To start off, I really can't believe that I had never picked up this book before! It is an amazing book set during the Holocaust. It is really hard to believe that it is about a fictional character because the setting and the actual events are completely true and actually come from different tellings of different victims of the Holocaust.
Daniel's Story is set during World War II, during the Holocaust. Daniel is a German Jew and he tells his story of losing his family, friends, and freedom during the Holocaust. He begins his story in Germany, then to Poland in the Lodz Ghetto, then to Auschwitz Concentration Camp, and then finally to Buchenwald Labor Camp. Throughout his story he tells of the happenings around him. He tells of murder, starvation, and beatings. A scene that can't be forgotten is when his two cousins are being transported from the Lodz Ghetto to an unknown destination. His aunt tries to go after them because she does not want to leave her children. The Nazi guard does not allow her to do so, but she does not listen and screams, cries, and runs after her children. The Nazi guard then shoots both of her children and then her. Completely horrific! And one could say that it is only fiction, but it is not. There are many true testimonies that account for stories such as this one during this terrible time in history.
There are many other horrible truths that this book shares (which includes a Nazi breaking a child's back and shooting a child in each of his legs and then killing him because he was missing places on the sidewalk he was trying to clean). These are some of the scenes I would be leery of when reading this book with kids, but I do think that 8th grade students in my classroom could handle it.
Carol Matas does a fantastic job of explaining what certain terms are, while staying on track with the story that is being told. I found myself many times thinking that this would be a good choice to teach along side The Diary of a Young Girl: Anne Frank because it talks about so many facts about the Holocaust that we discuss as an 8th grade class (i.e. life in the ghettos, rations for Jews, simple liberties that were taken away, concentration camps, crematoria, etc.) Along with these facts, though, there is a lot of heart and human soul to it. My students would also benefit from connecting with a soul, fictional or non-fictional, telling true accounts of things that really happened during this time. In fact, I think I am going to look into trying to buy at least 25 copies for my classroom for next year during this unit.
If you have not read this book, I would definitely take the time to read it! It would be a great book to recommend to your student who is a reluctant reader (it is pretty easy to read)and especially if you study a little bit about the Holocaust or World War II.
Text Set: Literacy & Math
13 years ago
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I haven't heard of this book. I'll have to add it to my list too. I did notice that in school we tend to focus a lot on what happened before WWII and during the holocaust, but not too much of what happened to the prisoners that survived afterwards. When I was subbing the other day, the class I was in was reading Night, which of course, takes place during the Holocaust. What was different, was the teacher also had available to those who were interested or ahead in the reading, the sequels to that book, Dawn and then Day. I didn't know there were sequels, but they cover how Eliezer coped with it all and his struggles to recover. I think that would also be an interesting perspective.
ReplyDeleteFor a long while I swore that I was not going to another Holocaust movie or read another book on the topic. I get so upset at some of the realities of war. I did, however, have to keep reading to be able to purchase new books. I read about the Civil War for my historical fiction this time.
ReplyDeleteSounds like an intense book to read. I wouldn't be sure if I would want to read it with kids either... maybe if you gave them a brief overview to see what the reaction is.
ReplyDeleteI will read it on my own, but due to the huge age differences in my class it's hard to read books like that.
I agree it sounds like the students would have to be more mature to handle this book. Probably not appropriate for my 5th graders but good for upper middle school or high school. I think it would be great to use a story where the main character is a boy to help connect to those male students. I think Anne Frank is the much used story from this time period, so yes a good addition to a book featuring her story.
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