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A Boy of Old Prague. S. Ish-Kishor. New York. Pantheon Books. 1963. 91 pages. ISBN 63-15482

Tomás, a young Christian boy in 16th century Prague, viewed the world through the distorted lens of his time. He accepts all he has learned about Jews until he is sent by his master to work for one. Only then does he learn that Jews are not demons, but people much like himself.

• suitable for intermediate grades
• contains black/ white line drawings
• provides historical background into antisemitism

A Pocket Full of Seeds. Marilyn Sachs. New York. Scholastic. 1973. 137 pages. ISBN 0-590-48375-7

Nicole and her family live in Vichy France never suspecting the German occupation and the round-up of Jews. When it happens, Nicole finally realizes the value and love of her family.

• suitable for less mature reader
• written chronologically
• ALA Notable Book

A Thread of Grace. Mary Dora Russell. New York. Random House. 2005. 430 pages. ISBN 0-375-50184-3

In September 1943 the Jews of southern France escape the Germans by fleeing to northern Italy where they hope to find sanctuary. In this historical fiction narrative their story is interwoven with the little known account of the resistance efforts of Italian citizens to save the lives of the Jews during the final phase of the war.

• suitable for high school and above
• contains list of characters, map of fictionalized locations and of Europe and author's note

Adem's Cross. Alice Mead. New York. Farrar Straus Giroux. 1996. 132 pages. ISBN 0-374-03357-7

In 1993 fourteen-year-old Adem, an ethnic Albanian living in Kosovo, Yugoslavia, tries to survive despite the random day-to-day violence and cruelty of the Serbians. Following his sister's death by Serbian gunfire, Adem is consumed with guilt that he might have prevented her death. After Adem is mutilated by Serbian soldiers, he flees to Albania.

• suitable for middle school
• contains author's note, pronunciation key and a map of the Balkans
• background information a necessity
• parts, particularly Adem's multilation, may be upsetting to some
• paints a picture of life caught in a cultural conflict

After the War. Carol Matas. New York. Aladdin Books. 1996. 133 pages. ISBN 0-689-80722-8

After the War tells the story of Ruth Mendenberg's life after Auschwitz; a life with no family survivors except herself; a life that she feels isn't worth living; a life that leads her to Palestine with 200 orphans even though the world doesn't want them there.

• although a postwar story provides flashbacks to life during the war
• a survivor's story
• ALA Best Book for Young Adults
• A Booklist Editor's Choice
• A Junior Library Guild Selection

Aleutian Sparrow. Karen Hess. New York. Aladdin Paperbacks. 2003. 156 pages. ISBN 1-4169-0327-5

In June 1942 the Japanese invaded the Aleutian Islands. The U.S. government relocates the local population. Written in prose in a poetry format Vera, a young Aleutian, chronicles her struggles to survive and to keep her community and heritage intact.

• suitable for middle school
• each selection titled
• contains a map of Aleutian Islands, author's note, glossary
• author's note contains historical background

Along the Tracks. Tamar Berman. Translated by Michael Swirsky. Boston. Houghton Mifflin. 1988. 245 pages. ISBN 0-395-55328-8

As his family travels to Russia fleeing the ghettoization of Lodz, Yankle is stranded when the train is strafed by enemy planes. Along with other "lost" children, Yankle struggles to survive.

• a story of ingenuity, hunger and fear
• based on the real experiences of a friend of the author
• tells about a little known chapter of World War II

Anne Frank and Me. Cherie Bennett & Jeff Gottesfeld. New York. Puffin Books. 2001. 291 pages. ISBN 0-698-11973-8

During a school visit to the Anne Frank exhibit at a local museum, Nicole is transported back in time to Paris in 1942 where she is a young Jewish girl living under Nazi occupation. Living the destiny of the teen whose name she was given for the museum visit, Nicole learns the value of family and what is important in life. On a transport to Auschwitz she meets Anne Frank. She eventually awakens from this Holocaust nightmare and is no longer a self-centered teenager.

• suitable for middle school and up
• similar to Jane Yolen's Devil's Arithmetic, but not as well constructed.
• "intent" of time travel unclear
• based on authors' 1998 play

Anton the Dove Fancier and Other Tales of the Holocaust. Bernard Gotfryd. New York. Washington Square Press. 1990. 175 pages. ISBN 0-671-699137-6

This collection of stories tells of Bernard Gotfryd's life as a young Polish boy before the onslaught of World War II, through the agony of deportation and the horrors of the camps and life after. Through his eyes, we meet the faces of the victims, the perpetrators, the bystanders and those who chose to help.

• each story can be used independently of the others although some stories are enhanced in others
• provides insight into the unthinkable, the "choiceless" choices
• suitable for use by high school students
• winner Ze'ev Prize of the Ministry of Education in Israel

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Behind the Bedroom Wall. Laura E. Williams. New York. Scholastic Inc. 1996. 169 pages. ISBN 0-590-21415-2

To young Korinna, a member of the Jungmadel, showing loyalty to Hitler and her country is a given until the day she discovers her parents are hiding Jews behind her bedroom wall. Suddenly, the question of loyalty isn't as clear.

• snapshot of the effects of Nazism on the young in Germany during World War II
• good for the novice reader

The Borrowed House. Hilda van Stockum. Bathgate, ND. Bethlehem Books. 1975. 221 pages. ISBN 1-883937-46-9

Janni, a young German girl, and her parents move into a "borrowed" house in occupied Holland. As Janni investigates the house she learns the story of the family who lived there and discovers that the lessons she learned in the Hitler Youth were not true.

• good for middle school and up
• provides historical background as story is told
• offers the perspective of a young German who learns that what she has believed to be the truth is, in fact, lies

The Boys from St. Petri. Bjarne Reuter. New York. Puffin Books. 1991. 215 pages. ISBN 0-14-037994-0

Based on the true story of Danish boys who secretly harassed German soldiers, The Boys from St. Petri is the fictional telling of the story. Lars and the others make up the St. Petri group. Their goal, to harass the Germans, until one time things go too far.

