Annotated bibliography for historical fiction on the Vietnam War for high school students

I was able to find a number of titles, but many of them are out of print. Frustrating! Most are available used from online vendors and a few are partially available on Google Books. Many other non-fiction stories and biographies exist, but this list is strictly historical fiction (with one graphic novel).

Easton, K. (2001). The life history of a star. New York: McElderry. (208 p.)
A coming of age story about Kristen Folger, a fourteen-year-old who uses her diary to vent about puberty, her parents’ antagonistic relationship and her grief about her brother, David. David, once her hero, came back from Vietnam as a crippled and emotionally destroyed man, and he spends his time locked in the attic like a ghost. Full of family drama, historical details and Vietnam‘s lingering effects on the soldiers who served there.

Emerson, Z. (1991). Welcome to Vietnam. New York: Scholastic, Inc. [Out of print.] (208 p.)
This four part series was written by Ellen White under the pseudonym Zack Emerson. The first book tells the story of Michael, an eighteen-year-old from Colorado, who was drafted into the army and sent to Vietnam. After becoming a member of the Echo Company, he quickly learns that war is uglier, more brutal and more terrifying than he could have ever imagined.

Emerson, Z. (1991). Hill 568. New York: Scholastic, Inc. [Out of print.]
Part two in the Echo Company series. The Echo Company continues to fight in Vietnam as Michael grows more disillusioned with the war and the United States’ role in it. Through gritty and graphic descriptions of the horrors of battle, the Echo Company faces off against Vietnamese soldiers at Hill 568.

Emerson, Z. (1991). ‘Tis the season. New York: Scholastic, Inc. [Out of print.] (254 p.)
Part three in the Echo Company series. Becky Phillips, from White’s The Road Home, is introduced as a happy, caring nurse in Vietnam despite the trauma and danger she and the other soldiers face. On Christmas Eve, her helicopter crashes and Becky watches two of her friends die. Left on her own and lost in the jungle, Becky must fight an enemy soldier to stay alive. Becky also meets Michael and they develop a friendship/romance.

Emerson, Z. (1992). Stand down. New York: Scholastic, Inc. [Out of print.] (323 p.)
In the fourth book of the Echo Company series, Michael is haunted by his feelings for Becky after meeting her in ‘Tis the Season. His squad is on a stand-down on the same base as Becky‘s hospital, and the romance between the two of them continues to grow. Michael helps Becky battle the demons and emotional anguish from the helicopter crash and her harrowing time in the jungle.

Hobbs, V. (2006). Sonny’s war. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. (224 p.)
After her father dies, Corin’s older brother and idol, Sonny, is drafted in the war in Vietnam. She and her mother struggle to keep the family restaurant afloat. Corin falls in love with her new high school history teacher, Lawrence, an anti-war activist. At a peace rally, her feelings for Lawrence change when he sets fire to an Army recruitment center. Sonny returns home from Vietnam a changed and bitter man, and Corin struggles to make sense of the war and this troubling period in history.

Hughes, D. (2008). Search and destroy. New York: Simon Pulse. (224 p.)
Rick quits his job, breaks up with his girlfriend and gradates from high school with no idea of what he’s going to do with his life. He joins the army and prepares to go to Vietnam in the Special Forces. With graphic descriptions of war violence and death, Rick tells the story of his time in Vietnam.

Jones, A. (1993). Long time passing: A novel. New York: HarperCollins Children’s Books. [Out of print.] (256 p.)
Jonas Duncan is a seventeen-year old who moves to California to live with his cousin after his father is sent to fight in the Vietnam War and his mother dies. There he meets Auleen, a hippie flower child and peace activist, and falls in love. He follows Auleen and her friends to Berkeley and questions his feelings toward the war. When his father is M.I.A., he joins the Marines.

Lewis, C. (2000). Postcards to Father Abraham. New York: Atheneum. (304 p.)
Sixteen-year-old Meghan has a lot to be angry about. She won a running scholarship to a private school but cancer claimed one of her legs. She was expelled from school. Her mother died at the hands of a drunk driver and her father is emotionally distant. Her brother came home from Vietnam a broken man. As she recuperates in the hospital, Meghan studies her idol, Abraham Lincoln, and she writes him postcards as a way to express her rage and pain.

