Hitler Youth: Growing Up In Hitler's Shadow

Bartoletti, Susan Campbell. Hitler Youth: Growing Up In Hitler’s Shadow. New York, NY: Scholastic, 2005.

Adolf Hitler harnessed the power he saw in children and young adults for his advantage during his reign in Germany. In Hitler Youth, the stories of young people that fell under the spell of the well-spoken and dynamic, yet ruthless leader are told and examined. At first a voluntary organization, the Hitler Youth program grew into a political and war machine. As Hitler grew in power, the Hitler Youth did as well, teaching children the tenants of the Nazi beliefs, heralding intense nationalism, instilling a sense of narcissism about their race and building foundation of military knowledge. All this education began at the tender age of 7, so early that did not allow children to fully understand what they were participating in or to refuse. Children were brought through the program as they grew and once the war was under way, some of them even served in combat. Some children rejected their parents’ ideals for a peaceful Germany and followed their new leader with fervor. There were even some children who turned in their parents and loved ones for speaking ill of the Nazi regime, leading to their arrest (and possible death). Not every young person followed blindly, however; in the case of the Scholl siblings, some young adults fought against the things they believed to be wrong. The book follows the story of the growth and demise of Nazi Germany in chronological order.

Much is written about World War II Germany and the Holocaust, but the fact that this book looks at the war from the point of view of children is a marked difference. A student that is 12 who reads this book can identify with the pictures and stories of the people that are including in the work, as 12 year old boys and girls were active participants in Hitler-era Germany. It allows a child that reading the work to recognize their own self within the subjects in the book. Hazel Rochman speaks of this in Booklist stating, “What was it like to be a teenager in Germany under Hitler? Bartoletti draws on oral histories, diaries, letters, and her own extensive interviews with Holocaust survivors, Hitler Youth, resisters, and bystanders to tell the history from the viewpoints of people who were there.” Often, children and young adults feel as if their voice is not being heard, but the stories of how children of all ages spoke up against injustice can reinforce the idea that young people can make a remarkable difference. School Library Journal’s Andrew Medler relates that “[t]he book is structured around 12 young individuals and their experiences, which clearly demonstrate how they were victims of leaders who took advantage of their innocence and enthusiasm for evil means… Bartoletti lets many of the subjects' words, emotions, and deeds speak for themselves, bringing them together clearly to tell this story unlike anyone else has.” Being written from the perspective of a child in this time will surely draw readers that would otherwise be disinterested in the topic.

Vocabulary within the book lends itself nicely to a wide variety of age groups. Pictures, although black and white, are stark reminders of the time period. Each photo is clearly and succulently captioned, and every photo is in support of the information included in that particular section of the work. Most importantly, Bartoletti makes certain that the reader knows where her information was gathered. A lengthy bibliography, which includes notations for source that may be of interest to young readers, is broken up into categories. Quotes used in the book are also cited. A timeline specific to the growth and function of the Hitler Youth and index is also included. All of these items will relate that the author did her best to ensure the information she was presenting was accurate.

Book jacket found on: http://www.isbnlib.com/list/shadow?page=24

Zusak, Markus. The Book Thief. New York: Knopf, 2005.

It is the late 1930’s Nazi Germany and Liesel Meminger and her brother are being taken to live with a family in the town of Molching, Germany by their mother when he unexpectedly dies on the way. When she arrives to her foster parents’ home, she only has one book, The Gravedigger’s Handbook, which she finds as they are burying her brother. Soon after she arrives, Liesel begins to have nightmares and her kind foster father wakes up to take care of her, teaching her to read during the nighttime interruptions. Liesel begins to get into a routine, going to school, helping her mother in her laundry business and befriending a neighborhood boy named Rudy. Liesel and Rudy grow up together as the war increases in violence, getting in trouble along the way. The war continues to rage on, with the family having to take on the added worry of bombing attacks. Liesel’s foster mother’s business decreases, while her foster father has trouble getting work because he is not a member of the Nazi Party. To further complicate matters, her foster family helps to hide a Jewish man, with whom Liesel becomes close. Liesel, who has become an excellent reader along the way, devours and longs for book so much so she begins to steal them from the large library of the mayor’s wife. The story culminates in the sudden bombing of Liesel’s street, devastating and demolishing the life to which Liesel has grown to love.

