Fiction Resources A-L
Ackerman, K. (1994). The Night Crossing. New York: Knopf.
Publisher description http://www.loc.gov/catdir/description/random0410/94010805.html
“Illustrated in black-and-white. It’s hard to leave your home and friends, but the Nazis have invaded Clara’s native Austria, and her Jewish family is no longer safe. Clara and her family take only what they can carry and travel by night to the Swiss border, where they hope to escape to freedom. Soldiers are everywhere, and it is Clara’s heroism that carries the family across the border, their lives and few precious possessions intact.”
summary from http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/night-crossing-karen-ackerman/1100290548?ean=9780679870401
Age Range: 8-12 years
Reading Level: AR Level – 5.3; 960L
Teacher’s Guide:
Akavia, M. (2003). An end to childhood. (M. P. McLeary & J. Goldman, Trans.). London: Vallentine Mitchell.
“This memoir, written as fiction but based on fact, describes the fear-filled efforts of a pair of Polish adolescents, brother and sister, to survive in secrecy and constant anxiety in Lvóv at a time when Jews were being rounded up and sent to the Ghetto – or worse. They have only their false identity papers, their few trusted contacts and their own wits to help them conceal their Jewish background and keep one step ahead of the German authorities. Miriam Akavia, who experienced at first hand similar terrors and anxieties, skillfully conveys the fluctuations in mood from the natural optimism and high spirits of youth to the painfully learned caution and dissembling forced upon them by their situation.”
summary from http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/an-end-to-childhood-miriam-akavia/1006969300?ean=9780853035145
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Almagor, G. (1995). Under the domin tree. (H. Schenker, Trans.). New York: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers.
“Nine years after the end of World War II, the residents of Udim, a youth village in Israel, are emotionally vulnerable but working to build a new life. As survivors of the Holocaust, they still dare to hope that a missing parent will be found or a sibling restored to them. What happens to one affects them all so that when Yola’s father is miraculously found alive in Warsaw, the whole community prepares for her trip and mourns with her when tragedy strikes. A new girl alienates the group when she refuses to cooperate with her roommates, a necessity if communal living is to work. When she is threatened by a couple falsely claiming to be her parents, the community rallies to her support and she, in turn, learns to trust again.”
summary from http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/under-the-domim-tree-gila-almagor/1000118891?ean=9780671890209
National Jewish Book Award – Children’s Literature, 1995
Age Range: 12 years
Reading Level: AR Level – 5.3; 750L
Teacher’s Guide:
Attema, M. (2003). Hero. Victoria, British Columbia, Canada: Orca Book Publishers.
“When [Els] leaves Isaak, disguised as Jan, at a farmhouse with kind people, he is miserable until he makes friends with a beautiful black horse, Hero, a Frisian wanted by the Germans. The first time the Germans come for the horse, Isaak comes up with a plan to save him, but the second time they come, Isaak can do nothing to protect the animal he loves.”
summary from http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/hero-martha-attema/1102509903?ean=9781554696338
Age Range: 8-11 years
Reading Level: AR Level – 3.8
Teacher’s Guide:
Baer, E. (1980). Frost in the night: A childhood on the eve of the Third Reich. New York: Pantheon Books.
“It is Germany in 1932, and Hitler is rising to power. This critical place and time in modern history is poignantly re-created through the observations of a young Jewish girl named Eva, who is caught up in the sense of dread shared by the adults around her. Edith Baer has written a novel, distilled from memory, love, loss, and sorrow, that depicts a girl’s impressions of a nation beginning to destroy itself and an entire way of life. A Frost in the Night was nominated for the National Jewish Book Award and won the Arnold Gingrich Award for Literature when it was first published in 1980.”
summary from http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/a-frost-in-the-night-edith-baer/1005085647?ean=9780394943640
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Reading Level: AR Level – 7.4
Teacher’s Guide:
_____. (1998). Walk the dark streets: A novel. New York: Farrar, Straus, Giroux.
Contributor biographical information http://www.loc.gov/catdir/bios/hol054/97036572.html
Publisher description http://www.loc.gov/catdir/description/hol042/97036572.html
“The city Eva Bentheim once adored is no longer familiar. A swastika is emblazoned on the flag atop the City Hall. Teachers, family, and friends are beginning to disappear. Her father seems gone in a different way; he has become ill, fragile, and despondent as the Nazis gain power. When things get worse, Eva’s mother desperately tries to obtain the proper papers for her family to leave the country. Then a horrible night of roundups occurs and Eva’s father is taken away. A nocturnal search begins for someone who can help release him from the city jail. Eva’s boyfriend, Arno, may have a way to save her father from deportation, but it soon becomes clear that their struggles have just begun. Exquisitely felt and written, Walk the Dark Streets resonates with the indomitability of the human spirit even as a loving family's attempts to stay together grow more and more hopeless.”
summary from http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/walk-the-dark-streets-baer/1030166028?ean=9780374382292
Age Range: 9-12 years
Reading Level: AR Level – 8.3; 1130L
Teacher’s Guide:
Bennett, C. & Gottesfeld, J. (2001). Anne Frank and me. New York: Putnam’s.
