Books about WWII for 8th grader interested in history

[Anonymous]

My 8th grade DS is interested in WWII right now. We saw Saving Private Ryan, A Bridge Too Far, and Dunkirk this summer and listened to Allies by Alan Gratz on our way to the beach this summer. He likes reading mysteries as well as nonfiction. He is reading Stalingrad by Antony Beever right now and I want to encourage more reading on his part. Do you have a great WWII book? He's already read Boys in the Boat. He's more interested in battles and campaigns and less in biographies and personalities, being a typical 13 year old.

[Anonymous]

My son is in 6th grade, but he loves to read non-fiction.


There is a young adult version of "The Untold History of the United States" by Oliver Stone that he really enjoyed. It doesn't necessarily focus on WWII, but there is a lot of information about WWII in there, and a lot of primary source information, which is unusual for a young adult book (or any book really).

He also liked "The Bomb" by Steve Sheinkin, a young adult book that focuses on the development of the atomic bomb.

And I know that this seems kind of off topic, but he also read "Animal Farm" by George Orwell. He had a lot of questions about communism when he was reading about WWII, and this book answered some of them. There is really an excellent module on Teachers pay teachers that goes through Animal Farm in detail. My son obviously didn't want to do all of the work associated with the module, but he really enjoyed reading through the sources and discussing the questions.

[Anonymous]

YA version of unbroken.
YA version of boys in the boat (pre WWII, but leading up to it.)

[Anonymous]

The Boys Who Challenged Hitler is quite good.

[Anonymous]

Great Battles for Boys (WW2 version)

[Anonymous]

It’s not a book, but Curiosity Stream has good history documentaries, including on WWII. The subscription was very inexpensive.

[Anonymous]

The winds of war is really good but definitely more focused on the human impact.

I also really liked city of thieves about the siege of stalingrad, but again its literature and more focused on the human story but has a lot of excitement. (Its about 2 soviets who were guilty of things like ration card violations given a chance to escape execution by stealing a dozen eggs for a military commander’s kid’s birthday cake...so they are sneaking in and out of the battle lines and resistence.). There’s definitely some discussion of rape as well as genocide—one of the main characters is Jewish and there’s a part where they are captured by the nazis—so assess whether it’s appropriate for an 8th grader. Also a ton of swearing.

[Anonymous]

The canon for D-Day is Cornelius Ryan's "The Longest Day", with accompanying film. It's fascinating in its chronological precision of the day, and interweaves explanations about events leading to that day. Less gory than Saving Private Ryan, so more appropriate. I don't necessarily recommend his second book about Berlin, because of the rape descriptions, but you can decide.

There is also Roald Dahl's second autobiography, "Flying Solo", which is excellent, and details his life as a young adult at the start of the war in Africa, and his career as a fighter pilot. Very interesting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
The canon for D-Day is Cornelius Ryan's "The Longest Day", with accompanying film. It's fascinating in its chronological precision of the day, and interweaves explanations about events leading to that day. Less gory than Saving Private Ryan, so more appropriate. I don't necessarily recommend his second book about Berlin, because of the rape descriptions, but you can decide.

There is also Roald Dahl's second autobiography, "Flying Solo", which is excellent, and details his life as a young adult at the start of the war in Africa, and his career as a fighter pilot. Very interesting.

Me again. I want to note that The Longest Day was written for adults, and Flying Solo for kids, but both make for great reading, and your son is probably at the age where he can enjoy both!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The Boys Who Challenged Hitler is quite good.

I was going to say this too.

[Anonymous]

Dive: WW2 stories of sailors and submarines in the pacific

[Anonymous]

If interested, check out The Great Courses. They have an new excellent video series on WWII in Europe (with accompanying guidebook). I think it would be very appropriate for your son’s age and interest in military battles. I have an annual subscription to The Great Courses Plus, which is unlimited courses in all subjects. My sons occasionally view lectures related to their college courses.

[Anonymous]

Band of Brothers and when he is done, sit down and binge the whole HBO series.

[Anonymous]

We saw Saving Private Ryan,

This is not appropriate for an 8th grader, especially the horrific intro.

[Anonymous]

Everything else Anthony Beevor wrote is worth reading.