Germany

Materials from Germany

The Cage

A teenage girl recounts the suffering and persecution of her family under the Nazis–in a Polish ghetto, through deportation, and in concentration camps.

There Will Be Wolves

The daughter of an apothecary and the owner of a secret book of healing arts, Ursula is determined to become a great healer, but her ambition makes her an outsider in the Holy Roman Empire. When she is accused of witchcraft and sentenced to burn at the stake, she is given one chance to save herself: she must march in the People’s Crusade to the holy city of Jerusalem.

Four Perfect Pebbles: A Holocaust Story

By the time WWII ended in Europe, the Blumenthal family–Marion, her brother Albert, and their parents–had lived in a succession of refugee, transit, and prison camps for more than six years, not only surviving but staying together. This memoir is written in spare, powerful prose that vividly depicts the endless degradation and humiliation suffered by the Holocaust’s innocent victims, as well as the unending horror of life in the camps.

Stones in Water

The day Roberto and his friend Samuele are rounded up by German soldiers and put on a train marks both a beginning and an end. The boys have now become part of the war, providing forced labor for the Nazis at various work camps deep inside German territory. And it’s the ending to all they’ve known — before their lives as children in Venice, their innocence. For Roberto, the present is unbearable — backbreaking work, near starvation, and protecting Samuele’s secret that, if discovered, would mean death for both boys. Escape is Roberto’s only hope, but the Russian winter is upon the land — and any hope seems remote.

Sky: A True Story of Resistance During World War II

A former member of the underground Dutch resistance force against the Nazis recounts her two years of covert meetings, perilous deliveries, near-confrontations, and life sentencing while she was still a teenager.

One-Eye! Two-Eyes! Three-Eyes!: A Very Grimm Fairy Tale

This is Two-Eyes. She has two wicked sisters. They make fun of her for having only two eyes and wonder why she can’t look normal like they do.

But Two-Eyes will show them. She’s got a fairy godmother, a magic goat, and a handsome knight to help her outsmart her terrible sisters and escape far, far away.

The Princess Plot

Jenna has just won the starring role in a film about a princess. In the wink of an eye, she’s whisked off to a remote, romantic kingdom for the “shoot.” But something’s amiss: First, she finds out she bears an uncanny resemblance to the real princess, who has run away following the death of her father, the king. Then she learns that the conniving regent plans to use her to take control of the country, now being fought over by rebels. As the plot twists and turns, Jenna discovers just what she’s made of–and just why she resembles the missing princess so much.