World War II in Literature for Youth: A Guide and Resource Book

By Patricia Hachten Wee

Written to assist students interested in exploring the vast amount of literature dealing with the war years, 1939-1945, this volume provides annotated bibliographies of a broad sampling of books that will be of interest to high school and middle school students, their teachers and parents. Over 2000 of the best and most current volumes, as well as many out-of-print books available in libraries, are reviewed and categorized. Listings include biographies and autobiographies; fiction and essays; art, music, and movies; and topics such as the origins of the war and its aftermath; aircraft, ships and submarines, land vehicles, and weapons; technology; propaganda; war crimes; and campaigns and battles. Relevant Internet site, museums, organizations, movies, videos, and technical references are also provided.
The authors have included some 400 topics for constructivist assignments, research papers, reports, and presentations aligned to the educational standards for social studies. In addition, the book abounds with subjects that encourage critical thinking and analysis such as differing American and German submarines strategies; the role of war production by companies such as Hewlett-Packard and Fisher-Price; the military experiences of authors such as Kurt Vonnegut, Ian Fleming, and J.D. Salinger; the effect of broken codes on the outcome of the war; the daily life of the Filipino people under Japanese occupation as viewed through period newspapers; and the Japanese American internment program. An extensive index provides easy access to the thousands of authors, titles, events, and topics.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0810853019
• ISBN13: 9780810853010
• Release Date: November 2004
• Publisher: Scarecrow Press
• Length: 404 Pages
• Weight: 2.44 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 8.5" x 11.0"

Customer Reviews

Teacher and Librarian Tool

WWII in Literature for Youth is an excellent resource for guiding research and designing units of instruction for teachers and library media specialists working with middle and high school age students. It can also be used as a collection development tool to build a library of books, periodicals, audiovisuals, and electronic resources about World War II. In addition to citing and briefly annotating titles within broad headings, such as espionage, propaganda, war crimes, etc, the "Topics for Exploration" section lists many interesting, instructional activities and ideas. Great for independent research, including "History Day" types of competitions and presentations.