World War Z

I really liked this book. This is the first Sci Fi book that I have ever read but I throughly enjoyed it.
Something that was nice about it was that it came from different people, from different backgrounds all over the world. This gave it the true WORLD war Z effect and introduced us to a bunch of different perspectives instead of just one situation. It also allowed the reader to get a better idea of all everything that would be effected if a Zombie apocalypse were to happen.

An aspect that this writer did extremely well on was touching every aspect of this idea and doing it realistically. From survival, to family, to the start of the infection, to solutions, to post war, to everything else, he had a story that gave us every angle and every perspective of the tragedy. It's true that a zombie apocalypse is a little played out but I think that he did a good job at relaying the panic and what people would actually do in a severe crisis like that one. Had he been writing about the Holocaust or some other type of World War he would have been very accurate on the reactions given world wide by government, families, and individuals.

One story I especially liked was the one about the elite business man who turned the zombie attacks into a reality TV show, giving celebrities and those with a lot of money a sort of haven from this disaster all while filming it. It was a little freaky to think about since I would not be surprised if something like that actually happened. When more ordinary citizens tried to climb the fence and get in to safety, however, the outcome and the hostility they all showed was really sad. Even the fake tears was a little unsettling. I had always thought that in a moment of need status and wealth would be thrown out the window, but after reading that part, his scenario seems like it would be fairly accurate.

I would definitely reccomend this story to my students as a free reading book in order to get them more into reading. I would also seriously considering teaching this book. Although it is a little lengthy, the individual stories are short and it might make for a fun lesson plan during Halloween or something.

Maus I and II

Although I am usually not a huge fan of graphic novels, the Maus books were a good read in order to understand the horrific details of what times were like during the Holocaust. Something that was nice about this book was that the writer and the speaker of the book did not experience concentration camps and the Holocaust for himself so the book was written in order for people to understand what people went through during this time.

I liked that the author went through his entire writing process in his book. Before I read it I thought that it would strictly be about his father's experience throughout the Holocaust; giving us captions into how his father and mother coped with what happened to them was really interesting and gave us a more long term picture of what kind of effect it had on people who survived the camps. Even Art was effected by his parents experience, even though he was not born until after the war. His mother could not cope with the feelings that she had from this so she took her life- without even leaving a note- which really negatively impacted Art and his father. His father could not part with anything and was never, EVER wasteful even in the most silly of circumstances. When confronted about this his father explained that he did not want to waste anything after Hitler. This really gives us a perspective on how little these people had to live off of when they were in the camp. Even going as far as taking paper from restaurants to save some money on napkins. 

Something else that was nice about this book was that since the characters were portrayed as animals, the content was received a little less intensely, which might be good for a younger reading audience. It might not give a message that kids can relate to but at least it gives them an introduction into understanding and knowing what went on during this period.

Another nice thing about this book is that it reaches a wider range of students. Many books given to kids in school are traditional novels; a graphic novel gets kids who maybe don't enjoy extensive reading as much something to enjoy while also getting a good reading content. 

I probably wouldn't teach this book but I would definitely give it as an option to students when doing a Holocaust segment. Even though the reading level isn't extremely high, I would still probably suggest giving this to 9-12th grade students due to the intense content.

Hitler Youth

This is a wonderful tool to use while learning about the Holocaust. I would actually probably pair this with Night so that students could see not only the concentration side of it but also the side of the Germans who were not Jewish and who were put into the Hitler Youth group.
It is scary how much campaigning Hitler did for the youth. It makes sense because I think it is easier to get children involved in things and if they are involved at a young age it is more likely that they will support you later too because that is all that they know. In order to get them to join, Hitler promised many things to the German people saying that in order for Germany to obtain power and respect they must take drastic measures. They also made the Hitler Youth very tempting by saying that they would do a lot of fun things and that they would be looked at as heros if they joined. Once that stopped working they used different tactics which proved to be more forceful. Many parents had no other choice than to allow their children to join for fear of being arrested or have their children taken away.
The pictures in the book were really nice and gave a lot more meaning behind the information since we were able to see who was being talked about. Also the stories that were interspersed throughout the book made the book a lot more interesting to read. It kept the readers attention and again gave the whole thing a lot more meaning to be introduced to those children.
Something that I think is also good about this book is that it provides more understanding. It is easy to say that we hate Germans for doing something so awful as that but I think that it is important that we teach kids that things aren't always as they seem and all that it is more a few terrible people that were the cause of this tragedy.
I would use this book for 7-12. For middle school this would be a good book to just introduce what kind of things went on during this period. With high school students, I would pair this book with another book to give them more insight to the whole story.

