World War II & the 1940's: Historical Fiction

 

Author Title  Description
Avi Don't You Know There's a War On?  In wartime Brooklyn in 1943, 11-year-old Howie Crispers mounts a campaign to save his favorite teacher from being fired.
Avi Who Was That Masked Man, Anyway?  In the early 1940s when nearly everyone else is thinking about WW II, 6th-grader Frankie Wattleson gets in trouble because of his preoccupation with his favorite radio programs.
Barrow, Randi     Saving Zasha      

In 1945 Russia, those who own German shepherds are considered traitors, but 13-yr-old Mikhail and his family are determined to keep the dog a dying man brought them, while classmate Katia strives to learn Mikhail's secret.

 
Bartoletti, Susan C. The Boy Who Dared  In October, 1942, 17-yr-old Helmuth Hübener, imprisoned for distributing anti-Nazi leaflets, recalls his past life and how he came to dedicate himself to bring the truth about Hitler and the war to the German people.
Bat-Ami, Miriam Two Suns in the Sky  Set in 1944 Oswego, N.Y., where America's only refugee camp is set up to accommodate Jews fleeing Europe. Adam, a 15-year-old Yugoslav Jew, begins a romance with a local girl. Quotations from former residents of the camp and a substantial Author's Note add to the authenticity.
Boulle, Pierre The Bridge Over the River Kwai  In a 1942 Japanese prison camp British prisoners of war agree to build a 600 foot bridge over the Kwai.
Boyne, John The Boy in the Striped Pajamas  Bored and lonely after his family moves from Berlin to a place he calls "Out-With" in 1942, Bruno, the young son of a Nazi officer, befriends a boy in striped pajamas who lives behind a wire fence.
Bradley, Kimberly Brubaker For Freedom: the Story of a French Spy  Despite the horrors of WW II, a French teenager pursues her dream of becoming an opera singer, which takes her to places where she gains information about what the Nazis are doing --information that the French Resistance needs.
Bruchac, Joseph Code Talker  After being taught in a boarding school run by whites that Navajo is a useless language, Ned Begay and other Navajo men are recruited by the Marines to become Code Talkers, sending messages during WW II in their native tongue.
Bykov, Vasil Pack of Wolves  In the forests of Belorussia in 1942 a group of disabled Russian partisans makes its way to a medical unit while being pursued by German soldiers.
Casanova, Mary The Klipfish Code  Sent with her younger brother to Godoy Island to live with her aunt and grandfather after Germans bomb Norway in 1940, 10-yr-old Merit longs to join her parents in the Resistance and when her aunt is taken away two years later, she resents even more the Nazis' presence and her grandfather's refusal to oppose them. Includes historical facts and glossary.
Chang, Margaret & Raymond In the Eye of War  An interesting perspective on WW II is provided through the eyes of Shao-shao, a 10-year-old living in Japanese-occupied Shanghai. Primarily a study of the boy's experiences, there is also abundant detail  provided about family, holiday customs, everyday living, schooling, and favorite play activities.
Chotjewitz, David Daniel, Half Human, and the Good Nazi  In 1933, best friends Daniel and Armin admire Hitler, but as anti-Semitism buoys Hitler to power, Daniel learns he is half Jewish, threatening the friendship even as life in their beloved Hamburg, Germany, is becoming nightmarish. Also details Daniel and Armin's reunion in 1945 in interspersed chapters.
Denenberg, Barry The Journal of Ben Uchida, Citizen 313559, Mirror Lake Internment Camp  12-year-old Ben Uchida keeps a journal of his experiences as a prisoner in a Japanese internment camp in Mirror Lake, California, during WW II.
Denenberg, Barry Shadow Life: A Portrait of Anne Frank and Her Family  A fictional diary from Margot Frank’s perspective, a new view of the Frank family’s two years in hiding.
Denenberg, Barry Early Sunday Morning: the Pearl Harbor Diary of Amber Billows  In her diary, 12-year-old Amber describes moving to Hawaii in 1941 and experiencing the horror of the bombing of Pearl Harbor.
