World War II

Avi - Who Was That Masked Man, Anyway (170 pages) In the early forties when nearly everyone else is thinking about World War II, Frankie Wattleson gets in trouble at home and at school because of his preoccupation with his favorite radio programs.

Banks, Sara - Under the Shadow of Wings (147 pages) During 1944, life in rural Alabama brings changes for 11-year-old Tattnall as she realizes that she cannot always protect her older, brain-damaged cousin.

Bauer, Marion - Rain of Fire (153 pages) When Steve’s older brother Matthew, returning home after service in World War II, refuses to talk about his wartime experiences, Steve’s friends begin to doubt the stories he has told of Matthew’s heroism.

Bawden, Nina - Henry (119 pages) Evacuated to the English countryside during World War II, a fatherless family tries to raise a baby squirrel that also lost its home.

Baylis-White, Mary - Sheltering Rebecca (99 pages) In the days before the Second World War, 12-year-old Sally becomes friends with Rebecca, a young Jewish refugee from Germany.

Bishop, Claire Huchet - Twenty and Ten (76 pages) Twenty school children hide ten Jewish children from the Nazis during the occupation of France during World War II.

Bunting, Eve - Spying on Miss Muller (179 pages) At Alveara boarding school in Belfast at the start of World War II, thirteen-year-old Jessie must deal with her suspicions about a teacher whose father was German and with her worries about her own father's drinking problem.

Chang, Margaret - In the Eye of War (197 pages) During the final days of the Japanese occupation of China, Shao-shao celebrates his tenth birthday, observes traditional holidays with his family, and befriends the daughter of a traitor.

Choi, Sook Nyul –

• Echoes of the White Giraffe (167 pages) (Sequel to Year of Impossible Goodbyes) Fifteen-year-old Sookan adjusts to life in the refugee village in Pusan but continues to hope that the civil war will end and her family will be reunited in Seoul.
• Year of Impossible Goodbyes (171 pages) A young Korean girl survives the oppressive Japanese and Russian occupation of North Korea during the 1940s, to later escape to freedom in South Korea.

Cooper, Susan - Dawn of Fear (157 pages) Three English children, fascinated by the war air raids, gradually become aware of true fear and horror when they seek vengeance on an opposing gang that destroyed their hideaway.

Cutler, Jane - My Wartime Summers (153 pages) Over four memorable summers, Ellen and her friends follow the war taking place far away but that still touches their lives.

Degens, T. - Transport 7-41-R (171 pages) A thirteen-year-old girl describes her journey from the Russia sector of defeated Germany to Cologne on a transport carrying returning refugees in 1946.

Dejong, Meindert - House of Sixty Fathers (189 pages) A young Chinese boy finds adventure when he tries to find his parents in Japanese-occupied China.

Denenberg, Barry - Journal of Ben Uchida, Citizen #13559, Mirror Lake Internment Camp (156 pages) (My name is America series) Twelve-year-old Ben Uchida keeps a journal of his experiences as a prisoner in a Japanese internment camp in Mirror Lake, California, during World War II.

Douglas, Kirk - Broken Mirror (88 pages) After the Nazis destroy his family, twelve-year-old Moishe gives up his Jewish faith, calls himself Danny, and is taken to New York where he tries to make the best of his life in a Catholic orphanage.

Drucker, Malda - Jacob’s Rescue (117 pages) In answer to his daughter’s questions, a man recalls the terrifying years of his childhood when a brave Polish couple, Alex and Mela Roslan, hide him and other Jewish children from the Nazis. Based on a true story.

Elmer, Robert - Beyond the River (176 pages) While visiting their cousins’ farm on the west coast of Denmark in the summer of 1944, eleven-year-old twins Peter and Elise learn the power of prayer as they work to rescue a downed British pilot.

Garrigue, Sheila –

• All the Children Were Sent Away (171 pages) An eight-year-old British girl experiences loneliness and fear when she and many other children are evacuated to Canada during World War II.
• Eternal spring of Mr. Ito (163 pages) The fate of a 200-year-old bonsai tree is decided by a young girl and an old Japanese Canadian gardener who resists being imprisoned in an internment camp after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. (Sequel to All the Children Were Sent Away)

Gehrts, Barbara - Don't Say a Word (169 pages) Living in Berlin during World War II, Anna finds herself and her family growing more and more aware of the dangerous direction in which her country is moving as her friends start to die.

Giff, Patricia Reilly - Lily’s Crossing (180 pages) During a summer spent at Rockaway Beach in 1944, Lily’s friendship with a young Hungarian refugee causes her to see the war and her own world differently in this Newbery Honor book.

