Books About war Offer Life Lessons

A number of recent children's and young adult books depict how war dramatically affects the lives of young characters.

- "War Games," by Audrey and Akila Couloumbis, Random House, 2009, ages 10 and older. Based on a true story, this novel, set in Greece during WWII, begins when 12-year-old Petros is more concerned about playing marbles and taking care of his goat than he is about a distant war. But when Nazi soldiers occupy his small village and move into parts of his family's home, war becomes real. Petros' daring acts of distributing underground papers and crawling through his garden unseen to deliver food to his injured cousin, a member of the resistance movement, are almost games for Petros. However, when his friend is shot, Petros discovers war isn't a game. Readers will be left thinking about the courage it takes for even children secretly to resist when war arrives at one's doorstep.

- "Black Angels," by Linda Brown, Putnam, 2009, ages 10 and older. When 11-year-old Luke, child of black slaves, decides to run off and join the Civil War Union forces, he has no idea what he is running to. Before he gets far, he finds 9-year-old Daylily, lost and alone, after the Confederates attack the plantation where she lived as a slave. A bit further along, 7-year-old Caswell, the lost white son of a burned-out plantation owner, joins them. Giving up his original plan, Luke believes escaping to the North is their only hope for survival.

Readers will learn much about the Civil War through the eyes of these three youngsters, caught in the ravages and cruelty of war, as they trudge toward safety.

- "Eli the Good," by Silas House, Candlewick, 2009, ages 10 and older. In the bicentennial summer of 1976, 10-year-old Eli begins to unravel the terrible secrets tearing his family apart. His father, a Vietnam War veteran, suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder. His father's sister, a former Vietnam War protester, and Eli's dad are still at odds.

Eli's sister discovers that their dad, who has always been her hero, isn't her birth dad, and Eli's best friend suffers as her parents fight their way through divorce. Young Eli finds courage to look for peace amid all this conflict. The author reminds readers that "war lives on in people long after it's over."

- In a gripping new book, "Anne Frank -- Her Life in Words and Pictures," by Menno Metselaar and Ruud van der Rol, translated by Arnold J. Pomerans, Roaring Brook Press, 2009, all ages, Anne Frank's father says: "What has happened cannot be undone. But we must certainly learn the lessons of the past."

These books will help us learn those lessons.

Gary and Barbara Bleeker teach at Emporia State University and are nationally recognized authorities on children's and young adult's books.

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