Denenberg, Barry One Eye Laughing, the Other Weeping:  the Diary of Julie Weiss  During the Nazi persecution of the Jews in Austria, 12-year-old Julie escapes to America to live with her relatives in New York City.
Drucker, Malka Jacob's Rescue: a Holocaust Story  In answer to his daughter's questions, a man recalls the terrifying years of his childhood. Based on a true story.
Elliott, Laura Under a War Torn Sky  After his plane is shot down by Hitler's Luftwaffe, 19-yr-old Henry Forester of Richmond, Virginia, strives to walk across occupied France, with the help of the French Resistance, in hopes of rejoining his unit.
Fleischman, Sid The Entertainer and the Dybbuk  A struggling American ventriloquist in post-World War II Europe is possessed by the mischievous spirit of a young Jewish boy killed in the Holocaust. Author's note with many historical details.
Forman, James The Survivor  An account of a Jewish family in Holland during WW II as one by one it dwindles away during the holocaust.
Gallico, Paul The Snow Goose  Masterpiece about a crippled artist's daring rescue of British soldiers stranded at Dunkirk during WW II.
Giff, Patricia Reilly Lily's Crossing  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.
Giff, Patricia Reilly Willow Run  After moving to Willow Run, Michigan, during WW II, 11-year-old Meggie's father gets a job in the B-24 bomber-building factory; and she learns about different kinds of bravery from the people around her.
Glenn, Mel Squeeze Play: A Baseball Story  With the support of gentle Mr. Janowicz, a Holocaust survivor, Jeremy speaks out against his bullying sixth grade teacher and his mandatory after-school baseball games.
Greene, Bette Summer of My German Soldier  Patty Bergen, an unhappy Jewish girl in Arkansas, shelters a pacifist German POW who escaped from a local prison compound. She must face the wrath & hatred of her family & town for her actions.
Hahn, Mary Downing Stepping on the Cracks  In 1944, while her brother is overseas fighting in WW II, 11-year-old Margaret gets a new view of the school bully when she finds him hiding his own brother, an army deserter.
Hesse, Karen Aleutian Sparrow  An Aleutian Islander recounts her suffering in American internment camps designed to "protect" the population from the invading Japanese. Told in non-rhyming verse.
Hesse, Karen The Cats in Krasinski Square  TwoJewish sisters, escapees of the infamous Warsaw ghetto, devise a plan to thwart an attempt by the Gestapo to intercept food bound for starving people behind the dark Wall.
Kadohata, Cynthia Weedflower  After 12-old Sumiko and her Japanese-American family are relocated from their flower farm in southern California to an internment camp on a Mojave Indian reservation in Arizona, she helps her family and neighbors, becomes friends with a local Indian boy, and tries to hold on to her dream of owning a flower shop.
Kerr, Judith When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit  Recounts the adventures of a 9-year-old Jewish girl and her family in the early 1930's as they travel from Germany to England.
Kerr, M.E. Slap Your Sides  Life in their Pennsylvania hometown changes for Jubal Shoemaker and his family when his older brother's Quaker beliefs lead him to become a conscientious objector during WW II.
Klages, Ellen The Green Glass Sea   In 1943, 11-yr-old Dewey Kerrigan lives with her scientist father in Los Alamos, New Mexico, as he works on a top secret government program (developing the atomic bomb), and befriends an aspiring artist who is a misfit just like her.
Kositsky, Lynne The Thought of High Windows  A Jewish refugee who is attracted to going through windows arrives in the south of France at the beginning of WW II, where she faces hardships, dangers, and losses as she struggles to survive and joins the Resistance.
Laird, Christa Shadow of the Wall  In Warsaw during World War II, 13-year-old Misha Edelman feels responsible for his ailing mother and two younger sisters after his father dies. Living in the Orphans' Home operated by the heroic "Mister Doctor" Korczak, Misha risks his life by smuggling to support those he loves.
Lawrence, Iain B for Buster  In the spring of 1943, 16-year-old Kak, desperate to escape his abusive parents, lies about his age to enlist in the Canadian Air Force and soon finds himself based in England as part of a crew flying bombing raids over Germany.
