Text Sets are a common tool in classrooms used to help students explore a topic of interest. Organized around a theme, historical event, or any high-interest topic, Texts Sets often include a variety of genres and formats — and explore an issue from a variety of perspectives. Think of them like a well-curated display in a bookstore or library.
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I gathered a Text Set for Enemies in the Orchard that features some of the books that influenced me and helped me with research as I wrote the book; and others that have drawn me in since. I hope you find a title or two that piques your interest.
During the Second World War, Germany captured nearly 94,000 American soldiers, while the Allies shipped almost 380,000 Germans to the United States. We Were Each Other's Prisoners compares, for the first time ever, stories of POWs from both sides of the conflict: From the anti-Nazi German soldier who tried desperately to turn himself in rather than fight for Hitler, to the U.S. prisoner who thrice escaped his German captors the last time to join Russian troops in the Battle of Berlin, to the Jewish-American prisoner who was sent to a slave labor camp. Culled from more than 150 interviews with 35 American and German surviving POWs, the book addresses larger political and psychological issues: What does it mean to be a prisoner, especially for men whose cultures prize individual heroism? Why did conditions differ so dramatically in American and German camps? How were these men received upon their return to their homeland?How have they coped with the long-term effects of incarceration?
This book, which contains first-hand accounts of both German and American POWs during World War II, was incredibly helpful as I came to understand the experience of German POWs.
George Takei has captured hearts and minds worldwide with his captivating stage presence and outspoken commitment to equal rights. But long before he braved new frontiers in Star Trek, he woke up as a four-year-old boy to find his own birth country at war with his father's -- and their entire family forced from their home into an uncertain future.
In 1942, at the order of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, every person of Japanese descent on the west coast was rounded up and shipped to one of ten "relocation centers," hundreds or thousands of miles from home, where they would be held for years under armed guard.
They Called Us Enemy is Takei's firsthand account of those years behind barbed wire, the joys and terrors of growing up under legalized racism, his mother's hard choices, his father's faith in democracy, and the way those experiences planted the seeds for his astonishing future.
What does it mean to be American? Who gets to decide? When the world is against you, what can one person do? To answer these questions, George Takei joins co-writers Justin Eisinger & Steven Scott and artist Harmony Becker for the journey of a lifetime.
While Claire and Karl’s story examines the experience of German POWs who came to American labor camps and were treated quite well, the story of Japanese Internment Camps tells another story—the story of America’s mistreatment and cruelty toward its own citizens.
In this Newbery Honor and Sibert Honor award-winning book, Susan Campbell Bartoletti explores the riveting and often chilling story of Germany's powerful Hitler Youth groups.
By the time Hitler became Chancellor of Germany in 1933, 3.5 million children belonged to the Hitler Youth. It would become the largest youth group in history. Susan Campbell Bartoletti explores how Hitler gained the loyalty, trust, and passion of so many of Germany's young people. Her research includes telling interviews with surviving Hitler Youth members.
"I begin with the young. We older ones are used up . . . But my magnificent youngsters! Look at these men and boys! What material! With them, I can create a new world." -- Adolf Hitler, Nuremberg 1933
Hugely helpful to my research, Bartoletti’s book introduces young readers to the reality of the Hitler Youth based on extensive interviews with members of the Hitler Youth, as well asHolocaust survivors, resisters, and bystanders.
Nora Krug was born decades after the fall of the Nazi regime, but the Second World War cast a long shadow over her childhood and youth in the city of Karlsruhe, Germany. Yet she knew little about her own family’s involvement; though all four grandparents lived through the war, they never spoke of it.
After twelve years in the US, Krug realizes that living abroad has only intensified her need to ask the questions she didn’t dare to as a child. Returning to Germany, she visits archives, conducts research, and interviews family members, uncovering in the process the stories of her maternal grandfather, a driving teacher in Karlsruhe during the war, and her father’s brother Franz-Karl, who died as a teenage SS soldier. In this extraordinary quest, “Krug erases the boundaries between comics, scrapbooking, and collage as she endeavors to make sense of 20th-century history, the Holocaust, her German heritage, and her family's place in it all” (The Boston Globe).
I first learned about Krug’s book when a friend passed along her Writers & Co podcast interview. I was fascinated by Krug’s exploration into the “idea of Heimat, the German word for the place that first forms us, where the sensibilities and identity of one generation pass on to the next.” I found this graphic memoir to be an honest and unflinching look at layers of family and war trauma, and a reminder of the questions we sometimes wait to ask until it's too late.
At a time of home front labor shortages, they picked fruit in Berrien County, harvested sugar beets in the Thumb, cut pulpwood in the Upper Peninsula and maintained parks and other public spaces in Detroit. The work programs were not flawless and not all of the prisoners were cooperative, but many of the men established enduring friendships with their captors. Author Gregory Sumner tells the story of these detainees and the ordinary Americans who embodied our highest ideals, even amid a global war.
Early in my research, I attended a talk about Michigan POW camps at the Grand Rapids Library given by Greg Sumner, professor at University of Detroit Mercy. Greg’s talk—and the stories of the other attendees—helped propel my research, and Greg has become a friend. I’m grateful for him and his careful research.
Ten-year-old Ada has never left her one-room apartment. Her mother is too humiliated by Ada's twisted foot to let her outside. So when her little brother Jamie is shipped out of London to escape the war, Ada doesn't waste a minute--she sneaks out to join him.
So begins a new adventure for Ada, and for Susan Smith, the woman who is forced to take the two kids in. As Ada teaches herself to ride a pony, learns to read, and watches for German spies, she begins to trust Susan--and Susan begins to love Ada and Jamie. But in the end, will their bond be enough to hold them together through wartime? Or will Ada and her brother fall back into the cruel hands of their mother?
This middle grade historical fiction novel, based on the evacuation of children from London during World War II, captivated me years ago. I’m grateful for all the historical fiction books written for young readers (and enjoyed by readers of all ages) that both entertain and educate.
Distilled down to their most essential, these books were the perfect package: engaging stories that held my attention and beautiful language that took my breath away, all while being something easily read in the margins of my life.
While many of my adult readers comment that they’ve never read a novel in verse before, it’s been a popular format for middle grade readers for more than a decade.
I also recently blogged for the Reformed Journal: Letter to My Sons.
In what seems like a flash, you’ve turned from toddlers who begged for “one more story,” into teens and a tween who roll their eyes just a little more at your mom than I’d prefer, especially when I suggest a book you might like. You’ve grown from little boys who used to seek out the next book in the series to middle and high school students who view reading as mainly an assignment.
For those of you in the West Michigan area, I’m excited for this event at Hope College, my alma mater, in February. Jack Ridl, my college poetry teacher, mentor, and friend, will be interviewing me. Read more about Jack on his website.
If you’ve made it this far, thank you for reading!
With gratitude,
Dana
Thanks for reading The Core with Dana VanderLugt! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.
I hadn't heard of "text sets"--now I want to create some! Great newsletter and fabulous text set. Thank you again for speaking via Zoom with the St. David's book club. Biggest turnout we've ever had, and the intergenerational component was such a gift.
I hadn't heard of "text sets"--now I want to create some! Great newsletter and fabulous text set. Thank you again for speaking via Zoom with the St. David's book club. Biggest turnout we've ever had, and the intergenerational component was such a gift.