• lead in to discussions of whether what one person does matters in relation to the whole framework of events
• ALA Notable Book
• Winner of the Mildred. L. Batchelder Award

The Boy in Striped Pajamas. John Boyne. New York. David Fickling Books. 2006. 218 pages. ISBN 0-385-75106-0

In 1942 nine year-old Bruno, the son of a Nazi officer, moves with his family from Berlin to a place called "Out-With" in Poland. Not 50 feet from his bedroom window, a high wire fence surrounds a huge dirt area of low huts and large square buildings where Bruno can see hundreds of people wearing striped pajamas and caps. Eventually he meets Shmuel, a boy from Cracow, who lives on the other side of the camp fence who he visits daily, sharing food, as well as, his thoughts and feelings.

• suitable for middle school
• tells the bystander story from the view point of an innocent child

The Boy Who Dared. Susan Campbell Bartoletti. New York. Scholastic Press. 2008. 202 pages. ISBN-10. 0-439-68013-1

Based on the true story of Helmuth Hubener, a young German boy who finds himself in conflict with events and his religion. He publishes and distributes pamphlets condemning the Nazis until he is arrested and sentenced be executed. The story alternates between his time on death row and his life leading up to his arrest.

• suitable for middle school
• contains author's note, biography and further reading, Third Reich timeline, and b/w captioned photos
• teaching guide available online at http://www.scholastic.com/discussionguides

Briar Rose. Jane Yolen. New York. Tom Dohety Associates, Inc. 1992. 200 pages. ISBN 0-812-55862-6

Becca has heard her grandmother's story of Briar Rose her whole life. Upon her grandmother's death, Becca leads us on a journey to learn the true story of Briar Rose; a journey that takes us to despair and back.

• not for the novice reader
• not a "fairy tale"
• provides a perspective of partisans
• ALA Best Book for Young Adults
• 1992 Nebula Nominee

Burying the Sun. Gloria Whelan. New York. Harper Collins Publishers. 2004. 205 pages. ISBN 0-06-054113-X

Through the eves of fourteen year-old Georgi we experience the German siege of Leningrad; the destruction, hunger, and bitter cold. Too young to join the army Georgi travels across Lake Ladoga to help transport food for the starving city.

• suitable for grade 5 and above
• some historical background helpful
• contains author's note on siege of Leningrad, glossary of Russian terms, brief bibliography
• gives hints of life under Stalin
• companion book to Angel on the Square and The Impossible Journey (Russian epics)

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** Cezanne is Missing. Frank McMillan. New York. Cambridge House Publishing Co., LLC. 2004. 323 pages. ISBN0-9711359-4-0

Set in the months following the events of September 11th, this fast-paced adventure leds the reader through the streets of New York as Lauren tries to help her art teacher, an Auschwitz survivor, decode the secrets of a diary kept by her teacher's brother as they fought with the resistance in the Warsaw Ghetto. Clueless to the events during this time in history, Lauren begins to see the connection between hatred and intolernance throughout history.

• suitable for middle school
• reads as an adventure story, but is full of Holocaust history

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Daniel Half Human and the Good Nazi. David Chotjewitz. New York. Antheneum Books for Young Readers. 2004. 298 pages. ISBN 0-689-85747-0.

When Daniel learns he is half Jewish his comfortable life as a young German in 1933 begins to fall apart. His best friend, Armin, joins the Hitler Jurgend and their friendship starts to unravel. Despite this, they continue to hold sway over each others life.

• suitable for middle school
• written chronologically with short titled chapters
• contains reference to historical events and insight into life as a Jew in Nazi Germany
• contains afterword and glossary

Daniel's Story. Carol Matas. New York. Daniel Weiss Associates, Inc. 1993. 136 pages. ISBN 0-590-46588-0

Daniel's story is told as he talks about the photos of his world; his family, life in Frankfort and the Lodz Ghetto, and the horrors of Auschwitz and Buchenwald. Through Daniel's story we learn the history of the Holocaust.

• detailed enough to help the reader understand, but not too graphic
• published in conjunction with the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

Darkness Casts No Shadow. Arnost Lustig. Evanston, Illinois. Northwerstern University Press. 1976. 173 pages. ISBN 0-8101-0704-X

Two teenage boys escape a train taking them to Dachau and try to travel through Germany to their home in Prague. Told primarily through dialogue between the two boys with flashbacks to the Auschwitz, the story takes the reader on a terrifying journey.

• recommended for high school and above
• at times difficult to identify who is talking
• flashbacks written in italics which helps with shifts
• contains sections which would be excellent for use as short readings, ie. stories of what happens to people when faced with death/ staravation
• based on author's own experiences

David and Max. Gary Provost & Gail Levine-Provost. New York. The Jewish Publication Society. 1988. 180 pages. ISBN 0-8276-0392-4

Twelve year-old David spends his summer vacation with his Grandfather Max and his family. While searching form a man from his grandfather's past, David learns about his grandfather's life under Nazi persecution.

• suitable for intermediate grades
• deals with relationships and friendships

The Devil's Arithmetic. Jane Yolen. New York. Viking Penguin Books, Inc. 1988. 170 pages. ISBN 0-440-84316-2

Hannah, a young Jewish girl from New Rochelle, is transported back through time to Poland in 1942 where she becomes Chaya, a Polish Jew. As Chaya, Hannah learns to appreciate her religion and the learnings of the Holocaust.

• not for the novice reader due to time shift
• background of Jewish customs helpful, but not required
• emotional
• National Jewish Book Award
• American Bookseller "Pick of the Lists"

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Emil and Karl. Yankev Glatshteyn translated by Jeffrey Shandler. New Milford, Conn. Roaring Brook Press. 2006. 194 pages. ISBN 1-59643-119-9

First published in 1940 in Yiddish, this young adult novel offers a unique perspective of Vienna, Austria under Nazi control on the eve of World War II. The story of two boys - one Jewish, the other not - who suddenly find themselves without homes or families leads readers on a suspenseful journey as the two friends try to find shelter and protection from the Nazi persecution of Jews and others who spoke out against the Nazi occupation.

