This may be too quirky, or just driven by our interests, but 14-y.o. dc and I are listening to the audiobook of GUNS, GERMS, and STEEL (Jared Diamond). This is a dense, long book, and the writing, while clear, is not lively. But we are totally absorbed in the narratives, which range worldwide and from prehistory to 1500.
If you liked Guns, Germs and Steel (and I agree it is absolutely fascinating) you may also like Collapse (same author) and Why nations fail (Acemoglu and Robinson). Ever since reading Collapse, I have had a morbid fascination with the Norse of Greenland and the collapse of their colonies...
No idea whether they're available as audiobooks, though. Carry on.
Before signing off, though, it occurs to me that 13 and up is the age for the classics! Old enough to understand love, and fear, and war, in ways that even gifted preteens cannot, not having the emotional range yet for desire, or hate, in ways that really lets you understand these books.
