Fiction Books:
The Book Thief by Marcus Zuzak: Liesel Meminger is a young girl living in Munich during World War II. She loves books, so much so that she steals them in order to keep the Nazi's from burning them. When her family decides to hide a Jewish man in their basement, she holds out hope to him by sharing her stories.
If I Should Die Before I Wake by Han Nolan: Hilary is a neo-Nazi teen who got in a motorcycle accident and is now in a coma. In her coma-dreams, she is transported to Poland during World War II - and she's Jewish.
Daniel's Story by Carol Matas: Growing up in Germany during World War II, Daniel learns what it means to survive, and how hope and love can get someone through even the worst moments.
The Boy In Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne: Nine-year-old Bruno's father is transferred to a new post in Poland. From his bedroom window, Bruno can see a fenced-in compound where everyone wears striped pyjamas. He befriends a young boy in the compound, and as it progresses it ultimately leads to devastating consequences.
Awake in the Dark: Stories by Shira Nayman: A collection of short stories that show how children of Holocaust survivors and perpetrators are affected by the Holocaust.
Non-Fiction Books:
Maus: A Survival's Tale by Art Spiegelman: Told through cartoons, this is the story of a young man trying to come to grips with the horrors that his father suffered under the Nazis. Very intense.
Holocaust: A Q and A To Help Young Adults Really Understand the Holocaust by M. Crispin: Answers 94 student-generated questions about the Holocaust and WWII.
Never To Be Forgotten: A Young Girl's Holocaust Memoir by Beatrice Muchman: When the Nazis began rounding up Belgian Jews for deportation, Beatrice's parents sent her to live with a Catholic woman. Because she was a child during the Holocaust, she often misunderstood what was really going on, and believed that her murdered parent's had abandoned her. This memoir is her story about coming to terms with the horrors of the Holocaust and how it affected her as a child.
I Will Plant You A Lilac Tree by Laura Hillman: In 1942, Hannelore received a letter from her mother at her school in Berlin telling her that the Gestapo had declared they were to be deported. She decided that she would go home and be deported with her family, no matter the consequences. Hannelore was one of Oskar Schindler's Jews. (See Schindler's List by Thomas Keanelley)
Survivors: True Stories of Children in the Holocaust by Allan Zullo: Exactly like it sounds: these children and young adults found a way to survivor through the Holocaust.
I Have Lived A Thousand Years by Livia Bitton-Jackson: Here is a story of what happens to a thirteen-year-old Jewish girl when her hometown is taken over by the Nazis and she and her family are sent to Auschwitz.
Parallel Lines: A Journey from Childhood to Belsen by Peter Lantos: One night, Peter is taken from his home and deported to the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. Liberated by the Americans and given to the Russians, and then escaping from the Russians, Peter's story is of life and adventure and how a young boy coped with the horrors of the Holocaust.
Born In To Turmoil by Bruno W. Lange: A memoir of a young German boy who grew up under Hitler's Nazi Regime. It takes about how he coped with the horrors of war as a young adult.
Thanks To My Mother by Schoschana Rabinovici: This is a memoir of a girl who was only eight years old when the Nazis took of her city of Vilnius in Lithuania. Through her mother's ingenuity, she survived through three concentrations camps where children were usually sent to the gas chambers instead. Haunting.
Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank: A girl in her early teens details the highs and lows of her daily life in hiding in an attic during the Nazi occupation of Holland.
