1. The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne
Award winning Holocaust fiction from Dublin, Ireland author which adds insight into the subject. From 2011 International Reading Association best books list. www.reading.org
2. Number the Stars by Lois Lowry (Newbery Medal winner)
A heartwarming and exciting book recounting Nazi occupation in Denmark. Historical fiction which recounts the bravery and discreet actions of the Danes who saved their Jewish neighbors, helping them to escape to the safety of non-occupied, nearby Sweden. Relatively few Jews were captured by the Nazis as a result. This is a must-read for children ages eight through teenage years.
3. Facing the Lion, by Simone Arnold Liebster
A similar story of a little girl’s courage and resoluteness in the face of Nazi opposition, her parents sent to concentration camps, she sent to a “reform school” where she would be taught the Nazi ideology. A little girls’ ideological triumph over Nazi oppression. A story of religious and moral integrity. Good reading for fourth grade through adult.
4. The Diary of Anne Frank
The Diary of Anne Frank is, of course, the most well-known of these three stories of females during the Holocaust. A poignant account of this Jewish girl in Amsterdam is usually a part of grade school literature courses, but if a child or teen does not have opportunity to read Anne Frank's work in school, parents would want their children to be exposed to this heart-touching story.
These three books provide a well-rounded biographical backdrop for understanding the emotions and reasons millions suffered during the Holocaust, and how it touched the lives of individual children, in this case girls, as well as our obligation to stand firm against atrocities committed in the name of the state or individual injustices.
5. Hana's Suitcase by Karen Levine
This is another Holocaust account that switches between a Japanese teacher and her Holocaust Memorial Museum work in Japan with students, and a girl named Hana, who was a victim of the Holocaust, eventually being sent to Auschwitz.
This is, like many Holocaust stories a joyful/sad story, bitter-sweet, of this girl who was 11 years old when she went to Auschwitz. An exciting, heart-touching account, well-written, suspensful, sad and joyful. Highly recommended book for children (and adults), from 15 years old and younger, who can read reasonably well (around third grade).
Many pictures, easy reading.
6. We Are Witnesses: The Diaries of Five Teenagers Who Died in the Holocaust, Jacob Boas. 1996
The compelling and poignant diaries of five teenagers who died during the Holocaust
tell their tragic, courageous stories. From the Dover Public Library’s list of best books for children and teens. http://www.dover.lib.nh.us/teenpage/100bestbooks.htm
7. Annexed By Sharon Dogar
In July of 1942, sixteen-year-old Peter Van Pels was locked away in an attic in Amsterdam with his parents and another Jewish family with two daughters. Hear the story of the Annex, Anne Frank and the tragic outcome of the families from a new perspective.
From: Chicago Public Library Best of the Best Books for teen readers Age 14 and Older (grades 7 to 10) http://www.chipublib.org/forteens/teenspages/bestofbest_teen.php
8. I Have Lived a Thousand Years: Growing Up in the Holocaust. Litton-Jackson, Livia. For Grades 8 through 12.
A Jewish girl at thirteen years old is sent to Auschwitz along with her family in 1944. The roundaups, transports,selections, camps, torture, forced labor and shootings is described. The liberation and return of survivors is recounted.
Thirteen when she and her family were sent to Auschwitz, Bitton-Jackson vividly describes the horrors they faced.
9. Anne Franke and the Children of the Holocaust by Carol Ann Lee
This book provides the story of Anne Frank along with personal accounts of young people who were Holocaust survivors or victims, with excerpts from the journals of other Holocaust victims and photos, providing historical background, while capturing the emotional impact of the story. This provides an in depth look at the subject from the perspective of young people who experienced the Holocaust. For grades 6 and up.
10. The Triumphant Spirit: Portraits & Stories of Holocaust Survivors . . . Their Messages of Hope & Compassion. by Nick Del Cazo and others. 172 pages. ALA 1998 Best Books for Young Adults
This book was inspired by a trip to Dachau, the author provides black and white portraits of over 90 Holocaust survivors. Their stories are provided, along with inspiring quotes.
Current photographs of Holocaust survivors, who have not only survived but have also thrived, accompany brief sketches of their lives from Hitler's ghettos and camps to today.
Pages Related to Ten Books Recounting the Holocaust for Children and Youth
Best Books list for children and teens - on-site
How to Identify Groups Persecuted in the Holocaust