“In one moment Nicole Burns’s life changes forever. The sound of gunfire at an Anne Frank exhibit, the panic, the crowd, and Nicole is no longer Nicole. Whiplashed through time and space, she wakes to find herself a privileged Jewish girl living in Nazi-occupied Paris during World War II. No more Internet diaries and boy troubles for Nicole-now she’s a carefree Jewish girl, with wonderful friends and a charming boyfriend. But when the Nazi death grip tightens over France, Nicole is forced into hiding, and begins a struggle for survival that brings her face to face with Anne Frank.”
summary from http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/anne-frank-and-me-cherie-bennett/1100311172?ean=9780698119734
Age Range: 11-15 years
Reading Level: AR Level – 4.2; 550L
Teacher’s Guide:
Bunting, E. (1989). Terrible things: An allegory of the Holocaust. Philadelphia, PA: Jewish Publication Society.
Publisher description http://www.loc.gov/catdir/enhancements/fy1203/89002163-d.html
“In this allegory, the author's reaction to the Holocaust, the animals of the forest are carried away, one type after another, by the Terrible Things, not realizing that if perhaps they would all stick together and not look the other way, such terrible things might not happen.”
summary from http://catalog2.loc.gov/vwebv/holdingsInfo?searchId=110716&recCount=25&recPointer=218&bibId=4343029
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Clark, K. (2009). Guardian angel house. Second Story Press.
“Momma had always told Susan that there was no safe place for a Jew, especially in German occupied Hungary in 1944. Why then were twelve-year-old Susan and her little sister, Vera, being sent to a convent to be kept safe. Susan and her sister soon discover the true nature of courage, sheltered by a group of nuns who risk their lives to protect them. Based on true events, the Guardian Angel House was the nickname given to a convent operated by the Sisters of Charity in Budapest. The nuns there sheltered over 120 Jewish children during the German invasion of Hungary, including author Kathy Clark’s mother and aunt.”
summary from http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/guardian-angel-house-kathy-clark/1102510094?ean=9781897187586
Notable Book, Sydney Taylor Award – Older Readers, 2010
Age Range: 9-13 years
Reading Level: AR Level – 5.9
Teacher’s Guide:
Dauvillier, L. (2014). Hidden: A child’s story of the Holocaust. (A. Siege, Trans.). New York: First Second.
"In this gentle, poetic young graphic novel, Dounia, a grandmother, tells her granddaughter the story even her son has never heard: how, as a young Jewish girl in Paris, she was hidden away from the Nazis by a series of neighbors and friends who risked their lives to keep her alive when her parents had been taken to concentration camps.
“Hidden ends on a tender note, with Dounia and her mother rediscovering each other as World War II ends . . . and a young girl in present-day France becoming closer to her grandmother, who can finally, after all those years, tell her story. With words by Loïc Dauvillier and art by Marc Lizano and Greg Salsedo, this picture book-style comic for young readers is a touching read.
summary from http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/hidden-loic-dauvillier/1115964523?ean=9781596438736
Age Range: 6-10 years
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Dogar, S. (2010). Annexed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
Contributor biographical information http://www.loc.gov/catdir/enhancements/fy1101/2010282410-b.html
Publisher description http://www.loc.gov/catdir/enhancements/fy1101/2010282410-d.html
Sample text http://www.loc.gov/catdir/enhancements/fy1101/2010282410-s.html
“Everyone knows about Anne Frank and her life hidden in the secret annex – but what about the boy who was also trapped there with her?
“In this powerful and gripping novel, Sharon Dogar explores what this might have been like from Peter’s point of view. What was it like to be forced into hiding with Anne Frank, first to hate her and then to find yourself falling in love with her? Especially with your parents and her parents all watching almost everything you do together. To know you’re being written about in Anne’s diary, day after day? What’s it like to start questioning your religion, wondering why simply being Jewish inspires such hatred and persecution? Or to just sit and wait and watch while others die, and wish you were fighting.
“As Peter and Anne become closer and closer in their confined quarters, how can they make sense of what they see happening around them?
“Anne’s diary ends on August 4, 1944, but Peter’s story takes us on, beyond their betrayal and into the Nazi death camps. He details with accuracy, clarity and compassion the reality of day-to-day survival in Auschwitz – and ultimately the horrific fates of the Annex’s occupants.”
summary from http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/annexed-sharon-dogar/1100303283?ean=9780547577265
Notable Book, Sydney Taylor Award – Teen Readers, 2011
Nominee, Costa Children’s Book Award, 2010
Age Range: 13-17 years
Reading Level: AR Level – 4.7; HL470L
Teacher’s Guide:
Drucker, M. & Halperin, M. (1993). Jacob’s rescue: A Holocaust story. New York: Bantam Skylark.