Levitin, Sonia Room in the Heart  After German forces occupy Denmark during WW II, 15-year-olds Julie Weinstein and Niels Nelson and their friends and families try to cope with their daily lives, finding various ways to resist the Nazis and, ultimately, to survive.  
Lisle, Janet Taylor The Art of Keeping Cool  In 1942, Robert and his cousin Elliot uncover long-hidden family secrets while staying in their grandparents' Rhode Island town, where they also become involved with a German artist who is suspected of being a spy.
Lowry, Lois Number the Stars  In 1943, during the German occupation of Denmark, 10-year-old Annemarie learns how to be brave and courageous when she helps shelter her Jewish friend from the Nazis.
Magorian, Michelle Good Night, Mr. Tom  A battered child learns to embrace life when he is adopted by an old man in the English countryside during the Second World War.
Matas, Carol After the War  After being released from Buchenwald at the end of WW II, 15-year-old Ruth risks her life to lead a group of children across Europe to Palestine.
Mazer, Harry A Boy No More  After his father is killed in the attack on Pearl Harbor, Adam, his mother, & sister are evacuated from Hawaii to California, where he must deal with his feelings about the war, Japanese internment camps, his father, and his own identity.
Mazer, Harry Heroes Don't Run: a Novel of the Pacific War  To honor his father who died during the Japanese invasion of Pearl Harbor, 17-year-old Adam eagerly enlists in the Marines in 1944, survives boot camp, and faces combat on the tiny island of Okinawa.
Mazer, Harry The Last Mission  In 1944 a 15-yr-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.
Mazer, Norma Fox Good Night, Maman  After spending years fleeing from the Nazis in war-torn Europe, 12-year-old Karin Levi and her older brother Marc find a new home in a refugee camp in Oswego, New York.
McSwigan, Marie Snow Treasure  Suspenseful tale of Norwegian children and their contributions to protecting their town's considerable wealth of gold during the German occupation in 1940.
Morpugo, Michael Waiting for Anya  A young shepard 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 during WW II in Vichy, France.
Myers, Walter Dean The Journal of Scott Pendleton Collins: a World War II Soldier  A 17-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  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  and desperately tries to make his way back home to Venice.
Napoli, Donna Jo Fire in the Hills  Sequel to Stones in Water. Upon returning to Italy, 14-year-old Roberto struggles to survive, first on his own, then as a member of the resistance, fighting against the Nazi occupiers while yearning to reach home safely and for an end to the war.
Orgel, Doris Devil in Vienna  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 Lady With the Hat  In 1947, 17-year-old Yulek, the only member of his immediate family to survive the German concentration camps, joins a group of young Jews preparing to live on a kibbutz in Israel, unaware that his aunt living in London is looking for him.
Orlev, Uri Run, Boy Run  Based on the true story of a 9-year-old boy who escapes the Warsaw Ghetto and must survive throughout the war in the Nazi-occupied Polish countryside.
Orlev, Uri The Man From the Other Side  Living on the outskirts of the Warsaw Ghetto during WW II, 14-year-old Marek and his grandparents shelter a Jewish man in the days before the Jewish uprising.
Orlev, Uri The Island on Bird Street  During WW 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 under constantly life-threatening conditions.
Osborne, Mary Pope My Secret War: the World War II Diary of Madeline Beck  13-year old Madeline's diaries for 1941 and 1942 reveal her experiences living on Long Island during WW II while her father is away in the Navy.
Ossowski, Leonie Star Without a Sky  In the last days of WW II, 5 young Germans discover a Jewish boy hiding in a cellar and must decide whether or not to turn him over to the Nazi authorities.
Park, Linda Sue When My Name Was Keoko  With national pride and occasional fear, a brother and sister face the increasingly oppressive occupation of Korea by Japan during WW II, which threatens to suppress Korean culture entirely.
Pausewang, Gudren Dark Hours  After leaving their German village during WW II, 15-yr-old Gisel and her younger brothers are separated from their mother and grandmother and trapped in a train station during the firebombing of Dresden.
