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World War 2 historical fiction recommendations?

World War 2 historical fiction recommendations?

Diaconu #recommend #historical fiction

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168 Answers

Nichole

Other than The Book Thief, Number the Stars by Lois Lowery.

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DiaconuQuestion author

I’ve read both and loved them?

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Ana

I love Number the Stars!

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Lisbeth

Jackdaws- Ken Follet

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DiaconuQuestion author

It’s the one with the female sabouteurs right? I should reread it soon ? thanks for mentioning it

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Rica

The Earth is Singing is definitely a good one? One of my fav books up to now.

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DiaconuQuestion author

Sounds interesting ,who’s the author?

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Rica

It’s by Vanessa Curtis. You should look it up, you might find the plot really amazing?

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DiaconuQuestion author

Thank you very much ,I will ! 🙂

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Emily

The Alice Network by Kate Quinn
The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah
The Lost Letter by Jillian Cantor
We Were the Lucky Ones by Georgia Hunter
All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
Night by Elie Wiesel
Milkweed by Jerry Spinelli

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Colleen

I just finished All the Light We Cannot See and it was good

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DiaconuQuestion author

Wow ,thanks very much ?. I’m looking forward to reading The Nightingale actually ,I’ve heard lots of good things about it. I should google the other titles as well

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JoAnna

The Nightingale is amazing!!!

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Kayleigh

Yes. The Nightingale!!! ?

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Colleen

Not fiction but unbroken is good

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DiaconuQuestion author

Oh I read that in spring and saw the movie as well. It was such a powerful read!

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Jean

I loved the Hiding Place. Also nonfiction.

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DiaconuQuestion author

The author? 🙂

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Jean

Corrie Ten Boom. Her family hid Jews in a hiding place in their house in the Netherlands. Eventually she and her family got sent to a concentration camp.

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DiaconuQuestion author

Thank you very much!

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Irene

Salt to the Sea and Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys! AMAZING YA historical fiction. And Between Shades of Gray is to be a movie soon. Also, the Nightingale was really good!

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DiaconuQuestion author

I ordered Salt to the Sea today ,I’m really looking forward to reading it. I read Between the Shades of Grey in January and it was gold♥

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Irene

Fantastic!! Salt to the Sea was even better in my opinion. It has 4 different POV and they’re all so unique. Sepetys has a way of weaving a story throughout all her characters that just blows your mind lol I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

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Sarah

The book thief (Germany), City of Thieves (Russia), Resistance by Anita Shreve (Belgium). All vastly different—all good!

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DiaconuQuestion author

Thanks very much!

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Vivian

ALL THE LIGHT WE CANNOT SEE by Anthony Doerr was a fantastic read.

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DiaconuQuestion author

Thank you very much! 🙂

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Emily

The Nightingale- Kristin Hannah
Beneath a Scarlet Sky- Mark Sullivan
Letters from Skye- Jessica Brockmole
The Secret Keeper- Kate Morton
Sarah’s Key- Tatiana de Rosenay
Code Name Verity- Elizabeth Wein
The Lost Letter- Jillian Cantor
Secrets of a Charmed Life- Susan Meissner
Between Shades of Gray- Ruta Sepetys
The Book Thief- Markus Zusak
Those Who Save Us – Jenna Blum

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DiaconuQuestion author

I’ve heard about ‘The Secret Keeper’ but I didn’t know it was ww2 fiction ?. Thank you very much for your recommendations!

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Megan

Code Name Verity was really good. Also Rose Under Fire by the same author

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Heather

Beneath a Scarlet Sky was SO good!!!

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Mariah

The nightingale. Salt to the Sea. Between shades of gray. Code name verity. Wives of war.

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DiaconuQuestion author

Who’s the author of ‘Wives of war?’ 🙂

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Mariah

Soraya Lane

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Becki

@Diaconu It’s “soraya” Lane

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DiaconuQuestion author

Thank you^^

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Kristina

Trapeze and tightrope by Simon Mawer

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DiaconuQuestion author

Thank you very much 🙂

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Kristina

You’re welcome ?

