Hello everyone, I hope everyone had a good Halloween!! My nieces and I have been sharing Diwali treats along with the sweets they got from trick or treating around the neighbourhood!! This first week of November will kick start a booklist of historical reads for tweens. If you want to see which books made the list from a large selection, press the button below…
So glad you decided to explore further. The five titles I’ve selected here had to go through a rigorous process of elimination to make it this far. In the end, the criteria that put these to the top five was due to the fact that I hadn’t reviewed any of them before.
My first story takes place in Italy. Hero on a bicycle by Shirley Hughes (Walker; 2012) during the Nazi occupation of Florence in 1944. The Italian resistance movement has not given up hope, though – and neither have Paolo and his sister, Constanza. Both are desperate to fight the occupation, but what can two siblings do against a whole army with only a bicycle to help them? Having only read Shirley Hughes’ picture books before, this amazing first novel was definitely a treat for me. Set in the mid 1940’s, in Nazi occupied Florence, this story tells of two siblings, Paulo and Costanza, who are desperate to fight the German occupation. In their own way, they manage to help the Italian resistance and the Allied Forces win back Florence, facing hardship and the loss of freedom. This fascinating story shows what country life was like for young teenagers during those troubled times. Like the many others, Paulo and Costanza are faced to grow up fast and face and endure many gruesome facts. Shirley Hughes has written an exciting and fascinating war-time story here. Recommended for older readers.
This next read by Jackie French was one of my first experiences of her books. Pennies for Hitler by Jackie French (Angus & Robertson; 2012) takes readers into the beginning of the Second World War in Germany. It’s 1939, and for Georg, son of an English academic living in Germany, life is full of cream cakes and loving parents. It is also a time when his teacher measures the pupils’ heads to see which of them have the most ‘Aryan’- shaped heads. But when a university graduation ceremony turns into a pro-Nazi demonstration, Georg is smuggled out of Germany to war-torn London and then across enemy seas to Australia where he must forget his past and who he is in order to survive. Hatred is contagious, but Georg finds that kindness can be, too. If I said this book was an easy read I would be lying through my teeth. It was a bit hard back then to get into it but since this time period has always fascinated me, I persevered. It is because of historical reads like these that I fell in love with French’s expert handling of the landscape and characters. I loved the language, plot and storyline once I got into the book. This read is actually the second in Jackie French’s Hitler trilogy.
The next two take place across the Atlantic.
Newbery Medal-winning author Clare Vanderpool has conjured up yet again another wonderful story in Navigating Early (Delacorte Press; 2013) The story is set during the aftermath of World War Two in 1945, Jack Baker is suddenly uprooted from his home in Kansas and sent to a boys boarding school in Maine soon after his mother’s death. There he meets Early Auden, the strangest of boys, who reads the number pi as an unending story and collects clippings about sightings of a black bear in the nearby mountains. Feeling lost and adrift, Jack can’t help being drawn to Early, who refuses to believe what everyone accepts to be the truth about the great Appalachian bear, timber rattlesnakes, and the legendary school hero known as the Fish, who was lost in the war. When Jack and Early find themselves alone at school, they set out for the Appalachian Trail on a quest for the great black bear. Along the way, they meet some truly strange characters, some dangerous, all lost in some way, and each a part of the pi story Early continues to reveal. Jack’s ability to be a steadfast friend to Early will be tested as the boys discover things they never knew about themselves and others. I found this an astounding and engaging read told in the author’s classic storytelling style. This is a great for tweens wanting some adventure mixed with a historical backdrop in the Appalachian mountains!!
Island war by Patricia Reilly Giff (Holiday House; NY, 2018) takes us to another far-flung corner of North America. It is 1941, and eleven-year-old Izzy has come to one of the most remote places on Earth – an Aleutian Island that is more than a 1,000 miles from the Alaskan mainland. It’s the perfect place for Izzy’s mother to study rare birds. Although war is raging in Europe, Izzy is sure it won’t reach this beautiful island. Fourteen-year-old Matt has been dragged to the island by his father, who has a secretive job for the US government that he won’t explain. Matt can’t wait to get away from this wretched island in the middle of nowhere and back to Long Island – the sooner, the better. But when the Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor, both Izzy and Matt discover that even a place as isolated as the island is not safe from war. In fact, events take a horrendous turn, and Izzy and Matt find themselves under impossible conditions. Narrated by both Izzy and Matt in alternating chapters, this gripping survival story looks at loyalty, love and resolve in extraordinary circumstances. This lovely read of the Second World War gives a story of courage and resilience. The descriptions of the Aleutian Islands alone create a stunning backdrop for this story of survival. The alternating voices of Izzy and Matt, set at a good pace, crafted a really well-written story. Great historical read!!
My last title takes readers back to Europe. Carrie’s war by Nina Bawden (Puffin Classics; 1993) is a classic read about the children who were evacuated out of London into the countryside. When Carrie is evacuated to Wales with her brother, Nick, she is removed from everything she knows. In a new home and without her parents to advise her, Carrie has to work out for herself how she feels about the people and places around her and about how to respond to the unusual circumstances in which she finds herself. She takes time to adjust to living apart from their parents, and to find that she can make decisions for herself. But it’s at Druid’s Bottom, the strange spooky house set down in the bottom of the valley, that she can really let herself go, having at last found people she can trust. At Druid’s Bottom, Carrie meets a cast of colourful characters and finds a way of understanding some universal truths. Despite the themes of separation and the very real dangers posed by the background war, Carrie’s war is an upbeat and lyrical story containing common moments of emotional truth. It’s also a universal story about growing up, making choices and learning who you can trust. An exceptionally written story, capturing the essence of that time – in war torn England – the hidden pockets of humanity where the young were evacuated away to are gold mines of stories. Childhoods were left behind in some where the children have been forced to grow up too fast but this story captures one in transition and is told beautifully. I truly loved it. Some parts are a bit difficult to fathom but overall a great read!! Another one that is better for older readers. This story was awarded the Phoenix Award in 1993.
I hope you enjoyed this selection of historical reads. I’d love to hear if you have any other suggestions for me.
Stay safe and keep reading
Miss Mahee
Miss Mahee's Library of Reads 