History & Historical Fiction Books

The Book Thief

Markus Zusak

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 390 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Very Creative!! 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

There are plenty of reviews telling the story line so I won't bore anyone with more. I just want to say how creative a writer Zusak is. This is the first story I've read narrated by death and I couldn't put it down. It was like reading an abstract story with the lives of people during World War II woven so beautifully together. Amazing! Different! And I have to agree with others on the fact that it doesn't read like a junior book. Don't give up on this book, you'll be glad you didn't.

Editorial Review:

It’s just a small story really, about among other things: a girl, some words, an accordionist, some fanatical Germans, a Jewish fist-fighter, and quite a lot of thievery. . . .

Set during World War II in Germany, Markus Zusak’s groundbreaking new novel is the story of Liesel Meminger, a foster girl living outside of Munich. Liesel scratches out a meager existence for herself by stealing when she encounters something she can’t resist–books. With the help of her accordion-playing foster father, she learns to read and shares her stolen books with her neighbors during bombing raids as well as with the Jewish man hidden in her basement before he is marched to Dachau.

This is an unforgettable story about the ability of books to feed the soul.


From the Hardcover edition.

Boy in the Striped Pajamas

John Boyne

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 89 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

A Problematic Holocaust Text 2 out of 5 stars.
6 of 7 people found this review helpful.

In 2009, I intend to teach John Boyne's "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas" as part of an undergraduate Holocaust education class. However, I will be including the novel in the syllabus because it is an excellent example of a highly flawed Holocaust text, of which educators need to be wary. A text, by the way, that has been very well received by critics and the general reading public.

Boyne's "fable" is certainly well written, it is accessible (to both teenagers and adults), it is memorable, and it is even profound. But these attributes are overshadowed by Boyne's carelessness; the plot has problematic historical inaccuracies that are incredibly misleading and - I believe - damaging to the goals of Holocaust education.

(1) We discover that Shmuel, the title character and a prisoner at Auschwitz, is nine years old. However, it is extremely well documented that, upon arrival at Auschwitz (and other Nazi death camps), almost all children under 15 years old were sent immediately to be gassed, as the Nazis could not (or would not) use them as slave labor. The few exceptions to this rule were children who were either slightly younger than 15 and survived by lying about their age or children (of all ages) who were used in forced pseudo-medical experiments, confined to the camp laboratories, and rarely survived. Nine year olds did not wander around Auschwitz. And they certainly could not wander, "for several weeks... almost every afternoon" (p. 150), to the same place by the camp fence, to meet their new friend, who just happened to be the son of a high-ranking Nazi officer.

(2) Which brings us to Bruno, the protagonist, the son of the Kommandant of Auschwitz. Bruno is also nine years old (he and Shmuel, they discover quickly, were born on exactly the same day). Bruno's age is also highly problematic. We realize quickly that Bruno is naïve to what his father does for a living and where he and his sister have been brought to live. Bruno is also ignorant to the existence of the Jews - until he meets his new friend, Shmuel. Again, history - and common sense - would reveal this to be practically impossible. All German children were educated, from an early age, about the Jews. Children were taught - through carefully designed books and school lessons - that the Jews were the "parasites" of society; sub-humans to be loathed, oppressed, and discarded. Children joined youth groups and attended rallies that made the Nazis' perceptions of the Jews very clear. It is practically impossible for a nine year old German boy in 1940s Nazi Europe - the son of the Kommandant of Auschwitz, no less! - to have entirely missed what was considered a vital piece of German education.

Now, you might ask: If the story is so compelling, accessible, and thought-provoking, then does it really matter that there are these inaccuracies? Yes. It does. It matters a great deal. If a goal of Holocaust education is to try to understand how and why the Holocaust occurred, so as to help us prevent current and future genocides, then we must try our best to understand how and why the Nazis did what they did to distinct groups of people that they considered "unworthy of life." To truly understand the Nazis' intentions and methods, it is imperative that we include in our considerations their policies of (a) gassing all Jewish children under 15 years old and (b) teaching all German children to hate Jews. If these two policies become distorted - or even ignored - when teaching about the Holocaust, then we might never learn the core lessons of these world-changing events.

It is important to point out that my problem is not necessarily with historical inaccuracies alone (Jane Yolen's time-travel fantasy "The Devil's Arithmetic" comes to mind as another impossible tale); my problem lies in an author's intentions and misadventures. Yolen uses time-travel as a tool to engage her young readers in Holocaust content, while keeping historical accuracy intact. But Yolen knows, just as well as her readers, that time-travel is entirely and so obviously unfeasible. Unfortunately, by the end of his fable, Boyne comes across just as unaware about the problems in his own writing as the naïve enthusiasts who claim that "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas" is an important Holocaust text. I still encourage adults (and only adults) to read this book, but to read it only because it reminds us to be wary of badly researched historical fictions that, in the end, teach us little about the true lessons of history.

Editorial Review:

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.


From the Hardcover edition.

Out Of The Dust (Apple Signature Edition)

Karen Hesse

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Features:

• Made with the Best Quality Material with your child in mind.
• Top Quality Children's Item.