“Once Jacob Gutgeld lived with his family in a beautiful house in Warsaw, Poland. He went to school and played hide-and-seek in the woods with his friends. But everything changed the day the Nazi soldiers invaded in 1939. Suddenly it wasn’t safe to be Jewish anymore.
“In answer to his daughter’s questions, a man recalls the terrifying years of his childhood when a brave Polish couple, Alex and Mela Roslan, hid him and other Jewish children from the Nazis. Based on a true story.”
summary from http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/jacobs-rescue-malka-drucker/1001889037?ean=9780440409656
Age Range: 8-12 years
Reading Level: AR Level – 4.5; 680L
Teacher’s Guide:
Duba, U. (1997). Tales from a child of the enemy. New York: Penguin Books.
“A survivor’s story of the Holocaust told in the form of poetry, through the eyes of a child.”
summary from http://www.arbookfind.com/bookdetail.aspx?q=18440&l=EN&slid=474322073
Note: Poetry.
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Reading Level: AR Level – 7.3
Teacher’s Guide:
Ellner, P. D. (2012). Marika. BookLocker.com, Inc.
“Marika is the fictionalized biography of a remarkable woman. Orphaned in Hungary during the Holocaust, she endures starvation and poisoning while carrying forged documents to Jews who escape from trains bound for death camps, and faces impending execution by Hungarian Nazis. Immigrating to the United States, she completes college and becomes a recognized child psychologist and a professor at Harvard. Her life is marred by hurtful marriages but she finds happiness with a childhood lover.”
summary from http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/marika-paul-d-ellner/1111592574?ean=9781621416913
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Engle, M. (2009). Tropical secrets: Holocaust refugees in Cuba. New York: Henry Holt.
Table of contents only http://www.loc.gov/catdir/toc/ecip0828/2008036782.html
“Daniel has escaped Nazi Germany with nothing but a desperate dream that he might one day find his parents again. But that golden land called New York has turned away his ship full of refugees, and Daniel finds himself in Cuba.
“As the tropical island begins to work its magic on him, the young refugee befriends a local girl with some painful secrets of her own. Yet even in Cuba, the Nazi darkness is never far away . . .”
summary from http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/tropical-secrets-margarita-engle/1100357964?ean=9780805089363
Winner, Sydney Taylor Award – Teen Readers, 2010
“Jewish Book Month” List for Teens, 2009
Age Range: 12-17 years
Reading Level: AR Level – 6.1; 1170L
Teacher’s Guide:
Friedman, L. (2008). Angel girl. Minneapolis, MN: Carolrhorda Books.
“Herman lives in a labor camp. It is World War II, and the Nazis have made him a prisoner. He is forced to work long hours, and his only food is soup made of water. Soon he loses the will to go on. Then she appears. A young girl on the other side of the barbed-wire fence—an angel girl, bearing food and hope in the most hopeless of times. She seems like a miracle. And for Herman, the miracles have just begun.... Based on a true tale of survival, Angel Girl is a story of love, hope, and the strength of the human spirit.”
summary from http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/angel-girl-laurie-friedman/1012985222?ean=9780822587392
Age Range: 7-11 years
Reading Level: AR Level – 2.7; AD250L
Teacher’s Guide:
Gille, E. (1998). Shadows of a childhood: A novel of war and friendship. (L. Coverdale, Trans.). New York: New Press.
“Elisabeth Gille was five years old when her mother, the Russian writer Irene Nemirovsky, was deported to Auschwitz at the height of her career and never seen again. Gille was hidden in the French countryside with her sister until the war was over. Shadows of a Childhood, winner of Elle’s 1997 Grand Prix des Lectrices, is her story, a fictionalized account of one individual’s – and one country’s – coming to terms with the war.”
summary from http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/shadows-of-a-childhood-elisabeth-gille/1102505740?ean=9781565845282
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Gleitzman, M. (2005). Once. Camberwell, Victoria, Australia: Puffin.
“Felix, a Jewish boy in Poland in 1942, is hiding from the Nazis in a Catholic orphanage. The only problem is that he doesn't know anything about the war, and thinks he’s only in the orphanage while his parents travel and try to salvage their bookselling business. And when he thinks his parents are in danger, Felix sets off to warn them--straight into the heart of Nazi-occupied Poland.
"To Felix, everything is a story: Why did he get a whole carrot in his soup? It must be sign that his parents are coming to get him. Why are the Nazis burning books? They must be foreign librarians sent to clean out the orphanage's outdated library. But as Felix’s journey gets increasingly dangerous, he begins to see horrors that not even stories can explain.
