Publication year 2008
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Perseverance, Fear, Childhood & Youth, Coming of Age, Friendship, War, Loyalty & Betrayal
Tags Military & War, Historical Fiction, Survival Fiction, Trauma & Abuse, Realistic Fiction, World History
Military Reads
Our Military Reads Collection features works that examine military service, conflict, and peace. Representing global perspectives and a broad range of literary genres, these selections explore the impacts of wars both real and imagined on civilians and service members alike.
War Brothers
War Horse
War Stories
War Without Mercy
War with the Newts
Water By The Spoonful
We Are Called to Rise
We Are Not Free
Weedflower
We Lived Happily During the War
We Must Not Think of Ourselves
We Shall Fight on the Beaches
We Were the Lucky Ones
We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed with Our Families
What Is The What
What the Wind Knows
When Broken Glass Floats
When Heaven and Earth Changed Places
When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit
When My Name Was Keoko
Publication year 2008
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Perseverance, Fear, Childhood & Youth, Coming of Age, Friendship, War, Loyalty & Betrayal
Tags Military & War, Historical Fiction, Survival Fiction, Trauma & Abuse, Realistic Fiction, World History
Publication year 1982
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Friendship, Fear, Loneliness, Death, Coming of Age
Tags Military & War, Historical Fiction, Animals, Social Class, Children`s Literature, World History, Classic Fiction
War Horse is a children’s historical fiction novel by Michael Morpurgo. The book was first published in Great Britain in 1982 by Kaye & Ward and was a runner-up for the Whitbread Book Award in the same year. The book is told from the point of view of a young horse named Joey and chronicles his journey and the relationships he builds with his various owners during World War I. The beloved novel is a... Read War Horse Summary
Publication year 2020
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Truth & Lies, Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Guilt, Memory, Family
Tags Historical Fiction, Realistic Fiction, Military & War, World War II, Children`s Literature, World History
Publication year 1986
Genre Book, Nonfiction
Tags US History, Race & Racism, Military & War, World War II, World History, Japanese Literature
In his 1986 nonfiction work War Without Mercy: Race and Power in the Pacific War, Pulitzer Prize-winning author and historian John W. Dower investigates the racism between the United States and the Empire of Japan, as it existed before, during, and after the Second World War. The very nature and understanding of who the enemy was, for both the Anglo-Americans and the Japanese, presented in many forms. On the American side, there was an important... Read War Without Mercy Summary
Publication year 1936
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes War, Politics & Government, Conflict
Tags Science Fiction, Classic Fiction, Fantasy, Humor, Military & War, World History
Publication year 2012
Genre Play, Fiction
Themes Community, Mothers
Tags Education, Education, Military & War, Modern Classic Fiction, Dramatic Literature
Water by the Spoonful is a play by Quiara Alegría Hudes. First produced in 2011, it is the secondplay of a series, known as “The Elliot Trilogy.” Water by the Spoonful tells the story of multiple characters connected by familial bonds and online community, and their experiences with trauma and recovery.The play opens with Elliot and Yaz Ortiz, two cousins, meeting at the college where Yaz works as an adjunct music instructor. Yaz has found... Read Water By The Spoonful Summary
Publication year 2014
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Mothers
Tags Military & War, Realistic Fiction, Modern Classic Fiction
Published in 2014, Laura McBride’s first novel, We Are Called to Rise, narrates the story of four Las Vegas residents with different backgrounds whose lives become interconnected after a series of unexpected events leads to a family tragedy. Though they experience seemingly unrelated situations, they eventually play a role in each other’s lives to help heal the trauma created by loss, grief, and family abuse. This guide references the Scribd version of the Simon &... Read We Are Called to Rise Summary
Publication year 2020
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Politics & Government, Friendship, Family
Tags Historical Fiction, World War II, Asian Literature, Race & Racism, Military & War, Modern Classic Fiction, Asian Literature, World History
Publication year 2006
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Friendship, Community, Safety & Danger, Coming of Age, Justice, Race, Shame & Pride, Loneliness, Family, Order & Chaos, Trust & Doubt, Equality, Fear, War
Tags Historical Fiction, Children`s Literature, Military & War, World History, Japanese Literature, Arts & Culture, World War II, Coming of Age
Weedflower, Cynthia Kadohata’s 2006 historical fiction young adult novel, tells the story of 12-year-old Japanese American Sumiko amid Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor and the US government’s ensuing involvement in World War II. Kadohata depicts the conditions of Japanese internment camps from Sumiko’s perspective, providing unique insight and education on the racism that Japanese Americans faced and the US government’s poor decisions.This guide references the 2009 paperback reprint edition from Atheneum Books for Young Readers.Plot... Read Weedflower Summary