• suitable for middle school
• written while events happening without knowledge of death camps
• To the Reader and Afterword sections provide information regarding original publication in 1940, the author and significance of book in Holocaust literature

Escape from Warsaw. (Original Title; The Silver Sword) Ian Serraillier. New York. Scholastic, Inc. 218 pages. ISBN 0-590-43715-1.

The story of three children separated from their parents during the war and their journey after the war from Warsaw to Switzerland to join their parents. Separated from each other, but reunited the trio are helped by Jan, a young Polish orphan, who possesses the link between the children and their family, the silver sword.

• easy to read
• picture of life of children during and after the war
• background information not overwhelming
• not "brutal"

Escaping into the Night. D. Dina Friedman. New York. Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers. 2006. 199 pages. ISBN 978-1-4169-0258-4

After her mother is caught in a roundup, Halina escapes with others from the ghetto to the forest where they join a group of Jews living in underground bunkers. Halina becomes a reluctant heroine when she saves her friend, Batya, from the Germans.

• suitable for middle school
• based on historical events
• afterword describes how author came to write story
• provides realistic picture of characters' struggles to survive

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Faraway Home. Marilyn Taylor. Dublin, Ireland. The O'Brien Press. 1999. 221 pages. ISBN 0-86278-643-6

Karl and Rosa were part of the Kindertranport, children from Nazi occupied Europe provided sanctuary by the English Parliament. Most of the Kinder were given shelter in England. Karl and Rosa, however, were sent to Ireland. This is their story of life living on a farm with other Kinder as they wait for their parents to escape and join them.

• good for less sophisticated readers
• written chronologically with short chapters divided into sections, not overly detailed
• provides historical framework within text, limited but enough to help reader
• contains afterword, bibliography
• winner children's books Ireland Bisto Book of the Year

Fateless. Imre Kertesz. Evanston, Illinois. Northwestern University Press. 1992. 191 pages. ISBN 0-8101-1049-0

Gyorgy Koves, a 14 year-old Hungarian Jew, felt his life in Auschwitz and Buchenwald were normal because "In the concentration camp it (such treatment) is natural." Through Gyorgy's eyes we live the horrors of survival and the day to day life in hell. Upon being told to forget the terrors when he returns home after the war, he questions why since he would need to "hope for something impossible."

• suitable for high school and above
• Kertesz, as a youth, spent a year as a prisoner in Auschwitz
• author 2002 Nobel Peace Prize winner

The Final Journey. Gudrun Pausewang. New York. Scholastic. 1992. 154 pages ISBN 0-439-05643-8

Eleven year old Alice has lead a sheltered life. Suddenly she is on a train headed for the "east", and she discovers the reality of her world. She learns "How much a human body can bear."

• starts slow, but draws the reader in
• takes the reader on a journey from life to the indescribable

Finding Sophie: A Search for Belonging in Postwar Britain. Irene N. Watts. Toronto. Tundra Books. 2002. 136 pages. ISBN 0-88776-613-7.

Sophie has lived with Aunt Em for 6 years since her arrival on a Kindertransport from Germany at the age of seven. Now that the war is ending she wants to stay in England, the only home she has really known.

• suitable for middle school
• short chapters
• third book about Kinder by Watts
• prologue makes connection between Sophie and Marianna, the main character of the first two books
• provides insights into the concerns of Kinder about reunions with parents they don't remember

Fire in the Hills. Donna Jo Napoli. New York. Dutton Children's Books. 2006. 215 pages. ISBN 0-525-47751-9

This sequel to Stones in the Water finds fourteen-year-old Roberto back in Italy where he struggles to survive, first on his own, then as a member of the resistance, fighting against the Nazi occupiers while trying to reach home safely.

• suitable for middle school
• contains postscript
• sometimes disjoined without adequate connections between events

For Freedom: The Story of a French Spy. Kimberly Brubaker Bradley. New York. Delacorte Press. 2003. 181 pages. ISBN 0-385-72961-8.

Thirteen year old Suzanne lives in Cherbourg, France and dreams of being a professional singer. With the Nazi invasion of France her life changes and she becomes a courier for the French underground. Not until the end of the war does she learn the importance of her messages. Based on the true story of Suzanne David Hall, a former opera singer and a spy for France.

• suitable for middle school and above
• short readable chapters
• enough historical background given to understand what is happening
• Junior Library Guild selection

Friedrich. Hans Peter Richter. New York. Scholastic, Inc. 1970. 149 pages. ISBN 0-590-46763-8

The story of the friendship of two young boys, one a Jew and one a non-Jew. Written chronologically each chapter relates the experiences of the boys as the laws of the Third Reich against Jews are passed and enforced. Told through the eyes of Friedrich's best friend, who is not Jewish, we learn his fate.

• contains a chronology of laws, decrees, and regulations
• chapter events follow the timeline of the chronology
• chapters are short and relate only a single event

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Gentlehands. M.E. Kerr. New York. Banton Books, Inc. 1978. 135 pages. ISBN 0-553-23004-2

It's the perfect summer. Buddy and Skye are in love. In order to impress Skye, Buddy introduces her to his Grandfather. A man he doesn't know: a man accused of being the Nazi killer, Gentlehands.

• a story about adolescent issues; "fitting in", learning from others, parental authority, making choices
• deals with prejudice in daily lives
• New York Times Best Book of the Year

**The Good Liar. Gregory Maguire. New York. Clarion Books. 1999. 129 pages. ISBN 0-395-90697-0

Three girls doing a school assignment on World War II write a letter to an artist they've seen on TV when they learn he grew up on France during the war. So begins Marcel's story of life in a small French town under German occupation. Marcel and his two brothers love to tell outrageous lies. When Madame Cauverian and her daughter, who are Jews, move in with the family the lies mount up, until, finally, the best liar is revealed.