“Despite his grim surroundings, Felix never loses hope. Morris Gleitzman takes a painful subject and expertly turns it into a story filled with love, friendship, and even humor.”
summary from http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/once-morris-gleitzman/1100358728?ean=9780312653040
Honor Book, Sydney Taylor Award – Teen Readers , 2011
YALSA “Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults”, 2014
YALSA “Best Fiction for Young Adults”, 2011
USBBY “Outstanding International Books” List – Grades 6-8, 2011
Age Range: 12 years & up
Reading Level: AR Level – 5.3; 640L
Teacher’s Guide:
_____. (2008). Then. Camberwell, Victoria, Australia: Viking.
“Felix and Zelda have escaped the death camp train, but where do they go now? They’re two runaway kids in Nazi-occupied Poland during World War II. Danger lies at every turn of the road.
“With the help of a woman named Genia and their active imaginations, Felix and Zelda find a new home and begin to heal, forming a new family together. But can it last?
“Morris Gleitzman’s winning characters will tug at readers’ hearts as they struggle to survive in the harsh political climate of Poland in 1942. Their lives are difficult, but they always remember what matters: family, love, and hope.”
summary from http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/then-morris-gleitzman/1100191587?ean=9781250003416
Honor book, Sydney Taylor Book Award, 2012
Nominee, ALSC “Notable Children’s Books”, 2012
Age Range: 12 years & up
Reading Level: AR Level – 3.8; HL580L
Teacher’s Guide:
_____. (2010). Now. London: Puffin.
“Set in the current day, this is the final book in Morris Gleitzman's series that began with Once, continued with Then and is . . . Now.
“Felix is a grandfather. He has achieved much in his life and is widely admired in the community. He has mostly buried the painful memories of his childhood, but they resurface when his granddaughter Zelda comes to stay with him. Together they face a cataclysmic event armed only with their gusto and love—an event that helps them achieve salvation from the past, but also brings the possibility of destruction.”
summary from http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/now-morris-gleitzman/1100633765?ean=9781250034175
USBBY “Outstanding International Books” List – Grades 6-8, 2013
Age Range: 12 years & up
Reading Level: AR Level – 4.0; HL610L
Teacher’s Guide:
_____. (2012). After. Melbourne, Victoria, Australia: Viking / Penguin Group.
“A Holocaust survival story that combines hopeful melancholy with gentle humour.
“Following a heartbreaking struggle to survive as a Jewish child in Germany, Felix faces perhaps his greatest challenge - to find hope when he's lost almost everything. As Europe goes through the final agonizing stages of the war, Felix struggles to reconcile hatred and healing. He's helped by a new friend, but if he should lose her as well . . .”
summary from http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/after-morris-gleitzman/1110113929?ean=9781743116883
Age Range: 12 years & up
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Gratz, A. (2013). Prisoner B-3087. New York: Scholastic Press.
“As a Jewish boy in 1930s Poland, Yanek is at the mercy of the Nazis who have taken over. Everything he has, and everyone he loves, has been snatched brutally from him. And then Yanek himself is taken prisoner – his arm tattooed with the words PRISONER B-3087.
“He is forced from one nightmarish concentration camp to another, as World War II rages all around him. He encounters evil he could have never imagined, but also sees surprising glimpses of hope amid the horror. He just barely escapes death, only to confront it again seconds later.
“Can Yanek make it through the terror without losing his hope, his will -- and, most of all, his sense of who he really is inside?
“Based on an astonishing true story.”
summary from http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/prisoner-b-3087-alan-gratz/1110607540?ean=9780545459013
YALSA “Best Fiction for Young Adults”, 2014
Age Range: 10-14 years
Reading Level: AR Level – 4.9; 760L
Teacher’s Guide:
Hess, D. L. (1990). A father’s promise. Greenville, SC: Bob Jones University Press.
“With only his imprisoned father’s promise that they will be reunited after the war, Rudi must learn how to survive in hiding, how to be truly brave, and how to overcome the hatred of his enemies. He must learn to die to himself and to trust the God.”
summary from http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/a-fathers-promise-donnalynn-hess/1001641913?ean=9780890843796
Age Range: 11 years
Reading Level: AR Level – 5.1; 730L
Teacher’s Guide:
Hesse, K. (2004). The cats in Krasinski Square. New York: Scholastic Press.
Publisher description http://www.loc.gov/catdir/description/schol051/2003027775.html
“When Karen Hesse came upon a short article about cats out-foxing the Gestapo at the train station in Warsaw during WWII, she couldn’t get the story out of her mind. The result is this stirring account of a Jewish girl’s involvement in the Resistance. At once terrifying and soulful, this fictional account, borne of meticulous research, is a testament to history and to our passionate will to survive, as only Newbery Medalist Karen Hesse can write it.