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 838 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Don't let this book collect dust! 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

Out of Dust is a book every young reader in American needs to read. Written in poetry form, Karen Hesse's book reveals the year long evolution of fourteen year old Billie Jo. Set in Oklahoma's Dust Bowl during the Great Depression, the story exposes the raw emotions of a young girl as she struggles to survive the most haunting experience of her life. This story will help experienced young readers, ages 11-13, understand the complexity of life for children their own age during a historical era of our Nation's history. Whereas most recollections of the Great Depression are depicted through adult views, Out of Dust is told through the eyes of Billie Jo which will allow children to make a connection between the issues of the time and the ones they are dealing with today. This beautifully written book is an excellent introduction to the Great Depression and offers multiple opportunities for exploration of the era.

Editorial Review:

Out of the DustKaren Hesse (1998). "This intimate novel, written in stanza form, poetically conveys the heat, dust, and wind of Oklahoma along with the discontent of narrator Billie Jo... during the Depression." -Publishers Weekly, starred review "A power

A Great and Terrible Beauty (The Gemma Doyle Trilogy)

Libba Bray

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 298 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

A Victorian boarding school story, a Gothic mansion mystery, a gossipy romp about a clique of girlfriends, and a dark other-worldly fantasy--jumble them all together and you have this complicated and unusual first novel.

Gemma, 16, has had an unconventional upbringing in India, until the day she foresees her mother's death in a black, swirling vision that turns out to be true. Sent back to England, she is enrolled at Spence, a girls' academy with a mysterious burned-out East Wing. There Gemma is snubbed by powerful Felicity, beautiful Pippa, and even her own dumpy roommate Ann, until she blackmails herself and Ann into the treacherous clique. Gemma is distressed to find that she has been followed from India by Kartik, a beautiful young man who warns her to fight off the visions. Nevertheless, they continue, and one night she is led by a child-spirit to find a diary that reveals the secrets of a mystical Order. The clique soon finds a way to accompany Gemma to the other-world realms of her visions "for a bit of fun" and to taste the power they will never have as Victorian wives, but they discover that the delights of the realms are overwhelmed by a menace they cannot control. Gemma is left wi! th the knowledge that her role as the link between worlds leaves her with a mission to seek out the "others" and rebuild the Order. A Great and Terrible Beauty is an impressive first book in what should prove to be a fascinating trilogy. (Ages 12 up) -Patty Campbell

The Wednesday Wars

Gary D. Schmidt

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 23 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Gary D. Schmidt offers an unforgettable antihero in THE WEDNESDAY WARS—a wonderfully witty and compelling novel about a teenage boy's mishaps and adventures over the course of the 1967–68 school year.

Meet Holling Hoodhood, a seventh-grader at Camillo Junior High, who must spend Wednesday afternoons with his teacher, Mrs. Baker, while the rest of the class has religious instruction. Mrs. Baker doesn't like Holling—he's sure of it. Why else would she make him read the plays of William Shakespeare outside class? But everyone has bigger things to worry about, like Vietnam. His father wants Holling and his sister to be on their best behavior: the success of his business depends on it. But how can Holling stay out of trouble when he has so much to contend with? A bully demanding cream puffs; angry rats; and a baseball hero signing autographs the very same night Holling has to appear in a play in yellow tights! As fate sneaks up on him again and again, Holling finds Motivation—the Big M—in the most unexpected places and musters up the courage to embrace his destiny, in spite of himself.

The Sweet Far Thing (The Gemma Doyle Trilogy)

Libba Bray

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 118 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Any who have acquired and enjoyed the others won't want to miss this 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

Libba Bray's conclusion to Libba Bray's 'Gemma Doyle' trilogy The Sweet Far Thing (9780385730303 $17.99) requires familiarity with the other weighty books in series, but any who have acquired and enjoyed the others won't want to miss this, begin in A GREAT AND TERRIBLE BEAUTY and continued in REBEL ANGELS. Here the Spence Academy for Girls is preparing for its London debut season, but with Gemma and gang dreading it. Magic, change, and initiation abound in a stunning conclusion to a weighty but involving trilogy highly recommended for advanced YA readers.

Editorial Review:

IT HAS BEEN A YEAR OF CHANGE since Gemma Doyle arrived at the foreboding Spence Academy. Her mother murdered, her father a
laudanum addict, Gemma has relied on an unsuspected strength and has discovered an ability to travel to an enchanted world called the realms, where dark magic runs wild. Despite certain peril, Gemma has bound the magic to herself and forged unlikely new alliances. Now, as Gemma approaches her London debut, the time has come to test these bonds.

The Order - the mysterious group her mother was once part of - is grappling for control of the realms, as is the Rakshana. Spence's burned East Wing is being rebuilt, but why now? Gemma and her friends see Pippa, but she is not the same. And their friendship faces its gravest trial as Gemma must decide once and for all what role she is meant for.

Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Voices from a Medieval Village

Laura Amy Schlitz

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 17 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Step back to an English village in 1255, where life plays out in dramatic vignettes illuminating twenty-two unforgettable characters.

Maidens, monks, and millers’ sons — in these pages, readers will meet them all. There’s Hugo, the lord’s nephew, forced to prove his manhood by hunting a wild boar; sharp-tongued Nelly, who supports her family by selling live eels; and the peasant’s daughter, Mogg, who gets a clever lesson in how to save a cow from a greedy landlord. There’s also mud-slinging Barbary (and her noble victim); Jack, the compassionate half-wit; Alice, the singing shepherdess; and many more. With a deep appreciation for the period and a grand affection for both characters and audience, Laura Amy Schlitz creates twenty-two riveting portraits and linguistic gems equally suited to silent reading or performance. Illustrated with pen-and-ink drawings by Robert Byrd — inspired by the Munich-Nuremberg manuscript, an illuminated poem from thirteenth-century Germany — this witty, historically accurate, and utterly human collection forms an exquisite bridge to the people and places of medieval England.

The Bronze Bow

Elizabeth George Speare

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 93 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Fantastic!!! 5 out of 5 stars.
6 of 7 people found this review helpful.

I am an [...] girl and this is the absolute best ever book I've ever read in my whole entire life. It is spectacular!! A story about a boy named Daniel, a sister that will not leave the house, a bunch of outlaws, and Roman soldiers. The book also includes Jesus. Elizibeth Speare carefully weaved the truth of Christ in this book. It is very emotional at the end. I cried while telling my mother what happened at the end. It truly impacted me. It makes me want to follow Jesus and please him.

You must understand when I say "the best book I've ever read", what it beat. Here are some books I've read that this book outshined.

The Hobbit
Harry Potter
Shannara
Les Miserables
Narnia
Hittite Warrior
Cat of Bubastes
The Golden Goblet

...and lots more. Notice the last three book titles. Those are also fabulous books. Bronze Bow, however, is wonderful. I can't decide which words to use. You would have to read the book yourself to know what I mean. You will like it, trust me.

Editorial Review:

In this Newbery Medal-winning novel, Daniel bar Jamin is fired by only one passion: to avenge his father's death by crucifixion by driving the Roman legions from his land of Israel. He joins an outlaw band and leads a dangerous life of spying, plotting, and impatiently waiting to seek revenge. Headstrong Daniel is devoid of tenderness and forgiveness, heading down a destructive path toward disaster until he hears the lessons taught by Jesus of Nazareth. With a brand new cover, young readers won't be able to pass up this timeless tale.

Nothing But The Truth: A Documentary Novel

Avi

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 667 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

A waste of time... 1 out of 5 stars.
1 of 4 people found this review helpful.

Okay this book was REALLY BORING! It had an ok plot when we read the back of the book but when we started to read it it was not written in a way that was interesting to us. Avi has some good books but this was not one of his better ones. Miss. Narwin sent to many letters to her sister, and there was barely (if not no) any reason for her to write to her sister. The memos were boring and we think Avi could have told us the information in a different way. Really bad.

Editorial Review:

Patriotism or practical joke?

Harrison, NH -- Ninth-grade student Philip Malloy was suspended from school for singing along to The Star-Spangled Banner in his homeroom, causing what his teacher, Margaret Narwin, called "a disturbance." But was he standing up for his patriotic ideals, only to be squelched by the school system? Was Ms. Narwin simply trying to be a good teacher? Or could it all be just a misunderstanding gone bad -- very bad? What is the truth here? Can it ever be known?

Heroism, hoax, or mistake, what happened at Harrison High changes everything for everyone in ways no one -- least of all Philip -- could have ever predicted.

The King's Gold

Arturo Perez-Reverte

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 4 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

From acclaimed and bestselling author Arturo Pérez-Reverte comes the fourth adventure of Captain Alatriste, “the brooding, charismatic hero of his wildly successful Spanish swashbuckling novels” (The New York Times).

Arturo Pérez-Reverte has enthralled readers and critics around the globe with his Captain Alatriste series. Having sold four and a half million copies to date in the Spanish-speaking world, the series has made Pérez-Reverte a literary superstar and his fictional seventeenth-century mercenary a national icon.

The King’s Gold picks up in Seville, 1626. After serving with honor at the bloody siege of Breda, Captain Alatriste and his protégé, Inigo Balboa, have returned: battle-weary, short of cash, and with few prospects for honest work. But the Spanish empire is as dangerous as ever, and it’s not long before Alatriste receives an intriguing offer of short-term employment. He and Inigo must recruit a dozen swordsmen and mercenaries for a risky job involving a dazzling amount of contraband gold and a heavily guarded Spanish galleon returning from the West Indies. The offer comes from the king himself, for at stake is nothing less than the Spanish Crown, and its dominion over the wealth of the Americas.

The seedy taverns, the teeming prisons of Seville, the sand dunes of Guadalquivir find Alatriste, Inigo, and their motley band of cutthroats embarking on a new adventure, one that brings them surprising new alliances and perilous encounters with old enemies.