Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler's Shadow

Title: Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler's Shadow

Author: Susan Campbell Bartoletti


ISBN: 978-0439353793

Publisher: Scholastic Nonfiction

Copyright: 2005
 Plot Summary: This book contains first hand accounts of World War II survivors, concentration camps survivors, and former members of Hitler's Youth to place in context the events that took place in Germany. The images coupled with the text is very powerful. This text tells how the children were drawn into Hitler's Youth and what they were taught. They were allowed to do fun kid things like play together, but also taught to hate Jewish people. The only requirement to join Hitler's Youth was to be able bodied and able to prove there were no Jewish people in your lineage. The book tells of a man who, as a member of Hitler's Youth destroyed houses and property of Jewish families, but thought at the time they deserved it do to the training he was put through.

Critical Evaluation: This book is extremely powerful. The images and the first hand accounts coupled together form a powerful nonfiction book.

Reader's Annotation:  How Germany's Youth became Hitler's Youth in the 1930s.

Genre: Nonfiction

Author Information: Susan Campbell Bartoletti authors other nonfiction picture books including Dear America: A Coal Miner's Bride and historical fiction novels such as The Boy Who Dared. To learn more about this author and her work visit: http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/contributor/susan-campbell-bartoletti

 Book talks: Hitler, Nazis, WWII, youth, Jewish people, destruction, racism

Reading Level/Interest Age: Middle School/High School. 12-18.


Challenge: Violence. There are some parents, or other people who would rather not expose their children to the violence of war, however, it is necessary to learn from the past, no matter how painful it may be to revisit. 
Why was this book chosen?: The textual content and images are very powerful.