To mark the occasion this year, we went into the CYBILS Awards database to find books that share the experiences of those who served our country Not just soldiers, medics, and photojournalists on the front lines, but refugees and family members at home trying to navigate their own way through war.
Close-Up on War: The Story of Pioneering Photojournalist Catherine Leroy in Vietnam
by Mary Cronk Farrell
Harry N Abrams
2022 High School Nonfiction Nominee
Twenty-One Steps: Guarding the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier
by Jeff Gottesfeld, illustrated by Matt Tavares
Candlewick Press
2021 Elementary Nonfiction Nominee
Code Breaker, Spy Hunter: How Elizebeth Friedman Changed the Course of Two World Wars
by Laurie Wallmark, illustrated by Brooke Smart
Abrams Books for Young Readers
2021 Elementary Nonfiction Finalist
War and Millie McGonigle
by Karen Cushman
Knopf Books for Young Readers
2021 Middle-Grade Fiction Nominee
Voices of Young Heroes: A World War 2 Book for Kids
by Kelly Milner Halls
Rockridge Press
2020 Middle Grade Non-Fiction Nominee
The Story of Civil War Hero Robert Smalls
by Janet Halfmann, illustrated by Duane Smith
Lee & Low Books, Inc.
2020 Elementary Non-Fiction Finalist
The Cat I Never Named: A True Story of Love, War, and Survival
by Amra Sabic-El-Rayess and Laura L. Sullivan
Bloomsbury YA
2020 High School Non-Fiction Finalist
Infinite Hope: A Black Artist’s Journey from World War II to Peace
by Ashley Bryan
Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy Books
2019 Middle Grade Non-Fiction Nominee
Boots on the Ground: America’s War in Vietnam
by Elizabeth Partridge
Viking Books for Young Readers
2018 Junior High Non-Fiction Winner
Courageous Women of the Vietnam War: Medics, Journalists, Survivors, and More
by Kathryn J. Atwood
Chicago Review Press
2018 Senior High Non-Fiction Nominee
Attack on Pearl Harbor
by Lisa L. Owens
Lerner Publishing Group
2018 Middle-Grade Non-Fiction Nominee
Purple Heart
by Patricia McCormick
Balzer + Bray
2009 High School Non-Fiction Nominee