# WWII books for Tweens **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 21, 2010, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwii-books-for-tweens/564999 "2010-12-21T20:40:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwii-books-for-tweens/564999/1 "2010-12-21T20:40:32Z")
My son is twelve and in sixth grade. He is not a great reader. He is (like almost all children of parents posting on the Dope) above average in intelligence, but he is not exceptional - no genius. Reads and comprehends slightly above grade level, but certain not capable of handling college level material. He’s also LAZY. We need to get him to read more. He’s showing an unacceptable level of cultural illiteracy. I said he could either become knowledgeable in depth about one topic or become more of a generalist and read a lot. He chose “expert” and chose as his topic WWII. Preferably fact based books and not novels. I love reading History myself, but am NOT much of a military Historian. I like economic history, a little political history, and personal history. Troop movements bore me to tears. If I go browsing in the bookstore, I get tomes of 600 pages with in depth descriptions of troop movements that are going to turn him off… Anyone have any ideas for something that is: 1. Introductory to WWII or one of its main topics (i.e. all of WWII might be asking a lot, but an introduction to the European theatre for instance). 2. Readable for a twelve year old boy who’d MUCH rather play Modern Warfare 2 than read? ---
**Author:** ![villa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc79bd/32.png) [@villa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/villa)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwii-books-for-tweens/564999/2 "2010-12-21T20:45:52Z")
At a slightly younger age, I got into reading history by reading books which would have 4 or 5 pages each on individual battles - lots of pictures/diagrams showing troop layouts etc. I cannot find any that I have read online in a brief search, but something like this… [The Seventry Great Battles in History](http://www.amazon.com/Seventy-Great-Battles-History/dp/0500251258/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1292964180&sr=1-2). I know it isn’t WWII, but it will presumably have some WWII in it (and there may well be more WWII specific type books like this). But battles are fun to read about, especially for 12 year old boys, and it engendered in me a love of reading history that now, as a 41 year old, leads me to about 12 bookshelves worth of various (generally military) history books. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwii-books-for-tweens/564999/3 "2010-12-21T20:54:04Z")
**Villa** beat me to it, but I had a similar “greatest battles in history” book when I was a tween that had a bunch of maps, photos, pictures of weapons and gear, etc alongside the text. It was less intimidating then solid walls of text, but still had a lot of actual reading. Aside from getting me reading, it also gave a decent overview of history, since if you read about (for example) the battle of Canne, your at least going to know the bare-bones details about the Romans, Carthage and the Punic Wars. I’d pretty much guarantee there must be similar books that just deal with WWII. ---
**Author:** ![villa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc79bd/32.png) [@villa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/villa)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwii-books-for-tweens/564999/4 "2010-12-21T21:00:15Z")
I’d look inside this and see how much text there is… [The Times Atlas of the Second World War](http://www.amazon.com/Times-Atlas-Second-World-War/dp/0060161787/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1292965130&sr=1-2) Edit - Actually, I think that might be a bit much, but I am sure you can find a similar book, aimed younger. And when he starts developing an interest, have him watch The World At War, so you can stealth educate him when he thinks he is watching TV. ---
**Author:** ![detop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bcef8e/32.png) [@detop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/detop)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwii-books-for-tweens/564999/5 "2010-12-21T22:40:13Z")
> [@villa](#): > > \Edit - Actually, I think that might be a bit much, but I am sure you can find a similar book, aimed younger. And when he starts developing an interest, have him watch The World At War, so you can stealth educate him when he thinks he is watching TV. Good idea **villa** , but I would suggest a step further. Watch war movies based on books, have him read the source material and discuss the discrepancies together, for example: watch/read _The Longest Day_, _The Dam Busters_, _The Great Escape_, _A Bridge Too Far_ (maybe later for the last one), but I amsure you get the idea. ---
**Author:** ![villa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc79bd/32.png) [@villa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/villa)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwii-books-for-tweens/564999/6 "2010-12-21T22:42:14Z")
Having just brought Bridge Over the River Kwai on BluRay (awesome!!!) I heartily support this. I think a 12 year old, once interested in the topic, could read _Schindler’s Ark_. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_A.Robrin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sam_a.robrin/32/14497_2.png) [@Sam\_A.Robrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_A.Robrin)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwii-books-for-tweens/564999/7 "2010-12-21T22:48:23Z")
This should get you what you want: [http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb\_sb\_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=World+war+ii+++young+adult&x=13&y=24](http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=World+war+ii+++young+adult&x=13&y=24) ---
**Author:** ![detop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bcef8e/32.png) [@detop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/detop)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwii-books-for-tweens/564999/8 "2010-12-21T22:58:05Z")
Another thing I just thought of. If you go to used book stores, keep an eye out for books in the “Ballantine Illustrated History of the Second World War / WW II / Violent Century”. There are about 156 titles in the collection (unfortunately out of print), each of them covering a single subject, each of them about 160 pages long with lots of photos, drawings and maps. [Here](http://www.books-by-isbn.com/0-345/034503385X-Guderian-Ballantine-s-illustrated-history-of-the-violent-century.-War-leader-book-0-345-03385-X.html) is how they look like. The band at the bottom indicates the various series : Leader, Battle, Weapon, Campaign, etc. ---