“Two Jewish sisters, escapees of the infamous Warsaw ghetto, devise a plan to thwart an attempt by the Gestapo to intercept food bound for starving people behind the dark Wall.”
summary from http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-cats-in-krasinski-square-karen-hesse/1103365179?ean=9780439435406
Honor Book, Sydney Taylor Award – Older Readers, 2004
Age Range: 7-10 years
Reading Level: AR Level – 4.3; AD990L
Teacher’s Guide:
Heuvel, E. (2009). The search. (L. T. Miller, Trans.). New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
“Esther remembers her own experience of the Holocaust as a Jewish girl living in Amsterdam, and recounts to her grandson Daniel and his friend Jeroen how she escaped from the Nazis and survived by going into hiding in the countryside. Her parents were not so lucky. Esther knows they were sent to a concentration camp and died there, and with Daniel’s help she embarks on a search to discover what happened to them during the last months of their lives. After tracking down an old friend who now lives in Israel, Esther finally learns the shocking story of how her parents met their fates at Auschwitz.”
summary from http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/search-eric-heuvel/1100950955?ean=9780374365172
Notable Book, Sydney Taylor Award – Teen Readers, 2010
Age Range: 10-15 years
Reading Level: AR Level – 2.7; GN320L
Teacher’s Guide:
Holm A. (1965). North to freedom. (L. W. Kingsland, Trans.). New York: Harcourt, Brace, & World.
Publisher description http://www.loc.gov/catdir/description/har021/89027626.html
Contributor biographical information http://www.loc.gov/catdir/enhancements/fy1003/89027626-b.html
“After escaping from an Eastern European concentration camp where he has spent most of his life, a twelve-year-old boy struggles to cope with an entirely strange world as he flees northward to freedom in Denmark.”
summary from http://catalog2.loc.gov/vwebv/holdingsInfo?searchId=13060&recCount=25&recPointer=7&bibId=3399342
NOTE: First published as (I am) David (1963), the name under which teacher’s guides are available.
Age Range: 9-13 years
Reading Level: AR Level – 5.7; 980L (I am David, 910L)
Teacher’s Guide:
(BookRags) BN ID: 2940013074828
Isaacs, A. (2000). Torn thread. New York: Scholastic Press.
“A searing Holocaust novel based on a true story.
“Twelve-year-old Eva and her sister have been forced to leave their home in Poland and are imprisoned in a Nazi labor camp. There they must spin thread on treacherous machinery to make clothing and blankets for the German Army. As Eva struggles amid ever worsening dangers to save her life and that of her sick sister, readers witness how two teenagers strive to create home and family amidst inhumanity and chaos. Written in exquisite prose, this story of heartbreak and hope that is rich in detail and symbolism will deeply move readers of all ages.”
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/torn-thread-anne-issacs/1005292453?ean=9780590603645
Notable Book, Sydney Taylor Award – Older Readers, 2000
YALSA “Best Books for Young Adults”, 2001
Age Range: 12 years
Reading Level: AR Level – 6.3; 880L
Teacher’s Guide:
Johnston, T. (2004). The Harmonica. Watertown, MA: Charlesbridge.
“When the Nazis invaded Poland, a family is split apart. The parents are sent to one concentration camp, their son to another. Only his father’s gift, a harmonica, keeps the boy’s hopes alive and, miraculously, ensures his survival.
“Tony Johnston’s powerful story, inspired by the life of a Holocaust survivor, is enhanced by Ron Mazellan’s luminous artwork.
“A testament to the human spirit and the transcendent power of music.”
summary from http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-harmonica-tony-johnston/1005835837?ean=9781570914898
Notable Book, Sydney Taylor Award – Older Readers, 2004
Age Range: 7-10 years
Reading Level: AR Level – 3.2; AD620L
Teacher’s Guide:
Kacer, K. (1999). The secret of Gabi’s dresser. Toronto, Ontario, Canada: Second Story Press.
“The heroine, Gabi, recounts how as a young Jewish girl she lived on a family farm in Eastern Europe during the Second World War. She describes her community before the Nazi occupation and the events that unfolded afterwards. When the Nazis conducted house searches for Jewish children, Gabi successfully hid in the dining-room dresser. The only thing retrieved from the home after the war was the dresser that saved Gabi’s life. It now sits in author Kathy Kacer’s home in Toronto. Kacer is Gabi’s daughter and has based the story on her mother’s experiences.”
summary from http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/secret-of-gabis-dresser-kathy-kacer/1100826750?ean=9781896764153
Age Range: 9-13 years
Reading Level: AR Level – 5.3; 880L
Teacher’s Guide:
*Holocaust Remembrance Series* ISBN-13: 9781897187685 and ISBN-13: 9781897187777
_____. (2000). Clara’s war. Toronto, Ontario, Canada: Second Story Press.
“It’s already a dangerous time for thirteen-year-old Clara and her family. They have just been imprisoned in Terezín (Terezinstadt), a ghetto in a medieval town near Prague-which was built to show the world how ‘well’ the Nazis were treating Jews during World War II.”
