The Boy Who Dared

Bartoletti, Susan Campbell. The boy who dared. Scholastic Press: 2008. ISBN: 9780439680134.

Summary:
Told in flashbacks, this story begins with 17 year old Helmuth Hubener on death row in Nazi Germany. Helmuth's memories begin when he is 3 years old and continue until the reader is brought to the circumstance in the first paragraph. Living with his single mother and 2 older half brothers, Helmut's childhood takes place in Germany during Hitler's rise to power and aggression across Europe. Listening to radio addresses by Hitler, witnessing the alienation and degradation of the Jews and joining the Hitler Youth are part of Helmut's normalcy. While a teen, his mother remarries a Nazi soldier and life begins to change as World War II begins. The Gestapo monitor citizens movements and activities including Rudy, a close friend of Helmuth. Helmuth becomes disillusioned by the reports of the war and what he sees happening on the German streets.

Evaluation:
This book should be required reading for all middle school and high school history classes. Schools spend a lot of time focusing on the holocaust, which is proper and important, but history has many faces. Helmuth's story is based on a real person and real events. It is amazing to think that a teen not only defied the government, but also lost his life to save his friends. This type of moral courage is rare and worth teaching our children. The author does a great job showing German citizens as people, flesh and blood with families and feelings. The book ends with real photographs of the people in the story and a timeline. This would be a great book for a teen book club.

Reader's Annotation:
Courage is not the absence of fear, but doing the right thing regardless.

Bibliotherapeutic Uses:
Everyone wonders at one time or another how they would react in a situation. Would they be brave enough to do a particular thing. This book is a great read for those who entertain such thoughts. The Boy Who Dared proves that teens can have a powerful impact on the world.

Genre:
Historical Fiction/World War II and the Holocaust

Why I Included This Book:
I had to get away from vampires for a while. Historical fiction is a favorite genre of mine.