World History Book Review
You will read (at least) one book each semester, and complete the questions below. The
books that you choose must be either non-fiction, historical fiction, or at least based on reality
(rather than fantasy). They must also take place somewhere other than the U.S.. Ask the
teacher if you’re not sure whether a book would be acceptable. You may read one book and
do a review for each quarter if you choose, for extra credit.
Your Grade will be based on how well you answer the questions below. In order to receive an
A you will need to show evidence that the book was read completely, put a lot of effort and
thought into the answers, and use quotes where necessary. It should be more or less two pages
in length. It is due the last week of the quarter/semester.
*Tips*
-take your time and find a book that you’re interested in.
-Ask the librarian (Mrs. Bennison) for help/suggestions—she loves to help.
-In the library Historical Fiction books have purple stickers on the spine that say “historical
fiction”.
- Look online—used books are cheap!
- Read the questions before reading the book, so you’ll be able to answer them easier and pull
quotes out while you read.
Questions: (Answer on separate paper)
1. Book title, author(s), publisher, and first copyright date
2: What was the book about? (This should be a summary/overview… a few paragraphs)
3: What was the author’s purpose in writing the book?
-Was he/she trying to prove a point, or defend a thesis toward one side over another?
-Did the author show bias from a certain perspective, or was he/she simply providing
facts to educate readers about the subject?
-Was the author using the subject as an example to illustrate a larger general point? Use at
least three quotes from the book to support your answer(s).
4: What was your reaction to the book? Did you find it interesting? Did you learn from it? Did
the author present ideas and opinions in an understandable way?
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See other side for book ideas for examples of books students have read.
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Author
Description
Snow Falling in Spring Moying Li China/Cultural Revolution through the eyes of a young girl
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas John Boyne Holocaust/young boy’s perspective
The Book Thief
Marcus Zusak young girl in WWII Germany
Farewell to Manzanar Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston U.S. Japanese internment camp WWII
North of Freedom Anne Holm boy’s experience in WWI internment camps
My Life in France Julia Child travel/autobiography
The Kite Runner
Khaled Hosseini Boy during the Taliban’s rise in Afghanistan
Habibi
Naomi Shihab Nye
Young girl moves to Israel…
Doomed Queen Anne
Carolyn Meyer Anne Boleyn’s rise and fall as queen of England
The Diamond Secret Suzanne Weyn
Anastasia, the Romonovs and the Russian (communist) Revolution
Pompeii Paul Zanker
non-fiction description of the well preserved Roman city
So Far From the Bamboo Grove Yoko Kawashima Watkins Japanese family fleeing to/from North Korea during WWII
The Sorrow of War Bao Ninh experience of a North Vietnamese Communist soldier during the war
Fire in the Hills Donna Jo Napoli Italian boy during World War II
Afrika
Colleen Craig An African-Canadian goes to Africa and searches for her father.
Frankenstein Mary Shelley 18th century horror/science fiction… takes place in Europe
Night Elie Wiesel teenage boy’s experience in Nazi concentration camps
War Child: A Child Soldier’s Story Ammanuel Jal a boy’s experience in the civil war of Sudan (Africa)
Black Potatoes: The Story of the Great Irish Famine, 1845-1850 Susan Campbell Bartoletti nonfiction
The Boy Who Dared Susan Campbell Bartoletti Hitler youth boy locked up in a camp for treason in WWII Germany
The Diary of a Young Girld Anne Frank Jewish families hiding in Nazi Germany
Number the Starts Lois Lowry Jewish family escaping Nazi’s in occupied Denmark during WWII
Incantation Alice Hoffman Jewish family in hiding in 16th century Spain
The Day of the Barbarians
Alessandro Barbero
Describes how and why the Goths entered and destroyed Rome
Pearls of Childhood
Vera Gissing
Czech girl refugee living in England during WWII
The Cay Theodore Taylor a young boy fleeing Curacao during WWII is stranded on an island
Sold Patricia McCormick
a modern poor Asian family sells their daughter off to slavery to raise money
My Forbidden Face: Growing Up Under the Taliban
Latifa/Kareena Gore Schiff a girl’s experiences in Afghanistan
Hiroshima Clive A. Lawton the development, use, effect of and reactions to the first a-bomb
Angela’s Ashes Frank McCourt
Autobiography; growing up in a poor family in 1930’s/40’s Ireland…
The Secret Diary of Anne Boleyn
Robin Maxwell the story of England’s queen who was sentenced to death and
beheaded…
The Guns of Navarone
Alistair MacLean WWII British Special Forces take an island in the Mediterranean
Men Against the Sea
Charles Nordhoff/James Norman Hall based on a true story of a 19 th century shipwreck
Sphinx’s Princess
Esther Friesner
historical fiction, based on the story of Princess Nefertiti’s rise to queen of Egypt
Face of Opollo Fred Saberhagen Greek mythology/fiction
Powder Monkey Paul Dowswell
1800 Naval adventure/historical fiction
At the Sign of the Sugared Plum
Mary Hooper a young girl’s experience in 1600’s London during a plague
Anna of Byzantium Tracy Barrett
A young princess tries to work her way up to emperor in 1080’s Byzantine Empire.
Winning at All Costs: The Scandalous History of Italian Soccer John Foote Nonfiction
Five Years of My Life: An Innocent Man in Guantanamo Murat Kurnaz
Memoir
The Ghost Map Steven Johnson
A cholera epidemic in London…
Hungry Planet: What the World Eats Peter Menzel Nonfiction…
Great Misadventures: Bad Ideas that led to Big Disasters Peggy Saari Nonfiction
Pirate Women Anne Wallace Sharp
Biography
The Mapmaker’s Wife Robert Whitaker
Colonial Peru…. A Spanish woman on an expedition gets lost in the jungle…
The Motorcycle Diaries The biography of Che Guevara, a Latin-American revolutionary
Galileo’s Daughter
Dava Sobel Daughters of Galileo and their lives…
The Girl With the White Flag
Toniko Higa
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Resistance: A Woman’s Journal of Struggle and Defiance in Occupied France Agnes Humbert
Joan of Arc Mary Gordon Leads the French army to defeat the British in the late middle ages…
John Lennon: All I Want Is the Truth
Elizabeth Dartridge
Last Night I Dreamed of Peace Dang Thuy Tram Young woman doctor during Vietnam…
Gurtruda’s Oath Ram Oren A child, a promise, and a heroic escape during WWII…
Iraqi Girl: Diary of a Teenage Girl in Iraq
Kabul Beauty School Deborah Rodriguez
a girl’s experience in Afghanistan…
Cleopatra