• suitable for fourth grade and up
• rich language with short chapters
• portrays quiet heroism of ordinary citizens during the war

Good-bye Marianne: A Story of Growing Up in Nazi Germany. Irene N. Watts. Toronto. Tundra Books. 1998. 105 pages. ISBN 0-88776-445-2

Marianna finds her life in Berlin in 1938 changing drastically as the restrictions against Jews increase. This book tells of life in Berlin between Kristallnacht and Marianna's selection for the Kindertransport and her journey to England.

• written simplistically
• suitable for less proficient readers
• short chapters
• first of three book series by Watts about Marianne; can be read independently of others
• winner Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction for Young People
• winner Isaac Frischwasser Memorial Award for Young Adult Fiction

Gotz and Meyer. David Albahari. New York. Harcourt, Inc. 2004. 169 pages. ISBN 0-15-101141-9

Gotz and Meyer are two noncommissioned SS officers whose assignment is to transport 5,000 women, children and elderly, one hundred at a time, from a concentration camp near Belgrade in a hermetically sealed truck, in which they are gassed. The narrator, who started researching what happened as he investigated his family tree, becomes obsessed with Gotz and Meyer and who they were.

• suitable for high school and above
• explores banality of evil
• author's note indicates historical facts on which story is based come from numerous sources

Greater Than Angels. Carol Matas. New York. Aladdin Books. 1998. 180 pages. ISBN 0-689-83084-X

Fifteen year old Anna is a German Jew. After her family is deported to southern France, Anna is given safe haven by the citizens of Le Chambon France. Although fiction, the reader is given the history of the courageous village of Le Chambon and Pastor Trocme.

• not just a story of "survival", but also righteous gentiles
• provides historical background of the situation in France: Germans and Vichy Government
• Notable Children's Trade Book in the Field of Social Studies

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Hide and Seek. Ida Vos. Boston. Houghton Mifflin Co. 1981. 132 pages. ISBN 0-395-56470-0.

Based on the experiences of Vos's family during World War II, Hide and Seek tells of the Nazi occupation of Holland, the restrictions placed on Jews and, finally, life in hiding.

• short chapters, written simply
• suitable for less proficient readers
• contains forward by author explaining why she wrote book
• story of day to day life under occupation and in hiding

A High and Hidden Place. Michele Claire Lucas. San Francisco. Harper. 2005. 273 pages. ISBN 0-06-074056-6

Christine is six years-old when she arrives at a convent in France in 1944. She is introduced as "the one from Oradour". She avoids the memories of her life prior to her arrival at the convent until the violent death of President Kennedy. In order to save herself from the nightmares, she sets out to learn about Oradour and what happened there.

• suitable for high school and above
• a fictionalized account of the actual events in the small French farm community of Oradour in 1944
• to learn more about the massacre at Oradour see Oradour: Village of the Dead by Philip Beck (London; Leo Cooper LTD, 1979)
• chapters describing the massacre at Oradour present the unimaginable
• end becomes "preachy" about her belief in the existence of God

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**I Am David. Anne Holm. New York. Harcourt Paperbacks

After escaping from an East European concentration camp where he spent most of his life, twelve-year-old David struggles to cope with an entirely strange world as he flees northward to freedom in Denmark.

• Originally published as North to Freedom (1965)
• suitable for middle school
• an emotional adventure story which investigates how one should live and act
• winner Lewis Carroll Shelf Award, American Library Association Notable Book, winner Gyldendal Prize for Best Scandinavian Children's Book

I Was There. Hans Peter Richter. New York. Puffin Books. 1972. 204 pages. ISBN 0-14-032206-X

Through the eyes of a young boy and his two friends who join the Hitler Youth, we learn how the youth of Germany are affected by the events of the time. Written chronologically starting in 1933 and ending in 1943, the story takes us from triumph to despair.

• contains reference notes that further explain language/ events that are useful in understanding the story.
• necessary at times to reread to understand what is happening
• Chris, age 13: This book shows the pressure placed on the youth to join the Hitler Youth.

If I Should Die Before I Wake. Han Nolen. New York. Harcourt, Brace, and Co. 1994. 225 pages. ISBN 0-15-238040-X

Hilary, a teenage Neo-Nazi, is injured in an accident and lapses into a coma where she becomes Chana, a teenage Jew in Nazi occupied Poland. As Chana, Hilary experiences the horrors of the Holocaust from the Lodz ghetto to Auschwitz, and through Chana's eyes learns humanity and forgiveness.

• allows the reader to become involved
• for the experienced reader
• at times it is difficult to keep track of who is talking as Hilary moves back and forth between her time and Chana's
• a New York Public Library Book for the Teen Age

If Not Now, When? Primo Levi. New York. Simon & Schuster, Inc. 1985. 349 pages. ISBN 0-671-49336-1

Set during the final months of World War II, this fictional novel details the experiences of a band of Jewish partisans traveling from Russia through Poland to Italy. The band consists of escapees from concentration camps, survivors of ghettos, and deserters and lost soldiers from the Russian army who plan and execute clandestine operations throughout Eastern Europe.

• suitable for high school
• contains an introduction essay, an appreciation of Primo Levi and author's note
• lesson plans can be found in The Spirit That Moves Us, Volume 3: Using Literature, Art, and Music to Teach About the Holocaust at the Secondary and College Level

In My Enemy's House. Carol Matas. New York. Aladdin Paperbacks. 1999. 168 pages. ISBN 0-689-82400-9

For Marisa and her family life for Jews in Eastern Poland under German occupation was full of danger. As it becomes more difficult, Mirisa decides to "pass" and goes to Germany as part of the Polish labor forces. There she finds herself living with the family of an offical of the Nazi Party and she must use her wits to keep from being discovered.

• suitable for middle school
• provides a different perspective of life in hiding

The Island on Bird Street. Uri Orlev. Boston. Houghton Mifflin, Co. 1981. 162 pages. ISBN 0-395-33887-5.