**Author:** ![pancakes3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ba9def/32.png) [@pancakes3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pancakes3)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwii-books-for-tweens/564999/9 "2010-12-21T23:40:30Z")
my sister had a interested-in-ww2-phase in reading also. if i remember correctly, in terms of fiction (or at least novelizations of real life events), there are a ton of holocaust books that are really good reads. milkweed, night, ten green bottles, boy in the striped pajamas… however, in my REALLY honest opinion as a former tween reader, a better time period for historical fiction for a tween would be the revolutionary war. because of the romanticization of the war, there are just tons more books that are better suited for a kid/tween/teen. johnny tremain is a classic. i remember reading a nathaniel hale novelization that was as riveting as any dan brown/mike creighton/grisham thriller. the grim ending came out of nowhere and blew my 10 year old mind away. “My brother sam is dead” is another good piece of historical fiction about this era. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2010, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwii-books-for-tweens/564999/10 "2010-12-22T02:04:34Z")
No, no interest in the Holocaust, no interest in fiction. I read Holocaust novels/literature at his age, but to him, that isn’t the war. And fiction isn’t his thing (never has been). But the whole “something along the lines of Time Life Books” thing is probably good. The problem is that bookstores now SUCK. If I could pick up a book and flip through it, I’d have a good idea. Shopping online for this is horrible because until I look at the pictures and read a little, I don’t know if its age appropriate and at his level. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2010, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwii-books-for-tweens/564999/11 "2010-12-22T02:53:31Z")
> [@detop](#): > > Another thing I just thought of. If you go to used book stores, keep an eye out for books in the “Ballantine Illustrated History of the Second World War / WW II / Violent Century”. There are about 156 titles in the collection (unfortunately out of print), each of them covering a single subject, each of them about 160 pages long with lots of photos, drawings and maps. [Here](http://www.books-by-isbn.com/0-345/034503385X-Guderian-Ballantine-s-illustrated-history-of-the-violent-century.-War-leader-book-0-345-03385-X.html) is how they look like. The band at the bottom indicates the various series : Leader, Battle, Weapon, Campaign, etc. I went through a whole lot of these books back when I was around that age, and they are excellent. But I was (and still am) a history buff. I would suggest memoirs of soldiers who fought in the war. They are often more compelling. Some very good ones off the top of my head: _God is My Copilot_ by Colonel Robert Scott _Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo_ by Ted Lawson _Submarine_ by Edward Beach _The First and The Last_ by Adolf Galland _Japanese Destroyer Captain_ by Tameichi Hara _Samurai_ by Saburo Sakai _With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa_ by Eugene Sledge _To Hell and Back_ by Audie Murphy _A Wing and a Prayer_ by Harry Crosby _Stuka Pilot_ by Hans Ulrich Rudel ---
**Author:** ![pancakes3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ba9def/32.png) [@pancakes3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pancakes3)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2010, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwii-books-for-tweens/564999/12 "2010-12-22T03:10:45Z")
mmmm… Roald Dahl’s Flying Solo. ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2010, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwii-books-for-tweens/564999/13 "2010-12-22T14:37:36Z")
[My Tank is Fight.](http://www.amazon.com/My-Tank-Fight-Zack-Parsons/dp/0806527587/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1293028443&sr=8-1) Not a normal WWII book, it goes into detail about a lot of failed WWII inventions. It’s got a humor slant, so it might be enticing to a 12 year-old. ---
**Author:** ![sqweels](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f19dbf/32.png) [@sqweels](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sqweels)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2010, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwii-books-for-tweens/564999/14 "2010-12-22T17:01:21Z")
The Battle of Midway was a particularly exciting come-from-behind victory for the Good Guys, involving aircraft carriers and fighter planes, so any book about that will work. ---
**Author:** ![Camus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ba8739/32.png) [@Camus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Camus)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2010, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwii-books-for-tweens/564999/15 "2010-12-22T17:19:28Z")
For historical fiction that still gives a decent overview of some important events, you can always try Jeff Shaara’s (and his father’s excellent civil war novel “The Killer Angels”) novels. He’s put out three WWII novels so far, but his US civil war and Mexican-American war novels were probably his best. ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2010, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwii-books-for-tweens/564999/16 "2010-12-22T17:42:31Z")
FWIW my local library had a small section on WWI and II books in the juvenile section when I was that age. Of course dinosaurs still roamed the earth then, so there may not be such a section now, but it is worth a look. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2010, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwii-books-for-tweens/564999/17 "2010-12-22T17:50:54Z")
Steven Sears’ [Air War Against Hitlers Germany](http://www.amazon.com/paintings-accompanying-narrative-photographs-reproduced/dp/B000GM83UG/ref=sr_1_36?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1293039938&sr=1-36)might fit the bill. There are several editions, and lots of used copies are available for less than $23 if you hunt around. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2010, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwii-books-for-tweens/564999/18 "2010-12-22T18:40:24Z")
If he’s looking for factual accounts, John Keegan’s _The Second World War_ is chock-full of factual descriptions while still managing to move along at a brisk pace and avoid tiny type. It’s got enough pictures to be illustrative without being a coffee-table book, and Keegan provides a great deal of insight into why things happened the way they did, and the ramifications of what the decisionmakers chose. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2010, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwii-books-for-tweens/564999/19 "2010-12-22T23:40:44Z")
Thanks for the help guys. Now to go evaluate. I think the Keegan book (but I need to look at it) and something along the lines of an “historical atlas” are good starts. And I like the idea of the Audie Murphy book. Oh, and the library :smack: I forget there there is this huge place with books you can look at. ---
**Author:** ![Quercus\_alba](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quercus_alba/32/4061_2.png) [@Quercus\_alba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus_alba)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2010, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwii-books-for-tweens/564999/20 "2010-12-23T04:19:28Z")
I think the book [Snow Treasure](http://www.amazon.com/Snow-Treasure-Marie-Mcswigan/dp/0590425374) would be a good one for this age and interest level. Glad to see it’s still in print. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwii-books-for-tweens/564999.md?page=2)