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!

Ely's Recommendations #1

So a few months back, I made a post recommending books to a friend of mine and I really enjoyed that. So I thought I'd start a new little series in which I recommend about some of my favourite books. In each part, I'm going to name five books/series and then talk about them a bit. This is mostly YA, but I'll include other genres now and again.

1. The Wounded Guardian by Duncan Lay | Goodreads
I have yet to write a proper review of this book, but there was no way I could not put it on this list so a review will probably be up next week. To put it simply, I adored this book. I don't usually read epic fantasy novels, but this one just completely blew my mind. I think part of the reason I love this book so much was that I was lucky enough to meet Duncan Lay last month. I can't even describe how amazing he was at pitching his books to my friend and I. I'll talk about my thoughts more in my actual review. But, if you only pick up one book from this list, make it this one.

2. These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner  | Goodreads
This one has a bit more hype surrounding it than most of the books on this list but I just couldn't not talk about it. I haven't written a proper review for this one either (yet), but I'm actually planning on re-reading it next month- the fact that I only read it in January should speak volumes as to my feelings towards this book. I honestly stayed up until 2am reading this and then was unable to sleep the rest of the night because I was shaking from this book.  I really can't even describe how much I love this book or how many feels I felt. You just have to read it to understand it.

3. Kill the Music by Nansi Kunze | Goodreads
Do you think I've talked about this book enough? Nope, nope, nope. I don't think there are enough words in the whole world to describe my love for this book and for Nansi. This book is so much fun to read, there's a bit of mystery, bit of music and a whole lot of drama and romance. Plus, Marius is totally the love of my life. But even more than that, Nansi is honestly the most wonderful person ever. I've been lucky enough to meet her twice (totally by accident both times), and I can't even put into words how amazing she is. My new goal in life is to get everyone to read all three of Nansi's books. Also, you can see my review here.

4. The Wrong Boy by Suzy Zail | Goodreads
I found out about this book through a book club I was attending at my school in which we read through books that were nominated for awards. As soon as I found out that this book was about the Holocaust, I borrowed it and that was where my love began. Anyone who's been following this blog for a while is likely to know that I adore anything WWII related, this was absolutely no exception. I think my favourite thing about this one, is that it's different- it's set in Auschwitz, but the main character is provided with a unique opportunity, to play piano for the commander. Needless to say, there were many tears throughout this book.

5. Destiny Road by Melissa Wray | Goodreads
This book was actually sent to us for review by Melissa, but I enjoyed it so much that I wanted to include it here. Destiny Road is very different to the other books on this list, it's a contemporary but rather than centering on romance, it focuses on family. I really love stories that are about families and friends as much as I like books about romance. The issues in this book are all based off Melissa's own experiences, which makes it even more realistic and enjoyable. Plus, it's set in Australia and what kind of Aussie doesn't like a book set here? You can see my review here.


So that was my first recommendations post. Somehow, all of these authors turned out to be Australian authors (I believe Meagan Spooner sees herself as an honourary Aussie), which awesome! I hope some of you consider these books because they are honestly amazing and deserve more hype (and ratings on Goodreads). I hope you all enjoyed this post, I'm considering doing one of these every month but we shall see.

Thank you!