Mason, B. A. (2005). In country. New York: HarperCollins Publishers. (272 p.)
In 1984, Sam Hughes is a typical teenager who is working at a local restaurant, applying for colleges and dealing with boyfriends and breakups. She lives with her uncle Emmett, a veteran dealing with the aftereffects of Agent Orange from his time in Vietnam. Sam’s father died in Vietnam before her birth, but no one in her family will talk about him or the war. She becomes obsessed with it and finds her father’s diary to help her understand the experience of fighting in Vietnam.

Milner, D. (2009). After River: A novel. New York: HarperCollins Publishers. (352 p.)
Natalie Ward returns to her childhood home to face the death of her mother. The story flashes back to her teenage years on her family’s farm. A Vietnam draft dodger named River Jordan shows up at the house and asks if they will hire him as a farm hand. Though Natalie’s family falls in love with this handsome stranger, their connection to him causes a tragedy that forces Natalie to leave in shame.

Minfong, H. (1997). The clay marble. New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. (180 p.)
Twelve-year-old Dara and her family are refugees from Cambodia during the Vietnam War. They travel to Thailand and meet up with another family. During a skirmish between local guerrilla soldiers, Dara and her friend, Jantu, are separated from their families for a while. After they are reunited with their families, Jantu is killed. Dara keeps a clay marble that she believes holds Jantu’s magic and uses it to find courage in her bleak situation. Though technically a book better suited for middle schoolers, some high schoolers may enjoy this book.

Murray, D., Golden, M. & Vansant, W. (2009). The ‘Nam (Vol. 1 TPB). New York: Marvel Comics. (248 p.)
This collection of issues 1-10 of this graphic novel describes the experiences of Private Ed Marks and his squad as they face the horrors and realities of fighting in Vietnam.

Myers, W. D. (2008). Fallen angels. New York: Scholastic Paperbacks. (336 p.)
Richie Perry, a poor African American kid from Harlem, enlists in the army only because he wasn’t accepted into college. He is sent to Vietnam. There he meets PeeWee and several other men, and they become a tight circle of friends. They face racial discrimination from their peers and commanders, violence and the brutality of war. A real, gripping tale of friendship, racism and the struggle to stay alive in the direst conditions.
This book is a great example of historical fiction because it captures not only the detail of the Vietnam war, but the lives of black youth in the United States. It addresses the racial prejudice that was rampant in America and abroad during this time. It also shows a slice of life from Richie’s point of view with accuracy and honesty. Myers brings this historical period to life for young readers and doesn't glorify war or fighting. Instead readers can become personally invested in Perry's story as he tries to stay alive though the compelling, dramatic plot.

O’Brien, T. (1998). The things they carried. New York: Broadway. (272 p.)
A collection of twenty-two short stories about a group of soldiers in the Vietnam War. Each of them carried a personal item with them, and this forms the basis of these stories on memory, truth and fiction.

Qualey, M. (2008). Come in from the cold. New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Trade & Reference Publishers. (224 p.)
In 1969, Maud’s sister, Lucy, bombs a physics lab in Minnesota to protest the Vietnam war. In the same week, Jeff’s brother, a Marine, is killed in Vietnam. Jeff organizes an anti-war protest in his town, which raises the ire of his community. Almost a year later, Maud and Jeff meet and instantly feel an attraction. Their relationship develops until the two join a commune at the end of the book (continued by Everybody’s Daughter).

Rostkowski, M. (1989). The best of friends. New York: HarperCollins Publishers. (192 p.)
Three very different friends try to make sense of each other and the tumultuous world around them during the Vietnam War. Sarah is an anti-war activist, while her brother, Dan, and her friend, Will, decide what to do about the draft.

White, E. E. (1995). The road home. New York: Scholastic, Inc. (469 p.)
Becky Phillips is a newly graduated nurse stationed in Vietnam. (This character was introduced in the third and fourth books, Tis the Season and Stand Down, of White’s pseudonymously written series Echo Company.) There she faces nightmarish conditions, soldiers torn apart with horrible injuries, few supplies and the constant threat of death, but she does her best to help the young wounded GIs she treats. Becky develops romantic feelings for Michael, a confident, funny soldier who is helping her cope with the aftermath of a gruesome helicopter crash that killed two of her friends. After an injury, Michael is sent home. The bulk of the book is about Becky returning to the United States to piece together a life after seeing years of trauma, violence and misery in a country that scorns her for serving in Vietnam.