Glassman, Judy - Morning Glory War (119 pages) Jeannie, a fifth grader during World War II, supports the war effort at home and writes to a soldier overseas while enduring the dislike of her harsh teacher.

Griese, Arnold - The Wind is Not a River (108 pages) As the only ones not captured when the Japanese take over their Aleutian island village during World War II, two children must survive on their own.

Hahn, Mary Downing - Stepping on the Cracks (216 pages) In 1944, while her brother is overseas fighting in World War II, eleven-year-old Margaret gets a new view of the school bully Gordy when she finds him hiding his own brother, an army deserter, and decides to help him.

Herman, Charlotte - The Summer on Thirteenth Street (181 pages) World War II affects Shirley Frances Cohen and her buddy Morton, Manny who joins the army, their parents, a German immigrant suspected of being a spy and the other people in their Chicago neighborhood.

Hertenstein, Jane – Beyond Paradise (144 pages) Within months of arriving in the exotic Philippines from Upper Sandusky, Ohio, to live with her missionary parents on the island of Panay, fourteen-year-old Louise finds herself a prisoner of war in an internment camp when the Japanese invade her new country in 1941.

Hest, Amy - Love You, Soldier (47 pages) Katie, a Jewish girl living in New York City during World War II, sees many dynamic changes in her world as she ages from seven to ten waiting for her father to return from the war.

Howard, Ellen - A Different Kind of Courage (170 pages) While escaping the horrors of war-torn France, refugee children struggle to overcome the misconception that their parents are abandoning them.

Innocenti, Roberto – Rose Blanche (32 pages) (Picture book style) During World War II, a young German girl's curiosity leads her to discover something far more terrible than the day-to-day hardships and privations that she and her neighbors have experienced.

Kerr, Judith - When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit (191 pages) Recounts the adventures of a nine-year-old Jewish girl and her family in the early 1930's as they travel from Germany to England.

Kudlinski, Kathleen - Pearl Harbor is Burning (54 pages) Frank is miserable when his family moves to Hawaii in 1941 until he meets Kenji, a Japanese-American boy. Then Pearl Harbor is bombed by the Japanese, raising questions of trust and loyalty in their friendship.

Laird, Christa - But Can the Phoenix Sing? (230 pages) With the Nazis tightening their death grip on the Warsaw Ghetto, Misha Edelman escapes through the sewers. Taking on a new identity, he joins a band desperately trying to fight back and save as many Jews as they can. But survival comes at a heavy cost. Thirty years later, trying to come to terms with all he has done and seen, Misha writes an autobiographical letter to the stepson who wonders why he always seems so stern and forbidding.

Levitin, Sonia - Journey to America (150 pages) A Jewish family fleeing Nazi Germany in 1938 endures innumerable separations before they are once again united.

Lisle, Janet Taylor - Sirens and Spies (169 pages) No one agrees on the truth about the mysterious violin teacher, Renee Fitch, until she herself tells the definitive story of her life and brings together all the differing views people have of her.

Lowry, Lois –

• Autumn Street (188 pages) When her father goes to fight in World War II, Elizabeth goes with her mother and sister to her grandfather's house where she learns to face up to the always puzzling and often cruel realities of the adult world.
• Number the Stars (137 pages) (Newbery award winner) In 1943, during the German occupation of Denmark, ten-year-old Annemarie learns how to be brave and courageous when she helps shelter her Jewish friend from the Nazis.

Magorian, Machelle - Good Night, Mr. Tom (318 pages) In this Newbery Award winning book, a battered child learns to embrace life when he is adopted by an old man in the English countryside during the Second World War.

Maguire, Gregory – Good Liar (144 pages) Now an old man living in the United States, Marcel recalls his childhood in German-occupied France, especially the summer that he and his older brother Rene befriended a young German soldier.

Manley, Joan - She Flew No Flags (269 pages) In early 1944, as the war rages around them, an American family travels from India to the United States by ship, under blackout conditions, through enemy waters of the Indian and Pacific Oceans.

Matas, Carol –

• Greater than Angels (133 pages) Anna, a teenaged German refugee, relates how she and other Jewish children were cared for by the citizens of Le Chambon-sur-Lignon, France, during the German occupation.
• In My Enemy's House (167 pages) When German soldiers arrive in Zloczow during World War II, a young Jewish girl must decide whether or not to conceal her identity and work for a Nazi in Germany in order to survive.
• Lisa's War (111 pages) During the Nazi occupation of Denmark, Lisa and other teenage Jews become involved in an underground resistance movement and eventually must flee for their lives.

