Using Literature to Teach about World War II in Middle School

 

Many of us use a curriculum to teach history; but using literature to teach history can be a great teaching tool. I am continuing this history literature series with some of the best books to teach about World War II. Using literature to teach history illuminates the time period, helps integrate the history curriculum, and enriches social studies. With my love for literature and history, it only makes sense to combine the two, so I have gathered some of my favorite books that teach about World War II in middle school.

Number the Stars by Lois Lowry is an unforgettable Newbery-winning novel. A ten-year-old Danish girl’s bravery is tested when her best friend is threatened by Nazis in 1943. As the German troops begin their campaign to relocate all the Jews of Denmark, Annemarie Johansen’s family takes in Annemarie’s best friend, Ellen Rosen, and conceals her as part of the family. Through the eyes of ten-year-old Annemarie, we watch as the Danish Resistance smuggles almost the entire Jewish population of Denmark, nearly seven thousand people, across the sea to Sweden. The heroism of an entire nation reminds us that there was pride and human decency in the world even during a time of terror and war.

Prisoner B-3087 by Alan Gratz is based on an astonishing true story to survive at any cost. 10 concentration camps, 10 different places where you are starved, tortured, and worked mercilessly. It’s something no one could imagine surviving. But it is what Yanek Gruener has to face. As a Jewish boy in 1930s Poland, Yanek is at the mercy of the Nazis who have taken over. Everything he has and everyone he loves, have been snatched brutally away from him. And then Yanek himself is taken prisoner – his arm tattooed with the words PRISONER B-3087. He is forced from one nightmarish concentration camp to another, as World War II rages all around him. Can Yanek make it through the terror without losing hope, his will, and most of all, his sense of who he really is inside?

World War II Heroes by Allan Zullo is a Ten True Tales Series that tells ten true stories of real-life heroes from World War II. Pfc. Jack Lucas, just a teenager, is on patrol on Iwo Jima when two grenades land at his feet. Can he save his comrades lives? Lt. Col. James Rudder and his Rangers are climbing a 100-foot-high cliff on a secret D-Day mission. Can they survive the Nazi’s devastating firepower? Sgt. Forrest Volser is blinded and wounded from an attack by German fighter planes on his crippled bomber. Can he make it home? The world was saved by these and many more real-life heroes. You will never forget their incredible true stories.

World War II Profiles Series #2 by Aaron Rosenberg includes six bios in one! It takes more than one person to bring about change and innovation. Find out how key players from yesterday and today influenced and interacted with each other during some of the world’s most memorable periods. So much more than just your typical biography, Profiles focuses on six of the most prominent figures during World War II – FDR, Churchill, Eisenhower, Hitler, Stalin, and Hirohito.

These are only a few of my favorite books that teach about World War II, there are so many more out there! Feel free to share in the comments what you consider the best book to teach about World War II in middle school.

Happy Homeschooling!