Hitler Youth by Susan Campbell Bartoletti

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Bartoletti, Susan Campbell. (2005). Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler’s Shadow. New York, NY: Scholastic, Inc. ISBN 0439353793

PLOT SUMMARY

Hitler Youth offers an in-depth and captivating look at the children and young adults that grew up and followed (or opposed) Hitler and the Nazi party during the twelve years of the Third Reich. Intrigued by the hope of a promising future in Germany, thousands of young Germans created one of the largest youth groups in history –this is their story.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS
      Susan Campbell Bartoletti creates a story that makes history accessible to young readers by capturing the voices and feelings of the youth during Hitler’s reign. With a focus on the youth of Germany and their choices, readers are offered an in-depth view of young Germans’ feelings and reactions to Hitler: “I belonged to Adolf Hitler, body and soul,” –Alfons Heck. Also, from those disenchanted with Hitler: “I just want the German people to think…to know the truth…” –Helmuth Hübener. Historical black and white photographs and maps, included on each double-page spread, help to illustrate the fascinating narrative (a photograph acknowledgement page is also included at the end of the book).

      Each chapter begins with a quote providing the context for the chapter. One particularly unsettling chapter “Where One Burns Books” discusses the Nazi education taught to young students. The quote used for the chapter’s title, written one hundred years earlier by Heinrich Heine (a German poet of Jewish origin) –“Where one burns books, one will, in the end, burn people,” is a chilling forecast of the events to come. The final chapter challenges readers to consider the horrific, documented events in the book in effort to dissuade future occurrences.

      Short biographies of the twelve young people included in the story set in motion the excellent narrative preceded by a Contents page. Even more interesting are the Epilogue pages that provide further information on what happened after the war to those twelve young people. An Author’s Notes page includes information about personal communication and interviews used within the book which are also detailed in the Quote Sources pages and Bibliography at the end of the book.

REVIEW EXCERPTS

2006 Newbery Honor Award

2006 Sibert Honor Award

2006 Orbis Pictus Honor Award

2006 Parents’ Choice Award – Gold Winner

Starred review in SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL – “Bartoletti lets many of the subjects' words, emotions, and deeds speak for themselves, bringing them together clearly to tell this story unlike anyone else has."

Starred review in BOOKLIST –“The handsome book design, with stirring black-and-white historical photos on every double-page spread, will bring in readers and help spark deep discussion..."

Starred review in KIRKUS – “Nonfiction writing as its best…Superb.”

CONNECTIONS
*Teachers can use the book to build background on Hitler, the Nazi Party, and World War II.

*Discuss the use of Nazi propaganda to disgrace the Jews; also, the use Anti-Nazi propaganda used to inform citizens.

*Text can lead to further discussion of dictatorship and democratic governments.

More award winning books by Susan Campbell Bartoletti:

Bartoletti, Susan C. Black Potatoes: The Story of the Great Irish Famine, 1845-1850. ISBN 0618548831

Bartoletti, Susan, C. Kids on Strike! ISBN 0618369236