Mazer, Norma Fox - Good Night, Maman (185 pages) After spending years fleeing from the Nazis in war-torn Europe, twelve-year-old Karin Levi and her older brother Marc find a new home in a refugee camp in Oswego, New York.

Mazer, Harry - Last Mission (182 pages) In 1944 a 15-year-old Jewish boy tells his family he will travel in the West but instead, enlists in the United States Air Corps and is subsequently taken prisoner by the Germans.

McSwigan, Marie - Snow Treasure (178 pages) A daring adventure based on a true story about a group of Norwegian children who smuggled nine million dollars in gold past Nazi sentries during World War II.

Morpurgo, Michael - Waiting for Anya (172 pages) Jo places his life in danger when he helps protect a growing number of Jewish children who have sought refuge at a reclusive widow's farm.

Myers, Walter Dean - Journal of Scott Pendleton Collins: A World War II Soldier (140 pages) (My name is America series) A seventeen-year-old soldier from central Virginia records his experiences in a journal as his regiment takes part in the D-Day invasion of Normandy and subsequent battles to liberate France.

Napoli, Donna Jo - Stones in Water (209 pages) After being taken by German soldiers from a local movie theater along with other Italian boys including his Jewish friend, Roberto is forced to work in Germany. He escapes into the Ukrainian winter, before desperately trying to make his way back home to Venice.

Orgel, Doris - Devil in Vienna (246 pages) A Jewish girl and the daughter of a Nazi have been best friends since they started school, but in 1938 the 13-year-olds find their close relationship difficult to maintain.

Orlev, Uri –

• The Island on Bird Street (162 pages) During World War II a Jewish boy is left on his own for months in a ruined house in the Warsaw Ghetto, where he must learn all the tricks of survival.
• Man from the Other Side (186 pages) Living on the outskirts of the Warsaw Ghetto during World War II, fourteen-year-old Marek and his grandparents shelter a Jewish man in the days before the Jewish uprising.

Pelgrom, Els - Winter When Time Was Frozen (253 pages) A twelve-year-old girl and her father are forced to flee after the Battle of Arnhem in Holland and find shelter with a farm family during the final months of the war.

Penn, Malka – Hanukkah Ghosts (76 pages) On a visit to England, Susan finds herself mysteriously transported back to the time of World War II, where she meets a Viennese Jewish refugee and a prejudiced young boy who help her understand and appreciate her background.

Pople, Maureen - Other Side of the Family (167 pages) Sent from England for safety during World War II to stay with an Australian grandmother known to hate her family, fifteen-year-old Katherine discovers a totally unexpected character and startling revelations about her family.

Reeder, Carolyn - Foster's War (267 pages) When his older brother joins the army during World War II in order to escape the rages of an authoritarian father, eleven-year-old Foster fights his battles on the home front.

Rinaldi, Ann - Keep Smiling Through (208 pages) A ten-year-old girl living in middle-class America during World War II learns the painful lesson that doing what's right is not always an easy thing to do.

Roth-Hano, Renee - Touch wood: A Girlhood in Occupied France (279 pages) In this autobiographical novel set in Nazi-occupied France, Renee, a young Jewish girl, and her family flee their home in Alsace and live a precarious existence in Paris until Renee and her sister escape to the shelter of a convent in Normandy.

Sachs, Marilyn – A Pocket Full of Seeds (157 pages) During the German occupation of France, a young Jewish girl must cope with the disappearance of her family.

Salisbury, Graham - Under the Blood-red Sun (246 pages) Tomikazu Nakaji's biggest concerns are baseball, homework, and a local bully, until life with his Japanese family in Hawaii changes drastically after the bombing of Pearl Harbor in December 1941.

Shemin, Margaretha - The Little Riders (76 pages) An American girl living in Nazi-occupied Holland resents the presence of a German soldier quartered in her grandparents’ home until the night she tries to hide part of the town’s treasured clock mechanism.

Sorensen, Virginia - Miracles on Maple Hill (180 pages) (1957 Newbery Medal winner) Each season on Maple Hill is filled with miracles. But without a doubt, the biggest miracle on Maple Hill is the change in Mary's father, who has returned from the war tired and cross. The beauty and power of nature rejuvenate him and bring a special happiness to the entire family.

Taylor, Theodore - Bomb (197 pages) In 1944, when the Americans liberate Bikini Atoll from the Japanese, 14-year-old Sorry Rinamu does not realize that in two years he will lead a desperate effort to save his island home from a much more deadly threat.

Thesman, Jean - Molly Donnelly (186 pages) Twelve-year-old Molly, who lives next door to a Japanese American family and whose cousin is a nurse in the Philippines, experiences many changes in her life when World War II breaks out.

