Published by Holiday House

Summary:  Peter was born to a wealthy family in Berlin, German in 1930.  All that changed when Hitler rose to power, and his Jewish family had to escape, first to Belgium, and then to France.  In the summer of 1942, Peter’s parents sent him to summer camp.  While he was there, they were arrested and taken away.  He got two postcards from them, then never heard from them again.  He spent the next two years living in children’s homes and a boarding school, using his German language skills to spy on the Nazis.  When rumors started circulating that the Germans knew one of the school’s students was a spy, a group of French resistance fighters arranged for Peter’s escape.  On May 22, 1944, he managed to cross the border into Switzerland, where he spent the next two years before joining his aunt and grandmother in the U.S.  Includes an epilogue with photos; notes with additional information about each two-page spread; a bibliography, and an index.  40 pages; grades 3-6.

Pros:  A good choice for upper elementary students interested in the Holocaust and World War II history.  Although it’s revealed in the epilogue that Peter’s parents both died in Auschwitz, the focus of the narrative is mostly on Peter’s courage and survival skills.  The extensive bibliography will guide readers to more resources, and the book list gives recommendations for appropriate age groups for each.

Cons:  The story was so brief that I felt like I never really got to know Peter or any of his family members.  Half the book is back matter, so Peter’s story, covering over a decade, is told in 20 illustrated pages.

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Published by Abrams Books for Young Readers

Summary:  Although we often learn about violent events in history (wars, assassinations), history is often made by those who embrace nonviolence.  Hasak-Lowy makes a distinction between institutional activism–writing letters and editorials, circulating petitions, lobbying politicians–and nonviolent activism, which “employs disruptive, risky tactics that challenge those in power and interrupt the way things normally work.” He illustrates this with chapters on Gandhi, Alice Paul, Martin Luther King, Jr., Cesar Chavez, and Václav Havel.  The final chapter is about Greta Thunberg and her current nonviolent activism around climate change.  A list at the end gives brief descriptions of half a dozen other groups that successfully employed nonviolent activism.  Includes notes, a seven-page bibliography, and an index.  320 pages; grades 5-9.

Pros:  An excellent, accessible, and inspiring introduction to nonviolent activism.  I found it fascinating to learn the distinctions between institutional and nonviolent activism.  The engagingly-written profiles demonstrate the commitment and sacrifices necessary for this type of activism–but also show how effective it ultimately can be.

Cons:  No mention of Henry David “Mr. Civil Disobedience” Thoreau, who is said to have inspired both Gandhi and King.

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