summary from http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/claras-war-kathy-kacer/1100990242?ean=9781896764429
Notable Book, Sydney Taylor Award – Older Readers, 2001
Age Range: 9-13 years
Reading Level: AR Level – 5.8; 750L
Teacher’s Guide:
*Holocaust Remembrance Series* ISBN-13: 9781897187685 and ISBN-13: 9781897187777
_____. (2003). Margit: Home free. Toronto, Ontario, Canada: Penguin Canada.
“At eleven years old, Margit and her mother have escaped the Nazi terror in war-torn Czechoslovakia for safe haven in Canada. Settling as refugees in Toronto’s Kensington Market neighborhood in 1944, Margit is overwhelmed by the freedom and plenty of the new world in which she finds herself, and by the kindness of new family friends. Yet as Margit adapts to a new life, her past continues to haunt her. There is intolerance towards Jews in Canada, too. Some people don’t think she belongs here. And there is still no news of her father, who was taken away by the Nazis back home. Will they ever see him again?”
summary from http://catalog2.loc.gov/vwebv/holdingsInfo?searchId=241178&recCount=25&recPointer=3&bibId=13238229
NOTE: This is book #1 of a series surrounding Margit’s life after the war as well.
Age Range:
Reading Level: AR Level – 5.0
Teacher’s Guide:
_____. (2003). The night spies. Toronto, Ontario, Canada: Second Story Press.
“[It] is the middle of World War II, and, with the help of trusted friends, Gabi, her mother and her cousin Max go into hiding in a tiny mountain village. It takes great willpower to endure months of fear in their cramped hiding space at the back of a barn, and eventually Gabi and Max sneak out for the first of many secret nighttime walks. Through the discovery of anti-Nazi partisan soldiers camped in the nearby woods and new roles as partisan scouts, Gabi and Max find strength and courage, and a renewed sense of hope in dark times.”
summary from http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/night-spies-kathy-kacer/1100990308?ean=9781896764702
Age Range: 9-13 years
Reading Level: AR Level – 5.2; 750L
Teacher’s Guide:
*Holocaust Remembrance Series* ISBN-13: 9781897187685 and ISBN-13: 9781897187777
_____. (2013). Shanghai escape. Toronto, Ontario, Canada: Second Story Press.
“Shanghai, China, seems an unlikely destination for Jewish refugees trying to escape the cruel anti-Semitic laws of Adolf Hitler and his Nazi party before the Second World War. But while most countries were unwilling to give refuge to Jews, China was one place that did. More than twenty thousand European Jews found refuge in Shanghai between 1937 and 1939.
“Lily Toufar and her family arrive in Shanghai in 1938, having fled from Vienna on the eve of Kristallnacht. Shanghai is a strange place for this bright young girl. After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, and under pressure from Hitler, the Japanese government in Shanghai has ordered Jewish refugees to move into a ghetto in an area of Shanghai called Hongkew. There is little food to eat and poor sanitation, and disease is rampant. For Lily, life becomes grueling after her family is forced into the ghetto. Lily endures the difficult conditions, always hopeful for an end to the war and a return to normal life.”
Based on a true story.
summary from http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/shanghai-escape-kathy-kacer/1115131139?ean=9781927583104
Age Range:
Reading Level: 860L
Teacher’s Guide:
Kerr, J. (1972). When Hitler stole pink rabbit. New York: Coward, McCann & Geoghegan.
“Anna is not sure who Hitler is, but she sees his face on posters all over Berlin. Then one morning, Anna and her brother awake to find her father gone! Her mother explains that their father has had to leave and soon they will secretly join him. Anna just doesn’t understand. Why do their parents keep insisting that Germany is no longer safe for Jews like them? Because of Hitler, Anna must leave everything behind. Based on the gripping real-life story of the author....”
summary from http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/when-hitler-stole-pink-rabbit-judith-kerr/1100376990?ean=9780142414088
Age Range: 9-12 years
Reading Level: AR Level – 5.7; 940L
Teacher’s Guides:
(BookRags) BN ID: 2940014678445
(BookRags) BN ID: 2940014267311
Kohler, S. (2006). Children of Pithiviers. New York: Other Press.
“In the summer of 1942, more than two thousand Jewish children were interned in a concentration camp in Pithiviers, in the Loiret region of France. From this shameful chapter of history, Sheila Kohler weaves an extraordinary and compelling novel….
“In Children of Pithiviers, a pair of young sisters escapes deportation and finds shelter with a local aristocratic couple known to all as Madame and Monsieur. Seventeen years later, a beautiful young Sorbonne student arrives to spend the summer as a ‘paying guest’ of Madame and Monsieur, whose fortunes have diminished considerably since the war. Eighteen-year-old Deirdre discovers a diary kept by the two Jewish girls. In doing so, she not only learns their fate but reawakens old suspicions and old appetites on the estate.”
summary from http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/children-of-pithiviers-sheila-kohler/1004469223?ean=9781590515266
Age Range:
Reading Level:
Teacher’s Guide:
Kositsky, L. (2004) The thought of high windows. Toronto, Ontario, Canada: Kids Can Press.
