The latest historical fiction from Gratz focuses on Sept. 11, 2001 and the attack on the World Trade Center. Nine-year-old Brandon has been suspended from school and needs to go to work with his father, chef at Windows on the World at the top of the North Tower. Without telling his father, Brandon slips away to go to a nearby store and purchase a replacement toy for his friend, the reason he was suspended. Brandon is in an elevator when the plane hits the building, and so begins his struggle to try to get back to his father on the top floor. Reshmina lives in present day Afghanistan, in a remote village where the Taliban is active and the Americans are trying to drive them out. When an American soldier is badly injured and asks for help, as part of her Muslim religion, Reshmina cannot refuse. She leads the soldier to her home where she puts her family and entire village in danger, especially when her twin brother, Pasoon, runs off to join the Taliban and tell of the hidden American. Like some of Gratz’s other novels, these two stories on opposite sides of the world will intertwine. But how?
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Most students will say the genre of historical fiction is not their favorite. But often, after reading a great book of this genre, they seek out other good works of historical fiction. An “oldie but goodie,” (published 13 years ago) this book will cause that reaction with most students. Chains is the first book of The Seeds of America trilogy. Set at the beginning of the Revolutionary War, 13-year-old Isabel and her younger sister, Ruth, are slaves of Miss Mary Finch. While promised freedom when their owner dies, Mary’s nephew, Robert Finch, has other ideas and sells the sisters to a Loyalist family who moves the girls to New York City from all they know in Rhode Island. Isabel decides that if the country can fight for freedom, so can she. After taking the advice of a servant boy, Isabel spies on the family she serves and other Loyalist families, passing information along to the rebels. When Ruth is separated from her, Isabel has even more reason to turn against her owners and plot for her freedom. (Book 2 – Ashes, Book 3 – Forge) Grace, a pregnant teen, has been locked away in an insane asylum by her father, a Massachusetts senator, in the 1800s. The horrors she suffers have killed her spirit and taken her voice. She lives as a mute until a violent episode brings forth her voice and the doctor attending to the asylum patients recognizes her intelligence and gifts in observation. Dr. Thornhollow and Grace stage her death at the asylum and Thornhollow takes her away to his new job of investigating murders in Athens, Ohio. Grace has agreed to enter his dark world, helping in the investigation of the murders, but living under cover as a mute in a “more pleasant” asylum. Always at the back of her mind is trying to find a way to protect her younger sister back home from the same fate Grace endured from their father. As Grace becomes more skilled in helping Thornhollow solve murders, she begins to take risks that will put her own life in more danger. Be forewarned, this is a rather dark mystery based on historical practices of insane asylum patients in the 1800s. Most novels about the Holocaust deal with before and during WWII. Hesse’s novel is about the aftermath for one Polish survivor, Zofia Lederman, who is being released after several months in a hospital where she was taken after being liberated from Gross-Rosen concentration camp. She wants to return home to Sosnowiec, Poland, hoping to find her younger brother, Abek, there. When Abek is not at home, a confused Zofia sets out for a displaced persons camp being run by the allies in Germany, hoping to find her brother, the only member of her family she believes has survived. While her brother is not at Foehrenwald, Zofia does make some friends who help her in her search. One day, Abek shows up at the camp. Zofia can hardly believe her good fortune. But through twists and turns, it turns out that Zofia may not be so lucky after all. Siblings Bird, Fitch and Cash are seventh graders in January 1986. Each has their quirks in this dysfunctional family: Bird (Bernadette) is quiet, smart and dreams of becoming an astronaut. Fitch, her twin, has a temper problem and loves arcade games. (Remember, this is before Xbox and cell phones.) Cash, a year older and NOT interested in school, has failed seventh grade and is on track to fail again. When science teacher, Ms. Salonga, arranges her classes into space shuttle crews to prepare for the launch of the Challenger, Bird participates whole heartedly. She even writes an essay to “win” a place in the auditorium to watch the launch of the Challenger live on TV. But when disaster happens, Bird is devastated and ready to give up on her dreams. February 18, 1943 – Gestapo Headquarters. Sophie Scholl and her brother Hans are being interrogated in separate rooms. Sophie is worried. Are her lies matching her brother’s lies? Does Herr Mohr believe her? Does he really think she has no idea who distributed the leaflets denouncing Hitler and the regime? Can she pull this off? So begins a series of flashbacks telling the real story of Sophie, her brother, her friends and the White Rose group. At first, the young people in Germany believed Hitler would bring great changes to their country, giving them great opportunities. But as the years pass and the young people realize German youth are fighting and dying for a lost cause, Sophie and her friends believe they cannot sit idly by. Something must be done. This novel in verse tells the story of the real White Rose group and its very real members, young people who hoped to stop the atrocities being carried out by Hitler. Sepetys writes about those little-known periods of history that really should be brought to light. Her latest book is set in Madrid, Spain in 1957 under the rule of ruthless dictator Francisco Franco. The wealthy flood to this seemingly sunny land in search of a good time while life is anything but for most Spaniards. Eighteen-year-old Daniel has traveled from Texas with his parents, his father - an oil tycoon and his mother who is anxious to visit the country of her birth. Daniel’s father expects him to enter the family business, but Daniel’s passion is photography and he sets out to capture the heart of Spain in photos and win a college art scholarship. Ana is a maid at the Hilton Hotel where Daniel’s family is staying and is assigned to “serve” his family. Her father was killed and her mother imprisoned by Franco for working with the resistance movement. Trying to keep her head down, she needs this job to support her siblings, but she finds herself trying to help Daniel with his photography and eventually getting drawn into dangerous activities, losing her job. Mystery, the dark side of this period of Spain’s history, and forbidden romance all make this novel a delicious read for high school students. Mercy Wong has faced discrimination and poverty living in San Francisco’s Chinatown her entire 15 years. Determined to get the best education possible, she sets her sights on an all-white girl’s school, St. Clare’s, and manages to get accepted with a little bit of deceit and bribery. More discrimination by the school’s wealthy white girls rules each day, until the historic San Francisco earthquake of 1906 destroys the school, the city and Mercy’s home. Now, all the girls are on an even playing field as they must wait in the local park for days to reunite with any surviving family members. But Mercy isn’t good at waiting, especially when fires are raging and collapsed buildings and roads are everywhere. Always self-driven, Mercy sets out to help restore order and help those who are suffering, drawing forth admiration from those who formerly handed out only discrimination. Uprising – Margaret Peterson Haddix – Historical Fiction Three teens, a horrible fire, and one survivor. Life is hard for two of these teens, employed by the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in New York City in 1911. Bella is an Italian immigrant who doesn’t speak English. Yetta, a Russian immigrant, wants better working conditions for all. All employees, including Bella and Yetta, work under horrible conditions – the hours are very long, sometimes the clock is turned back so they have to work even longer, their pay is reduced for the slightest mistake, and they have to be frisked when they leave each evening to make sure they aren’t stealing anything. As conditions worsen, Yetta leads the employees’ efforts to strike and meets rich-girl Jane on the picket line, who is supporting women’s suffrage. Through a twist of events, the girls become friends and are all in the locked factory on March 25, 1911, the day of the horrible fire. As 146 people lose their lives, only one of the three teens survives. |
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