Beginner’s Guide To: World War Two/The Holocaust in YA

This is a sort of continuation of this post in which I suggested good books to start with for people just starting out in Young Adult Literature. Today, I’m talking about one of the areas in Literature (not just YA) that I am most interested in – World War Two/The Holocaust novels.

Some of these might not actually be classed as ‘YA’, but I decided to mention them anyway. Let’s start!

The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank

Even if you’re not interested in this era/subject, I seriously believe that everyone in the world should read this book at least once. It’s a true story (which I’m sure you all know) which means it’s incredibly moving, and yes, it will absolutely rip your heart out of your chest but you have to have to read it to understand. This is probably the book that has most affected me so far in life.

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

I’m sure you were all expecting this one so I thought I’d just get it out of the way now. Don’t get me wrong, I adore this book and I highly recommend it to everyone and the film too. Again, your heart will break but it’s worth it.

Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys

I mentioned this book in my original post, but I wanted to mention it again. I’m going to admit right now, as much as I love The Book Thief…I prefer this. The stories in both books are incredibly different as is the writing, but there’s something about this one that causes this deep, uncontrollable ache in my chest that rivals Anne Frank’s diary. I don’t know how else to convince you all to read this.

The Wrong Boy by Suzy Zail

I thought I’d mention one that isn’t nearly as well known as the others. Suzy Zail is an Australian author which means this story holds an extra special place in my heart. This one is a little bit lighter than the others – it’s still powerful, but it’s doesn’t completely ruin your life. It’s the perfect book for when you want just a little sadness, not a ‘stay in bed all week and cry’ kind of sadness.

Prisoner of Night and Fog by Anne Blankman

This is my most recent read, and I’ve already got a full length review up about here. This one is also different – the main character isn’t Jewish, but rather someone in Hitler’s inner circles. It’s a book about learning what’s right, and it’s just so beautiful. Again, it’s not as heartbreaking as the others but it will still get to your feels. (Also, this is actually early 1930’s but I’m counting it anyway.)

You wouldn’t believe how hard it was to narrow it down to these five books – there were others I wanted to mention and ones I haven’t even had the chance to read yet. Basically, I’ll be doing another post in the future about more Holocaust books.

Thank you all for reading!

Begginner's Guide To: Young Adult Literature

As I’m sure a lot of you are aware, there have been some not so nice (or accurate, for that matter) comments going around about Young Adult Literature, and what that means, who can read it etc.

I’m a firm believer that everyone should be allowed to read whatever they choose. There are so many people in this world who don’t ever read, that I think it’s a bit ridiculous that those among us who do read get criticised for our choice in books.

This isn’t an opinion piece, though there are many articles I’ve read in the last few months that make me want to stab myself (and others) in the eye. Today, I’m just giving you recommendations of where I think you should start in YA if you’d like to. In my opinion, these are the sorts of books that really give you a taste of a few different genres and I think they can be enjoyed by everyone (like pretty much every other YA book). 

Shall we start? I think we should start.

Contemporary/Realistic Fiction

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

I mean, you all saw this one coming right? I know this one is pretty obvious, but I thought I should mention it anyway. I think it’s a really good story, and yeah maybe it makes cancer look a little pretty at times (trust me, cancer is hard) but I still think it has a good message. Besides, everyone needs a good cry now and again, don’t they? (And by cry, I mean uncontrollable, painful, heartbreaking sobs.)

Fantasy

Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

Again, this is probably no surprise to anyone but you know what? I love this series too much not to include it. This story is just epic, I don’t really know how else to explain it. The characters are amazing, the world is brilliant and I personally think it’s really interesting. This would be a great place to start for adult fantasy readers, I believe. I know it’s helped me slowly edge into adult fantasy.

Dystopian

Legend by Marie Lu

I know a lot of lists would suggest The Hunger Games or Divergent, but I think Legend deserves to be mentioned more often. This trilogy is amazing – you’ve got your kickass female lead, a messed up world, and lots of action. What more could you possibly ask for?

Paranormal

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

I think paranormal novels often get a bad rap – generally there’s vampire and werewolves and everything is labelled as the ‘next Twilight’, but that’s not everything in this genre- there is so much more. The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer is a crazy ride – not only is it paranormal, but it’s a bit mystery, a bit thriller and a bit romance. It’s one of those novels that will have you begging for more.

Historical

Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys

This was definitely the hardest genre to just pick one book from. There are so many that I wanted to talk about – The Book Thief, Rose Under Fire, The Diviners and The Gemma Doyle Trilogy (both of which are also paranormal), The Wrong Boy. I could literally go on for hours! I chose Between Shades of Gray because it’s maybe the story that has haunted me the most. It’s about a concentration camp in Lithuania in the Second World War, and as you can imagine that means a lot of pain. I can’t even begin to describe it, you’ll just have to read it yourself!

So those are my picks for today. In the future, I’m going to do some follow up posts about certain genres and issues etc. but for now, it’s just these few. What do you guys think? What books would make your list?

Thanks for reading!