Showing posts with label historical fiction. Show all posts
Showing posts with label historical fiction. Show all posts
Sunday, September 13, 2015
Monday, July 7, 2014
My Brother's Secret (YA Fic)
AUTHOR: Dan Smith (UK)
PUBLISHED: London : Chicken House, c2014.
PLOT:
Germany, 1941. 12-year-old Karl Engel is looking forward to joining the Hitler Youth, like all boys his age.
But when his father is killed, and his family moves in with his grandparents, he discovers things that leave his faith in the Führer shaken. Everyone seems to know something he doesn't. When he joins his brother in rebellion, his life will never be the same.
REVIEW:
This book is very interesting (I read it on my lunch break over a week and it was very difficult to get back to work :) ), and could be recommended to reluctant readers and to tweens/teens interested in history. It could be included on the reading list when introducing WW2 - certainly it lends itself to further discussion about Germany and the war, and how it may have felt to be a German at that time.
I liked the progression of the main character (from a very naive and rather irritating boy to a character with courage and convictions) and the inclusion of factual information about the Edelweiss Pirates.
This book could be a class read-aloud with 6th or 7th graders.
Also in this vein (war): Boy in the Striped Pajamas or Then.
AGE: 12-15. While the actual reading level is around age 10 or 11, the topics require a little maturity if you want children to read this and understand the implications in the broader context of a complex real-life war.
GENRE: Realistic fiction / Historical fiction.
RATING: 4 - 4 1/2 stars.
PUBLISHED: London : Chicken House, c2014.
PLOT:
Germany, 1941. 12-year-old Karl Engel is looking forward to joining the Hitler Youth, like all boys his age.
But when his father is killed, and his family moves in with his grandparents, he discovers things that leave his faith in the Führer shaken. Everyone seems to know something he doesn't. When he joins his brother in rebellion, his life will never be the same.
REVIEW:
This book is very interesting (I read it on my lunch break over a week and it was very difficult to get back to work :) ), and could be recommended to reluctant readers and to tweens/teens interested in history. It could be included on the reading list when introducing WW2 - certainly it lends itself to further discussion about Germany and the war, and how it may have felt to be a German at that time.
I liked the progression of the main character (from a very naive and rather irritating boy to a character with courage and convictions) and the inclusion of factual information about the Edelweiss Pirates.
This book could be a class read-aloud with 6th or 7th graders.
Also in this vein (war): Boy in the Striped Pajamas or Then.
AGE: 12-15. While the actual reading level is around age 10 or 11, the topics require a little maturity if you want children to read this and understand the implications in the broader context of a complex real-life war.
GENRE: Realistic fiction / Historical fiction.
RATING: 4 - 4 1/2 stars.
Monday, September 6, 2010
Then (YA Fic)
AUTHOR: Morris Gleitzman (Aust)
PUBLISHED: 2008
PLOT: Two children run away from a Nazi train bound for a concentration camp. They befriend a farmer woman who tries to protect them. The story is confrontational, and gives perspectives from many people: Nazi soldiers, those who are sympathetic to Jews (including some soldiers), etc.
Similar to The Boy in the Striped Pajamas.
AGES: 10+
GENRE: Realistic Fiction, Historical Fiction
RATING: 4 1/2 - 5 stars
PLOT: Two children run away from a Nazi train bound for a concentration camp. They befriend a farmer woman who tries to protect them. The story is confrontational, and gives perspectives from many people: Nazi soldiers, those who are sympathetic to Jews (including some soldiers), etc.
Similar to The Boy in the Striped Pajamas.
AGES: 10+
GENRE: Realistic Fiction, Historical Fiction
RATING: 4 1/2 - 5 stars
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Much Ado About Nothing (retold)
AUTHOR: retold by Andrew Matthews (UK/Aust)
PUBLISHED: 2006
PAGES/ILL: ~ 55 pages, large font with sporadic pictures. SERIES: A Shakespeare Story by Orchard Classics
PLOT: Hero and Claudio are in love and plan to marry. At the same time, they plot to have Hero's friend Beatrice and Claudio's friend, Benedick, fall in love with each other.
REVIEW: A lovely introduction to Shakespeare; easy to understand, but keeping to the original in an engaging way.
AGES: 6+
GENRE: Humor, Historical, Classic.
RATING: 5 stars
PAGES/ILL: ~ 55 pages, large font with sporadic pictures. SERIES: A Shakespeare Story by Orchard Classics
PLOT: Hero and Claudio are in love and plan to marry. At the same time, they plot to have Hero's friend Beatrice and Claudio's friend, Benedick, fall in love with each other.
REVIEW: A lovely introduction to Shakespeare; easy to understand, but keeping to the original in an engaging way.
AGES: 6+
GENRE: Humor, Historical, Classic.
RATING: 5 stars
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Boy In The Striped Pajamas
AUTHOR: John Boyne (Ireland) (2006)
NOTES: A perfect beginners introduction to the topic, and pertinent to any age child studying the 2nd World War, written from the perspective (and in the language) of a 9-year old boy. It also lends itself to discussion, as much of the detail is only alluded to (people falling down and not getting up, people disappearing after going on marches) and exact names are not used ("the Fury" and "Out-With"); a 9-y.o. reporting on something he doesn't fully understand.
ISSUES: friendship, family, the holocaust (death, starvation, etc).
PLOT: Written from the perspective of 9-year-old Bruno whose father is a commandant in the German army and assigned to work at a concentration camp, living in a house just outside the fence of the camp. Bruno ends up befriending a Jewish boy through the fence.
AGE: For ages 9-109, but intellectually and emotionally the child needs to be mature enough to process it.
GENRE: Historical Fiction. RATING: 5 stars
NOTES: A perfect beginners introduction to the topic, and pertinent to any age child studying the 2nd World War, written from the perspective (and in the language) of a 9-year old boy. It also lends itself to discussion, as much of the detail is only alluded to (people falling down and not getting up, people disappearing after going on marches) and exact names are not used ("the Fury" and "Out-With"); a 9-y.o. reporting on something he doesn't fully understand.
ISSUES: friendship, family, the holocaust (death, starvation, etc).
PLOT: Written from the perspective of 9-year-old Bruno whose father is a commandant in the German army and assigned to work at a concentration camp, living in a house just outside the fence of the camp. Bruno ends up befriending a Jewish boy through the fence.
AGE: For ages 9-109, but intellectually and emotionally the child needs to be mature enough to process it.
GENRE: Historical Fiction. RATING: 5 stars
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