“When trapped or frightened, Esther sees windows -- and flying out of them -- as her only salvation. Young, Jewish and on the run from the Nazis, Esther is one of a group of children who manage to flee Germany for Belgium and then France at the beginning of World War II. Despite her perilous situation, she frets over her frumpy looks, is ridiculed by the popular girls and loves a boy who -- at the best of times -- treats her like a sister. As the war rages on and Esther bears witness to its horrors, her pain and isolation grow -- until only the highest windows bring the promise of release.”
summary from http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-thought-of-high-windows-lynne-kositsky/1006140590?ean=9781553376224
Age Range: 12-15 years
Reading Level: AR Level 4.8
Teacher’s Guide:
Lasky, K. (2010). Ashes. New York: Viking.
“Thirteen-year-old Gabriella Schramm’s favorite pastime is reading. With Adolf Hitler slowly but unstoppably rising to power, Gaby turns to her books for comfort while the world around her changes dramatically: The streets become filled with soldiers, Gaby’s sister’s boyfriend raises his arm in a ‘Heil Hitler’ salute, and the Schramms’ family friend Albert Einstein flees the country. When Gaby’s beloved books come under attack, she fears she may have to leave behind the fiction – and the life she has always cherished.”
summary from http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/ashes-kathryn-lasky/1100180036?ean=9780142411124
Age Range: 11-14 years
Reading Level: AR Level – 5.2; 770L
Teacher’s Guide:
Lawton, W. (2004). Shadow of His hand: A story based on the life of Holocaust survivor Anita Dittman. Chicago: Moody Publishers.
Publisher description http://www.loc.gov/catdir/enhancements/fy0616/2004000279-d.html
Table of contents only http://www.loc.gov/catdir/enhancements/fy1202/2004000279-t.html
Sample text http://www.loc.gov/catdir/enhancements/fy1202/2004000279-s.html
Contributor biographical information http://www.loc.gov/catdir/enhancements/fy1202/2004000279-b.html
“Young Anita Dittman’s world crumbles as Hitler begins his rise to power in Germany, but because she’s a Christian and only half-Jewish, Anita feels sure she and her family are safe from The Final Solution. She couldn't have been more wrong. Shadow of His Hand is an inspirational young adult historical fiction book based on the real-life story of Anita Dittman, a Holocaust survivor. It follows her struggle against Nazi persecution and her growth in her relationship with God through the worst of times.
“The daughter of a German and a Jew, Anna’s dreams of becoming a famous ballerina are crushed by increasing Nazi persecution, but she is sustained, even while in a Nazi work camp, by her strong Christian faith and the conviction that she will one day be reunited with her mother and sister.”
summary from http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/shadow-of-his-hand-wendy-lawton/1100395236?ean=9780802440747
Age Range: 8-12 years
Reading Level: AR Level – 4.9
Teacher’s Guide:
Levitin, S. (1970). Journey to America. New York: Atheneum.
“It was 1938 and something terrible was happening in Germany. Suddenly, there were more and more restrictions for the Jews: yellow stars they had to wear, schools they could not attend, things they were forbidden to do. The Nazis were in power. And Lisa Platt was scared.
“Her father knew they had to escape, and he left for America in the middle of the night. He promised to send for Lisa, her mother, and her two sisters when there was enough money. Until then, they were to live in Switzerland. And so they did, waiting, in hardship none of them could ever have imagined.
“A Jewish family fleeing Nazi Germany in 1938 endures innumerable separations before they are once again united.”
summary from http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/journey-to-america-sonia-levitin/1100367403?ean=9780689711305
National Jewish Book Award – Children’s Literature, 1971
Age Range: 8-12 years
Reading Level: AR Level – 4.7; 750L
Teacher’s Guide:
_____. (2003). Room in the heart. New York: Dutton Children’s Books.
Contributor biographical information http://www.loc.gov/catdir/enhancements/fy0719/2003041012-b.html
Publisher description http://www.loc.gov/catdir/enhancements/fy0719/2003041012-d.html
“Told from several points of view, this novel reveals how life in Copenhagen was soiled by the Nazi occupation and how the Danes fought back with courage and kindness. Julie lives with the constant, nagging fear that her family will be sent to a concentration camp. Niels can’t stand the brutish, arrogant Nazi soldiers and finds himself drawn to the Danish resistance. When Niels learns of the Nazi plot to round up all of Copenhagen’s Jews, he is dominated by a single thought: rescue. Julie wonders how she will endure so many good-byes, especially to Niels.”
summary from http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/room-in-the-heart-sonia-levitin/1005816430?ean=9780142403396
Notable Book, Sydney Taylor Award – Older Readers, 2003
Age Range: 12 years & up
Reading Level: AR Level – 4.4; 690L
Teacher’s Guide:
Littlesugar, A. (2006). Willy and Max: A Holocaust story. New York: Philomel Books.
