Non-Fiction#
| Title |
Published |
Buy on Amazon |
| American Fire |
2017 |
Buy |
Standalone Novels#
| Title |
Published |
Buy on Amazon |
| Girl in the Blue Coat |
2016 |
Buy |
| The War Outside |
2018 |
Buy |
| They Went Left |
2020 |
Buy |
| The Brightwood Code |
2024 |
Buy |
Stray Reading Order#
| Title |
Published |
Buy on Amazon |
| Stray |
2013 |
Buy |
| Burn |
2014 |
Buy |
Monica Hesse is a Washington Post journalist and author of historical fiction for young adults. Girl in the Blue Coat (2016), her breakout novel, follows a teenage black-market courier in Nazi-occupied Amsterdam who is asked to find a missing Jewish girl. The War Outside (2018) is set in a WWII Japanese internment camp in Texas, and They Went Left (2020) follows a Holocaust survivor searching for her brother.
Hesse has also written the Stray duology of science fiction novels and the non-fiction true crime book American Fire (2017). Her most recent novel, The Brightwood Code (2024), continues her exploration of historical settings.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many books has Monica Hesse written?
Monica Hesse has written seven books across three series.
What was Monica Hesse's first book?
Monica Hesse’s first book is Stray, published in 2013.
What is Monica Hesse best known for?
Monica Hesse is best known for Girl in the Blue Coat (2016), a YA novel set in Nazi-occupied Amsterdam about a girl searching for a missing Jewish teenager. She has also written The War Outside (2018), They Went Left (2020), and The Brightwood Code (2024), all historical fiction set during or after World War II.