WOW Review: Holocaust around the World
Volume III, Issue 2
Winter 2010
Table of Contents
Introduction and Editor’s Note
Emil and Karl
Written by Yankev Glatshteyn
Translated by Jeffrey Shandler
A Faraway Island
Written by Annika Thor
Translated by Linda Schenck
Hidden Letters
Annotated by Deborah Slier and Ian Shine
Translated by Marion van Binsbergen-Pritchard
Milkweed
Written by Jerry Spinelli
Number the Stars
Written by Lois Lowry
Resistance, Book 1
Written by Carla Jablonski
Illustrated by Leland Purvis
Color by Hillary Sycamore
T4: A Novel in Verse
Written by Ann Clare LeZotte
Tropical Secrets: Holocaust Refugees in Cuba
Written by Margarita Engle
The Yellow Star: The Legend of King Christian X of Denmark
Written by Carmen Agra Deedy
Contributors:
Holly Johnson, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio
David Meyerson, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ
Judi Moreillon, Texas Woman’s University, Denton, Texas
LaFon Phillips, Tucson Unified School District, Tucson, AZ
Gail Pritchard, University of Alabama, Huntsville, Alabama
Renita Schmidt, Furman University, Greenville, SC
Monique Storie, University of Guam, Guam
Yoo Kyung Sung, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque NM.
Melissa B. Wilson, University of the West Indies, Cave Hill, Barbados
Editor:
Janelle B. Mathis, University of North Texas, Denton, TX
Guest Editor:
Melissa B. Wilson, The University of the West Indies, Cave Hill, Barbados
Production Editor:
Richard Clift
WOW Review, Volume III, Issue 2 by Worlds of Words is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. Based on work at https://wowlit.org/on-line-publications/review/iii-2/
WOW review: reading across cultures
ISSN 2577-0527
I read Number The Stars and felt as if the book gives a different view on experiences during this time era. I highly recommend this book if you haven’t already read it! It is a great book to use in schools to teach older elementary kids about the Holocaust.
Tropical Secrets is written in verse format, resulting in a simple but yet sophisticated and developed story line. The author portrays a unique perspective on Jewish refugees in Cuba. I never would have thought there were Jewish refugees who ended up in Cuba before learning about this book. This book would be a great teaching aid about Nazi Germany. Suggested for upper elementary/middle school.
Tropical Secret is really moving and makes the reader think about how many struggles those that escaped went though during WWII. There are of course many books focused on the holocaust and WWII, however, most are views from within Europe. I appreciated the different perspective Engle gave in this novel. Another thing i enjoyed about it was the style in which she wrote in in. It is very child friendly read that still includes descriptive wording and stimulating vocabulary. It is an inspiring and interesting read for students of many ages and adults.
“Tropical Secrets” illuminates an untold history of Cuba’s role as a sometimes safe harbor for Jewish refugees during WWII. The narratives are lyrical and as alluded to in the conclusion, “Tropical Secrets” could be the title of a favorite fable sung in the corner of a dark cafe accompanied by the flamenco guitar Jewish refugee Daniel is gifted by native daugther Paloma.
Email and Karl is an excellent book for people interested in the Holocaust but children in middle school are simply not interested in stuff like that, take my advice if you are going to pick a book for your students to read ask them what they are interested in first because kids don’t want to read something they are not interested in.