World War II

The Gift of Rain (2007) is a historical novel by Tan Twan Eng. Set in Penang, Malaysia, during World War II, the novel follows Philip Hutton, a Chinese British young man. As he navigates his dual heritage, Philip forms a complex relationship with a Japanese diplomat who becomes both his mentor and betrayer, forcing him to confront questions of loyalty, identity, and survival during the Japanese occupation. The Gift of Rain was Tan Twan Eng’s... Read The Gift of Rain Summary

Published in 2013, Denise Kiernan’s The Girls of Atomic City tells the stories of Oak Ridge, a secret town that grew around plutonium processing plants in Tennessee, and of the women who worked there during the Second World War. A New York Times bestseller within its first week of publication, the book went on to receive the 2014 APSA Woodrow Wilson Foundation Award. Via the experiences of several new arrivals, the reader learns about Oak Ridge... Read The Girls of Atomic City Summary

“The Good War”: An Oral History of World War II was published in 1984 and received the Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction the following year. Written by Studs Terkel, the book is still considered a classic of oral history. Unlike traditional history, which tends to rely on written records and other material artifacts like works of art and literature or archaeological remains, oral histories collect information about past events through interviews with individuals who were... Read The Good War Summary

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The Green Glass Sea is the 2006 children’s historical fiction and debut novel by American author Ellen Klages. Set in New Mexico in 1943, the story tells of 11-year-old Dewey Kerrigan, an outcast mechanical engineering prodigy who arrives to live with her father in the mysterious town of Los Alamos, New Mexico (also called the Hill). Dewey slowly learns that her father and several other scientists are working on a top-secret project called the “gadget.”... Read The Green Glass Sea Summary

Written in epistolary form, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society is a historical novel set during the German Occupation of the English Channel Islands during World War II (WWII). The novel was co-written by Mary Ann Shaffer, an editor, librarian, and bookshop clerk, and her niece, Annie Barrows, author of the Ivy and Bean children’s books series. Shaffer began writing the novel, but when she was diagnosed with cancer she requested Barrows’s help... Read The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society Summary

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The Hiding Place, published in 1971, is written by Corrie ten Boom and co-authors John and Elizabeth Sherrill. Ten Boom’s autobiographical account centers on her family’s work with the Dutch underground during World War II. The authors consistently center the way the family's Christian faith shaped their experiences and inspired them to persevere. The Hiding Place was adapted into a 1975 movie and another film, Return to the Hiding Place (2013), expands on the story... Read The Hiding Place Summary

The Huntress is a historical fiction novel published in 2019 by the American author Kate Quinn. Set in the years before, during, and after World War II, the novel weaves together the stories of three central characters: a Russian pilot in the Soviet Red Army’s all-female bomber unit; an American photographer whose father falls in love with a mysterious Austrian woman; and an English war correspondent committed to exposing Nazi war criminals. According to Washington... Read The Huntress Summary

“Their Finest Hour” is a speech originally given by British Prime Minister Winston Churchill on June 18, 1940, in the House of Commons to members of Parliament and his ministerial cabinet. Churchill delivered the speech following the disastrous campaign of the Battle of France and the hasty evacuation of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) from Dunkirk. In June 1940, Nazi boots marched in Paris, and the surrender of the French government seemed imminent. The speech... Read Their Finest Hour Summary

Uri Orlev’s The Island on Bird Street (1981) is a middle-grade historical novel about Alex, an 11-year-old Jewish boy living alone in a Polish ghetto during World War II. Semi-autobiographical in nature, Orlev’s story shows Alex’s steady determination and strength as he comes of age during the dangers of Nazi occupation. The Island on Bird Street received the 1982 IBBY Honor List Book for Israel and the 1981 Mordechai Bernstein Award. Additionally, the author received... Read The Island on Bird Street Summary

The Japanese Lover is Isabel Allende’s 18th novel. Like most of Allende’s work, it falls under the genres of magical realism and historical fiction. The novel was originally published in 2015, the year after Allende was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. In addition to the overarching focus on romance and love, the novel addresses issues relating to World War II (WWII), Japanese American incarceration during the 1940s, racism, homophobia, and the struggles of aging... Read The Japanese Lover Summary

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