A novel replete with lavish vocabulary, rich with themes and seeped in history, The Book Thief gives the reader an opportunity to learn about World War II by using the voice of a young girl. Focused and calculated, the story is flowing and intense. The text reads with intent given to every sentence, lending to the purposefulness of each word. School Library Journal’s Francisca Goldsmith speaks to this fact: “Zusak not only creates a mesmerizing and original story but also writes with poetic syntax, causing readers to deliberate over phrase and lines.” The consideration given to the manuscript allows the author to truly create a specific and all-encompassing style and setting that contributes to the novel in innumerable ways.

In using a different voice (a child instead of an adult, a German instead of a Jew) the story is able to tell a tale, so many times told before, from an unusual perspective. The author is then able to show the struggle of a young person trying to find herself amid the chaos by which she is surrounded. Narrated by Death himself, Liesel is faced with the struggles of girl coming into adulthood, but also one who is coming aware of what is happening in the world. She and the people in her life have not completely bought into the Nazi regime, but they do what they have to in order to get by and not bring attention upon their family. This open-ended aspect allows Liesel to freely make up her own mind about how she feels about the war, instead of her family deciding that for her. This allowance gives the author an opportunity to invest time in creating personal triumphs and tensions for Liesel without the added pressure of accepting a life her foster parents have created for her.

Using the time period he did, Zusak is able to use the war and its conflicts to create a setting that becomes a second character. The war is a distant concern, until it becomes real by the promise of possible bombings and having to run to underground shelters with nearly her entire street. In doing this, the war becomes a character with the same sort of growth and development as a main character. Battles and clashes seem like a faint distraction in the beginning, but as time goes on and the war escalates the formerly far-away unease becomes localized and the sense of impending death grows. By giving the war an ever-increasing prominence, a sense of reality is given to the work. At the beginning of the Hitler administration, his rule trickled down little by little, until Germany was completed immersed in his thoughts and ways. In writing about the slow progression of the war’s effects on the people of Germany, the story reads as genuine, authentic and truthful.

Book Jacket found on: http://www.fanpop.com/spots/the-book-thief/images/3262339/title/book-thief-photo

A Northern Light

Donnelly, Jennifer. A Northern Light. Boston, MA: Harcourt, 2003.

Growing up in the woods of mid-1900’s northern New York, Mathilda "Mattie" Gokey is in charge of taking care of the motherly duties after her mother’s death. An aspiring and gifted writer, Mattie longs to attend school every day and go to college, but her father is more concerned with her assistance in running the family farm. Mattie is charged with taking care of her younger siblings and tending to farm duties, however her love of words is never far away. Each day she picks a different word out of the dictionary her mother bought and commits it to memory, cheering on her sisters to do the same. Ms. Wilcox, the teacher at the local school, encourages Mattie to further her schooling so Mattie can achieve her dream of becoming a writer. Mattie is not alone in her desire to go to college; her friend, Weaver Smith, has gotten accepted to Columbia. She finds out that she is accepted into Barnard and struggles with her desire to go off to school and her promise to her dying mother to take care of her family. Her personal distress is complicated by the fact her gruff father does not support her leaving. Nearly resigning to staying in her town, marrying handsome Royal Loomis and being a housewife, Mattie gets the opportunity to work at a local hotel, where she begins to save money. There she meets Grace Brown, a woman who is later found drowned in the lake. Grace has entrusted Mattie with destroying personal letters, which Mattie is unable to do before Grace’s body is found. After uncovering some truths about herself, her family, her town, Grace and her beau, Mattie comes to the realization that she can no longer stay put and must move on and go to college.