Contributor biographical information http://www.loc.gov/catdir/enhancements/fy1204/2005010179-b.html
Publisher description http://www.loc.gov/catdir/enhancements/fy1204/2005010179-d.html
“When Max’s dad buys a painting from the window of Willy’s dad’s antique shop, Willy and Max become instant friends. They are just alike, down to their same missing tooth! Even though Max lives in the Jewish quarter, the boys are inseparable—until the Nazis come. They take everything from Max’s family, including the precious painting that began the boys’ friendship. And though they promise to be friends forever, Willy and Max know that something unspeakable is coming between them, and they may never see each other again….
“Beautiful and heartbreaking, Willy & Max is the powerful story of two boys separated by circumstance, but held together through generations by a simple painting—and the unbreakable spirit of their friendship.”
summary from http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/willy-and-max-amy-littlesugar/1112535767?ean=9780399234835
Notable Book, Sydney Taylor Award – Young Readers, 2007
Age Range: 5 years
Reading Level: AR Level – 3.3; AD610L
Teacher’s Guide:
Lowry, L. (1989). Number the stars. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Co.
Publisher description http://www.loc.gov/catdir/description/hm021/88037134.html
Contributor biographical information http://www.loc.gov/catdir/enhancements/fy0737/88037134-b.html
“As the German troops begin their campaign to ‘relocate’ all the Jews of Denmark, Annemarie Johansen’s family takes in Annemarie’s best friend, Ellen Rosen, and conceals her as part of the family.
“Through the eyes of ten-year-old Annemarie, we watch as the Danish Resistance smuggles almost the entire Jewish population of Denmark, nearly seven thousand people, across the sea to Sweden. The heroism of an entire nation reminds us that there was pride and human decency in the world even during a time of terror and war.
“In 1943, during the German occupation of Denmark, ten-year-old Annemarie learns how to be brave and courageous when she helps shelter her Jewish friend from the Nazis.”
summary from www.barnesandnoble.com/w/number-the-stars-lois-lowry/1100128561?ean=9780547577098
Winner, Newbery Medal, 1990
National Jewish Book Award – Children’s Literature, 1990
Age Range: 10-14 years
Reading Level: AR Level – 4.5; 670L
Teacher’s Guides:
(Discussion guide) BN ID: 2940045154895
(Quicklet) BN ID: 2940013992610
(SparkNotes) http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/numberthestars/
(Homeschool Literature Unit Study) ISBN-13: 9781495403262
(Literature Kit, grades 5-6) ISBN-13: 9781553193388
(TCR Literature Unit Guide) ISBN-13: 9781557344243
(Focus on Reading) ISBN-13: 9781599051178
(L-I-T Guide) ISBN-13: 9781566449830
(Scholastic Guide, grades 4-8) ISBN-13: 9780590366502
Luštig, A. (2002). Lovely green eyes. (E. Osers, Trans.). New York: Arcade.
“A devastatingly beautiful novel set in World War II in which a fifteen-year-old girl explores and delineates the compromises one is forced to make in order to survive in a world gone mad.
“She has hair of ginger and lovely green eyes, and she and her family have just been transported from Terezín to Auschwitz. Her mother and younger brother are quickly dispatched to the gas chambers, her father has committed suicide, but young Hanka Kaudersová, working as one of Dr. Krueger’s cleaners, is still alive. When Dr. Krueger is suddenly transferred to a new post, Hanka fears that she will meet the fate that awaits the general camp population.
“On her last day working in the doctor’s office, she is suddenly startled to see a girl dressed not in the usual striped prison garb but decked out as if on her way to a party. Inquiring where the girl is headed dressed so strangely, she is told: to audition for a position in a German soldiers’ brothel. And you need to be eighteen and Aryan, the girl adds. Hanka is fifteen, and Jewish.
“As the girls file into the far office, Hanka determines to audition, hoping her acceptance will ensure her survival. Chosen for her alabaster skin and deceptively Aryan features, she joins the other girls and is immediately given the nickname ‘Lovely Green Eyes’. Thus begins her new career in a brothel on the already crumbling eastern front.
“The only way Hanka can cope with her terrible new role is to shut down her feelings, freeze what is left of her emotions. And from here on her nightmare – peopled with SS officers she despises but is obliged to please – intensifies.
“This devastatingly beautiful novel explores and delineates the impossible choices one sometimes has to make in life, when the fabric of the world is rent asunder.”
summary from http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/lovely-green-eyes-arnost-lustig/1004928544?ean=9781611451870
RUSA “Notable Books for Adults” List – Fiction, 2003
Shortlist, Jewish Quarterly-Wingate Prize – Fiction, 2003
American Academy of Arts & Letters, “Arts and Letters Award” – Literature, 2004
Age Range:
Reading Level: AR Level – 5.7
Teacher’s Guide: