History

good - Katrina

This was a gripping book based on real events. I enjoyed it a lot. ( )

A fantastic story for upper middle school grades that tells a fictional account of a true event. Helmuth Hubener was the youngest person sentenced to death by the Nazis during WWII. As a young boy, Helmuth loved his country and wanted to become a soldier for Germany. However, as he grows, he learns the truth about the Nazi regime. After witnessing his Jewish friend's father murdered, Helmuth begins distributing anti-Nazi material and making secret broadcasts revealing the truth about Hitler and the regime. Helmuth is eventually caught and executed by guillotine at 17. ( )

The Boy Who Dared is a slightly different look at World War 2. It profiles Helmut Hubener, a German citizen who was executed for speaking out against the Nazi regime. I would have classified this book as historical fiction, but the woman who writes my school's reading curriculum passionately convinced me this was actually a biography. ( )