After
the War by Carol Matas
After World War II, Ruth, a fifteen-year-old
survivor of Buchenwald, tries to return home.
B
For Buster by Ian Lawrence
In this gripping story, 16-year-old Kak dreams
of flying with the Allied bombers in World War II. Underage
but desperate to escape his abusive parents, he enlists
in the Canadian Air Force and is soon sent to a squadron
in England. But he does not expect the experience to be
as harrowing as it becomes.
The
Book Thief by Markus Zusak
Liesel Meminger, a foster child living outside
Munich during World War II, scratches out a meager existence
for herself by stealing when she encounters something
she can't resist--books--in this unforgettable story about
the ability of books to feed the soul.
The
Boy in the Stripped Pajamas by John Boyne
Berlin 1942 When Bruno returns home from school
one day, he discovers that his belongings are being packed
in crates. His father has received a promotion and the
family must move from their home to a new house far far
away, where there is no one to play with and nothing to
do. A tall fence running alongside stretches as far as
the eye can see and cuts him off from the strange people
he can see in the distance. But Bruno longs to be an explorer
and decides that there must be more to this desolate new
place than meets the eye. While exploring his new environment,
he meets another boy whose life and circumstances are
very different to his own, and their meeting results in
a friendship that has devastating consequences.
Code
Talker by Joseph Bruchac
Bruchac brings to life for young adults the stories
of some of the unsung heroes of World War II--the young
Navajo men who were a crucial part of the American effort
in sending and receiving messages that used their native
language.
Daniel
Half Human and the Good Nazi by David Chotjewitz
In 1933, best friends Daniel and Armin admire
Hitler, but as anti-Semitism buoys Hitler to power, Daniel
learns he is half Jewish, threatening the friendship even
as life in their beloved Hamburg, Germany, is becoming
nightmarish. Also details Daniel and Armin's reunion in
1945 in interspersed chapters.
Eyes
of the Emperor by Graham Salisbury
Eddy Okubo lies about his age and joins the army
in his hometown of Honolulu only weeks before the Japanese
bomb Pearl Harbor. Suddenly Americans see him as the enemy--even
the U.S. Army doubts the loyalty of Japanese American
soldiers. Then the army sends Eddy and a small band of
Japanese American soldiers on a secret mission to a small
island off the coast of Mississippi. Here they are given
a special job, one that only they can do. Eddy's going
to help train attack dogs. He's going to be the bait.
Milkweed
by Jerry Spinelli
He's a boy called Jew. Gypsy. Stopthief. Runt.
Happy. Fast. Filthy son of Abraham. He's a boy who lives
in the streets of Warsaw, who steals food for himself
and the orphans, and who believes in bread, and mothers,
and angels. He wants to be a Nazi someday, with tall,
shiny jackboots and a gleaming eagle hat of his own. Until
the day that suddenly makes him change his mind.
The
Power of One by Bryce Courtenay
In this magical novel, an irresistible boy tells
the story of his survival and coming of age against the
background of South Africa during and just after World
War II.
Soldier
Boys by Dean Hughes
As the United
States enters World War II, two boys are eager to get
into the action. Spencer, 16, leaps into Army paratrooper
training, needing to prove some things to his father--and
to himself. Half a world away, Dieter, 15, succeeds as
a model member of the Hitler Youth, rising through the
ranks to defend the Fatherland. Spencer and Dieter are
destined to meet on the battlefield.
