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Pam Munoz Ryan weaves together three stories of young people living through a tumultuous period in the 20th century: 12-year-old Friedrich Schmidt in 1933 Germany, as the Nazi Party gains momentum; orphaned 11-year-old Mike Flannery in 1935 Philadelphia during the Depression; and Ivy Maria Lopez living in Southern California in 1942 as World War II rages. Their stories revolve around a single Hohner Marine Band harmonica and are framed by a tale of a lost boy, three sisters, and a witch’s curse.

Readjusting to life in Brooklyn is tough after One Crazy Summer with their mother in California. Delphine and her sisters not only have to deal with their strict grandmother, their uncle has just returned from Vietnam a changed man, and their father has a new love interest. The 1960s come alive in this memorable novel sure to be embraced by those who know Delphine and her family as well as those just meeting them for the first time.

Eleven-year-old Elijah was born in Buxton, a Canadian settlement that was the final stop on the Underground Railroad. The free child of slaves, Elijah reveals his growing awareness of the horrors of slavery on his journey to young adulthood. Vivid characters and a strong sense of place create both humor and horror in this moving novel.

This story of Robert Scott and his crew’s ill-fated expedition to reach the South Pole captures the hardships and dangers the adventurers faced. The inclusion of diary entries, letters, maps, and archival photography help capture the setting.

Instead of celebrating her 13th birthday in her prosperous Mexican home as she expected, Esperanza must adjust to the murder of her father, the loss of her house and wealth, and her new life as a farm worker in California during the Great Depression. This readable coming-of-age novel is based on the life of the author’s grandmother.

Japanese Americans in Hawaii during World War II identified themselves as Americans, but their fellow enlisted soldiers didn’t necessarily see them that way. In this historical novel, Eddy and his friends join the Army to defend their country, only to be the victims of vicious discrimination by their commanders.

As a youth, Kertesz spent one year in Auschwitz and so develops this novel about a 14-year-old Hungarian boy’s ability to see beauty even in a horrific concentration camp. Publisher’s Weekly called its prequel Fateless one of the best 50 books in 1992 and this one won him a Nobel Prize.

When yellow fever strikes 18th century Philadelphia, sixteen year old Matilda’s life is forever changed. Contemporary readers are likely to see themselves in Matilda while being transported back in time through striking smells and sights of an earlier time.

Twelve-year-old Korean American Junie Kim, who’s kept quiet about the bullying and racism she encounters at school, is diagnosed with depression but is later inspired to speak out after learning about her grandparents’ experiences during the Korean War.

Imagine being asked to be one of the first black students to integrate an all-white school in the Fifties. Such is the case for Sylvia Patterson when she must decide whether or not to be an agent of social change or to stay in the comfort of her inferior all-black school. Readers may want to refer to Melba Pattillo Beals’s memoir Warriors Don’t Cry, for her personal account of what happened when she was one of the nine teenagers who integrated Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1957.

During World War II, an African-American woman named Ida decides to pass as white in order to become a WASP (Women Airforce Service Pilot). The book focuses on the lives and adventures of these pilots, making it a fast-paced, lively read. Though there is no official record of an African-American in the WASPS, the other historical details are accurate and informative.

In the sticky-hot summer of 1968, a year in American history marked by assassination, Vietnam War protests, and civil rights rioting, Alice faces some trying concerns of her own.

“Who will remember the Armenians?” Hitler asked, referencing the Armenian genocide as his inspiration for the final solution. This brutal hidden chapter of history is seen through the eyes of 12-year-old survivor Vahan Kendarian, whose world was shattered within a matter of days.

It’s World War II and Yuki doesn’t have many options. As a Japanese American, he can choose to go into an internment camp, or he can go to war. He opts to go to war and is assigned to the 442 regiment—a segregated regiment made up of Japanese Americans.

This rocket-paced follow-up to the Newbery Medal-winning novel Dead End in Norvelt opens deep in the shadow of the Cuban missile crisis. But instead of Russian warheads, other kinds of trouble are raining down on young Jack Gantos and his utopian town of Norvelt in western Pennsylvania. After an explosion, a new crime by an old murderer, and the sad passing of the town’s founder, twelve-year-old Jack will soon find himself launched on a mission that takes him hundreds of miles away to places including Hyde Park, NY, escorting his slightly mental elderly mentor, Miss Volker, on her relentless pursuit of the oddest of outlaws and her determination to pay her respects to Eleanor Roosevelt.

Times are tough for Beans and his family in Key West during the Great Depression. Can Beans and his friends trust the New Dealers who say that they have come to Florida to make their small, poor town a tourist destination? Bean’s saga is both humorous and poignant in his satisfying story.

Espionage played an important role in defeating the British, as is demonstrated in this cleverly-formatted, intriguing book.

After seventh-grader Jerome is shot by a white police officer, he observes the aftermath of his death and meets the ghosts of other fallen black boys including historical figure Emmett Till.

The ghost of George Washington introduces Sara to other presidential ghosts.

Laced with real events and leaders such as Thomas Jefferson and Patrick Henry, Give Me Liberty explores the Revolutionary ideas and risks colonists faced in their quest for liberty. Thirteen-year-old Nathaniel Dunn is an indentured servant laboring on a tobacco plantation in colonial Virginia. Life is hard, and it’s about to get harder when Nathaniel is sold at an auction.

Piri, now 17, resides with a Swedish family while she searches for news of family and friends who also might have survived the Nazi concentration camps. Although the Swedes accept her as their own daughter, she strives to hold on to her own identity and dreams of finding her blood relatives. The novel is dedicated to the many people who assisted the Jews in their efforts to find their families after the war.

For years, sixteen-year-old Hattie’s been shuttled between relatives. Tired of being Hattie Here-and-There, she courageously leaves Iowa to prove up on her late uncle’s homestead claim in Montana. Despite many hardships, Hattie forges ahead, sharing her adventures with her friends through letters and articles for her hometown paper.

“You’re always drawing in that notebook of yours,” Dino’s friend teases. To the small boy, 1950s Havana is alive with color, music, and glamour, and he itches to capture it on paper. When Fidel Castro and the Communist Party take over the Cuban government, Dino’s family must move to New York, where the lonely boy pours his heart into making a model of Havana’s archways and balconies, buildings and streets. Rosemary Wells composes a tender ode to an immigrant boy who grew up to be a U.S. architect, while Peter Ferguson’s atmospheric paintings evoke two vibrant cities as they were half a century ago.

Though war is not the focus of this story, it does drive the plot. When young Brother’s father is shipped off to Iraq, he must assume more responsibility on the family farm. This is a unique, spiritual book that will appeal to those looking for gentle reads.