Brainstorm 280: 4 WWII Nonfiction Reads

November brings a focus on nonfiction reads for the Brainstorm. And we’re kicking off this week with 4 nonfiction WWII reads for a variety of ages. I limited myself to only WWII stories I haven’t highlighted previously in the Brainstorm. Click on the title to see my full review including any content notes/trigger warnings.

Alias Anna: a True Story of Outwitting the Nazis by Susan Hood with Greg Dawson

A biography in verse of Jewish Ukrainian musical prodigy Zhanna Arshanskaya and how she avoided being eliminated by the Nazis during WWII.

The co-author of this book is Zhanna's son. Zhanna's story stands out for how she escaped even though she was famous before the war, and for her musical talent (she went on to get a full ride to Juilliard).

Target Readers:

Biography Fans, WWII Escape Story Fans, Music Lovers, Reluctant Nonfiction Readers, Quick Nonfiction Read Fans, Novels in Verse Fans, Nonfiction Fans, Middle Grade Readers

 

A Bookshop in Berlin by Françoise Frenkel, translated by Stephanie Smee

The autobiography of a Polish Jewish woman who launched a French bookstore in Berlin in the 1930s after getting her education in France. Her shop was only open for a few years before it became clear that she must get out. She reluctantly closed up her shop, returned to Paris, and then relates her numerous stops in Southern France trying to find a way to Switzerland as the Nazi hold on France gets tighter and tighter.

I’ve read many fictional accounts of escapes out of France into Switzerland but this was the first autobiography and it was intriguingly more calm than many of the fictional accounts. Frenkel focuses on what it was like in more of the day to day activities, like standing in lines or waiting in a safe house.

Target Readers:

Autobiography Fans, WWII Escape Story Fans, History Fans, Nonfiction Fans, Adult Readers (though approachable to YA)

 

Nicky & Vera: a Quiet Hero of the Holocaust and the Children He Saved by Peter Sís

A picture book biography about Nicholas Winton, who quietly and humbly went to work to rescue Jewish children from Prague when he saw the need at the rumblings of WWII, arranging for them to go to England and escape the Nazis. Sís showcases how important Nicky's work was through the story of one of the girls whose life Winton saved, Vera Gissing. Vera was a girl who loved cats and had a happy childhood until the Nazis arrived. She got on one of the trains Nicky arranged and went to England, and when she returned to Prague after the war she found that none of her family who stayed in Prague had survived. If not for Nicky, she would have died too.

The full impact of Nicholas Winton's actions weren't even really known until 1989 when his wife stumbled across the records of all the kids he put on trains (she didn't even know what he had done during the war until then, he was that humble), and that started an event where a whole bunch of the now grown children he saved got together to thank him. A powerful and moving picture book with a unique art style loaded with symbolism.

Target Readers:

Picture Book Biography Fans, Quick Nonfiction Read Fans, WWII Story Fans, Symbolic Art Fans, Heartwarming Story Fans, Middle Grade Readers on up

 

Torpedoed: The True Story of the World War II Sinking of "The Children's Ship" by Deborah Heiligman

Deborah Heiligman relates the story of the disaster of the torpedoing of City of Benares which was carrying over a hundred children from Britain to Canada in hopes they would be safer during WWII. The story looks at how some of the children and adults on the ship survived, how ordinary people became heroes, how the survivors were rescued, and how this disaster impacted future boating policies and plans for British children during WWII.

An excellent piece of nonfiction writing loaded with personal interviews and primary documents woven together in a fascinating way.

Target Readers:

WWII Story Fans, Disaster Story Fans, Survival Story Fans, Nonfiction Fans, Young Adult Readers (though approachable to upper Middle Grades)