Voices from the Second World War

February 1, 2018

Gr 5-8-This collection of memoirs of World War II survivors was first published in England by First News, an award-winning children's newspaper, and the Silver Line, a helpline dedicated to serving older adults. Present-day children were asked to interview elderly family members and friends who had served in the military or had been children during the war. Most of the stories, told in first person, are recollections of what the individuals experienced as children. Some interviewees describe their lives as young adults or as members of the military. At least eight different nationalities are featured, including English, French, German, Italian, and Japanese. Among those profiled are the navigator of the Enola Gay, authors Shirley Hughes and Judith Kerr, and an atomic bomb survivor from Hiroshima. Many of the pieces are accompanied by a photo of the biographee and the interviewer or early and current photos of the subject. Full-page vintage black-and-white photos are paired with the introduction of each chapter. (The artwork on the colorful cover is reminiscent of 1940s war posters.) VERDICT This title will help readers understand that war affects real-life people, including children. A solid choice for collections that serve middle school students.-Eldon Younce, Anthony Public Library, KS

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January 15, 2018
Firsthand accounts of World War II, many collected by modern children.Though the second world war has been over for more than 70 years, its wide scope still comes most to life in the stories of those who lived through it. The British children's newspaper First News began collecting these accounts; published here along with others, they offer a comprehensive picture of the war, from soldiers, civilians, and children on all sides, both Allied and Axis. Perhaps due to its British origins, the preponderance of contributions are British, and the war in the European theater dominates, but the African campaign and the war in the Pacific are covered. Resistance efforts and the experiences of women during the war are each covered in separate chapters. The white American navigator of the Enola Gay recounts what it was like to drop the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, while a Japanese man tells what it was like to be an 8-year-old boy in the city that morning. Because children conduct the interviews, most of the short accounts are honest but not brutally graphic. Vintage photographs illustrate every page, and indexes and a glossary allow the book to be used as a true reference resource.A fine tool for any child interested in history as well as for classroom, school, and public libraries. (Nonfiction. 10-14)

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January 1, 2018
Grades 4-7 WWII ended more than 70 years ago, yet interest in it remains evergreen, as this fascinating work of living history evidences. The voices the title references belong to those who participated in and lived through the war. In many cases, their audience is the young people who are interviewing them, though some of the reminiscences come from sources other than interviews. The stories are arranged topically: Evacuees, Women at War, The Resistance, The Holocaust, and more. Originally published in England in cooperation with the children's newspaper First News and the Silver Line, a confidential help line for older people, the voices belong primarily to British participants, though the contents are international in scope, featuring, for example, a handful of Americans, a small group of Germans, and one Japanese survivor, who recalls his experience of the bombing of Hiroshima. Though many of those featured are elderlyone is more than 100 years oldtheir memories are vivid and bring to light the realities of war in this valuable collection.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)