The War Below

Skrypuch, Marsha Forchuk. The War Below. New York : Scholastic Press, [2020].
Luka – having escaped from a  Nazi labour camp and on the run – desperately wants to return to his home in Kyiv, Ukraine. Hiding in a forest, he meets Martina, also on the run from Soviet and Nazi soldiers. Based on actual events, this fast-moving 240-page novel – originally published as Underground Soldier in 2014 – tells the story of how two young people become involved with the Ukrainian Insurgent Army fighting for Ukraine’s independence in 1943. Readers 11-years-old and up who are interested in learning more about Ukraine and its history will be amazed at all the details in this novel by an acclaimed Ukrainian Canadian writer.

More stories about World War 2

Another novel set in Ukraine

Winter in Wartime

Terlouw, Jan. Winter in Wartime. New York: New York Review Books, 2020.
Fifteen-year-old Michiel has lived through four years of war. He spends his days running secret errands on his bicycle and avoiding the Allied bombers flying overhead and the Nazi soldiers occupying his town. When he learns that a wounded British pilot is hiding in the woods, he starts secretly bringing him food and supplies. When the villagers are blamed for the death of a German and his father is shot in revenge, he starts to distrust everyone. Who murdered that German soldier? Who is watching him? When will soldiers come for him?
This 220-page novel based on the author’s own childhood has been in print in the Netherlands for almost fifty years. Translated from the Dutch by Laura Watkinson, it is highly recommended for mature readers 11 to 17 years old who enjoy action-oriented, fast-paced stories. 

More novels for young adults

More stories set in the Netherlands

More stories set during World War 2

More stories based on the author’s own life

They Went Left

Hesse, Monica. They Went Left. New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2020.
After surviving the horrors of being locked up in a concentration camp, eighteen-year-old Zofia travels back to her home in Poland in 1945 with the help of a Russian soldier. She hopes to be reunited with her younger brother, but he isn’t there.  So she sets off in the middle of the night to search for him, determined not to give up until she finds him. It is in a displaced-persons camp in Germany where she finally discovers the truth.
A young adult novel about love and loss and learning to live with memories, this novel is most highly recommended for mature readers 13 years old and up.

(Note: due the sexual references, some private schools and some parents may prefer to reserve this book for older readers.)

More stories about World War 2 

More stories about refugees

More stories for young adults

A Place to Hang the Moon

Albus, Kate. A Place to Hang the Moon. New York: Holiday House, 2021.
Three orphaned siblings – 12-year-old William, 11-year-old Edmund, and 9-year-old Kate – are evacuated from London during World War II and sent to live in the countryside.  

You may have read other stories about British WW 2 evacuees: Good Night, Mr. Tom by Michelle Magorian; The Sky is Falling by Kit Pearson; and The War that Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Baker. You may have read other stories about orphans: Anne of Green Gables  by L.M. Montgomery; the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling; Pine Island Home by Polly Horvath. The list of similar stories could go on and on and on. So why read this new novel by Kate Albus?  

A Place to Hang the Moon is as heartwarming as stories by Beverly Cleary and Eleanor Estes.  It is as unflinching in its description of hardships as novels by Avi and Karen Hesse. Kate Albus’s three protagonists display all the determination and resilience found in the best of children’s stories. Why not read another novel that will bring joy to your heart? Recommended for readers 9 to 12 years old.  

More stories about World War 2 

More stories set in England

The Cats in Krasinski Square

Hesse, Karen. The Cats in Krasinski Square. New York: Scholastic Inc., 2004. 
Inside the Wall of the Ghetto, and inside the cracks, dark corners, and openings in the rubble, are cats who’ve lost their owners. It is dangerous here. You cannot act Jewish. A girl and her sister, Mira, have almost no food. So one day, they decide to get their friends – who live beyond The Wall – to help them secretly smuggle bags of food into the Ghetto. But on the day the train is to come, they get news that the Gestapo knows of the train and the food! They are bringing their dogs. The girl has a slightly dangerous plan. She scurries over to the rubble and collects the cats in baskets. Then they all hurry over to the train station. The train comes, and the dogs are let loose. But what else is let loose? The cats! The dogs immediately lose interest in the train and begin chasing the poor cats! What chaos! A few minutes later, the girl and sister happily walk home in the night with bags of food. – Eishmeet in grade 6   

Listen to the story on Youtube 

Read more stories of World War II

 

The Bicycle Spy

McDonough, Yona Zeldis. The Bicycle Spy. New York: Scholastic Press, 2016.
Twelve-year-old Marcel – riding his bicycle and dreaming of racing in the Tour de France – discovers that he is delivering more than bread from his family’s bakery. He is delivering secret messages that must be kept hidden from the German soldiers who have invaded France. Set in 1942, this suspenseful novel – with widely spaced lines and relatively large print – will appeal to readers 10 years old and up. 

More stories of World War 2 

More stories set in France