HITLER YOUTH

Bartoletti, Susan. 2005. Hitler Youth. NY: Scholastic.

Hitler Youth is a book written about children in Germany that were basically brainwashed by Hitler himself. At a time when Germany was suffering from a weak and unstable government, high unemployment, and poverty Hitler promised the young generation a brighter future if they joined the Hitler Youth, an organization dedicated to Adolf Hitler. Many joined willingly. At the time Hitler was the leader of the National Socialist Party. Later he became the dictator of Germany. Herbert Norkus was the first youth to die for the cause of National Socialism. Many other young children devoted their lives to Hitler not knowing what they were really doing. They didn’t know that that they were admiring a mass murder. Sophie and her brother Hans Scholl were fortunate enough to discover what was really happening and secretly fought back trying to make people aware of what Hitler was really doing, but unfortunately they were caught and killed. This book tells of the lives of children during the the rise of Hitler. It tells how they were devoted to him to the point of going against their own parents. To the point of going against the Jews even if a one point they were friends with many of them.

THE WATSONS GO TO BIRMINGHAM-1963

Curtis, Christopher Paul. 1995. The Watsons Go to Birmingham, 1963. NY: Delacorte

Kenny Watson is a typical African American ten year old boy living in Flint with his older brother, younger sister, and parents. When Kenny’s older brother, Bryon, starts getting himself into trouble at home it causes the Watsons to make a trip to Birmingham where his mother is from. His parents had the idea of taking Bryon to his grandmother’s house to stay for a while so he could straighten up. At this time African American people were fighting for equal rights. In his hometown of Flint there wasn’t much going on compared to the south. Some readers may be able to relate to what the Watsons are going through in this era of time. The Watsons arrived to Birmingham safe but little did they know what was headed their way. Joetta, Kenny’s little sister, awoke Sunday morning ready for Sunday school. What happened next changed Kenny’s life in a matter of seconds. The church where Joetta was attending Sunday school was bombed. Thankfully nothing happened to his sister, but Kenny on the other hand was in shock and it took him awhile to overcome what he had seen at the church that morning. The Watsons Go to Birmingham focuses on the life of Kenny Watson and his family in an awful time in American history.

WE ARE THE SHIP

Nelson, Kadir. 2008. We Are The Ship. NY: Hyperion

We Are The Ship is a book based on great African American baseball players and the struggles they went through to play the game. Dating back to the early 1900s we see how these ballplayers were treated. Some of them were forced to leave the field in crutches due to runners spiking them. At the time protective gear wasn’t required so there was a lot of mistreatment against them. Soon Rube started The Negro National League. It was different from the majors. The Negro League was fast, flashy and daring. Throughout the book we learn about many gifted African American players such as Satchel Paige and Jackie Robinson. We learn about the struggles these players had to overcome such as having to play on a daily basis without any rest as well as not being able to eat in certain restaurants due to their skin color. Soon some of these ball players where moved up to the majors. This may have started the end of the Negro League. Jackie faced some hard times during his time in the major leagues. To the extent of his family being threated. This book is based in time era when African Americans were looked down upon because of their skin color.

GOOD MASTERS! SWEET LADIES!

Schlitz, Laura. 2007. Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Boston, MA: Candlewick Press

Good Masters, Sweet Ladies is a book that consists of seventeen short plays based on medieval times. The setting is based on a medieval manor so some of the characters know each other. For example, Taggot, the blacksmith daughter meets Hugo the Lord’s nephew while working on his horse. Thomas is the son of the Lord’s doctor. When reading this book the reader will learn how people survived during the medieval times. Each character plays a different role in the manor. They all some how interact with each other. We see how each one deals with their own problems in their own way.