Night

Night is a book on the life of one individuals encounters in a concentration camp during the Holocaust. Although the content in this book can be quite graphic, I think that it is a good read for students who are learning about the Holocaust. When learning about it in school it is next to impossible to really understand or comprehend such evil and cruelty- this book allows students to know more about what people had to go through when in concentration camps. Because of the content I would probably recommend this book for 10-12th graders. The Holocaust is such a huge thing to wrap your head around so I think that the older they are, the easier it would be for them to really get the severity of what happened.

It was really hard for me to get through this book. The writing was done very well and the story was interesting but the situations that he had to go through and the different stories that he shared really got to me and made it hard to read. The scene that was most disturbing to me was when they were first brought to the concentration camp and the babies were being thrown into a pit. It is so hard for me to imagine such cruelty and I really had a hard time with that.

Something that I noticed with this book and with Kindred, is how easy it was for the main characters to get into the roles that were expected of them. For Dana, she knew that slavery was wrong and she despised it, but at the same time it scared her how quickly she fell into the roles given to her; similarly, Eli found himself becoming less and less "human" going further and further into survivor mode and becoming less disturbed by the things that were happening around him.

I would definitely teach this book in a class room. It isn't terribly long, with simple language- the content is also very interesting so I think that this would reach a wide range of readers. Like I said, I would teach it to 10-12th graders. I would also maybe pair this book with a movie on the Holocaust or have our next book be Number the Stars or something, just to give the students more of a perspective on the matter.

So sad that this is part of our history but I am glad that he turned his experience into literature so that we can better understand what happened and like he said prevent history from repeating itself.

Kindred

This book is about a woman going back in time to the days of slavery in order to save her great great great grandfather from various life threatening accidents before she has conceived her great great grandmother.

While going back, Dana has a lot of self conflict between doing what she knows is right, fitting into the time that she has been thrusted into, and surviving, all while making sure she does not change the course of time that will determine her fate and the fate of her family. This is especially hard for Dana because of the mistreatment she receives and sees others receive. She is stuck in a world where she does not belong to either opposing side. She doesn't fit in with the whites because she is black; she doesn't fit in with the blacks because she is seemingly "too white" for their liking and don't trust her. Although she makes a few friends who are always there for her, she is suffocated by a boy who she despises, yet can't seem to stop saving him. In the end she ends up taking his life when he tries to make advances on her. It was a tough decision for her since she knew that she would be putting a lot of people into bad situations.

I have mixed feelings about this book. I liked reading it and thought that the plot and the twists were both entertaining and original but the content and graphics of the book made it kind of depressing and dark. I definitely would not recommend this to teach as a high school book and maybe not even a class book at all but if I was to teach it as a class I would stick to freshmen in college age.

Warriors Don't Cry

"Warriors Don't Cry" by Melba Pattillo Beals was a wonderful book. Knowing that it was a biography (and after reading "Hope in the Unseen") I was a little skeptical about whether or not I would enjoy this book. I was pleasantly surprised that this book was not only a fast read but it also gave a lot of insight into the lives of the people who made integration possible.

This book is about one girls journey of integrating an all-white school in order to stop the spread of segregation. Throughout her time at Central High School she is teased verbally and physically by both students and teachers alike. The only way that she is able to keep her sanity is through the power of prayer, her family, and the small acts of kindness she receives from those who are willing to accept her.

My favorite part in the book was in the epilogue, and the very last sentence of the book when Melba is overwhelmed about being back to Central (30 years later) and a black, well dressed, young man comes out of the school introducing himself as the president of the student body. After all the hardships that she went through she was finally able to see with her own eyes what a difference and how worthwhile her cause was. How cool is that!

I would definitely teach this in a classroom, probably for 9th-11th grade. This book allows students to understand a time where segregation wasn't only allowed but promoted. I think that this would be a good book to pair with another class like history or something when they are covering the Civil Rights period. That way students will be able to better understand all of the political things going on in places all over the US during the time that Melba was integrating Central High School.
Wonderful book!