A Northern Light creates a story around the true life murder of Grace Brown; a story that attracted a great deal of attention in the time it took place. The story is not in chronological order, going back and forth from present to the recent past, showing how Mattie ended up working at the hotel. Donnelly could have merely made a Grace a secondary character, but by allowing Mattie to play a role in the context of the situation. Giving Mattie the ability to read and glean knowledge from Grace’s actual letters, Mattie is able to draw conclusions about her own life. This historical element allows Mattie to make the internal change she needs to in order to make the decision to go off to school, which is what she desires to do the entire novel. Lisa Prolman in School Library Journal also indicates this in saying that “Grace’s story weaves its way through Mattie’s, staying in the background but providing impetus.” Mattie learns from Grace’s story and that fact is related to the reader, but not in a harsh or pointed way.

Adding to the realism of the unfolding events and Mattie’s connection to them is the fact that the author words and descriptions are steeped in the time period. From depictions about daily house and farm work, to the imagery about the clothes and food, Donnelly creates a world in which Mattie grapples with the same issues that modern teens face. Though the exterior and time is different, Mattie’s own longing to be her own person and the strain of defining herself rings true even today. Booklist’s Gillian Engberg agrees saying that “many teens will connect with Mattie’s deep yearning for independence.” This balance of creating an authentic environment for Mattie to live in and her universal struggle to be herself is delicate and well-thought out.

Through the realization that life is fleeting and that things are not always as they seem, Mattie is allowed to make the critical change needed of any main character. The interweaving of the two stories also allows for the plot to show the main struggle, between what Mattie wants and what other people want from her. Grounding the story in a factual event, the author was able to give Mattie insight by way of a cautionary tale. In the end, as Mattie waits on the train that will take her to her new life, she is filled with a mix of anxiety and excitement. Standing on the train platform Mattie thinks, “I am standing, frightened but resolved…Is there a word for that? Feeling scared of what’s to come but eager for it too? If there is I mean to find it.” In particular, this sentence has a resonance of truth for a reader regardless of time period.


Book Jacket found on: http://thebooksmugglers.com/2009/09/book-review-a-northern-light-by-jennifer-donnelly.html

Twilight

Meyer, Stephanie. Twilight. New York City: Little, Brown, 2005.

Bella Swan is new in town. After her mother’s minor league baseball player is traded, Bella has to move in with her sheriff father, who she does not know very well, all the way in Forks, Washington. Forks is quite a change from her old town, Phoenix, but Bella tries her hardest to get used to her new school and life. Some teenagers from family called the Cullens, catch Bella’s interest, especially Edward Cullen. The only problem is that Edward acts like Bella is the most repulsive thing he has even come across. After a little investigating and some inquisitions, Bella and Edward become friendly and their mutual attraction becomes prominent. Being that close to Edward and his family, Bella begins to take notice of some distinct eccentricities and after some research comes to the conclusion that Edward and his family are vampires. Questioning Edward, he confirms Bella’s theory, noting that his family is “vegetarian”, because they do not consume human blood. After she meets his family and begins to get comfortable, they are confronted by a group of nomadic vampires, who have been killing people in the area in and around Forks. James, the lead vampire wants to kill Bella, but Edward and the Cullen’s do their best to protect her. After a flight from Forks to Phoenix to keep Bella safe, she is captured by James and nearly murdered, but Edward and a few other Cullens come in at the right moment and save her from certain death.

Bella is the type of heroine with which modern fantasy readers can identify. She is flawed, awkward and suffers from an unrequited crush on what could be considered an unattainable, uninterested male figure. However, Bella eventually discovers that as interesting as she finds Edward, she has special points intriguing to him in the same way. Edward has the ability to read everyone’s thoughts, but is completely unable to read Bella’s. With this addition, Meyer gives Bella a characteristic that makes her special, like any good fantasy main character. Meyer also cuts in to some of the heavier parts of the story to giving Bella some humor, lightening up her desperately in love, almost too serious protagonist. In regard to finding an appropriate outfit to meet Edward’s family, Bella notes, “I doubted there were any etiquette books detailing how to dress when your vampire sweetheart takes you home to meet his vampire family.”