Pausewang, Gudren The Final Journey  Alice finds herself on the run with her grandfather after her grandmother is taken prisoner, and she begins to understand the horrors of Hitler's Germany.
Pearson, Kit The Sky is Falling  A wrenching separation from her parents is only the first of the difficulties that 10-yr-old Norah must face when she and her younger brother Gavin are sent from England to Canada to escape the Nazi bombing.
Peck, Richard On the Wings of Heroes  A boy in Illinois remembers the homefront years of World War II, especially his two heroes--his brother in the Air Force and his father, who fought in the previous war.
Peet, Mal Tamar: A Novel of Espionage, Passion, and Betrayal  In England in 1995, 15-yr-old Tamar, grief-stricken by the puzzling death of her beloved grandfather, slowly begins to uncover the secrets of his life in the Dutch resistance during the last year of the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands, and the climactic events that forever cast a shadow on his life and that of his family.
Polak, Monique What World is Left?  Anneke, a Dutch Jewish teenager, is sent with her family to Theresienstadt, a "model" concentration camp, where she confronts great evil and learns to do what it takes to survive.
Pressler, Mirjam Malka  In the winter of 1943, a Polish physician and her older daughter make a dangerous trek to Hungary while 7-year-old Malka, who has become ill, must stay behind and fend for herself in the ghetto.
Prince, Alison How's Business  A young boy, sent to the country from London during WW II, comes into conflict with some local boys who find ways to test his courage.
Propp, Vera W. When the Soldiers Were Gone  After the German occupation of the Netherlands, Benjamin leaves the Christian family with whom he had been living and reunites with his real parents who returned from hiding.
Raymond, Patrick Daniel and Esther  The shadow of advancing destruction and terror that becomes WW lI is the framework for this novel about young lovers, destined to be torn apart when the war finally begins.
Richter, Conrad Friedrich  A young German boy recounts the fate of his best friend, a Jew, during the Nazi regime.
Rose, Anne K. Refugee  Traces a 12-year-old Jewish girl's flight from Belgium prior to Hitler's invasion and her life in New York until the age of 18 when the war ends.
Ross, Ramon Royal Harper and Moon  Although 12-year-old Harper has always liked Moon, an abused, orphaned older boy, their friendship is tested by a discovery Harper makes when Moon joins the Army in 1943.
Roth-Hano, Renee Touchwood: a Girlhood in Occupied France  In this autobiographical novel set in Nazi-occupied France, Renee, a young Jewish girl, and her family live a precarious existence in Paris until they escape to Normandy.
Roy, Jennifer Yellow Star  From 1939, when Syvia is 4-1/2-years old, to 1945 when she has just turned 10, a Jewish girl and her family struggle to survive in Poland's Lodz ghetto during the Nazi occupation.  
Sachs, Marilyn   Lost in America  The story of Nicole, a teenaged French Jew, from 1943 to 1948, as she loses her parents and sister to the concentration camps and then leaves her native France to make a new life for herself in New York City.
Salisbury, Graham Under the Blood-Red Sun  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.  
Salisbury, Graham House of the Red Fish  Sequel to Under the Blood-Red Sun. Over a year after Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor and the arrest of Tomi's father and grandfather, Tomi and his friends, battling anti-Japanese-American sentiment in Hawaii, try to find a way to salvage his father's sunken fishing boat.
Salisbury, Graham Eyes of the Emperor  Following orders from the United States Army, several young Japanese American men train K-9 units to hunt Asians during WW II.
Serraillier, Ian Escape from Warsaw  In 1942 Warsaw, WW II is raging, and people live in fear from day to day. Ruth, Bronia, and Edek have to fend for themselves when both of their parents are taken by the Nazis. A gripping story based on true accounts.
Siegal, Aranka Grace in the Wilderness: After the Liberation, 1945-1948  Liberated from a German concentration camp at the end of WW II but haunted by the memory of her ordeal, 15-year-old Piri starts a strange new life as a Jew in Sweden.