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Laura

Definitely All The Light We Cannot See

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DiaconuQuestion author

Thank you very much 🙂 . I’ll definitely read it since everyone has such good opinions about it

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Layla

I didnt like that book. That is all I ever read is WW2 FICTIONS. Have you trired any books by Katie Flynn. she was one of the first ww2 fiction authors, I have read all of hers her latest one is called “The Christmas Candle” another good searies is by an author called Ellie Dean. I run a small fb group for WW2 FICTION BOOKS.

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Supriya

Have you read Beneath the scarlet sky?

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Shaira

Night by Ellie Wiesel!!

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DiaconuQuestion author

Thanks! 🙂

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Chenita

Herman Wouk “Winds of War” & “War and Remembrance” or Leon Uris “Exodus”. Old books but still great stories

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DiaconuQuestion author

Thank you very much! 🙂

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Aliece

The Book Thief

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DiaconuQuestion author

Finished that yesterday ,left me heartbroken?

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Becki

Salt to sea by ruta Sepetys
The orphan train by Pam Jenoff
Forgotten letters by Kirk Raeber
The zookeepers wife by Diane Ackerman
The street of a thousand blossoms by Gail Tsukiyama
Honolulu by Alan Brennert
The gods of heavenly punishment by Jennifer Cody Epstein
Mata Haris last dance michelle Moran
Freuds sister – can’t remember the author
A gesture life- Chang Rae lee
Chinese American Portraits by Ruth Lum McCunn

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Becki

Also thanks for asking this question! People are suggesting books I haven’t read yet.. wish I’d asked for a kindle card for Christmas lol

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DiaconuQuestion author

Wow thanks for all the titles ?

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Becki

Also Fannie Flaggs book the all girls filling station last reunion. That one talks about women pilots in ww2

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Pat

Lilac Girls

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Angela

The Bronze Horseman by Paullina Simmons

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Megan

Was this good? I’ve heard a lot of bad things about it

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Angela

I highly enjoyed it. However I understand why many people disliked the book: it’s very long, with detailed descriptions of her daily life that can be boring, but that I absolutely adored. I think this helped very much the book in portraying a better World War II life ?

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Harriet

Catch-22 by joseph heller

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Danielle

Winter in Madrid, Book Thief, Sarah’s Key, Guernsey literary and potato peel pie society

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Joanna

Hornet Flight, Sarah’s Key, Corelli’s Mandolin, Schindler’s List, Madonnas of Leningrad, The Narrow Road to the Deep North, Atonement, Hotel at the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, Suite Francaise,

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Manu

Weapon of Choice by John Birmingham

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Caroline

Sarah’s key!! (Elle s’appelait Sarah)

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Laura

The Orphan’s Tale by Pam Jenoff

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Glenda

Loved this book!

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Lixa

Also by her is
The Kommandants Girl

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Jim

The Man From Berlin.

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DiaconuQuestion author

Author? 🙂

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Jim

Luke McCallin ☺️

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Briennai

The War that Saved My Life

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Ashisha

Lilac Girls

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Stephanie

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas
To Capture What We Cannot Keep

I just got The Ladies in the Chillbury Choir for Christmas. Can’t wait to dive in.

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Mark

Fatherland Robert Harris

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Donna

Code Name Verity, Rose Under Fire

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Susan

The Boy in The Striped Pajamas

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Ava

the zoo keepers wife, and the girl in the blue coat

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Trude

Authors: Rebecca Cantrell, Susan Elia MacNeal both write excellent WWII series.

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Maham

all the light we cannot see

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Sydney

Code Name Verity and Rose Under Fire both are by Elizabeth Wein. Read Code Name Verity first though.

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Alexis

Salt to the sea
Between Shades of Gray

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Jacqueline

The Storyteller by Jodi Picoult,
Sarah’s Key,
Lilac Girls,
The Nightengale…..all excellent WWII Historical Fiction

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Heather

@Sarah. Wonderful books about WWII Christian fiction, in case that matters.

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Whitney

I’m reading Hornet Flight by Ken Follett right now and I’m really enjoying it!

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Martina

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak it is so beautiful

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Alissa

The Nightingale, all the light we cannot see, salt to the sea, between shades of grey, the book theif, beneath a scarlet sky, the orphan train, the bronze horseman, the summer before the war, everyone brave is forgiven

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Nancy

Unbroken

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Lisa

That’s nonfiction

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Rodiana

Salt to the Sea, Between Shades of Grey by Ruta Sepetys, The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah.

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Tina

The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah

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Olivia

Code name verity

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Mary

The book thief

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Courtney

I’m listening to beneath a scarlet sky and it’s great, based on true events too!

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Kris

Loved that book!!

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Nicki

https://shealwaysreads.com/2017/12/20/book-review-the-tattooist-of-auschwitz-heather-morris/

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Jenn

Try Milkweed by Jerry Spinelli. I read it when I was a kid. It’s an easy read, but it’s about a little orphan boy who doesn’t understand what is happening duting the war and ends up getting taken to a camp.

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DiaconuQuestion author

Wow thank you!

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Becky

The Nightingale, by Kristen Hannah

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Stephanie

The Nightingale. We Were the Lucky Ones. Lilac Girls.

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Vickie

I think Unbroken is nonfiction. All the Light We (You?) Cannot See and The Lilac Girls are fiction.

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Gargee

Following

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Jaime

Daughters of the Night Sky

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DiaconuQuestion author

Author?

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Anna

It’s a World War I novel, but No Man’s Land by Simon Tolkien is excellent.

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Kim

Corelli’s Mandolin by Louis de Bernières

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Maria

Winter of the world by Ken Follet

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DiaconuQuestion author

Read the whole Century Trilogy ♥

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Laura

What World Is Left

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Natalie

The book theif and all the light we cannot see

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Ally

Salt to the Sea, Between Shades of Grey, The Book Thief, All the Light We Cannot See are my favs!

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Maria

The nightingale, between shades of grey, salt to the sea

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Maria

All the light we cannot see

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Nigah

THE BOOK THEIF

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Heather

The Nightengale and Beneath the Scarlet Sky. Two of my faves from 2017

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Debbie

The Machine; First Strike by W.C. Wallbaum. Newly published author. Great historical fiction.

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Mary

This is Science Fiction, not World War II Historical Fiction.

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Debbie

It is historical fiction with a time travel aspect that also classifies it as science fiction.

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Mary

Sorry but even in the books own description it talks about time travel first, then aliens with nothing about going back to World War II era which is what the original post was asking for. It’s great that you want to promote yours or a family members book but just make an original post don’t try and fit it into a post where it doesn’t fit. I’m sorry but that’s how I feel . . . And to put it in twice in response to the same post. What’s the point?

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Tennille

The Bronze Horseman by Paullina Simons

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Mary

This was on my TBR pile but I let someone borrow it. Now I have to buy another copy since they moved.

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Natalie

Lilac Girls, Echo (audiobook amazing too), The Storyteller by Jodi Piccoult, The War that saved my life, The Number of our Stars by Lois Lowry, Sarah’s Key (maybe one of my all time fav WWII), The Nightingale by Kristen Hannah … to name a few

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Mary

I think Sarah’s Key is one of my all-time favorites.

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Dani

All the loght we cannot see, life after life, and a thread of grace are my favourites!

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Emily

Try Street Boys by Lorenzo Carcaterra it’s brilliant and based on a true story

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Ida

Not fiction but Anne Franks diary is an amazing read!

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Mary

Not fiction-Unbroken by Lauren Hildebrand about real life Americans held in Japanese pow camps-made into a decent movie directed by Angelina Jolie…

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Mary

My kids love the Alan Gratz books. And depending on the age of your students, defiinitely, DEFINITELY Ruta Sepetys’ “Between Shades of Gray,” and then “Salt to the Sea.”

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Mary

Just started Between Shades of Gray and it’s terrific so far.

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Mary

@Mary There’s a movie coming out based on the book. I thought it was supposed to come out in November, but I haven’t seen it yet. It’s not the book’s title, either. That story is loosely based on Ruta Sepetys’ family in Lithuania, which disappeared after WWII. The country ceased to exist as itself from 1945-1990. It was part of the Russian federation. In 1990, Lithuania became the first Soviet-controlled country to restore independence, but not without terror from the Russians still. To here her tell the story of her research on this was amazing. I cried.