Meyer’s writing is simplistic and modern, with an easy to follow story arc. This writing style affords the reader the ability to get involved with the story, without having to decipher too many plot turns and overreaching vocabulary. The School Library Journal not only said that “the pacing is appropriate for teens who want to learn all the details in this suspenseful tale”, but also that the writing was “realistic, subtle, succinct and easy to follow.” Meyer also gives great focus to the surroundings in the story, detailing the landscape as if it were another character in the story. Meyer’s imagery illustrating the often gloomy, rainy Washington days, fits in with the darkness of the tale, adding to the mystique of the setting.

Reluctant readers or those indifferent to the genre may have be grabbed by the flow of the wording and substantial romantic interludes; the tying together of love, the unreal and danger makes for a story that appeals to a wide variety of readers. The sheer popularity of the novel goes to further accentuate the fact that the work can be enjoyed by reader with different interests. Though the work is easy to read, it can be said that first-time writer Meyer’s inexperience shows in pieces of the work. Particular adverbs and descriptions are used ad nauseam (Bella’s reference to Edward being “beautiful” and “striking” occurs quite often, nearly every time she sees him), to the detriment of the story. By varying phrases and tightening story elements, Meyer’s fantastical world of good and bad vampires, future werewolves and regular humans would shine a bit brighter.

Book jacket cover found on: http://www.nassaulibrary.org/SyoTeensBlog/2009/05/-3-apples-book.html

Elsewhere

Zevin, Gabrielle. Elsewhere. New York City: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2005.

Somehow Elizabeth Hall (also known as Liz or Lizzie), has woken up on a cruise ship with a stranger for a roommate. The ship is headed for Elsewhere, but all Liz wants to do is go home. It takes her a little while (and some revelations by her shipmates) to understand that she is dead, not just dreaming, and cannot go back home. Once she arrives on Elsewhere, she is met by her grandmother who passed away before Liz was even born and is sent to orientation to get to know her new home. Everyone on Elsewhere ages backward from the age they died, then when they are 7 days old they get sent back to Earth. Liz cannot believe her luck; just shy of 16, she will never get to drive, fall in love, go to prom, go to college or do anything else. Initially, Liz refuses to acclimate to her new situation, preferring to watch what her family on Earth is doing and rejecting the tenets of Elsewhere. After an attempt to contact her brother on Earth, which is forbidden in Elsewhere, Liz realizes that she needs to make an effort to create a life in her new home. She finds a job working with animals, giving them an orientation to their new lives, like the one she had, connects deeply with her grandmother and even finds love. Liz learns that a life is a life, no matter where you live.

By beginning the story in the world of the living, Zevin communicates with the reader one of the basic and most important elements of fantasy works: the reader is going to follow the main character on a journey beyond this world. How Zevin accomplishes this what is worth note, as she talks about the death of Liz through the eyes of her Earthly canine companion. Lucy, the dog, sets the tale that the reader is about to enter, in a fun and original way. Just that brief interlude provides the necessary and critical transition between the actual world and the world of Elsewhere. The plot points within the book so vital to the success of the work are inventive and afford the author to create essential growth in Liz, making her likeable and further emphasizing the theme. Liz, hesitant to embrace or commit to her new life, begins to understand and realize that there is a cycle to life and she is cycling through, just like everyone else. Whereas before she laments that she’ll “never go to college or get married…or live on my own or fall in love or get my driver’s license”, Liz comes to recognize that “there will be other lives.” This maturing of her character, deepening of her self-awareness through coming to grips with her death, allows her character to be understood, liked and well-received by the reader.