Smith, Roland Elephant Run  Nick endures servitude, beatings, and more after his British father's plantation in Burma is invaded by the Japanese in 1941. When his father and others are taken prisoner and Nick is stranded with his friend Mya, they plan a daring escape on elephants, risking their lives to save Nick's father and Mya's brother from a Japanese prisoner of war camp.
Smith, Sherri L. Flygirl  Dreaming of being a pilot her whole life, Ida Mae Jones sees her chance during World War II, but she cannot be accepted into the WASP because she is black, forcing a choice between her racial heritage and chasing her dream.
Spinelli, Jerry Milkweed  In 1939, a boy lives in the streets of Warsaw. He knows nothing of his background: Is he a Jew? a gypsy?. He wants to be a Nazi some day, with tall shiny jackboots and a gleaming Eagle hat of his own. Until the day that suddenly makes him change his mind.
Steinbeck, John The Moon is Down  Occupied by Nazi troops, a small, peaceable Norwegian town comes face to face with evil imposed from the outside -- and betrayal born within the close-knit community. Explores the effects of invasion on both the conquered and the conquerors.  
Suhl, Yuri On the Other Side of the Gate  Relates the experiences of a young Jewish couple when they are confined to a ghetto during the German occupation of Poland in WW II.
Taylor, Theodore The Bomb  In 1945, when the Americans liberate the Bikini Atoll from the Japanese, 14-yr-old Sorry Rinamu does not realize that the next year he will lead a desperate effort to save his island home from a much more deadly threat
Taylor, Theodore The Cay  When the freighter on which they are traveling is torpedoed by a German sub during World War II, a white boy who is blinded and a black man are stranded on an island.
Toksvig, Sandi Hitler's Canary  10-year-old Bamse and his Jewish friend Anton participate in the Danish Resistance during WWII.
Uchida, Yoshiko Journey to Topaz: a Story of the Japanese-American Evacuation  After the Pearl Harbor attack, an 11-year-old Japanese-American girl and her family are forced to go to an aliens camp in Utah.
Van Stockum, Hilda The Borrowed House  During WW II a young German girl, member of the Hitler Youth, goes to live with her parents in occupied Amsterdam and comes to realize the truth about the war.
Vos, Ida Anna Is Stil here  13-year old Anna, who was a "hidden child" in Nazi-occupied Holland during WW II, gradually learns to deal with the realities of being a survivor.
Vos, Ida Hide and Seek  A young Jewish girl living in Holland tells of her experiences during the Nazi occupation.
Watts, Irene N. Remember Me  One child's story from  the  rescue of Jewish children from Europe, sent by their parents to safety in Britain at the beginning of WW II. As a refugee, she's desperately unhappy, and most people know little about the horror she's left behind. Some don't like Jews, and no one likes Germans. "Is it all going to start again? " she wonders.
Westall, Robert Blitzcat  During WW II a black cat journeys all across war-ravaged England in an effort to track down her beloved master.
Westall, Robert The Machine Gunners  After an air raid, a group of English children find a German machine gun and hide it from adults who are looking for it.
Westall, Robert Fathom Five  A teenage boy and his friends spend the spring of 1943 trying to discover who in their sleepy English seaport is passing information to the Germans.
Williams, Laura E. Behind the Bedroom Wall  10-yr-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.
Wolf, Joan M. Someone Named Eva  From her home in Lidice, Czechoslovakia, in 1942, 11-yr-old Milada is taken with other blond, blue-eyed children to a school in Poland to be trained as "proper Germans" for adoption by German families, but all the while she remembers her true name and history.
Wolff, Virginia Euwer Bat 6  In small town, post-World War Oregon, twenty-one 6th grade girls recount the story of an annual softball game, during which one girl's bigotry comes to the surface
Yolen, Jane The Devil's Arithmetic  Hannah resents the traditions of her Jewish heritage until time travel places her in the middle of a small Jewish village in Nazi-occupied Poland.
Zusak, Markus The Book Thief  Trying to make sense of the horrors of WW II, Death relates the story of a young German girl whose book-stealing and story-telling talents help sustain her family and the Jewish man they are hiding, as well as their neighbors.
 
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