After his father is caught in a round up, Alex waits as instructed at #78 Bird Street in the deserted ghetto. He learns to survive while avoiding capture.

• a story of ingenuity and survival
• some background of ghettos helpful
• Mildred L. Batchelder Award
• ALA Notable Book
• Association Jewish Libraries Booklist Editor's Choice
• Darcie, age 13; I would recommend this book because it was easy to understand. I liked it because I learned how someone survived on his own.

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Jacob's Rescue: A Holocaust Story. Malka Drucker and Michael Halperin. New York. Bantam Doubleday Bell Books for Young Readers. 1993. 117 pages. ISBN 0-440-40965-9

This is the story of Jacob, a young Jewish boy, who is hidden by Christians. At risk to themselves and their children while enduring increasing hardship, Mela and Alex provide a hiding place for Jacob in Warsaw, Poland.

• suitable for less proficient readers
• contains afterword that gives a brief historical background
• presents the day to day aspects of survival

The Journal of Ben Urhida: Citizen 13559, Mirror Lake Internment Camp, California, 1942. Barry Denenberg. New York. Scholastic. 1999. 156 pages. ISBN 0-590-48531-8

Following the Japanese bombing at Pearl Harbor, Ben, his family and thousands of other Japanese-Americans, considered threats to national security, are interned in concentration camps. Twelve-year-old Ben keeps a journal of his experiences in an internment camp located in Mirror Lake, California.

• suitable for grade 5 and up
• simply written, providing insights into conditions of camps and treatment of Japanese-Americans
• contains epilogue, captioned black/white photographs, and a historical note

**The Journey. Ida Fink. New York. Farrar Straus and Giroux, Inc. 1990. 250 pages. ISBN 0-374-28541-1

In 1942 two Jewish girls disguised as Polish peasants escape the ghetto. This is the harrowing story of how they journey into war torn Germany where they work as hired labor in the factories, farms and villages constantly changing their identities.

• suitable for high school and up due to changing of characters identities
• outstanding description
• full of suspense
• Ida Fink author of A Scrap of Time and Other Stories

Journey to America. Sonia Levitin. New York. Scholastic, Inc. 1970. 150 pages. ISBN 0-590-46728-X

Lisa, her mother and father, and two sisters live in Berlin. In 1938 as the persecution of Jews heightens, Lisa's father leaves for America to find a place for the family. This is the story of Lisa, her mother and sisters' life in Berlin as the Nazis come into power and in Switzerland as they wait for the paperwork allowing them to go to America.

• suitable for lower middle school
• title doesn't fit the story
• winner National Jewish Book Award

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Katarina. Kathryn Winter. New York. Scholastic, Inc. 1998. 255 pages. ISBN 0-439-09904-8

In 1942 Katarina's quiet life is disrupted as the Germans round up the Jews in her Slovakian village. Although Katarina doesn't consider herself Jewish since her family has never been observant, she has to go into hiding with a peasant household. When it is discovered that she is Jewish she is forced to wander from village to village looking for shelter until it is safe for her to return to her family. Throughout her journey she holds to the belief that everything will be fine.

• suitable for middle school
• provides a perspective of non practicing Jews and how they were affected by the war
• tells the story of everyday life

Kindertransport: The Play. Diane Samuels. London. Nick Hern Limited Books. 1995. 88 pages. ISBN1-85459-227-0

Samuels interviewed several Kinder and incorporated their stories into this play about the Kindertransport, the rescuing of nearly 10,000 unaccompanied children from Germany, Austria, and Czechoslovakia in the 9 months before the start of World War II. This two act play tells the story of Eve/Evelyn and the effect of the Kindertransport on her life.

• contains background of Kindertransport and personals stories of Kinder
• can be confusing to "read" as two scenes are frequently taking place at the same time on the same stage
• winner 1992 Verity Bargate Award

Kris's War.(Original title: Code Name Kris). Carol Matas. New York. Scholastic, Inc. 1989. 152 pages. ISBN 0-590-45034-4

Jesper and Stefan join the Danish resistance. Telling his story as he sits in jail after being captured and tortured, Jesper, code name Kris, tells how he moved from innocent acts of resistance to sabotage and then killing as he becomes more involved with the attempts to disrupt the German occupation of Denmark.

• suitable middle school
• sequel to Lisa's War, but can be read independently
• holds readers' attention

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Lisa's War. Carol Matas. New York. Scholastic, Inc. 1987. 108 pages. ISBN 0-590-43517-5

Twelve year old Lisa, who is Jewish, is living in Denmark with her brother and parents when the Germans invade in 1940. She joins the resistance with her brother. Initially, she distributes flyers, but she becomes more and more involved in resistance activities. Finally, she and her family must leave Denmark to escape the German round up of Jews.

• suitable for less proficient readers
• story of how one person can make a difference
• foreword contains brief historical overview of events prior to April 9, 1940 and the German invasion of Denmark

The Little Riders. Margaretha Shemin. New York. G. P. Putman's and Sons. 1988. 76 pages. ISBN 0-399-21462-2

Eleven-year-old Johanna was visiting her grandparents when World War II breaks out. Trapped in Holland and separated from her parents at home in America, she watches the town's clock tower from her attic bedroom window. The 12 riders on horseback raising their swords in salute symbolize freedom for Johanna and the entire town. When the Germans threaten to melt the little soldiers Johanna risks danger and becomes deeply involved in the town's plot to save them.

• suitable for grades 4 and up
• chaptered with black and white line drawings by Caldecott medalist Peter Spier
• simply written
• some concepts and vocabulary (i.e. crusades, carillon) need definition

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The Man from the Other Side. Uri Orlev. New York. Penguin Books. 1989. 186 pages. ISBN 0-14-037088-9

Marek, a young Pole, dislikes his stepfather Anthony, who states "I may not like Jews, but I have nothing against human beings.", but helps him smuggle supplies into the Warsaw Ghetto until Jozek, a Jew, comes into their lives and Marek learns, "all people looked alike when they smiled."