Zevin takes the topic of the afterworld and creates a setting that has its foundation within the actual world. In doing this, Zevin gives the reader a frame of reference in regard to what Liz’s world may actually look like. To readers that are uncertain or disinterested in this genre, having mystical elements grounded in reality may be more appealing. In Booklist, Jennifer Mattson also notes that “the setting is an elaborately conceived afterlife called Elsewhere, a distinctly secular island realm of surprising physical solidity (no cottony clouds or pearly gates here).” By scattering some magical elements throughout the story, like the ability to use binoculars to view Earth or speaking to animals, Zevin skillfully reminds where the story is taking place, but does so not to overwhelm the reader with that fact.

Book jacket found on: http://www.iowa-city.k12.ia.us/schools/city/LMC/CityReads/BookGroup/BookGr.htm

Life As We Knew It

Pfeffer, Susan Beth. Life As We Knew It. Orlando, FL: Harcourt, 2006.

Living on the outskirts of a small town is not 16 year-old Miranda Evans’ idea of excitement, but she does the best she can to keep herself entertained. Her typically quiet town is abuzz with the news of the upcoming meteor that is supposed to strike the moon; her teachers even give her extra assignments all in honor of the moon. Everyone gathers outside to watch the asteroid hit and when it does, Miranda instantly understands that something has gone wrong. Scientists got the measurements wrong and the moon is knocked out of orbit, causing the weather patterns to change. Natural disasters, like tsunamis that completely decimate every coast, begin to pop up around the world. Soon, electricity begins to become sporadic and the price of gas skyrockets. The Evans’ family begins to eat less and less, trying to conserve the now-dwindling stockpile of food they gathered. Winter comes early and hard, causing Miranda and her family to live in a single room of her house. As supplies continue to deplete, friends and strangers begin to die and her family faces what could be a fatal illness, Miranda struggles to hold herself and her loved ones afloat. Near desperation, entirely exhausted and emaciated, Miranda continues to care for her family and chronicle their journey, which ends with just a little hope.

Adhering to the general rules for Science Fiction novels, Life As We Knew It does a fantastic job of creating a plot that is both plausible and scientific. Natural disasters are something that exists in the current world and even if scientists can predict or throw conjecture at one of these events, it is still possible for something tragic to happen. John Peter agrees with this in School Library Journal, saying that Pfeffer “crafts a plausible account of the local effects of a near-future worldwide catastrophe.” Not only does the plot hold fast to Science Fiction rules, it also does not forget the general YA plot rule; what Miranda and the other characters in the story face is one of self versus nature. Nature, in this case, also assumes a clear identity within the text. In fact, nature is defined so distinctly, it becomes a character in the story. It is almost as if the hero of the novel battles against the weather and the things that nature throws again her. This characterization of nature and its elements rounds out main conflict in the story, making the Evans’ struggle even more dire, since they have absolutely no control over their situation. This characterization and subtle personification of nature lends well to build the theme of the novel; science and nature can have significant, irrevocable and devastating effects on one’s life.

The day to day life of Miranda and her family are retold through her diary entries. As the author does so, the reader begins to understand that Miranda is just a regular teenager that was faced with a large obstacle. She meets the grim prospects laid before her with nerve and candor. Miranda is quick to talk about how she is falling into despair or how small things help her to regain faith. Pfeffer does a solid job of equally exposing the two sides of what Miranda is feeling; Miranda finds hope and joy in small things, but is sometimes just tired of having to work so hard for so little. Another theme that the book consistently returns to is one of finding possibility in the most dismal of situations. On New Year’s Miranda makes a resolution to “take a moment every day for the rest of my life to appreciate what I have.” Even though Miranda has next to nothing, she realizes that she has more than most and even though things look bleak she can find hope. By giving Miranda a duality of emotions, Pfeffer creates a full-bodied protagonist in which readers can invest.

Book jacket found on: http://library.fayschool.org/Pages/books_scifi.htm