Book picks similar to
The Secret of Gabi's Dresser by Kathy Kacer


historical-fiction
holocaust
fiction
middle-grade

Snow Treasure


Marie McSwigan - 1942
    Nobody thought the Nazis could be defeated--until Uncle Victor told Peter how the children could fool the enemy. It was a dangerous plan. They had to slip past Nazi guards with nine million dollars in gold hidden on their sleds. It meant risking their country's treasure--and their lives. This classic story of how a group of children outwitted the Nazis and sent the treasure to America has captivated generations of readers. About the Author: The late Marie McSwigan wrote many novels for young readers, including All Aboard for Freedom. Originally published in 1942.

Behind the Bedroom Wall


Laura E. Williams - 1996
    She believes that Hitler is helping the world by dealing with what he calls the "Jewish problem." When Korinna discovers that her parents are secretly hiding Jews in their house and helping them to escape the city, she is shocked. And her loyalties are put to an extreme test when a neighbor tips off the Gestapo.

Twenty and Ten


Claire Huchet Bishop - 1952
    Will the children be able to withstand the interrogation and harassment?

When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit


Judith Kerr - 1971
    Suppose that without your noticing, it became dangerous for some people to live in Germany any longer. Suppose you found, to your complete surprise, that your own father was one of those people.That is what happened to Anna in 1933. She was nine years old when it began, too busy with her schoolwork and toboganning to take much notice of political posters, but out of them glared the face of Adolf Hitler, the man who would soon change the whole of Europe – starting with her own small life.Anna suddenly found things moving too fast for her to understand. One day, her father was unaccountably missing. Then she herself and her brother Max were being rushed by their mother, in alarming secrecy, away from everything they knew – home and schoolmates and well-loved toys – right out of Germany…

Four Perfect Pebbles: A Holocaust Story


Lila Perl - 1996
    “The writing is direct, devastating, with no rhetoric or exploitation. The truth is in what’s said and in what is left out.”—ALA Booklist (starred review)Marion Blumenthal Lazan’s unforgettable and acclaimed memoir recalls the devastating years that shaped her childhood. Following Hitler’s rise to power, the Blumenthal family—father, mother, Marion, and her brother, Albert—were trapped in Nazi Germany. They managed eventually to get to Holland, but soon thereafter it was occupied by the Nazis. For the next six and a half years the Blumenthals were forced to live in refugee, transit, and prison camps, including Westerbork in Holland and Bergen-Belsen in Germany, before finally making it to the United States. Their story is one of horror and hardship, but it is also a story of courage, hope, and the will to survive.Four Perfect Pebbles features forty archival photographs, including several new to this edition, an epilogue, a bibliography, a map, a reading group guide, an index, and a new afterword by the author. First published in 1996, the book was an ALA Notable Book, an ALA Quick Pick for Reluctant Readers, and IRA Young Adults’ Choice, and a Notable Trade Book in the Field of Social Studies, and the recipient of many other honors. “A harrowing and often moving account.”—School Library Journal

Friedrich


Hans Peter Richter - 1961
    At first, Friedrich seemed to be the more fortunate, but when Hitler came to power, things began to change. Friedrich was expelled from school and became an orphan when his mother died and his father was arrested and deported.This is a terrifying story of the destruction of a single Jewish family.

Irish Chain


Barbara Haworth-Attard - 2002
    At least that is what she being constantly told by the Sisters at school in Halifax during the early 1900s. She’s been held back twice now and if she fails again, next year she’ll be in the same class... (show all) as Winnie, her younger sister. Although the war against Germany seems far away – her most pressing fears are the words that inexplicably tumble together on the page whenever she tries to read them. They don’t make sense to her. Isolated from her schoolmates and ashamed of her inability to read, Rose tries to escape into her Mam’s Irish Chain quilt, a handmade emblem of the family’s past laden with love. But when that doesn’t help, Rose desperately prays to God so that she doesn’t have to go to school anymore. Exactly one day later on December 6, 1917, two ships explode in Halifax’s harbor, resulting in the greatest human tragedy Canada has ever seen. Rose’s life changes forever – and she’s sure it’s all her fault. A stunned and grief-stricken Rose draws on the heroic stories of her great-grandmother stitched into the Irish Chain quilt to find her own courage and inner strength. Irish Chain is a beautifully moving story about awakening the gifts within.

Number the Stars


Lois Lowry - 1989
    It's now 1943 and their life in Copenhagen is filled with school, food shortages, and the Nazi soldiers marching through town. When the Jews of Denmark are "relocated," Ellen moves in with the Johansens and pretends to be one of the family. Soon Annemarie is asked to go on a dangerous mission to save Ellen's life.

Torn Thread


Anne Isaacs - 2000
    There they must spin thread on treacherous machinery to make clothing and blankets for the German Army. As Eva struggles amid ever worsening dangers to save her life and that of her sick sister, readers witness how two teenagers strive to create home and family amidst inhumanity and chaos. Written in exquisite prose, this story of heartbreak and hope that is rich in detail and symbolism will deeply move readers of all ages.

The Devil's Arithmetic


Jane Yolen - 1988
    But this year she will be mysteriously transported into the past. Only she knows the horrors that await.

Mandie and the Secret Tunnel


Lois Gladys Leppard - 1983
    Mandie's move into a neighbor family's home, when her mother remarries, does not soften her grief. Her only comfort is the promise from her father's faithful Cherokee friend, Uncle Ned, to watch out for her and be a friend. Will Mandie be able to escape her new and nearly intolerable home situation? Will she find her long-lost family? Will the mysterious key unlock the door to the secret tunnel and her own family's history?For children 8-13, mystery adventures set in the North Carolina backwoods at the turn of the century.

The Mozart Question


Michael Morpurgo - 2007
    Paolo has finally realised he must reveal the truth.

Milkweed


Jerry Spinelli - 2003
    Gypsy. Stopthief. Runt. Happy. Fast. Filthy son of Abraham. He’s a boy who lives in the streets of Warsaw. He’s a boy who steals food for himself and the other orphans. He’s a boy who believes in bread, and mothers, and angels. He’s a boy who wants to be a Nazi some day, with tall shiny jackboots and a gleaming Eagle hat of his own. Until the day that suddenly makes him change his mind. And when the trains come to empty the Jews from the ghetto of the damned, he’s a boy who realizes it’s safest of all to be nobody.Newbery Medalist Jerry Spinelli takes us to one of the most devastating settings imaginable—Nazi-occupied Warsaw of World War II—and tells a tale of heartbreak, hope, and survival through the bright eyes of a young orphan.From the Hardcover edition.

Summer of My German Soldier


Bette Greene - 1973
    But she never could have imagined that her summer would be so memorable. German prisoners of war have arrived to make their new home in the prison camp in Jenkinsville. To the rest of her town, these prisoners are only Nazis. But to Patty, a young Jewish girl with a turbulent home life, one boy in particular becomes an unlikely friend. Anton relates to Patty in ways that her mother and father never can. But when their forbidden relationship is discovered, will Patty risk her family and town for the understanding and love of one boy?

Hero on a Bicycle


Shirley Hughes - 2012
    The Italian resistance movement has not given up hope, though — and neither have thirteen-year- old Paolo and his sister, Costanza. As their mother is pressured into harboring escaping POWs, Paolo and Costanza each find a part to play in opposing the German forces. Both are desperate to fight the occupation, but what can two siblings — with only a bicycle to help them — do against a whole army? Middle-grade fans of history and adventure will be riveted by the action and the vividly evoked tension of World War II.