“We Shall Overcome”

YA and MG books about resisting oppression during The Holocaust

“We Shall Overcome”

We shall overcome, we shall overcome,We shall overcome someday;

Oh, deep in my heart, I do believe, We shall overcome someday.

Full lyrics

Between Shades of Gray

15-year old Lina is taken from her home and

transported north to Siberia, where she is

forced to work in Stalin’s work camp.

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

Berlin, 1942Bruno’s father has just gotten

a promotion. The family moves far away, where there is no one to play with. Bruno makes a new friend, on the other side of a long fence.

Number the StarsCopenhagen, 1943

Ten-year old Annemarie’s family takes in Annemarie’s best friend Ellen. Pretending Ellen is one of their family,

they are protecting Ellen from the Jewish relocation in

Denmark in 1943.

The Book ThiefGermany, WWII

Liesel is a foster girl and thief living near Munich. When she learns to read, she finds she

really likes stealing books. She shares the stolen books with a

Jewish man hidden in her basement.

The Diary of a Young Girl

Actual diary of a Jewish girl whose family hid for two years

behind a secret wall in an Amsterdam office building.

Code Name VerityWritten confession of a female

British pilot shot down and captured by Nazis in WWII.

MausGraphic novel about the

author’s father’s experience living in Poland during WWII.

Depicts Nazis as cats and Jews as mice.

Salt to the SeaBased on the true story of

largest maritime disaster in history, the tragedy of the

Wilhelm Gustloff.

Courage Has No ColorWWII, United States

True story of America’s first black paratroopers

and the racial discrimination they

faced. Narrative nonfiction.

Hitler’s CanaryDenmark, 1940

Story of a 12-year old boy whose family helps smuggle

Jews across the water to safety in neutral Sweden.

Many of the characters are based on the author’s family members; the main character Bamse is based on her father.