Each year, the Historical Association runs ‘Young Quills’, a competition for published historical fiction for children and young adults (14+). The Young Quills books for each year must be published for the first time in English in the year preceding the competition – so 2023 for this year’s selection. 

Our aim is to seek out books which:

• Are a ‘good read’, engaging the imagination of the young reader.
• Have good historical content and factual information.
• Have history as a component of the story, not just a convenient backdrop or setting.
• Inspire young readers to find out more about that historical period or people.

Divided by age suitability the books are given to schools on the condition that the children and young people there write a review of the book following our criteria. Those reviews are used as the basis for us to create the shortlist from which the winners are selected.

The longlist for this 2024 is:

For readers aged 5-8 years

Title	Author	Publisher
Wangari's Trees	Nadine Cowan	Collins Big Cat
Moving the Millers' Minnie Moore Mine Mansion	Dave Eggers (illus Júlia Sardà)	Walker
The Most Famous Rhinoceros	Dianne Hofmeyr (illus Simona Mulazzani)	Otter-Barry Books
Ijapas Comic Club: Why the Tortoise is Bald	Paula B. Sofowora	Ijapa Books
Tales of Ijapa the Tortoise	Paula B. Sofowora	Ijapa Books

For readers aged 8-11 years

Title	Author	Publisher
Rosie Raja: Mission to Cairo	Sufiya Ahmed	Bloomsbury Education
Stone Arrows	Elizabeth Barber	The Book Guild
The Disappearing Diamond	Glen Blackwell	Zoetrope Books
Operation Banana	Tony Bradman	Barrington Stoke
Deep Sea Diver	Nadine Cowan	Collins Big Cat
Secrets at number 6	Jemma Hatt	Elmside Publishing
Secrets at number 7	Jemma Hatt	Elmside Publishing
Peril on the Atlantic	AM Howell	Usborne
Scareground	Angela Kecojevic	Neem Tree Press
Code Name Kingfisher	Liz Kessler	Simon & Schuster
Blackbeard's Treasure	Iszi Lawrence	Bloomsbury Education
Time Machine Next Door: Explorers and Milkshakes	Iszi Lawrence	Bloomsbury Education
Evie and Rhino	Neridah McMullin (illus Astred Hicks)	Walker
Cosima Unfortunate Steals a Star	Laura Noakes, (Illus Flavia Sorrentino)	Harper Collins
Fablehouse	E. L. Norry	Bloomsbury
A Different Kind of Freedom: A Romani Story	Richard O'Neill	Scholastic
Finding Treasure Island	Robin Scott-Elliot	Cranachan
Vita and the Gladiator	Ally Sherrick	Chicken House
The Storm and the Minotaur	Lucy Strange	Barrington Stoke
I Spy: a Bletchley Park Mystery	Rhian Tracey	Piccadilly Press
Portraits and Poison (The Lizzie & Belle Mysteries)	J.T. Williams (illus Simone Douglas)	Farshore
The Grinning Throat	Kate Wiseman	ZunTold books

For readers aged 11-13 years

Title	Author	Publisher
City of Stolen Magic	Nazneed Ahmed Pathak	Puffin
The Song Walker	Zillah Bethell	Usborne
The Stolen Songbird	Judith Eagle	Faber
Rivet Boy	Barbara Henderson	Cranachan
Where the River Takes Us	Lesley Parr	Bloomsbury
The Diary of Sarah Forbes Bonetta: A Novel	Victoria Princewill	Scholastic
Wolf Road	Alice Roberts	Simon & Schuster
Enola Holmes & the Black Barouche	Nancy Springer	Hot Key Books
Her Majesty's League of Remarkable Young Ladies	Alison D Stegert	Chicken House
The Body in the Blitz (The Ministry of Unladylike Activity 2)	Robin Stevens	Puffin
Through Water and Fire	Matt Wainwright	Wakeman Trust
The Whistlers in the Dark	Victoria Williamson	Scotland Street Press

For readers aged 14 years and above

Title	Author	Publisher
When Women Were Dragons	Kelly Barnhill	Hot Key Books
This Summer's Secrets	Emily Barr	Penguin
Sisters of Sword and Shadow	Laura Bates	Simon & Schuster
Gwen & Art are not in Love	Lex Croucher	Bloomsbury
How Far We've Come	Joyce Efia Harmer	Simon & Schuster
The Wolf-Girl, the Greeks and the Gods	Tom Holland (Illus Jason Cockcroft)	Walker
Betrothal and Betrayal: The Empress Irini Series - Book 1	Janet McGiffin	Scotland Street Press
I am Lydia	J Ryan	The Book Guild
The Wolf Cub of Sparta	J Ryan	The Book Guild
The Wall Between Us	Dan Smith	Chicken House
Stateless	Elizabeth Wein	Bloomsbury