• Marek is telling us his story and jumps around as a storyteller might
• deals with Warsaw Ghetto uprising
• "choices" and the resulting consequences
• based on real events and real people
• National Jewish Book Award
• Mildred L. Batchelder Award
• ALA Notable Book
• ALA Best Book for Young Adults
• NCSS-CBC Notable Children's Trade Book
• IBBY Honor Book

**Mendelssohn is on the Roof. Jiri Weil. Evanston, IL. Northwestern University Press. 1991. 228 pages. ISBN 0-8101-1686-3

Acting Reich Protector Heydrich orders the removal of the statue of Jewish composer Felix Mendelsson's from the roof of Prague's concert hall. So begins this journey through the lives of those caught in the Nazi web of terror, victim and perpetrator. From Prague to Terezin to the transports to death, the reader is pulled into a world of deceit and denunciation brutality and despair, as well as, courage and defiance.

• suitable for sophisticated high school reader
• story line confusing at times
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Milkweed. Jerry Spinelli. New York. Alfred A. Knopf. 2003. 208 pages. ISBN 0-375-81374-8

We know him as Stopthief, "filthy son of Abraham," Runt, Happy, Fast. He is an orphan surviving in Warsaw by stealing food for himself and other orphans. He delights in the "parade" as the Nazis march into Warsaw and dreams of one day becoming a Jackboot, as the children call them. After Uri, his protector, gives him the name Misha, he befriends a Jewish family and becomes a Jew living in the Warsaw Ghetto and through his eyes we live the horrors of ghetto life and deportation.

• suitable for grade 5 and up
• background information prior to reading would be helpful

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The Night Journey. Kathryn Lasky. New York. Puffin Books. 1986. 150 pages. ISBN 0-14-0323480-2

This is not a Holocaust story. Rather it tells of the pogroms against the Jews in the Czar's Russia prior to World War II. Rachel learns her great-grandmother's story of courage and ingenuity when faced with death.

• provides a view of anti-Semitism prior to the Holocaust
• winner National Jewish Book Award
• an American Libraries Association Notable Book

Nightfather. Carol Friedman. New York. Persea Books. 1991. 135 pages. ISBN 0-89255-210-7.

A delicately written story of Freidman's father's experiences in the concentration camps told through the eyes of his children. She recounts his war experiences and its after effects. The story relates the effect of the Holocaust on the survivor's children.

• chapters are short and the vocabulary is easy; although the concepts addressed are not.
• told in the "present day", chapter titles focus of chapters
• Jennifer, age 14: I recommend the book because it shows how much one person went through and what he did to help himself.

Number the Stars. Lois Lowry. New York. Dell Publishing. 1989. 137 pages. ISBN 0-440-40327-8.

Ten year old Anne Marie decides if all Denmark would be the king's bodyguard, then all Denmark must be the bodyguards for the Jews. When Denmark's Jews, including Anne Marie's best friend Ellen, are to be "relocated", Anne Marie is asked to do just that.

• short readable chapters
• background information needed provided in text
• not overwhelming
• School Library Journal Best Book of the Year
• American Booksellers Pick of the Lists
• An American Library Association Notable Book
• 1990 Newbery Award Medal

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Other People's Houses. Lore Segal. New York. New Press. 1990. 312 pages. ISBN 1-56584-143-3

She was #152 on a list of 600. Seven months after the annexation of Austria by Germany, 10 year-old Lore is sent to England on the first Kindertransport to leave Vienna. She spends the next seven years "living in other people's houses."

• recommended for sophisticated reader as story jumps around
• different perspective of life as a Kinder than Pearls of Childhood; Lore's parents join her in England
• Part 2 dealing with life in Dominican Republic and New York is very confusing
• describes train journey from Germany to Holland and "slave market" atmosphere at Dovercourt in England

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**The Reader. Bernhard Schlink. New York. Vintage Books. 1997. 218 pages. ISBN 0-375-70797-2

Set in post World War II Germany. Michael Berg is 15 when he begins an affair with Hanna, an older woman about whom he knows little. After she disappears, he never expects to see her again, only to find she's the defendant in a trial related to Germany's Nazi past. It soon becomes clear she is guilty of an unspeakable crime. Michael follows the trial and struggles with the question: What should his generation do with its knowledge of the Holocaust?

• suitable for high school and above
• released 2008 as a movie
• examines guilt, moral responsibility

Remember Me: A Search for Refuge in Wartime Britain. Irene N. Watts. Toronto. Tundra Books. 2000. 174 pages. ISBN 0-88776-519-X

A sequel to Good-bye Marianna, the story starts with Marianna's arrival in Liverpool Station on a Kindertransport. Life as a Kind is not a happy one for Marianna. As she attempts to "fit in" she is constantly trying to get visas for her parents. With the evacuation of London's children she is placed with another family who wants her to be someone she is not.

• can be read without reading sequel
• provides a picture of the difficult life of some Kinder
• suitable for middle school

The Righteous Smuggler. Debbie Spring. Toronto, Canada. Second Story Press. 2005. 160 pages. ISBN 1-896764-97-5

Based on real events, the righteous smuggler tells the story of Hendrik, a young son of a Dutch fisherman. Upset by his Jewish friends' persecution and deportation Hendrik decides to risk his own life to save his friends.

• suitable for grade 6 and up
• short chapters which focus on occupation, oppression, resistance
• contains prologue which provides a brief history, b&w captioned photos

Run, Boy, Run. Uri Orlev. Boston. Houghton Mifflin Co. 2003. 186 pages. ISBN 0-618-16465-0

After a brief time in the Warsaw Ghetto, Srulik begins a life on the run in the Nazi-occupied countryside, hiding in the forest and living with those who provide him shelter in return for work. He follows his father's advice to "...forget everything, even his parents, but never to forget that he is a Jew." Based on a true story of a 9 year-old boy.

