be-read pile never run empty.
