Anonymous wrote:I have 6th grader who loves military history, thank you all for suggestions!
We read Allies this summer as part of our family COVID book club and both enjoyed it.
DS really liked JoJo Rabbit and made a comment that it would be interesting to read a book written from german soldier's perspective similar to kid from JoJo rabbit story. Is there a book like that?
I am Russian, so I am used to different WWII books centered on USSR's struggle in the war. Last summer we also did Baltic cruise and tried to learn different perspectives of WWII struggles from all the nations (eye opening!), which led us to seek out books on not just western and pacific fronts but on other aspects of the war. We are starting "The Ghost Ships of Archangel: The Arctic Voyage That Defied the Nazis" after current book club book.
I am personally interested in Japanese interment camp book mentioned up thread, definitely will read that.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To be fair, PP, OP said in her original post that her son enjoys reading about battles which explains why so many book recommendations were about that topic.

I understand, but as a guy who enjoys history, but would almost never admit it because the assumption is that you collect axis memorabilia or want to talk about who would win in a fight between a samurai and a knight, I appreciate people stealing an 8th grader towards Night

Anonymous wrote:To be fair, PP, OP said in her original post that her son enjoys reading about battles which explains why so many book recommendations were about that topic.

Anonymous wrote:I also have an eighth grader interested in World War II.

I made up the following list and he is working through it--it's a mix of fiction and non-fiction with a variety of reading level/emotional intensity.

I starred the ones he particularly enjoyed. I highly recommend Bomb: The Race to Build--and Steal--the World’s Most Dangerous Weapon by Steve Sheinkin--it's a fantastic read.


-The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
Night by Elie Wiesel
The Good War by Studs Terkel


-Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand
Eichmann in Jerusalem by Hannah Arendt

-Maus by Art Spiegelman
-They Called Us Enemy by George Takei

Stephen Ambrose (-Band of Brothers, D-Day, Pegasus Bridge)
Paper Wishes by Lois Sepahban
*Allies by Alan Gratz (or Grenade)
-A Place to Belong by Cynthia Kadohata
The Last Cherry Blossom by Kathleen Burkinshaw
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
-Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein
Number the Stars by Lois Lowry
*Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys
*The War That Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows
White Rose by Kip Wilson
Invasion by Walter Dean Myers
The Librarian of Auschwitz by Antonio Iturbe
Prisoner of Night and Fog by Anne Blankman
Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
Wolf by Wolf by Ryan Graudin
Flygirl by Sherri L. Smith
*Bomb by Steve Sheinkin
*Raid of No Return by Nathan Hale (Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales)
*I Survived the Nazi Invasion and I Survived the Battle of D-Day by Lauren Tarshis
All the Light We Cannot See
*This Light Between Us by Andrew Fukuda
The Longest Day by Cornelius Ryan

Movies
*JoJo Rabbit
Patton
The Dirty Dozen
Casablanca
Schindler’s List
The Imitation Game


Hope it helps!