• suitable for middle school
• translated from Hebrew the sentence structure is, at times, choppy and stilted
• epilogue tells what happened to the real life Srulik
• winner: The Batchelder Award by the American for Library Service to Children, American Library Association

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Schindler's List. Thomas Keneally. New York. Simon and Schuster. 1982. 398 pages. ISBN 0-671-44977-X.

Based on the testimonies of the Schindlerjuden, Schindler's Jews, Keneally shares with us the story of Oskar Schindler, a man of contradictions. Keneally attempts to answer the questions: Who was Oskar Schindler? What motiviated him to do what he did?

• appropriate for high school and above
• an interesting read when comparing content of book to content of the Speilburg's movie, Schindler's List
• contains a wealth of information not found in the movie

A Scrap of Time and Other Stories. Ida Fink. New York. Pantheon Books. 1987. 165 pages. ISBN 0-394-55306-5.

From the beginning we are asked to view the world differently; our view of time, our hopes for our immediate lives, our relationships with others. A collection of brief stories based on authentic experiences about life in Poland at the time of the Holocaust, A Scrap of Time, takes us on a journey where we are asked to experience the unimaginable, to make the unmakable decision in the world outside the camps.

• each story stands by itself
• powerful and emotionally painful
• Anne Frank Prize for Literature

The Shadow Children. Steven Schnur. New York. Scholastic, Inc. 1994. 86 pages. ISBN 0-590-93429-5

After World War II eleven year old Etienne visits his grandpere in the mountain village of Mout Brulant. While there, he encounters the shadow children, the lost children whose fate had been decided by the Nazis, and he learns the horrible secret shame of Mout Brulant.

• contains beautiful black and white illustrations that are delicate, yet at times, disturbing
• good for the reluctant reader with short chapters
• reflects upon choices that should not have needed to be made

Soldier Boys. Dean Hughes. New York. Simon Pulse. 2001. 230 pages. ISBN 0-689-86021-8

Dieter joins the Hitler Youth and is worried the war will end and there will be no battles for him to prove himself. After Pearl Harbor, Spence joins the paratroopers with dreams of returning home to show the town what he could do. As war brings these two lives together at the Battle of the Bulge, both boys discover war is not glorious, but filled with pain, fear, promises, and pressures to be brave.

• suitable for middle school
• story alternates between two boys
• historical background of period would be helpful

Soldier X. Don Wuffson. New York. Penguin Group. 2001. 227 pages. ISBN 0-14250073-9

, Erika Brandt, or X as he becomes known, is a young German teenager drafted into the Germany army in 1944 and sent to the Eastern front. There he is confronted by the horrors of war and in an attempt to save his life makes a decision that could mean his death.

• suitable for mature middle school readers
• war details graphic
• based on a true story
• contains historical facts, dates, events
• winner of Christopher Award, a BCCB Blue Ribbon Book, an NCCS-CBC Notable Trade Book in the Field of Social Studies, and an ALA Best Book for Young Readers

Stones in Water. Donna Jo Napoli. New York. Puffin Books. 1997. 209 pages. ISBN 0-14-130600-9.

Stones in Water addresses an aspect of the war not often found in literature, Italy. Roberto and his friends sneak off to see a movie, an American western, when suddenly they are rounded up by German soldiers. Roberto, a non Jew, and his friend Samuele, a Jew, end up in a work camp where Samuele must hid his true identity if he is to survive.

• loosely based on a true story
• readable and interesting
• the story of a friendship
• an ALA Notable Book
• an ALA Best Book for Young Adults
• Winner of the Sydney Taylor Jewish Book Award

Suite Francaise. Irene Nemirovsky. New York. Alfred A. Knopf. 2007. 395 pages. ISBN 1-4000-4473-1

In the early 1940's Jewish, Ukrainian-born Irene Nemirovsky, while living in a small French village to escape the German occupation, started work on a five-part novel . She was arrested in 1942 and deported to Auschwitz where she died. The first, "Storm in June", tells of the mass exodus from Paris on the eve of the German invasion and the chaos that entailed. The second, "Dolce," deals with life in a German-occupied French village.

• suitable for high school and above
• contains translator's note, map of occupied France, Appendix 1 (author's handwritten notes on the situation in Paris and plans for Suite Francaise), Appendix 2 (author's correspondence, 1936-1945) and the preface to the French addition

The Sunflower. Simon Wiensenthel. New York. Schocken Books. 1976. Part 1, 99 pages; Part 2, 105 pages. ISBN 0-8052-0578-0

A Jew is taken into a German hospital and left in the room with a dying Nazi soldier, a member of the SS. He listens to the man's story of his life prior to the war, all the while reflecting on the circumstances of his own world. The Jew is asked by the German for forgiveness for a terrible wrong. We're left with the question that still goes on through time; Should he forgive?

• man's place in the world in relation to others
• Should we forgive?
• What is our role as our brother's keeper?
• Jennifer, age 13; I would highly recommend this book because it had a lot of sense to it.

The Survivor. James D. Forman. Toronto. McGraw-Hill Ryerson LTD. 1976. 272 pages. ISBN 0-374-37312-4

The Ullmans, as most Jews living in Holland prior to the Nazi occupation, thought of themselves as Dutch. Life changed with the start of World War II. This is the story of a family's journey through the hardships of Nazi occupation, life in hiding, capture, life in the camps and, finally, liberation.

• told from the viewpoint of the teenage son
• multiple perspectives of the war, i.e. resistance, life in hiding, "ignoring" the Nazis and trying to live everyday lives
• suitable for sophisticated middle school

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Tales from a Childhood Enemy. Ursula Duba. Stony Creek, CT. Twin Souls Publication. 1995. 117 pages.

Born in Cologne, Germany, the author was born at the outbreak of World War II to a non-Jewish family. This collection of sparse poetry reflects the author's experiences living through the war and her post war reflections when she learns of the horrors of World War II.

