Historical Reading Catchup

During my student teaching, the library hosted a book fair, and I have to admit, I went a little overboard picking out books to read.  Well, those books sat in a box until just recently, when I was able to pull them out and read them during my evening workouts.  So today I just want to do a quick recap on three of the books, all of which, while fictional accounts, use a historical event as their backdrop.

http://img2.imagesbn.com/p/9780142420591_p0_v1_s260x420.JPG

Our history books tell us the stories of the horrors that occurred during World War II in Germany.  Sometimes we hear about relocation camps here in the United States that involved Japanese Americans.  What we don't hear about, well, I don't remember hearing about, was that of those east of Germany.  People who were taken hostage by the Russian troops so that lands could be added to the Soviet Union.   Between Shades of Grey takes the experiences of Lithuanians from the early 1940s and 1950s and tells their stories through the fictional character Lina.  Lina, her mother, and brother are transported to a Soviet work camp in Siberia where they must work for Soviet troops in farm fields in order to survive.  Through this story, a bit slow at the start, really takes off as the story progresses.

http://jewellparkerrhodes.com/children/jpr_children_wp/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/Ninth-Ward-2012.jpg

In 2005, a Category 1 hurricane moved through Florida and slowly inched its way into the Gulf of Mexico.  I remember early on how the meteorologists of the time kept going back and forth on their predictions for its final landfall.  It wasn't until the storm had increased in strength that they realized that it would hit the below sea level city, New Orleans head on.  This hurricane, now a Category 5 was named Katrina, and will forever be known as one of the deadliest storms in the history of the United States.

The Ninth Ward takes us into the life of Lanesha, a young girl, orphaned at birth, who was taken in by Mama Ya-Ya, the midwife who helped give birth to this remarkable girl. What make her remarkable is her strength in the face of great danger.

This story takes us into the heart of New Orleans' 9th Ward and gives us a look at the choices or lack of choices those living in the 9th Ward had in preparing for Hurricane Katrina.

Salem, MA was the site of one of the most famous witch hunts in history.  Many accounts have come out, both fictional and real, about the people who lived in Salem during the 17th century.  Invisible World once again takes a new spin on the events that occurred during the Salem Witch Trials through the eyes of Elsabeth James.  Elsabeth is a young girl, who is descended from mind-readers, midwives, and fortune-tellers, who has inherited these gifts.  On a trip to the colonies with her father and older sister, their ship capsizes at sea, leaving Elsabeth to survive the seas alone until she lands just outside a South Carolina plantation where she meets a young slave man and learns how to use her powers for healing purposes.  It is not long before she is sold to a family in Salem and her past and present collide.  
A fresh new look at an old story, intertwining not only the religious aspects of the time, but also how slavery played a part in time period as well.
Book image credit - http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1335037937l/13316306.jpg

Next time, I hope to look at the winner of the 2012-2013 Truman Awards and to introduce the 2013-2014 nominees.  Until then...

Edited to note - yes, I know that I already had a post on Between Shades of Grey, but as all three books have a historical aspect, I felt that it was important to discuss all three.