Children's Literature Final Project
Melissa Bujak

The Holocaust

Adler, David A. (1987) The Number on My Grandfather's Arm
This is a story about a little girl who notices a number on her Grandfather’s arm when he rolled up his sleeve to wash the dishes. After asking many questions, the Grandfather sits down with his granddaughter and explains the story of the Holocaust to her. (Picture Book)

Baer, Edith. (1938) Walk The Dark Streets
Continues the story of Eva, a young Jewish girl living in Nazi Germany where she and her parents experience increasing tension in daily life while considering possibilities of escape. (Historical Fiction)

Bennett, Cherie. (2001) Anne Frank and Me
In the panic after the sound of gunfire at an Anne Frank exhibit, Nicole Burns is whip lashed through time and space.  No longer an Internet savvy, boy-crazed tenth grader in the suburbs of America, she awakens to find herself a privileged Jewish girl in Occupied Paris.  As the Nazi grip tightens on the city, Nicole is forced to make the most shattering moral choices.  This story is based on the award winning play of Anne Frank. (Biography)

Hoestlandt, Jo. (1993) Star Of Fear, Star Of Hope As a young girl living in France during the Nazi occupation, Helen can’t understand why her best friend Lydia must wear a yellow star. On the eve of Helen’s ninth birthday, Nazi’s begin rounding up Jews and Lydia leaves Helen’s celebration to go home and warn her family. In her childish hurt of being abandoned, Helen cries out, “You aren’t my friend anymore!” never guessing how much she will regret saying those parting words. (Picture Book)

Feder, Paula Kurzband. (1995) The Feather-Bed Journey
As Rachel and her brother, Lewis, fight over the feather-bed pillow, the pillow rips and feathers fly everywhere. Grandma was very upset and told the children to find all the missing feathers. As grandma and the children look for all the feathers, grandma tells the story of her childhood in Poland and about the Nazi persecution of all the Jews during World War II. Find out why this pillow has such special meaning to this family. (Picture Book)

Lowry, Lois. (1989) Number the Stars Ten year old, Annemarie Johansen and her best friend Ellen Rosen often think about times before the war. The Jews of Denmark are being relocated so Ellen moves in with the Johansens and pretend to be a part of the family. Annemarie is asked to go on a dangerous mission. Somehow she must find the strength and courage to save her best friend’s life. (Realistic Fiction)

Matas, Carol. (1993) Daniel’s Story

Daniel barely remembers leading a normal life before the Nazi’s came to power in 1933. He can still picture all the happy memories. His family now faces the dangers threatening the Jews. Not only can he no longer practice his own religion, vote, or own property, Daniel’s family is forced from their home and sent on a dangerous journey through the ghetto in Poland, and then onto Auschwitz- the Nazi death camp. (Historical Fiction)

Matas, Carol. (1997) The Garden
Ruth Mendenberg, a survivor of Buchenwald concentration camp, has risked her life to help smuggle a group of refugees into Palestine.  Now she wants to forget the past and forge a new life.  But violence is escalating all around her as Arabs and Jews disagree over the partitioning of Palestine.  Ruth will be forced to fight, and maybe even kill, in defense for a long waited prize: a place to call home. (Historical Fiction)

Nerlove, Miriam. (1996) Flowers on the Wall Rachel, a young Jewish girl, living in Nazi-occupied Warsaw, struggles to survive with her family. There is no money for food and the family consistently goes to bed hungry. However, Rachel maintains hope by painting colorful flowers on her dingy apartment walls. (Picture Book)

Nivola, Claire A. (1997) Elisabeth
Forced to flee the Nazis, a young girl and her family eventually end up in the United States, where years later, with a young daughter of her own, she is reunited with the beloved doll she left behind in Germany. (Picture Book)

Nolan, Han. If I Should Die Before I Wake Hilary is an Anti-Semite who belongs to a Neo- Nazi gang. When injured in a motorcycle accident and sent to a Jewish hospital. While there, Hillary recalls her life in a Polish ghetto, Lodz. (Fantasy)

Oppenheim, Shulamith Levey. (1992) The Lily Cupboard Miriam is from the city. But her parents have sent her away to live in the country with Nello and his family. She will be safer there since she is Jewish. Miriam does her best to be brave, but she misses her parents terribly. When Nello gives her a little rabbit, Miriam names him Henrick. When the soldiers come, Miriam keeps the rabbit hidden in the secret lily cupboard, just like her parents have always kept her safely in the countryside. (Picture Book)

Sachs, Marilyn. (1973) A Pocket Full of Seeds
Nicole Nieman has never really though about being Jewish.  Now, with the Nazis occupying France, it is the only thing that is on her mind. An almost endless stream of refugees come to stay at their house, and her parents wonder if they too should escape over the border to Switzerland, or take the chance and wait it out.  Then one awful day, Nicole comes home from school to find her parents and her sister gone.  The Nazis who have taken them are still looking for her.  Where can Nicole hide and will she ever find her family again? (Historical Fiction)

Schuman, Michael A. (1994) Elie Wiesel Voice From the Holocaust. During World War II, Wiesel and his family were taken from their home and forced into Nazi concentration camps. Only Wiesel and his two sisters survived. Determined to never allow this to happen again, Wiesel has dedicated his words, his voice, and his life to keeping the memory of the Holocaust alive. (Informational)

Van Steenwyk, Elizabeth. (1998) A Traitor Among Us
Although the Germans have occupied Holland, the courageous Resistance movement constantly undermines them.  Thirteen year old, Pieter Van Dirk, who is part of the Resistance, knows there is a traitor in the village, but who is it?  As Pieter takes more chances, the shadow of the traitor is everywhere.  The suspects multiply as the suspense increases and the stakes grow higher.  Can you be the one to figure out the mystery? (Realistic Fiction)

Vos, Ida. (1981) Hide and Seek
Rachel Hartog is only eight when the Nazis invade Holland and all the changes begin.  First she can't go to her school anymore.  Then she is not allowed to enter the park, and she has to give her bicycle away.  Finally she is forced to wear a yellow star, all because she is Jewish.  As the Nazis close in, Rachel and her family go into hiding, moving from house to house in during the night.  The Hartog's become separated. Will Rachel and her sister ever see their parents again? (Realistic Fiction)

…I Never Saw Another Butterfly Children’s Drawings and Poems from Terezin Concentration Camp 1942-1944 (Poems)

A total of 15,000 children under the age of 15 passed through the Terezin Concentration Camp between the years of 1942-1944. This is a book of the combination of words and images; we see reflected not only the daily misery of these children, but a degree of courage and optimism as they lived their life here.