World War II

Nisei Daughter recounts Monica Sone’s childhood in Seattle’s Japanese American community and her experience in the internment camps that housed residents of Japanese ethnicity between 1942 and 1946. The memoir, which has become a seminal text in Asian American studies, was first published in 1953 and then republished in 1979 and 2014, each time with an introduction that reframes the work in its context.The memoir begins with Sone’s realization that she is “a Japanese” when... Read Nisei Daughter Summary

The novel dramatizes thestruggles of twenty-five-year-old Ichiro Yamada as he returns home after two years spent in prison. Ichiro is a no-no boy, meaning that in response to the 1943 questionnaire entitled “Statement of U.S. Citizenship of Japanese American Ancestry,” he answered no to questions 27 and 28. These questions asked respondents first, if they would serve in the U.S. military whenever ordered and second, if they would forswear allegiance to the Emperor of Japan or... Read No-No Boy Summary

Anita Lobel is the author of No Pretty Pictures: A Child of War. First published in 1998 and a finalist for the National Book Award, the memoir details Lobel’s memories of growing up in Poland and how she survived World War II and the Holocaust. As the book follows Lobel from a child to a teen, it’s also a coming-of-age story and features themes about displacement and identity, as well as ideas like the differences... Read No Pretty Pictures Summary

Number the Stars is a 1989 middle-grade novel by Lois Lowry. A work of historical fiction, it focuses on the experiences of Annemarie Johansen, a 10-year-old Danish girl, living in Copenhagen during World War II. The book follows Annemarie and her family as they attempt to save their Jewish friends, the Rosens, from being sent to a Nazi concentration camp. The novel was critically acclaimed at the time of its release and won the 1990... Read Number the Stars Summary

Published in 2005, Once is a children’s historical fiction novel by Morris Gleitzman. Set in Poland during World War II, the story follows Felix, a 10-year-old Jewish boy being hidden from the Nazis in a Catholic orphanage, as he embarks on a quest to find his parents. Gleitzman was inspired by the true experiences of the Polish-Jewish educator and author Janusz Korczak during the Holocaust. Korczak is the inspiration for the character Barney, who sacrifices... Read Once Summary

Once We Were Brothers is a Jewish historical fiction novel and legal thriller published in 2013 by the American author and attorney Ronald H. Balson. A finalist for the Harper Lee Award for Legal Fiction, the book tells the story of two young men on opposite sides of the Holocaust in Nazi-occupied Poland. It is the first entry in Balson’s Liam Taggart and Catherine Lockhart book series.Plot SummaryThe book is divided into three parts. Part... Read Once We Were Brothers Summary

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Published in 1992, Christopher R. Browning’s Ordinary Men: Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland explores the activities of a battalion of German police officers who are, in various ways, involved in the murder of vast numbers of Jews in occupied Poland during World War II. The men of Reserve Police Battalion 101 are largely middle-aged men from working- and middle-class backgrounds with little prior experience of military service or Nazi ideology... Read Ordinary Men Summary

Parallel Journeys (1995) is a nonfiction book by Eleanor Ayer. It won several awards, including the American Library Association’s Best Book for Young Adults. An author of many nonfiction books about the Holocaust, Ayer pairs the stories of Alfons Heck (a former Hitler Youth member) and Helen Waterford (a Holocaust survivor) to show how Nazism impacts the people it empowered and targeted. Ayer didn’t choose Alfons and Helen randomly. They formed a partnership in the... Read Parallel Journeys Summary

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Alan Gratz’s 2013 novel Prisoner B-3087 is based on the true-life story of Yanek (Jack) Gruener, who endured numerous Nazi concentration and death camps during World War II. The story is written for a middle-grade audience, but its overarching themes of survival and identity make it relatable to audiences of any age. This study guide uses the 2013 Scholastic Press hardcover edition.Plot SummaryPrisoner B-3087 follows a linear timeline, starting with the moment the Nazi soldiers... Read Prisoner B-3087 Summary

Projekt 1065 is a young adult historical novel by Alan Gratz, first published in 2016. The novel, which centers on the son of the Irish ambassador to Germany during World War II, received starred reviews in Kirkus and the School Library Journal. The novel’s protagonist, 13-year-old Michael O’Shaunessey, his ambassador father, and Irish Intelligence member mother all work to spy on the Nazis and secretly aid the Allied forces, despite Ireland’s officially neutral stance in... Read Projekt 1065 Summary

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Salt to the Sea is a historical young adult novel written by Ruta Sepetys and published in 2016. Sepetys is known for similar young adult historical fiction works, such as I Must Betray You (2022) and Between Shades of Gray (2011). Set during World War II, Salt to the Sea is a coming-of-age story that follows four protagonists as they make and resist the journey to adulthood in a world characterized by war and trauma... Read Salt to the Sea Summary

Sarah’s Key is a novel told from multiple perspectives and points in time. At the outset of the novel, there are two narratives occurring: one in 1942, and the other in 2002. In 1942, Sarah’s family is taken, along with a host of other Jewish families, in the Vel’ d’Hiv’ roundup by the French police. Before they leave their home, Sarah hides her little brother, Michel, in a secret cupboard in the house. She grabs... Read Sarah’s Key Summary