One Eye Laughing, The Other Weeping by Barry Denenberg. Ages 9 and up. This story is about a Jewish girl, Julie Weiss that lived in Austria during the time the Nazis occupied it. Her diary talks about the hardships that her family faced during the occupation and the impact it had on her. Being that this diary is based on a true story, I found this book shocking and devasting for a twelve year old girl to have gone through what she did during this time period. Julie was eventually sent to America to live with her aunt and had to start her life over in a brand new environment.
Anastasia: The Last Grand Duchess by Carolyn Meyer. Ages 9 and up. This diary looks at Anastasia's family life as the daughter of Tsar Nicholas of Russia. Anastasia lived a comfortable life until the first World War and her father abdicated his position as Tsar. This book describes Anastasia's move from the palace with her family to going into hiding in Siberia. The diary leads up to the final days of Anastasia and her family's lives until their execution. I found it disturbing and upsetting that the diary has no real ending because the family was murdered.
Twenty and Ten by Claire Huchet Bishop. Ages 10 and up. I liked how the children in this book outwitted soldiers who were looking for Jewish children that were hidden in their house. The children were brave and stood their ground instead of revealing where the Jewish children were hiding. It was because of their courage that the Jewish children survived and were safe for the remainder of World War two. I think that this book is good for older elementary students because it shows the importance of sticking up for what is right no matter what.
The Little Ships: The Heroic Rescue at Dunkirk in World War II by Louise Borden. Ages 9 and up. This story is about a little girl who helped her father and his men rescue British and French soldiers trapped by the German army. The book is very descriptive on what she feels, and sees during the rescue. This gives the reader an understanding of what it may have felt like to be there at this time and how frightening it was for the soldiers who were being rescued.
Under the Quilt of Night by Deborah Hopkinson. Ages 5 and up. I like how this story flows together and has a rhythm to it. The way the story is written in short phrases and sentences keeps the story moving from one part to the next keeping the reader hanging out to read what is going to happen next. The pictures also flow with the woods showing the intensity of the slaves running to escape their overseer. The first page from left to right shows the people far away blurred and then they get closer as you move across the page until they are in clear view.
Players in Pigtails by Shana Corey. Ages 4 and up. This book has a poem at the beginning and end of the story to get the reader into what the story is about. Katie Casey is one of the first woman to play baseball for an All American Girls Professional Baseball League despite people who doubted that girls could play baseball. Katie proved the crowd wrong when she hit a homerun for her team. This story is based on the time period when men were sent to war and fans still wanted to see their favorite pastime, baseball. Women were then given a chance to be on a professional baseball team. This story shows girl readers that they can be whatever they want to be when they grow up and don't have to be restricted to certain jobs just because they are a girl.
Boom Town by Sonia Levitin. Ages 5 and up. This story is about a girl Amanda whose family moves to California to try to strike rich by finding gold. Unfortunetly, Amanda's father comes home with empty pockets. Amanda decides to start making pies and her pies soon become popular throughout the town. It is with Amanda's pie that turns into the family's bakery that begins the opening of shops, hotels, and banks. The town that once just relied on men trying to find gold became a booming town of people selling and buying from one another. This book uses rhyming words to detail how the town grew and became successful.
Tricking the Tallyman by Jacqueline Davies. Ages 5 and up. This silly tale gives children an understanding on what a census is and how a census what done in 1790. A U.S. census taker comes to a town called Tunbridge to take a tally of how many people live there. At first the townspeople don't want the census taker to count all the people because they are afraid that they will have to pay more taxes if their is a lot of people. The town hides some people and the census taker counts the wrong amount. The tallyman than starts to leave, but the town hears that the more people that are counted the more votes the town will get. The town then calls the tallyman back. This story uses slapstick humor to show how hard it was for the census taker to get a tally for the exact amount of people during this time period.
Going North by Janice N. Harrington. Ages 5 and up. The use of words and repetition in this story makes the words run smoothly. I like how the some words are repeated and written in bold for emphasis to describe how of the little girl telling the story. Onomonopia is used in this story as well, so that the reader can see and hear the story in their mind while reading the words. I didn't like how the illustrations were blurred. I would have liked clearer illustrations of the characters and story line. This book could accompany a poetry unit on free verse in school or a unit on the slaves moving from the South to the North to start a new free life for themselves.
Coolies by Yin. Ages 5 and up. This book recognizes the dedication and hard work the Chinese immigrants put into making the railroad. Two Chinese brothers came to America for work because their family was starving in China. The brothers were hired by the Centrail Pacific Railroad Company and that is where they worked for four years until the railroad was finished. At the celebration for finishing the railroad, managers and other workers were invited but the Chinese were not. This story gives the reader a Chinese worker perspective during the building of the railroad. I liked how the illustrations in this book were descriptive down to the littlest details.
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