• suitable for high school
• addresses life in Cologne during and after the war, on being German and dealing with the past, life in America, and survivors

Torn Thread. Anne Isaacs. New York. Scholastic Press. 2000. 188 pages. ISBN 0-590-60363-9

Based on her mother-in-law's experiences, Isaacs tells the story of twelve year-old Polish Jew Eva who is sent by her father to join her sister in a Nazi labor camp where he hopes she will be "safe." Working in a textile factory, Eva struggles to survive the terrible conditions: starvation rations, dangerous working conditions, disease, and the threat of deportation to Auschwitz.

• suitable for middle school and up
• provides vivid picture of day to day life
• afterword provides historical background for novel

Touch Wood: A Girl in Occupied France. Renee Roth-Hano. New York. Macmillan Publishing Co., 1988. 297 pages. ISBN 0-02-777340-X

Expecting that everything will be all right there, her parents move Renee, her two sisters and her grandmother to Paris when the Germans invade France. Rather they find restrictions against Jews increase and life becomes more difficult and dangerous. Renee and her sisters are sent to stay at a Catholic residence in Normandy where it is felt they will be safe.

• suitable for experienced middle school readers
• autobiographical
• tells of life in German occupied France as a citizen and as a Jew

**Traces: Stories. Ida Fink . New York. Henry Holt & Co. 1997. 210 pages. ISBN 0-8050-4557-0

Traces is a collection of fictional short stories that offer a picture of everyday life in occupied Poland as the events of the Holocaust overtake them and the scarps of information that remains after. The author, a Polish Holocaust survivor, uses sparse, intense prose to paint a picture of the struggle to simple stay alive.

• suitable for high school
• contains 19 short stories and 2 playlets
• stories of same understated style and intense quality as those found in A Scrap in Time

The True Story of Hansel and Gretel: A Novel of War and Survival. Louise Murphy. New York. Penguin Group Inc. 2003. 297 pages. ISBN 0-14-20-03077

In this retelling of the fairy tale is a tale of survival and the daily struggle to survive. During the last months of the Nazi occupation of Poland, two young children are left by their father and stepmother to find safety in the dense forest. Because their real names will reveal their Jewishness, they are renamed "Hansel" and "Gretel." They find shelter with Madga, the village "witch" who is determined to save them even with the arrival of Germans.

• suitable for high school and above
• contains table of contents, readers guide
• at times extremely brutal with crude profanity and sexual innuendo

Twenty and Ten. Claire Hicket Bishop. New York. Puffin Books. 1952. 76 pages. ISBN 0-14-031076-2

The fictional story of twenty French children who had been sent to refuge in the mountains of German occupied France and how, with the help of Sister Gabriel, they hid ten Jewish refugee children from the Nazis.

• brief and easy to read
• a view of the role of righteous ones
• contains little historical content

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Village of a Million Spirits: A Novel of the Treblinka Uprising. Ian MacMillan. New York. Penguin Putnam, Inc. 1999. 257 pages. ISBN 0-14-029033-8

We learn of the uprising in Treblinka through the voices of people both inside the camp and in the surrounding countryside: Janusz, a sixteen-year-old Polish prisoner; Voss, an alcoholic SS officer; Anatoly, a Ukrainian guard; and, Madga, his Polish lover who is pregnant with his child. They tell us of the horrors of a place called Treblinka.

• suitable for high school and above
• time shifts and changing narrator could make for confusion
• contains a readers' guide
• Winner PEN Center USA West 2000 Literary Award in Fiction

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Waiting for Anya. Michael Morpurgo. New York. Puffin Books. 1997. 173 pages. ISBN 0-14-038431-6

Twelve year-old Jo lives in a small farming community in Vichy ,France near the Spanish border. He discovers that Widow Horcada is hiding Jewish children and with the arrival of a German garrison he helps her keep her secret. When the time comes to get the children across the border to Spain, Jo and the whole town work together to make it happen.

• suitable for fifth grade and up
• simply told
• ALA Best Book for Young Adults

**War Without Friends. Evert Hartman. New York. Crown Publishers, Inc. 1979. 218 pages. ISBN 0-517-54754-6

Fourteen-year-old Arnold, a member of the Hitler Youth in a Dutch town, feels isolated by his father's fervent support of the Nazi party and the open hostility of his classmates.

• suitable for middle school
• contains glossary
• background on Hitler Youth and the Nazi presence in the Netherlands needed
• ending rather abrupt, leaving reader hanging

When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit. Judith Kerr. New York. Dell Publishing. 1971. 191 pages. ISBN 0-440-49017-0

Anna's father is a journalist who is in danger when Hitler comes into power. This is the story of the family's journey to stay ahead of father's arrest and of Anna's childhood disrupted.

• suitable for the less sophisticated reader
• tells of day to day life
• an American Libraries Association Notable Book

When the Soldiers Were Gone. Vera W. Propp. New York. Puffin Books. 1999. 103 pages. ISBN 0-698-11881-2.

Young Henk was happy. He enjoyed life until the day he is introduced to the strangers who come to visit, his real father and mother. Set in Holland after the war, this is the story of a young boy sent into hiding by his parents during the German occupation and his return. Based on a true story.

• suitable for less proficient readers with short chapters
• simple history lessons are incorporated as Benjamin learns why he was hidden

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Yellow Star. Jennifer Roy. Tarrytown, N.Y. Marshall Cavendish Corporation. 2006. 227 pages. ISBN-13: 978-07614-5277-5

Of the 800 survivors of the Lodz ghetto only 12 were children. Roy's Aunt Sylvia was one of them. In simplistic prose, Roy retells her aunt's story as through the eyes of young Syvia. Four years-old when her family is forced into the ghetto, Syvia remembers daily life: yellow stars, illness, starvation, freezing cold, and abuse. When the children of the ghetto are deported to Chelmno, Syvia goes into hiding remaining indoors for 2 years until the final liquidation of the ghetto. Through her father's quick thinking the family escapes deportation and remain in the ghetto until it is liberated by the Russians.

• suitable for 5 grade and up
• divided into 5 parts each with a brief historical introduction
• contains prologue by Sylvia Perlmutter, author's note telling what happens after liberation, and a timeline

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