History of World War II ideas

I absolutely love Corrie Ten Boom’s “The Hiding Place”. Understanding how this Christian family responded to the persecution of their Jewish neighbors (to the point of dying for them in concentration camps) is an incredible testimony of how to live out our relationship with Christ.

Keep in mind, though, that the issues surrounding that war are really complicated and heart wrenching. You said 6-7th grade reading level, but not sure about her emotional age and maturity level. I would make sure that she can handle the issues involved before handing her a book on WW2 – and be especially cautious about the photos she is presented with. It was a brutal war and the photos are very difficult to take.

Vision Forum has some terrific videos about the war, as well.

Hi.  My son is a big history buff, but I am not sure what your daughter’s tolerance level is for some of the material my son reads.  A couple lighter (on the realities of war) reads we love are:

Saving Zasha by Randi Barrow.  Some might consider this twaddle but we loved this book.  It is set in Russia at the end of WWII.  A boy, his mother, and siblings are awaiting word of their father, who was/is fighting in the war.  They discover a German solider with a very smart german shepherd.  It does give a different perspective that I had not read before, of what happened when the war ended and how the soliders made it home or did not, how their families dealt day to day with the not knowing, though the war was over.  Most of the book is about taking care of and hiding Zasha.  Happy-ending, the father does come home, Zasha is saved and has puppies.

Snow Treasure by Marie McSwigan, kids in Norway slip past Nazi soldiers with $9M in gold on sleds.  We have not finished this one yet.  My son is iffy on this one so far.

Some we have not read yet that are on our list:  Escape from Warsaw by Ian Serraillier; Candy Bomber by Michael O. Tunnell; A Father’s Promise by Donna Hess; Journey Through the Night by Anne De Vries; Twenty and Ten by William Pene Du Bois; The Winged Watchman by Hilda Van Stockum; Number the Stars by Lois Lowry.

I have been told that The Winged Watchman by Hilda Van Stockum is a must read for a living book for this time period.  My son is much more into Non-Fiction so I do not have many personal recommendations for this time period yet…

HTH,

Stephanie

Twenty and Ten is a delightful read for young readers. I started looking at our copy for my kids and ended up reading it all ahead of time, I couldn’t put it down. It is a short book.