Fact Cat: History: The Second World War

Tales of World War II: Amazing True Stories from the War that Shook the World

Secret Agent Jack Stalwart Series

The Wells Bequest

Lock and Key: The Initiation

A Nest of Vipers

The Tunnel (Puffin Chapter Books)

The Prince of Nowhere

Amanda McCrina's Traitor is a tightly woven YA thrill ride exploring political conflict, deep-seated prejudice, and the terror of living in a world where betrayal is a matter of life or death.

“Alive with detail and vivid with insight, Traitor is an effortlessly immersive account of a shocking and little-known moment in the turbulent history of Poland and Ukraine—and ironically, a piercing and bittersweet story of unflinching loyalty. I think Tolya has left my heart a little damaged forever.” —Elizabeth Wein, #1 New York Times– bestselling author of Code Name Verity and The Enigma Game

Poland, 1944 . After the Soviet liberation of Lwów from Germany, the city remains a battleground between resistance fighters and insurgent armies, its loyalties torn between Poland and Ukraine.

Seventeen-year-old Tolya Korolenko is half Ukrainian, half Polish, and he joined the Soviet Red Army to keep himself alive and fed. When he not-quite-accidentally shoots his unit's political officer in the street, he's rescued by a squad of Ukrainian freedom fighters. They might have saved him, but Tolya doesn't trust them. He especially doesn't trust Solovey, the squad's war-scarred young leader, who has plenty of secrets of his own.

Then a betrayal sends them both on the run. And in a city where loyalty comes second to self-preservation, a traitor can be an enemy or a savior—or sometimes both.

This title has common core connections.

Discover Your Child's Next Read

Fact Cat: History: The Second World War

Izzi Howell, 2022

Tales of World War II: Amazing True Stories from the War that Shook the World

Hattie Hearn, Margarida Esteves, 2023

Secret Agent Jack Stalwart Series

Elizabeth Singer Hunt, 2016

The Wells Bequest

Polly Shulman, 2013

Lock and Key: The Initiation

Nicola Barber, Ridley Pearson, 2016

A Nest of Vipers

Catherine Johnson, 2008

The Tunnel (Puffin Chapter Books)

Ruskin Bond, 2021

The Prince of Nowhere

Rochelle Hassan, 2022