The Book Thief by Markus Zusak is a story set in 1939 Germany, around the time Nazis begin to take control. With Death as the narrator, we see how Liesel's life is about to change. As Liesel says goodbye to her dead brother, she picks up a single object, partially hidden in the snow. It is The Gravedigger's Handbook, left behind by accident, and it is her first act of book thievery. Here begins her interest in books and words. Follow the Book Thief in her journey.
When The World Was Ours is a heart-touching book about friendship. This book revolves around three friends Leo, Elsa and Max. When World War II breaks out they are forced to separate from one another. Once they separate all three of them go their ways and we see how their fates are intertwined. I enjoyed this book a lot because it is a short and meaningful book. The aspect I loved the most in this book is the friendship between the three main characters.
Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys is a historical fiction novel set in the final months of World War II, centered around the tragic sinking of the Wilhelm Gustloff, a real-life maritime disaster that claimed over 9,000 lives. The story follows four young refugees—Joana, a Lithuanian nurse, Florian, a Prussian art restorer, Emilia, a Polish girl, and Alfred, a German soldier—each harboring their own secrets and traumas.
“It seemed clear that wars were not made by generations and their special stupidities, but that wars were made instead by something ignorant in the human heart.”
“Fools!" said the man, stamping his foot with rage. "That is the sort of talk that brought me here, and I'd better have been drowned or never born. Do you hear what I say? This is where dreams — dreams, do you understand — come to life, come real. Not daydreams: dreams.”
“Wouldn't it be dreadful if some day in our own world, at home, men start going wild inside, like the animals here, and still look like men, so that you'd never know which were which.”
The fourth book in the Narnia series, Prince Caspian is one of the most memorable ones, with all the classics of a fairytale. An evil uncle, plotting for the throne, and a young prince seeking help in what’s left of the mythical part of his kingdom.
The Book Thief is a historical fiction book by Markus Zusak. The book takes place in Germany during WWII and is narrated by Death. After the death of Liesel's brother and being separated from her mother, Liesel is taken in by a foster family just outside of Munich. Using a book she found in the snow, Liesel learns to read and becomes very close with her foster father, Hans. As the war progresses, Liesel's family hides a Jew in their basement, and Liesel will go to extreme lengths to defend him.
Mila 18 by Leon Uris is a historical novel set in Warsaw, Poland, during World War II, focusing on the Jewish resistance fighters in the Warsaw Ghetto. The story follows a diverse group of characters as they struggle against the Nazi occupation and the atrocities of the Holocaust. The titular Mila 18 is a bunker where the resistance makes its last stand against the overwhelming forces of the German army during the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.
The War That Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley is a book about two children named Ada and Jamie. Ada is a 10-year-old girl who is living in terrible conditions. They usually didn’t have food or water to drink or any to bathe with. Ada also had clubfoot and her terrible mother hated her because of it. She forced her to stay in one room and go to the restroom in a bucket. Whenever Ada was “bad” she made her climb into and old dirty cabinet. She was abusive to Ada and Jamie.
