Literature About the Holocaust
Number the Stars
Author: Lois Lowry Published: 1989 Awards: 1990 John Newbery Medal Summary:Ten-year-old Annemarie Johansen and her best friend Ellen Rosen often think of life before the war. It's now 1943 and their life in Copenhagen is filled with school, food shortages, and the Nazi soldiers marching through town. When the Jews of Denmark are "relocated," Ellen moves in with the Johansens and pretends to be one of the family. Soon Annemarie is asked to go on a dangerous mission to save Ellen's life.The story's title is taken from a reference to Psalm 147, in which the writer relates that God has numbered all the stars in the universe. It ties into the Star of David, worn by Ellen on her necklace, which is symbolic to the story. |
Night
Author: Elie Wiesel Published: 1956 (Yiddish), 1960 (English) Awards: Elie Wiesel awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1986 Summary: The true story of a concentration camp survivor. Elie Wiesel records his experience with his father in the Nazi German concentration camp at Auschwitz and Buchenwald at the height of WW II. |
Milkweed
Author: Jerry Spinelli Published: 2003 Awards: 2004 Golden Kite Award for Fiction, 2003 Carolyn W. Field Award for Fiction Summary: An orphan boy who lives on the streets during the Nazi occupation of Warsaw. He steals his food to stay alive. Being resourceful he wants to be a Nazi. This all changes when the conditions of war worsen around the ghetto. |
The Book Thief
Author: Markus Zusak Published: April 2005 Awards: 2006: Common Wealth Writers' Prize, 2006: School Library Journal Best Book of the Year,2006: Daniel Elliott Peace Award, 2006: Publishers Weekly Best Children's Book of the Year,2006 : National Jewish Book Award for Children's and Young Adult Literature,2006: Bulletin Blue Ribbon Book, 2007: Michael L. Printz Award, 2007: Book Sense Book of the Year Award for Children's Literature Summary: Narrated by the voice of death this story is told of a nine-year-old girl named Liesal. Orphaned during WW II, she teaches herself to read and steal. |
The Boy in the Striped Pajames
Author: John Boyne Published: Awards: Irish Book Award Children’s Book of the Year, Irish Book Award People’s Choice Book of the Year, Bisto Book of the Year, Que Leer Award Best International Novel of the Year (Spain), Orange Prize Readers Group Book of the Year Summary: Nine year-old Bruno only knows he has moved from Berlin to a house in a desolate area. One day he meets a new friend who lives on the other side of the wire fence. Shmuel, his new friend, lives with many others who all wear the same clothes - pajamas. Little does Bruno know that they are all part of the Holocaust and the Final Solution. |
The War That Saved MyLife
Author: Kimberly Brubaker Bradley Published: Awards: Summary: Living as a prisoner in her small apartment, Ada only knows about the outside world as seen through her small upstairs window.. Her mother has kept her there since she is embarrassed of Ada and her disability. However, |