Historical Reading Book Pairs: World War II

After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, thirteen-year-old Tetsu and his family are sent to the Gila River Relocation Center in Arizona where a fellow prisoner starts a baseball team, but when Tetsu's sister becomes ill and he feels responsible, he stops playing.

Examines the American internment of Japanese Americans and immigrants in concentration camps during World War II, and the struggle of internees to rebuild their lives after they were freed at the end of the war.

One girl's entire life is about to change when everything she knows is turned on its head. After the devastating attack on Pearl Harbor, where her brother, a navy sailor, is stationed, Piper Davis begins chronicling her compelling journey through one of history's most tragic and unforgettable eras.

A photo-illustrated look at the youth organizations Adolf Hitler founded and used to meet his sociopolitical and military ends; includes profiles of individual Hitler Youth members as well as young people who opposed the Nazis, such as Hans and Sophie Scholl.

In October 1942, seventeen-year-old Helmuth Hübener, imprisoned for distributing anti-Nazi leaflets, recalls his past life and how he came to dedicate himself to bring the truth about Hitler and the war to the German people.

Discusses the efforts of the Kindertransport, which rescued ten thousand Jewish children from Nazi occupied countries before the start of World War II.

Ten-year-old Franziska Mangold escapes Nazi Germany on the kindertransport she boards in Berlin, and when she arrives in London, she takes on the name Frances and struggles with her identity as she pieces together a new life without her family.

A photographic introduction to the life and experiences of Anne Frank, who along with her family and others lived in hiding from the Nazis in a secret annex from July 1942 until their capture in August 1944.

A fictional account of life with Anne Frank hidden in the secret annex from Peter's point-of-view, following as he becomes closer with Anne, begins to question his own religion, and is forced to suppress his own desires to join the fight.

World War II brings many changes to the life of Linus Muller in New York City when his brother, Albie, enlists in the army. He begins a new job at the family grocery store making customer deliveries and meets an artist known only as "Mr. Orange." Further, Linus imagines his brother as safe and a hero in the war, but he soon learns the truth about the fighting.

A photographic history of the events of World War II, discussing the lives of soldiers and civilians.

A narrative, nonfiction account of the Japanese invasion and occupation of the Aleutian Islands during World War II, told from the perspectives of an American civilian and soldiers from both sides of the conflict. Includes more than eighty photographs.

An Aleutian Islander recounts her suffering during World War II in American internment camps designed to "protect" the population from the invading Japanese.

Chronicles the life of Raoul Wallenberg, a Swede, who at the end of World War II was able to save thousands of Hungarian Jews from the Nazi concentration camps.

When the Nazis invade Hungary, Susan and her sister are sent to a convent in order to protect them from persecution, where they try to adapt to the rules and rituals of a new religion and worry they will be found.

Follows a young Jewish orphan in the Warsaw ghetto during World War Two as he slowly understands the horrible reality that surrounds him and attempts to steal in order to help others survive.

Examines the events surrounding the Holocaust, explores the reactions of countries around the world, discusses its lasting impact on the region and its people, and addresses what could have been done to stop or prevent the violence.