I Have Lived A Thousand Years

I Have Lived A Thousand Years: 
Growing Up In the Holocaust

by Livia Bitton-Jackson (1997)


Not an easy book to read.  And they all shouldn't be easy, should they?  A 13 year old Jewish girl and her family are forced into ghettos, labor camps, and concentration camps under Nazi Germany.  The point is made very clear that it is a daily miracle any of them survived the inhumane treatment.  Strong story of will, of family, of caring for others and not allowing oneself to be changed or beaten by a terrible ordeal.

The degrading violence and personal humiliations are not white washed, the facts of daily conditions in the camps are clearly presented.  Great opportunities for a variety of lessons across the curriculum.  I remember visiting a camp, Dachau I think, when I was 11 or 12, and the strongest memory I have is how small and cramped the sleeping areas were, how little room there was between the bunk levels. Still very clear to me 30+ years later.

While I think it's important for children to be aware of the Holocaust and of similar historical and current events, I don't think I'd introduce a book this frank and real until 6 or 7th grade.  Having the students/readers the same age as the author when she lived through these horrors could be more personal and powerful.

And now I want to go read The Book Thief again.

"Violence" Tag

I've tagged books "violence" not because they're full of death, murder, and mayhem, but because there is some sort of violence at some level -- bullies, fist fights, on up to wartime settings.  Most of the books with this tag are very mild.  ...Fried Worms gets the tag because the friends fight -- really no big deal, but if I had a Quaker student with really strict parents...?  I think I've put the tag on a few books like Paulsen's Hatchet series, even though the violence is very realistic and largely deals with wilderness survival.

Is It Night or Day?

Is It Night or Day? *

by Fern Schumer Chapman (2010)

The story of a Jewish German girl sent to live in America to escape the inevitable in WWII.  Not a cheerful story or rousing ending, but very poignant and seems to accurately portray the swing and resiliency of childhood emotions (which are often the only thing allowing children to survive the horrors this world subjects them to).

This would be a nice companion to The Book Thief, showing a slightly different side (and location) touched by the Holocaust.  Highly recommended.

The author based the story on her mother's life, and has another book and a nice website as well.



* exactly how should the title be written -- It and Or, it and or, It and or ...? I've seen it several different ways. What's the rule, or do I just go by what looks better?

The Book Thief

The Book Thief*

by Markus Zusak (2005)

Great book.  Beautiful, simple, touching book.

Very rarely do I want to start a book over as soon as I finish it, but this one is on that special list.  Narrated respectfully by Death, the collector of souls kept extremely busy by Hitler and WWII, it is the story of a girl who loses and gains everything. She knows death and loss from the beginning, but through a new family, friends, and a Jew hidden in the basement we are shown the strength of love, hope, and doing what is right.  It is not always a happy book, and it certainly isn't a traditional happy ending, but it brings attention to what is truly important. 

I really liked the use of art in the story, the pages of illustrations that show us Max's book, not just tell us about it.  Students could make their own nook/graphic novel with old books.

My 15 year old loved it, my 12.75 year old will read it next.  It's not an easy book for every reader, but it's not difficult either. Beyond the Holocaust connection there can be discussions of family, loyalty, risk, and the power of words/books.


*I have found that in the 20+ times I have written the title of this book in various places over the past 2 weeks, I have spelled the word "thief" correctly exactly once.  Well, twice, since I just spelled it right in that last sentence, but that was 'cause I was really, really concentrating.

Among the Hidden

Among the Hidden
by Margaret Peterson Haddix (2000)
The beginning of a series (7? 8 books?) dealing with a government limiting families to 2 children and controlling the food supply... what happens when the extra/illegal children revolt? Adventure plus discussions of personal freedom...
connections: The Giver, Anne Frank

Yellow Star

Yellow Star

by Jennifer Roy (2006)

Historical fiction account of one of the few children to survive in a ghetto during WWII... similar tone w/ Number the Stars, written in almost a free verse from the young girl's pov...

A Friend Called Anne

A Friend Called Anne

by Jacqueline van Maarsen (2004)

Recollections from a childhood friend of Anne Frank... good story for the closeness of friends, the decisions families must make, with an insight into of the passive helplessness surrounding the Nazi Occupation...

Adolf: A Tale of the Twentieth Century

Adolf: A Tale of the Twentieth Century

by Osamu Tezuka (1995)*

A real graphic novel, not just a thick comic book... just started reading, son #1 found the whole series at the library and snagged 'em for me... serious war/race thriller/drama set in Japan and Germany, mostly 1936-45 (the chapter tacked on to the end showing the characters still fighting each other in the Middle East 10 years later was a little contrived...)

It's fictional, the search for and hiding of secret documents showing Hitler was Jewish, and a circle of Japanese and German characters that continuously stretch the limits of "Hey, it's you again, whatta small world!" but very realistic in the historical events surrounding WWII and the treatment of the Jews... the characters are very passionate and sometimes quite torn by twisted loyalties, such as the half German-Japanese boy who falls for a Jewish girl...

Interesting to talk about divided loyalties in a classroom, explore the different messages the students get from parents vs teachers vs coaches vs pop culture vs the playground... who do you listen to? who do you follow? how could you possibly know what is right?

from the introduction to book 5, by Gerard Jones:

(discussing the lies/reasons we have wars): "...Nation -- the deadly sentiment that an arbitrary and invisible political definition has some bearing on human relationships and is worth killing and dying for..."

Hmmm...

connections: Anne Frank, Number the Stars, All Quiet on the Western Front, the Middle East, Viet Nam war

*originally serialized/published in Japan 1983-85

Number the Stars

Number the Stars

Lois Lowry

Newbery Medal 1990

A story of WWII in Denmark and helping Jews escape to Sweden, tense at times but not over-dramatic or preachy. Mention of the food and supply shortages, the resistance fighters, strong bonds of family and faith. Historically accurate.

connections: Anne Frank, Holocaust, Zlata's Diary, current event examples of oppression/genocide

Adolf Volume 3: The Half-Aryan

Adolf, The Half-Aryan

by Osamu Tezuka

I usually have quite the battle with the boys over limiting the comics/manga stuff they can read -- otherwise it might be all they read. I'm sure we'll have similar battles when they're older and try to drink light beer, and I take very seriously the father's responsibility to guide them and steer them towards the good stuff. No Budweiser for my boys, and no crappy comics either...

The issue with the manga art is of course the number of bare bottoms and pairs of frilly panties that appear every couple of pages, plus the fact that they need to check out 15 -20 books at a time just to read half the series! Are they churning this stuff out, or what? Anyway...

I checked this one out, and will go back for the rest of the story. There is some violence and the usual love story melodrama, but that's to be expected. The key is the WWII/Jewish persecution storyline, and how the young protagonists experience being thrust into the dangerous confusing adult world.

Explorations of worldview, questioning authority, cultural/religious differences, as well as how to tell a story in a different medium (or, when is a comic book not just a comic book?)...

connections: Maus by Art Spiegelman, Anne Frank, The Hiding Place, Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad...