From: Susan Daugherty <kdaugherty>
Date: Tue, 21 Oct 1997 13:22:51 -0500

Like Karen, I have been reading World War II lit. for quite a while and am particularly interested in the books about the holocaust. Her mentioning Uri Orlev made me remember that one of my favorites was Island on Bird Street. I'm not sure why I think of it as a stand-out, but it seems to me it was really gut wrenching. I kept feeling all the way through it that Orlev must have lived this experience. Whether or not he really did, I don't know. Maybe someone else does. Ginny? I've been a fan of his ever since I read Island on Bird Street, but although I've enjoyed the other WWII things, Island still stands out in my memory, perhaps partly because I thought it would fairly accessible to kids in 5th or 6th grade, which I was dealing with at that time in my school. Survival stories like this one are so riveting, but to me they are so much better if you think they really could happen, or things just like these really did happen. For example, although I enjoyed Hatchet by Paulsen a lot, it doesn't grab me the way Island on Bird Street did because I don't think it is too likely to happen. When you read nonfiction about the holocaust, you know that incredible things did happen, some of them with happy endings. I recommend Meltzer's Never to Forget, in this vein.

There are so many other great books to talk about...maybe later...

Susan Daugherty Librarian Franklin Elementary Madison, WI 53705
Received on Tue 21 Oct 1997 01:22:51 PM CDT