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Mary

and if you really get hooked on this, then I’d suggest a couple of non-fiction (middle school to advanced ms) titles: “The Family Romanov” by Candace Fleming and “Symphony for the City of the Dead” by M.T.Anderson. Enjoyed the history of the first one; the second one took my breath away. I could read a couple of pages and literally had to put the book down because the descriptions were so graphic they took my breath away. It’s the story of Dmitri Shostakovich as he lives through the Russian Revolution, while writing his 9th Symphony. I’m the daughter of a late WWII veteran who served under Gen. Patton during the Battle of the Bulge, but he never talked about the things he saw. AFter reading this book, i now know why. What I don’t understand is how we didn’t learn more about Stalin and his atrocities (and that’s a mild term here). He honestly makes Hitler look like an arch-angel. Wow. Just wow. Prepare yourself if you choose to read it, then find something much lighter to read afterward. You’ll need it.

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Mary

I’ve read both of the books you mentioned. My oldest son was a World War II (actually both World Wars) history buff in elementary school and wanted to read more but they wouldn’t let him check out the books he wouldn’t without both my approval and my commitment to discuss the books with him (he was in second grade). So I did and began a pattern of reading & talking about books till he was out of high school. There were so many atrocities going on, still are actually but now much of that is in countries like the Sudan. It’s so sad that we cannot seem to learn.

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Mary

@Mary Truly. Sepetys commented emphatically that when she began researching “Shades,” that people in Lithuania were highly reluctant to speak with her. Likewise, here in the U.S. She said she received an “anonymous” brown envelope with pictures of her family, with a note to hide them or destroy them after she was through with them. Lithuanians are still horrifically afraid of punishment and retribution from the Russian government. You’re right: we have no idea what others suffer.

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Jaclynn

The Nightingale

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Danna

I second ??‍♀️

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Halie

All the light we cannot see by Anthony doerr

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Mary

The characters may go back in time to World War II but this is essentially a time traveling alien book.

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Lexi

Can’t remember which world war it was, but Lily’s Crossing was great. It was made for a young audience (like 8-12) but I still love it. Very quick read too!

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Bailey

The Book Thief, The Nightingale, Between Shades of Gray, Salt to the Sea, All the Light We Cannot See, The Bronze Horseman, Winter Garden…sooooo many great ones!

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Rosali

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

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Frankie

A Brief History of Montmaray by Michelle Cooper. Also All But My Life by Gerda Weissman Klein and Survival in Auschwitz by Primo Levi which are nonfiction but I thought were really good and are definitely worth the read.

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Lauren

Girl in the blue coat by Monica hesse

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Melissa

I just finished The Boat Runner by Devin Murphy. It was ??

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Julie

The book thief <3

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Mayar

beneath a scarlet sky

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Dawn

The Boy In the Stripped Pajamas, The Zookeeper,

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Sofia

All The Light We Cannot See, The Nightangle, The Boy in Stripped Pajamas, and The Book Thief

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Evelyn

Between Shades of Grey by Ruta Sepetys

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Madison

I just finished that book! Absolutely amazinggg

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Evelyn

I read it years ago but even today i still find myself telling everyone about it ?

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Rob

Winds Of War is still the best I’ve ever read

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AmyJo

Malka

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Holly

Madonnas of Leningrad

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Beth

Sarah’s Key

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Jessica

Dominion by CJ Sansom

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Jennifer

Code Name Verity By Elizabeth E. Wein (I almost ugly cried) SO good!

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Lindsey

Code Name Verity and Rose under Fire are wonderful

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Stephanie

Man’s Best Friend

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Kitty

Do you know who the author is? I searched on Amazon, but there are a lot of books with this title. Thank you!

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Stephanie

@Kitty I am sorry I put the wrong title. The book I was thinking of is called “No Better Friend” by Robert Weintraub. Sorry. I mixed it up with another book. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23197306-no-better-friend

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Steffi

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas…
I recently re-read it, and it was even better than the first time.
Have your handkerchiefs ready!!

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Emily

I’m going to read this next week for a reading challenge prompt. I’m not ready. ?

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Steffi

You’re right, you have to be in the right mood to read this…

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Olivia

The Lilac Girls

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Mari

Jackdaws by Ken Follett

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Claire

All the light we cannot see – Anthony doerr

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Mary

Loved, loved this book!!

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Laurie

Just finished The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah. Wonderful.

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Jess

The Book Thief. The Librarian of Auschwitz (haven’t read this one yet but it looks really good)

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Mary

Just ordered a copy of The Librarian of Auschwitz. I’ve started Book Thief 4 times, to no avail.

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Eva

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak and The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah.

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