Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler's Shadow
1. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Bartoletti, Susan Campbell.2005. HITLER YOUTH: GROWING UP IN HITLER'S SHADOW. New York: Scholastic Non-Fiction. ISBN
0439353793
2. PLOT SUMMARY
Explores the various forces that led to the formation of the Hitler Youth, an army of young people who dedicated their lives to serving Adolf Hitler.
3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Through extensive research including oral histories, diaries, letters and other personal accounts, Susan Bartoletti tells the disturbing, but fascinating story of how the youth of Germany helped Hitler rise to power. She focuses on twelve individuals some dedicated soldiers in Hitler's army, and some brave young men and women who resisted the Nazi movement. The photographs included were carefully selected from the National Archives and Records Administration, the online photograph collections at the Library of Congress and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, and from family albums with special permission from their owners. Every page in this oversized book has at least one photograph showing a portrait of one of the subjects, or a particular place where a significant event occurred. This visual accompaniment to the story has the powerful effect of giving life to this historical tragedy. For example, we see a photograph of Helmuth Hubener and his two friends, who at fifteen wrote anti nazi essays and secretly distributed them. We learn how he was found out and arrested and we view a picture of his "mug shot"taken at the time of his arrest by the Gestapo. At the end of the book, Bartoletti tells what became of the young people featured in the book. For example, the eight-year old Elisabeth Vetter, who turned her own parents in for not allowing her to join the Hitler youth, emigrated to the United States, had five children, and is quoted as saying, "I still feel terrible about it. My parents were wonderful people."
The Epilogue is followed by a time line of the Hitler Youth, an Author's note where she discusses her initial interest in the subject as well as her travels, interviews and the research she conducted for the book; a note about the photographs, a list of quote sources, a bibliography and an index. These details leave no doubt in this reader's mind that this amazing book is historically accurate and very well-researched. This is an exemplary social history book.
4. REVIEW EXCERPTS
From "The Horn Book" (starred review): "The power of the account...matched by he many period photographs, well-married to the text by strong captions and placement..."
From "Kirkus Review" (starred review): "Case studies...root the work...and clear prose, thorough documentation and an attractive format...make this non-fiction writing at its best."
5. CONNECTIONS
This book would be essential to any middle to high school student interested in the terrible phenomenon of Adolf Hitler's rise to power.
Other books that would p
air well with this:
Spiegelman, Art. MAUS: A SURVIVORS TALE.
Warren, Andrea. SURVIVING HITLER: A BOY IN THE NAZI DEATH CAMPS
The Man-Eating Tigers of Sundarbans
1. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Montgomery, Sy. 2001. THE MAN-EATING TIGERS OF SUNDARBANS. Photo. by Eleanor Briggs. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 0618077049
2. PLOT SUMMARY
A riveting account of the author's trip to the mangrove forests of the Sundarban Tiger Reserve in Bangladesh, where she attempts to explain the science behind the behavior of the man-eating tigers that live there.
3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
In the book, The Man Eating Tigers of Sundarbans, Sy Montgomery visits a tiger reserve where there are more cases of tigers attacking and eating people than anywhere else in the world. She is not a scientist, but she is a naturalist and a reporter and her mission there is to reveal a phenomenon of why the tigers are so aggressive toward the humans in this particular region of the world. The author never comes up with any solid conclusions, but her questions posed to scientist and the villagers who live on the edge of the reserve, open a world up to the reader that is full of beauty, danger and mystery. The author includes photographs of herself with a family who, like most of the villagers, have great respect and fear for the tigers.
The most striking feature of this non-fiction book by Sy Montgomery is the author's obvious passion and enthusiasm for the topic. Her writing is lively and her use of second person narration allows the reader to put herself into the position of tiger researcher: "Perhaps you could find some clues from learning about the forest in which these strange tigers live.....Perhaps you might also try to track the tigers. You could follow their footprints to find out where they go and what they do and compare your answers with the ways tigers live in other places. "
In the end, we never learn why these tigers are man-eaters, but we do learn that the villagers do not want them exterminated, they believe that "our world can't be whole without tigers" and that even dangerous, man-eating tigers may do us more good than harm because perhaps they guard the forest on which everyone depends."
Sy Montgomery does an excellent job of teaching the reader about the natural history and culture of a unique and exotic part of the world, while engaging the reader in a suspenseful, chilling tale. The story is a great example of the genius of symbiosis in the natural world because Montgomery concludes that perhaps the tigers serve the purpose of protecting this rich habitat from human interference and destruction.
4. REVIEW EXCERPTS
From "Booklist": "...immediately captures attention with fresh, engaging writing that turns a scientific study into a page-turning mystery."
From "School Library Journal": "It's the text with as many questions as answers that excites as a fascinating topic meets a talented storyteller."
5. CONNECTIONS
This book would fit in a science unit about symbiotic relationships in the natural world.
Harvesting Hope: The Story of Cesar Chavez. (A Pura Belpre Honor Book)
1. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Krull, Kathleen. (2003). HARVESTING HOPE:THE STORY OF CESAR CHAVEZ. Ill. by Yuyi Morales. ISBN 0152014373
2. PLOT SUMMARY
This biography is about Cesar Chavez, the Mexican-American man who organized and led the first successful agricultural strike in U.S. history and became the founder of the United Farm Workers Association.
3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
This book is beautifully illustrated by Yuyi Morales, who in researching the march described in the book, traveled the entire route of the protesters. Her paintings are reminiscent of the Mexican folk art in Diego Rivera's murals with rounded figures and large expressive faces. The paintings draw the reader into the story that begins when Chavez is a child living on his family owned ranch. When a drought hits, the family can no longer afford the ranch and they are forced to work as migrant farm laborers under horrible conditions and terrible pay. The story is told with a simple eloquence that is accessible to young readers including details that make a strong impression. For example, "Cesar was stubborn, but he was not a fighter. His mother cautioned her children against fighting, urging them to use their minds and mouths to work out conflicts." This establishes Chavez's later non-violent stance in La Causa or the cause, where he encouraged people to use strategies taught by Martin Luther King and Mahatma Ghandi to affect change. The second half of the book focuses on the 1963 three-hundred mile March from Delano to Sacramento in protest of the poor work conditions and low wages. It is a well organized, episodic story that makes a complicated issue easy for young people to understand. This adult learned that the black eagle on the United Farm Workers Association's flag is the sacred bird of the Aztec Indians.
4. REVEIW EXCERPTS
From School Library Journal, " A fine addition to any school library collection."
5. CONNECTIONS
Pair this with Atkin, S. (2001) VOICES FROM THE FIELDS:CHILDREN OF MIGRANT FARMWORKERS TELL THEIR STORIES. ISBN 0316056200
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