Homeschool Librarian

Lexile/Reading Level
Recommended for 4-8 Grade

Genre/Category
Biographies | History | Nonfiction | Religion

Historical Time Period
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Topic
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Jacob DeShazer: Forgive Your Enemies (Christian Heroes : Then & Now)

Author: Part of a Series:

Three thousand feet above China, it was Jake’s turn to jump. He slid his pistol, knife, and ration packets into the pockets of his leather jacket and edged toward the open hatch of the B-52 bomber. He checked the tension on the harness of his parachute, made sure the handle of the ripcord was free, and then began lowering himself out of the hatch and into the darkness. One of the famous Doolittle Raiders who first attacked Japan after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Jacob DeShazer knew this one-way mission was dangerous. Indeed, it led to his capture as a prisoner of war. Beaten, malnourished, and alone in his cell, Jacob was given a Bible – and far away from home, this American soldier became a Christian. After the war, Jacob returned to japan and served his former enemy for thirty years as a missionary. His testimony of forgiveness and reconciliation – of love over hate – inspires a powerful gospel message for our lives today.

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Please note: Our posting a book in our Homeschool Librarian database does not mean that we endorse its contents. Please use your own discretion when selecting books for your child to read. Also, we are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. Purchases made through our affiliate links help support this site. Book descriptions are sourced from either Amazon.com or GoodReads.
Lexile/Reading Level
620L

Genre/Category
Fiction | Historical

Historical Time Period
| Date
Topic
| | | Geographic Region
| Main Character
Format
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Last Mission, The

Author:

In 1944, as World War II is raging across Europe, fifteen-year-old Jack Raab dreams of being a hero. Leaving New York City, his family, and his boyhood behind, Jack uses a false I.D. and lies his way into the U.S. Air Force.

From their base in England, he and his crew fly twenty-four treacherous bombing missions over occupied Europe. The war is almost over and Hitler near defeat when they fly their last mission — a mission destined for disaster. Shot down far behind enemy lines, Jack is taken prisoner and sent to a German POW camp, where his experiences are more terrifying than anything he’d ever imagined.

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Please note: Our posting a book in our Homeschool Librarian database does not mean that we endorse its contents. Please use your own discretion when selecting books for your child to read. Also, we are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. Purchases made through our affiliate links help support this site. Book descriptions are sourced from either Amazon.com or GoodReads.
Lexile/Reading Level
Recommended for 4-8 Grades

Genre/Category
Fiction | Historical

Historical Time Period
Date
Topic
| | | Geographic Region
| | Main Character
Format
|

Reb and the Redcoats

In an interesting turnabout, the Revolutionary War is seen through the eyes of a British family to whom an American prisoner of war has been entrusted. Technically the young prisoner is in Uncle Lawrence’s custody, but the children soon forge a forbidden friendship with him after he nearly dies in an attempted escape. He becomes the Reb and they, his Redcoats. But when they learn of some events leading to his coming to Europe, even Uncle Lawrence, embittered by the unjust death of a friend in America, thaws toward him–but this doesn’t stop the Reb from scheming to escape. Constance Savery deftly weaves themes of trust and forgiveness into an interesting plot with likeable characters.

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Please note: Our posting a book in our Homeschool Librarian database does not mean that we endorse its contents. Please use your own discretion when selecting books for your child to read. Also, we are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. Purchases made through our affiliate links help support this site. Book descriptions are sourced from either Amazon.com or GoodReads.

Elephant Run

Author:

n 1941, bombs drop from the night skies of London, demolishing the apartment Nick Freestone lives in with his mother. Deciding the situation in England is too unstable, Nick’s mother sends him to live with his father in Burma, hoping he will be safer living on the family’s teak plantation.

But as soon as Nick arrives, trouble erupts in this remote Burmese elephant village. Japanese soldiers invade, and Nick’s father is taken prisoner. Nick is stranded on the plantation, forced to work as a servant to the new rulers. As life in the village grows more dangerous for Nick and his young friend, Mya, they plan their daring escape. Setting off on elephant back, they will risk their lives to save Nick’s father and Mya’s brother from a Japanese POW camp.

In this thrilling journey through the jungles of Burma, Roland Smith explores the far-reaching effects of World War II, while introducing readers to the fascinating world of wild timber elephants and their mahouts.

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Please note: Our posting a book in our Homeschool Librarian database does not mean that we endorse its contents. Please use your own discretion when selecting books for your child to read. Also, we are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. Purchases made through our affiliate links help support this site. Book descriptions are sourced from either Amazon.com or GoodReads.

Summer of My German Soldier (Summer of My German Soldier #1)

Author: Part of a Series:

Minutes before the train pulled into the station in Jenkinsville, Arkansas, Patty Bergen knew something exciting was going to happen. But she never could have imagined that her summer would be so memorable. German prisoners of war have arrived to make their new home in the prison camp in Jenkinsville. To the rest of her town, these prisoners are only Nazis. But to Patty, a young Jewish girl with a turbulent home life, one boy in particular becomes an unlikely friend. Anton relates to Patty in ways that her mother and father never can. But when their forbidden relationship is discovered, will Patty risk her family and town for the understanding and love of one boy?

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Please note: Our posting a book in our Homeschool Librarian database does not mean that we endorse its contents. Please use your own discretion when selecting books for your child to read. Also, we are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. Purchases made through our affiliate links help support this site. Book descriptions are sourced from either Amazon.com or GoodReads.
Lexile/Reading Level
NA - Recommended for 5-8 Grades

Wind on the River: A Story of the Civil War (Jamestown’s American Portraits)

Private John Griffith Allen is a 15-year-old Confederate soldier from South Carolina. He survives the Battle of Gettysburg in 1863 only to be captured by Yankee soldiers and sent as a prisoner of war to the notorious death trap called Point Lookout.After taking the oath of allegiance, switching sides, and becoming a “Galvanized Yankee,” Griff is sent to remote Fort Rice on the upper Missouri River in Dakota Territory. There, he sturggles to discover who he is while surviving the rigors of a hositle new environment and a terrifying Indian war. His encounter with two half-sisters living at Fort Rice challenges his prejudices and forces him to reconsider what it means to be a hero.

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Please note: Our posting a book in our Homeschool Librarian database does not mean that we endorse its contents. Please use your own discretion when selecting books for your child to read. Also, we are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. Purchases made through our affiliate links help support this site. Book descriptions are sourced from either Amazon.com or GoodReads.