Treseder, Terry - Hear O Israel (41 pages) A Jewish boy describes life in the Warsaw ghetto and his family’s ultimate transference to and decimation in the camp of Treblinka.

Turnbull, Ann - Room for a Stranger (112 pages) Doreen is jealous of Rhoda, who has come to live with her family in the country to escape the bombing of London. (sequel to No Friend of Mine)

Uchida, Yoshiko –

• A Jar of Dreams (131 pages) A young girl grows up in a closely-knit Japanese American family in California during the 1930's, a time of great prejudice.
• Journey Home (131 pages) After their release from an internment camp, Yuki and her family have difficulties returning to life in Berkeley, CA.
• Journey to Topaz 149 pages After the Pearl Harbor attack an eleven-year-old Japanese-American girl and her family are forced to go to an aliens camp in Utah.

Vander Els, Betty - Bombers' Moon (167 pages) In the summer of 1942, an American missionary family living in China is separated when the two children are evacuated to India with their school class to escape the Japanese invasion.

Van Kirk, Eileen - A Promise to Keep (147 pages) While spending the summer of 1940 on a farm in the English countryside to escape wartime London, fourteen-year-old Ellie falls in love with a handsome Austrian refugee and faces a conflict of loyalties when he reveals that he is sympathetic to the German enemy.

Van Steenwyk, Elizabeth - Traitor Among Us (143 pages) In occupied Holland in 1944, thirteen-year-old Pieter becomes increasingly involved in the work of the Dutch Resistance even though he knows the risk of being discovered by the Nazi informer who lives in his village.

Vos, Ida –

• Anna is Still Here (139 pages) Thirteen-year-old Anna, who was a "hidden child" in Nazi-occupied Holland during World War II, gradually learns to deal with the realities of being a survivor.
• Dancing on the Bridge of Avignon (183 pages) Relates the experiences of a young Jewish girl and her family during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands. The story is continued in Hide and Seek, also by this author.
• Hide and Seek (132 pages) A young Jewish girl living in Holland tells of her experiences during the Nazi occupation, her years in hiding, and the after shock when the war finally ends.

Velde, Vivian Vande - A Coming Evil (213 pages) During the German occupation of France in 1940, 13-year-old Lisette meets a ghost while living with her aunt who harbors Jewish and Gypsy children in the French countryside.

Walters, Eric - War of the Eagles (224 pages) Having moved to his mother's childhood home while his father fights oversees, Jed works on a naval base and cares for an injured eagle until his loyalties are tested by his country's internment of his best friend's family.

Watkins, Yoko Kawashima –

• So Far From the Bamboo Grove (183 pages) A fictionalized autobiography in which 11-year-old Yoko escapes from Korea to Japan with her mother and sister at the end of World War II. The sequel is: My Brother, My Sister, and I.
• My Brother, My Sister and I (275 pages) Living as refugees in Japan in 1947 while trying to locate their missing father, 13-year-old Yoko and her older brother and sister must endure a bad fire, injury, and false charges of arson, theft, and murder.

Westall, Robert –

• Blitzcat (230 pages) During World War II a black cat journeys all across war-ravaged England in an effort to track down her beloved master.
• Time of Fire (172 pages) In England during World War II, with his mother dead from a German bomb and his father off in training and action but keeping him informed by letter, Sonny tries to understand the darkest truths of war and retribution.

Williams, Laure E. - Behind the Bedroom Wall (169 pages) Thirteen-year-old Korinna must decide whether to report her parents to her Hitler youth group when she discovers that they are hiding Jews in a secret space behind Korinna's bedroom wall.

Winter, Kathryn - Katarina: a Novel (257 pages) During World War II in Slovakia, a young Jewish girl in hiding becomes a devout Catholic and is sustained by her belief that she will return home to her family as soon as the war ends.

Wolff, Virginia - Bat 6 (230 pages) In small town, Post World War Oregon, twenty-one sixth grade girls recount the story of an annual softball game, during which one girl’s bigotry comes to the surface.

Tripp, Valerie - Meet Molly, an American Girl (58 pages) First in the Molly series, in this story, while her father is away fighting in World War II, Molly finds her life full of change as she eats terrible vegetables from the victory garden and plans revenge on her brother for ruining her Halloween.

Yep, Laurence – Hiroshima (56 pages) Describes the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, particularly as it affects Sachi, who becomes one of the Hiroshima Maidens.

Yolen, Jane - Devil's Arithmetic (170 pages) Hannah resents stories of her Jewish heritage and of the past until, when opening the door during a Passover Seder, she finds herself in Poland during World War II where she experiences the horrors of a concentration camp, and learns why she, and we, need to remember the past.