(3) YA Also written by Jennifer Donnelly, Candace Fleming, Stephanie Hemphill, Deborah Hopkinson, Linda Sue Park, and Lisa Ann Sandell. In first-person narratives by six female authors, each of Henry VIII's wives gives a retrospective account of the loves, flirtations, and political maneuverings that brought about the end of her time as Henry's queen. Between wives, Anderson offers Henry's perspective, musing on his loves and lusts; Anderson's sly rendering reveals the depths of the king's complacency and egotism.

Reviewer: Deirdre F. Baker

(4) YA Twin brothers Charlie and Alex belong to a secret society that employs time travel to manipulate, even assassinate, historic figures. Sent to the Tudor court to stop Jane Seymour's marriage to Henry VIII, they find themselves entangled in romances and intrigues from both their own era and the one they're visiting. Hosie's fast-paced, ambitious adventure occasionally overreaches with too many complications and not enough character development.

Reviewer: Megan Lynn Isaac

(3) YA Worsley's well-researched historical narrative places fictional character Eliza into the court of Henry VIII as a maid of honour to Anne of Cleves and Katherine Howard (Eliza's distant cousin). During Eliza's formative years, readers learn with her the expectations of court life and customs of the period. The accessible dialogue, political machinations, and romance should intrigue modern readers.

Reviewer: Cynthia K. Ritter

(3) 4-6 Moss, assistant to her executioner father, has never left her Tower of London home. She longs to leave but is unaware of the dangers lurking in the adjacent Thames, including the dreaded Riverwitch, who snatches children down to watery depths. With the backdrop of King Henry VIII's reign, Hardstaff weaves history and supernatural elements into a story of young teenage rebellion.

Reviewer: Jeannie Coutant

(3) YA At age fourteen, Mary Howard and Henry FitzRoy (an illegitimate son of King Henry VIII) were married but forbidden to consummate the relationship. From this thin skein of historic fact, Longshore weaves a tale of love growing amid the corruption, ambition, and betrayals of the Tudor court. Detailed research and a deftly composed heroine make this hefty historical romance novel satisfying.

Reviewer: Megan Lynn Isaac

(3) YA Told in the first person, this fictionalized biography of King Henry VIII ("Hal") attempts to make sense of why such a gifted and powerful man could have behaved with such cruelty to his wives, advisors, and friends. Short, tense chapters spanning from early childhood to his death bed present the psychology of Hal's failing struggle against a cruel father, personal ambition, and ghostly visions.

Reviewer: Megan Lynn Isaac

(4) YA Concentrating on Anne Boleyn's first three years in King Henry VIII's court, Longshore crafts a sympathetic first-person account of a young woman who's ambitious to be noticed, determined to choose her own husband, reluctantly enamored of the poet Thomas Wyatt, and loyal to her siblings. The decision to employ modern phrasings and modes of thought often interrupts the sense of historical authenticity.

Reviewer: Megan Lynn Isaac

(3) YA Catherine Howard is only fifteen when King Henry VIII chooses her to be his bride. Ignoring her own heart as well as what happened to her cousin Anne Boleyn, Catherine loses herself in the power of being queen. This riveting novel--made all the more addictive by Catherine's compelling narration--leaves the reader wishing history would have allowed a different ending.

Reviewer: Chelsey Philpot

(3) YA Young Royals series. While many know about Catherine of Aragon and her infamous divorce from Henry VIII, few might know of the years of uncertainty she endured between the death of her first husband, Henry's brother, and her second marriage. Catherine details court life, her lack of money, and the events that finally secured her marriage in the believable voice of a frustrated, powerless teenager.

Reviewer: Jeannine M. Chapman

(4) YA Young Royals series. From her cell in the Tower of London, Anne Boleyn recounts what has led to her pending execution. At age six, she was sent to be trained at court in the Netherlands, a year later she is asked to join the court of the French queen--where she learns how to play the game of courtly love--and then perfects her game at Henry VIII's court. The first-person narration is engaging, though the believability of secondary characters is limited.

Reviewer: Jeannine M. Chapman

(4) 4-6 In World History series. The books in this series feature the lives of their subjects but also give considerable history and cultural context. Lenin reads more smoothly, but the writing in both is competent and sometimes even vigorous as the authors recount and interpret complex personalities. Brief excerpts from source documents, black-and-white photos, careful endnotes, and time lines authenticate the material. Bib., ind. [This review covers these World History titles: Lenin and the Russian Revolution in World History and King Henry VII and the Reformation in World History.]

Reviewer: Frieda F. Bostian