Historical Fiction

 

Title: A World War II Story Across the Blue Pacific

Author: Louise Borden

Illustrator: Robert Andrew Parker

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Company

Copyright date: 2006

Number of pages: 40 pages

Awards: n/a

Genre: Historical fiction, fiction, military and war, children’s books

Brief summary: This is a story about Molly and her journey to finding a way to live with the fear she is undergoing during World War II as her neighbor Ted is gone serving. While he is busy carrying out dangerous missions, everyone back at home is learning to deal with his absence and the fearful world they live in. This book illustrates how war touches the lives of those seemingly far-removed from battle. This is an elegant book speaks to the far-reaching effects of war and the healing power of memory.

Cover:

·         Is the cover attractive? Yes. I love the wispiness of the art.

Story:

·         Are the stories interesting to children? Yes. Many children grow up knowing of situations like the character Molly goes through. This is a good book selection in the fact that many children will be able to connect to it.

Organization:

·         Do the spacing and placement of the words make the passages easy to read? Yes. The reading is broke up into smaller paragraphs and uses challenging, yet familiar, vocabulary.

Characters:

·         Do characters represent people from a variety of cultural groups? No. This story is centered around Molly’s family, whom are of a European decent.

·         Are females as well as males depicted in leadership roles? Yes. There are a variety of situations that play out in this story, many of which both males and females take a leadership role.

Themes:

·         Does the story offer children a variety of things to think about, to question, and to consider? Yes. This is a very real situation that many experience and this story helps children to recognize the hardships that those who are in the military and those who are close to those in the military go through.

·         Are there lessons to be learned? Yes. There are many lessons to be learned as the reader journeys through the bravery the characters have to learn to embrace as war seems to rip through the country taking many loved ones along the way.

Settings:

·         Do the stories reflect a variety of settings? Yes. The story shifts from Ted’s situation to Molly’s school and home life.

Illustrations:

·         Are diverse populations represented in the illustrations? No. The story is about Molly and her family, all of whom are of European decent.

·         Are the illustrations large, clear and bright? Yes. The illustrations are captivating!

·         Do the illustrations invite the reader to explore the text? Yes. The illustrations undoubtedly draw the reader into this book.

·         Do the illustrations explain and enhance the context? Yes. The illustrations do a wonderful job of connecting to the text itself.

Other Considerations:

·         Will the stories encourage discussions? Yes. Sometimes its hard for people to understand just how far reaching the effects of war are, but this book does a great job of shedding light on how it effects the people at home. This story takes the reader on a journey with Molly as she learns how to control her fear during this horrible time of war.

·         Are the stories age appropriate to ensure children can understand what is presented? Yes. I think many children will be able to understand this book, simply because of its far reaching ability to connect with the audience that reads it. Many of us know soldiers and I think this book helps to shed light on just how devastating war is, not only to those fighting, but to those that are left at home to cope with the absence of a loved one.

 

Reading level scale

7	highly difficult
6	difficult
5	moderately difficult
4	challenging
3	above average (4-8 year old readers)
2	Average
1	highly readable

**   Challenging vocabulary is exhibited in this book, but the story is one that is sure to entice and draw readers in as they realize that they can connect or relate to the story.

classroom application:
This would be a wonderful time to remember the soldiers who serve our country in wartime and peace. A great application of this book would be to write letters to our soldiers. Some of our soldiers don’t get much mail from home and they don’t often hear how much we appreciate all they do for our country, but this is an easy way in which we can let them know. When this writing experience is over, the students should write about what they learned from the experiences of this unit.

 

My rating: 3/5. I do like that it gives a different perspective of war in that it highlights those who these soldiers leave at home while they are serving. I wish it gave a little more closure for the soldier's death though.

 

Title: Number the Stars

Author: Lois Lowry

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Copyright date: 1989

Number of pages: 137

Awards: John Newbery Medal, Dorothy Canfield Fisher Children’s Book Award, National Jewish Book Award for Children’s Books Award

Genre: Historical fiction

Brief summary: This is the brave story of one girls experience during the resistance movement in Denmark during WWII. This is about the brave battle she fought with the Jews as the Nazis began relocating Jews.

Cover:

·         Is the cover attractive? Yes. It is very mysterious.

Story:

·         Are the stories interesting to children? Yes. This is a riveting story.

Organization:

·         Do the spacing and placement of the words make the passages easy to read? Yes. Lowry doesn’t waste a word in Number the Stars. As the setting, plot and characters are established, tension rises with the turning of each page.

Characters:

·         Do characters represent people from a variety of cultural groups? Yes. This book takes us to a whole other world that readers will struggle to grapple with. This book does a fantastic job of honoring Jewish history and culture, which is why it is so valuable for our children to read.

·         Are females as well as males depicted in leadership roles? Yes. This book shows that this community is going to save lives and do what is right, no matter the terrible costs.

Themes:

·         Does the story offer children a variety of things to think about, to question, and to consider? Yes. This book offers a new perspective on the Holocaust. Lowry gives us a unique glimpse into the perspectives of others during the Nazi occupation. This book does a spectacular job of showing the reader the star role non-Jews occupied during this scary and unfortunate time in history.

·         Are there lessons to be learned? Yes. There are many themes in this book, such as friendship, courage, identity, lies and deceit, warfare, fear, prejudice and criminality.

Settings:

·         Do the stories reflect a variety of settings? Yes. This is a journey through Copenhagen, Denmark in 1943, during the darkest days of the Nazi occupation.

Illustrations:

·         Are diverse populations represented in the illustrations? Despite there being no illustrations, Lowry does a spectacular job using imagery to describe the characters, which paints a discrete picture in the minds of the readers of those involved in the story.

·         Are the illustrations large, clear and bright? N/A.

·         Do the illustrations invite the reader to explore the text? N/A.

·         Do the illustrations explain and enhance the context? N/A.

Other Considerations:

·         Will the stories encourage discussions? Yes. Despite this being an event that is unfathomable to most readers, there are still many underlying themes that readers can relate to, which can promote discussion. Being able to make these connections is vital for the reader to be able to fully understand the magnitude of this time period and event.

·         Are the stories age appropriate to ensure children can understand what is presented? Yes. This is a novel that is within easy reach of fourth or even third grade readers.

Reading level scale

7	highly difficult
6	difficult
5	moderately difficult
4	challenging
3	above average (9 + year old readers)
2	Average
1	highly readable

**Above average simply because of the complexity of the story. The vocabulary and pacing of the book is appropriate, just an intense and complex story.

classroom application:
As we read the story, we will create a wall in the classroom with the main character cut outs on it. The class will be split into groups, each group will have a character they are assigned to. Just as we do on Facebook, each group will decide what their characters’ “wall would say. They type this up and we attach them to the page, so each character has a wall post. All the characters can post on each other’s walls as well. Their character’s Facebook provides all the information a regular Facebook user would have. The students can be really creative and prefer this activity over the old school biographies many of us are used to!

 

My rating: 4.5/5! I am in between a 4 & 5. I love this book! It is absolutely spectacular!