Introduction to Literature Sources
The purpose of the "Literature Sources" herein is to aid educators everywhere -- not just within the state of Florida -- in teaching the Holocaust in their classrooms.
The topic of every title in these listings is of Jewish children who lived during or through the Holocaust (regardless whether s/he lived beyond the War). There are two listings -- fiction and nonfiction, alphabetical by author's last name as indicated by the page tab. Both lists are comprehensive but, as new literature is published on a daily basis, certainly not exhaustive. A printable PDF of each list is provided (see very bottom of this page).
The decision to include or not a title within these literature listings was based solely upon a book’s summary, which has been provided (copied-and-pasted) along with its source (non-clickable URL). Very minor corrections to these summaries were made where needed, including but not limited to: italicizing book titles; changing foreign words (to make spelling uniform throughout); editing for overall mechanics and spelling.
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Not included in this listing:
- Any book for which a summary could not be found, despite its title indicating the likelihood that its topic fit with this finding aid.
- Books whose primary topic is of others (adults or children) who helped Jewish children during the Holocaust or who rescued them.
- Books told from the perspective of a non-Jewish child who may have witnessed the mistreatment of Jews or assisted a Jewish person in some way.
- Books about a child of Holocaust survivors.
- Books about Holocaust survivors who were adults (defined for this purpose as no longer teen-aged) during the majority of WWII, even if the target audience of that book is schoolchildren.
- Periodicals, movies, photographs, or any other non-print item – though there are numerous of each with a main topic of child Holocaust survivors.
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Many titles are "based on" actual or true events -- some on the fiction lists, some on the nonfiction lists. The decision regarding onto which list such a title should be placed was made according to its cataloging by the Library of Congress.
For the most part, poetry is included with the fiction listings.
A fair number of the titles in the nonfiction literature listing tell the story of Jewish children who did not survive the Holocaust -- by way of their diaries / journals / memoirs that were found and published (e.g. Anne Frank). In addition, some titles on the nonfiction literature listing do continue into an account of the author's or subject's life following the Holocaust (e.g. in Eretz Israel or the United States).
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Any major literary award(s) won by a particular title has been included, though the criteria for that award have not.
Where available, age range and/or reading level for a title has been given; these were gathered from various websites. No guarantee is made as to the accuracy of those measurements or to the appropriateness for that age or reading level of any title herein. The absence of age range and/or reading level may indicate the book was so new as of the date of this literature listing that no assessments had been released, or that it was written with an adult audience in mind & thus is not "leveled" for reading purposes.
Most books with a Lexile level have “up to ten challenging words in each book that are important for students to know”, called the Lexile PowerV® Word Selector. The existence of such a vocabulary list for individuals titles is not indicated within the resource listings.
The existence of any teaching guide(s) for a title has also been included. For these, specific ISBNs / BN IDs are provided to help in the search for the item.
ISBNs are not provided for the titles in this listing, as many have numerous editions / printings, each of which is (generally) issued a unique ISBN. The citation of each title is formatted in APA (American Psychological Association) style and should provide the requisite information in order to find that item.
All resources listed herein should be used appropriately and for suitable audiences. Educators considering the use of any item in this finding aid should read - or at least preview - it before incorporating it into any curriculum. Teachers should also consider checking with their administration and reviewing county & state regulations before using any titles on this list.
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Acronyms:
LOC: Library of Congress
AR: Accelerated Reader http://www.arbookfind.com/default.aspx
ISBN: International Standard Book Number http://www.isbn.org/about_ISBN_standard
BN ID: Barnes & Noble ID; similar to an ISBN but specific to Barnes & Noble, may only available through their web site, and is likely available only for NOOK e-readers.
Lexile Codes (any letters that appear before Lexile numbers): http://www.lexile.com/about-lexile/lexile-codes/
YALSA: Young Adult Library Services Association (a division of the American Library Association): http://www.ala.org/yalsa/
ALSC: Association for Library Service to Children (a division of the American Library Association): http://www.ala.org/alsc/
RUSA: Reference & User Services Association (a division of the American Library Association): http://www.ala.org/rusa/
USBBY: United States Board on Books for Young People: http://www.usbby.org/
IRA: International Reading Association: http://www.reading.org/
A title's inclusion on this list does not constitute endorsement by the University of South Florida, its libraries, or any affiliates or subsidiaries.