Publication year 2013
Genre Poem, Fiction
Themes War, Conflict
Tags Lyric Poem, Military & War, American Literature
Publication year 2023
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Love, Perseverance, Grief, Race, War
Tags Historical Fiction, World War II, Holocaust, Jewish Literature, Military & War, World History
Publication year 1940
Genre Essay / Speech, Nonfiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Hope, Perseverance
Tags Military & War, Inspirational, World War II
Publication year 2017
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Family, Music
Tags Historical Fiction, World War II, Military & War, World History
We Were the Lucky Ones, written by Georgia Hunter and published in 2017, is a historical novel based on the actual experiences of the author’s family during World War II. Hunter’s grandfather, Addy Kurc, came from a family of Jews in Radom, Poland. The book follows the story of Addy, his parents Nechuma and Sol, and his siblings Genek, Mila, Jakob, and Halina, along with their spouses, as they struggle to survive the Holocaust and... Read We Were the Lucky Ones Summary
Publication year 1998
Genre Book, Nonfiction
Themes Loyalty & Betrayal, Colonialism, Social Class, Hate & Anger, Fear, Politics & Government
Tags History: African , Journalism, Military & War, Politics & Government, Trauma & Abuse, World History, Biography
We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed with Our Families: Stories from Rwanda (1998) describes the Hutu majority’s slaughter of at least 800,000 Tutsis in 100 days in 1994—with author and journalist Philip Gourevitch documenting the meticulous planning behind the genocide. Gourevitch chastises the international community, especially the United States and France, for failing to stop the genocide in accordance with obligations under the Genocide Convention. Visiting Rwanda one year after... Read We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed with Our Families Summary
Publication year 2006
Genre Novel, Fiction
Tags Historical Fiction, Military & War, Modern Classic Fiction, World History
What Is the What is a 2006 novel by Dave Eggers. The story follows Valentino Achak Deng, one of tens of thousands of boys displaced and/or orphaned during the Second Sudanese War, which spanned nearly two decades, from 1987 to 2005. While a novel, What Is the What has been called by Eggers a “fictionalized autobiography.” As Deng explains in his introduction to the text, they decided that it should be considered a novel, because... Read What Is The What Summary
Publication year 2019
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Colonialism, Language, Safety & Danger, Memory, The Past, Politics & Government, Family, Nation
Tags Historical Fiction, Romance, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Love & Sexuality, Military & War, European History, Politics & Government, World History, Irish Literature
Publication year 2000
Genre Autobiography / Memoir, Nonfiction
Themes Community, War, Order & Chaos, Coming of Age
Tags Asian History, Military & War, World History, Action & Adventure, Biography
Chanrithy Him’s memoir, When Broken Glass Floats: Growing Up Under the Khmer Rouge, was first published in 2000. This study guide refers to the 2001 Kindle edition. In the text Him details her experiences as a young child in Cambodia. Him was only five when the autocratic communist Khmer Rouge took over the country, and she recounts the trauma she endured during the five years the regime remained in power. Him’s father was beaten to... Read When Broken Glass Floats Summary
Publication year 1989
Genre Autobiography / Memoir, Nonfiction
Themes Family, Colonialism, War, Safety & Danger
Tags Asian History, Vietnam War, Immigration & Refugeeism, Politics & Government, Military & War, World History, Biography
Publication year 1971
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Perseverance, Race, Childhood & Youth, Family
Tags Historical Fiction, Life-Inspired Fiction, Coming of Age, World War II, Holocaust, Immigration & Refugeeism, Children`s Literature, Military & War, World History, Classic Fiction
When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit (1971) is a children’s novel by Judith Kerr. The novel is set between 1933 and 1936, and traces the life of protagonist Anna, who is nine years old at the novel’s opening, as her family flees Germany for Switzerland, France, and, finally, England. Although the novel is a work of fiction, it is semi-autobiographical. Kerr is of German-Jewish heritage, and her family left Germany once Hitler rose to power in... Read When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit Summary
Publication year 2002
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Community
Tags Historical Fiction, Asian Literature, Korean Literature, Children`s Literature, World War II, Military & War, World History, Japanese Literature
When My Name Was Keoko (2002) is a young adult work of historical fiction by Linda Sue Park about the Japanese occupation of Korea during World War II. Many praise the novel for how it exposes this often overlooked topic in history, authentically portraying Korean life, culture, and perspective in the 1940s. Park wrote the narrative in alternating chapters from the first-person perspective voices of two Korean siblings: 10-year-old Sun-hee (aka Keoko) and 13-year-old Tae-yul... Read When My Name Was Keoko Summary