Module 10- Journal

Choose a historical time period that you are interested in reading about. Read a picture book, a chapter book for older elementary/middle school, and a book for young adults or adults that is appropriate for young adults. What differences to you see in how the subject is handled? What about accuracy? (some or all of these books can be from this week's reading). Make sure that the books are fiction.

As mentioned in my book blog for The Book Thief, one period of time I have always been interested in is the period of World War II. As a child I did a good deal of reading (fiction and non-fiction) from books with a child's perspective (Anne Frank, Number the Stars, etc.), and have continued reading about this subject as an adult. There are historical fiction books available about this subject for all levels, many of which successfully deal with the sensitive issue in a way that makes sense to the target audience.

A picture book dealing with World War II is The Butterfly by Patricia Polacco. Polacco's picture books are written for a slightly older audience than the traditional picture book, and she deals with many tough subjects in her works. In The Butterfly she tells the story of a little girl named Monique, who discovers that a Jewish family is hiding from the Nazis in her house. When a neighbor spots Sevrine, the young girl of the family, the Jewish family must flee. The sighting of a butterfly helps Monique to feel the Sevrine is safe. This story serves as a great introduction into the horrors of the Jewish round ups in Europe. It can open doors for discussion on why they had to hide, and why some people disliked them simply because of their religion. However, the story is still "safe" enough to be appealing to the young reader. While we know happy endings in stories like this were unlikely, this book was able to tie the story up with the neat bow that young readers crave as solutions. The story is based on a family member of the author, and provides some degree of accuracy. The author's notes explain in more detail the people and events surrounding the story.

Number the Stars by Lois Lowry is a chapter book for older elementary readers dealing with the same subject. This book deals with the round up of Jews in Denmark, and the family of Annemarie who risk their lives to save their friends from certain death. Unlike in The Butterfly, the girls in this story have direct contact with the German soldiers- searching the house, opening the package, coming to the funeral, etc. The threat is presented as more real, and the situation is more dangerous. While the ending is generally positive, there are still lives lost and people missing, much like would have actually happened during the time period. This book begins to give more details about the brutality of the regime and the imminent danger faced by Jewish families and those that help them to escape. However, it does not go so fully into the horrors of the holocaust that a young reader would be scarred from the story. While accurate as far as the time period and the feelings of the people in Denmark as the war progressed, the story and characters itself are fictitious.

For teens, an example of an appropriate book would be The Boy With the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne. In this novel we have the story of Bruno who's father is a soldier in the German army. As a young boy he arrives home from school and is given the news that they are moving. They move to a place he is not familiar with that borders a farm. The workers on the farm, and one boy in particular catch his interest. As a reader, we know that what Bruno believes to be a farm is actually a concentration camp, we know that the Fury is actually Hitler, and out-with is the death camp of Auschwitz. However, Bruno has no clue of all of this, right up to the time where he is killed with his friend. This book does an excellent job of portraying the horrors of the holocaust as well as the devastating effect that ignoring those atrocities could have on adults. This book is much more intense than the previous entries for younger children, but does the best job at accurately representing the finality of the decisions made during this time. The accuracy of the story itself is slim to none. It is highly unlikely, bordering on absurd really, that the son of the camp's director slipped unknowingly into a chamber and died. However, it is the emotional impact and the lack of knowledge (by omission or denial) that remain as the truths in this book.

Because this is such a difficult subject, I think it is important that readers and their parents are aware of their maturity level and what they can handle when selecting a book on this WWII/The Holocaust. In this case, reading out of a safe zone could have lasting effects on a child. There are plenty of books for each age group available, but I suggest that parents read the books prior to their children or along with their children to ensure that the child understands the accuracies and inaccuracies in each story. A balance of fiction and non fiction on the subject would also be beneficial.