Tag Archives: World War II

Review: Irena’s Children by Tilar J. Mazzeo

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Irena's Children by Tilar J. MazzeoIrena’s Children: Young Readers Edition
Tilar J Mazzeo
Translated by Mary Cronk Farrell
Margaret K. McElderry Books
Available September 27, 2016

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During World War II, Irena Sendler worked with an underground network to rescue 2,500 Jewish children from Nazi occupied Poland. Her unwavering commitment to human rights began long before the war, and endured through her own incarceration and torture. She worked tirelessly to save as many as she could, and through it all insisted that she was not a hero. She’d only done what any ordinary human would do.

Though it’s nonfiction, I could not put this book down. I was so captured by the life … Continue reading →

Review: The Girl in the Blue Coat by Monica Hesse

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girl-in-the-blue-coatThe Girl in the Blue Coat
Monica Hesse
Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

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In 1943 Amsterdam, Hanneke is the girl who can help you find things like coffee, meat, kerosene. But when a lonely widow asks Hanneke to find a missing Jewish girl, Hanneke at first refuses to get involved. Locating a Jewish girl and trying to rescue her is far too dangerous.

On the other hand, maybe danger is exactly what Hanneke needs to distract her from the aching grief of her boyfriend’s recent death. Reluctantly, Hanneke agrees to investigate the girl’s disappearance. Her search throws her in the path of a well-organized group of resistance workers who beg Hanneke … Continue reading →

Review and Author Interview: Jacqueline by Jackie Minniti

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Anaiah Press Blog Tour for Jacqueline by Jackie Minniti

 Jacqueline by Jackie MinnitiJacqueline
Jackie Minniti
Anaiah Press

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When Jacqueline and her mother receive news that her father, a French soldier in World War II has been shot down, she refuses to give up hope that he’ll return home. She studies hard, prays to the saint in the book her father gave her, and visits the train yard where wounded prisoners arrive. As the Nazis who occupy her small French town begin to remove local Jews from the neighborhood, Jacqueline and her mother hide a boy in their home. Soon the Americans come to liberate France from German control, and Jacqueline … Continue reading →

Review: Rose Under Fire by Elizabeth Wein

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Rose Under Fire by Elizabeth WeinRose Under Fire by Elizabeth Wein
Disney Hyperion

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Eighteen year old Rose Justice volunteers as a civilian pilot in England during World War II. She works alongside Maddie and other young female pilots transporting planes and personnel to assist military forces. When an enemy aircraft draws Rose off course during one of her transport flights, Rose finds herself captured in enemy territory. Her troubles have only begun. Soon after German forces arrest her, she is sent to Ravensbruck, a German concentration camp. Rose faces brutal treatment at the hands of her captors. Her love for poetry and bonds with other prisoners challenge her to survive.

Readers of Wein’s novel Code Name Verity … Continue reading →

Review and Reminiscence: The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom

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The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten BoomThe Hiding Place
Corrie Ten Boom with John Sherrill and Elizabeth Sherrill
Chosen Books

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Nazi occupation during World War II changes watchmaker Corrie Ten Boom’s life. Her deep empathy and faith lead her to become a central participant in the underground movement to protect Jews and others on the run from the Nazi government. Corrie and her family know that at any time, they may be captured and sent to the very camps they work to save others from. Still, with every new challenge, Corrie and her sister Betsie cling to their faith in God and look to Him for the path they should follow. What results is a moving, often miraculous … Continue reading →

Review: Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein

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Code Name Verity
Elizabeth Wein
Disney/Hyperion
Published February 6, 2012

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After enduring long hours of torture, Verity, a prisoner in an abandoned hotel in Nazi-occupied France, promises to tell her German captors everything she knows. She begins with recollections of her best friend and pilot, Maddy. As Verity writes Maddy’s story, she recounts the early days of friendship and recruitment as a wireless operator in England. Life for Maddy, a simple country girl with a gift for mechanical engineering, drastically changes on the day she meets a bold woman pilot whose plane needs repair. For Maddy’s friend, a lost German pilot becomes the catalyst that sets in motion her own transformation.

While some … Continue reading →