Women Heroes of World War II

March 1, 2011

Gr 6 Up-After a brief introduction about the war in Europe, this book is divided into eight chapters, each focusing on a specific country, including Germany, Poland, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Great Britain, and the United States. Women from each of these countries played important roles in the war effort working in the resistance movement, as spies, as couriers, or as correspondents. A few of the individuals are well known, such as the entertainer Josephine Baker, who collected information for the Allies, and actress Marlene Dietrich, who entertained the troops, but most were ordinary citizens who saw a need and stepped up to join the fight against the Nazis. Each profile reports on the woman's war activities and rounds out the story by telling about her life after the war. Sidebars and photographs are scattered throughout and documented quotations and excerpts from notes and letters are utilized. -Patricia Ann Owens, Illinois Eastern Community Colleges

Copyright 2011 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

June 1, 2011
Grades 7-12 Who were the heroes of World War II? the author asks. For her, they were the often ordinary women whose courageous actions helped win the war. In this helpful book, Atwood profiles 26 such women from eight different countries, including the U.S. What distinguishes her book is that most if not all of her heroes will be new to young readers, even though their accomplishments deserve to be known and remembered. The pieces are grouped by country, and each section begins with a brief history of that country's involvement in the war. The profiles themselves are fairly formulaic, each opening with a dramatic (and often undocumented) anecdote and concluding with a summary of each woman's heroic actions. Many of these involve participation in Resistance movements recount stories of sheltering Jews. With ample sidebars, notes, and a thorough bibliography, this book will be useful in the classroom.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)