msjamgochian'sinfinitebooklist

Reading HBB restored a bit of the faith I had recently lost in the Man Booker prize (it was shortlisted for the prize in 2011). A sweeping historical account of one man's journey from Baltimore to the wannabe jazz bars of 1930 Berlin to the streets of Nazi-occupied Paris and back again, fifty years later. This is the perfect read for anyone obsessed with Paris, jazz, or WWII. Give it to someone who enjoys all three and they will remember you for life. Click here for a full review . Grade 11+

A bitterly sad historical novel about a largely overlooked event : the 1941 deportation and genocide of Lithuanians during Stalin's reign of terror. Fifteen year-old Lina's life path is forever altered when she, her mother, and younger brother Jonas are arrested in their home and sentenced to work to death in a Siberian labor camp. The opening scene is pure cinema as Lina's mother, given twenty minutes to prepare for their brutal journey, destroys the family china, smashing each piece on the floor, while terrified Lina forgets to change out of her nightgown as she scrambles to gather a few art supplies. When they arrive at the train station, their car is marked 'thieves and prostitutes,' and their horrific journey begins. Shelf this alongside The Diary of Anne Frank, and Adam Bagdasarian's Forgotten Fire for a study of genocide in the 20th century. Grade 7+

When 56 year-old Chinese-American widower Henry Lee hears that the belongings of several Japanese-American families interred during WWII have been discovered in the basement of the Panama Hotel in Seattle's International District, he decides to confront his past and goes looking for a trunk that may contain links to Keiko, his first love and best childhood friend. Told in alternating chapters between 1986 and 1942-45, this story not only describes the injustice of the Japanese internment during WWII, it also takes on father-son relationships, family ties, first love, and grief. HOTCOBAS would complement a study of social justice and makes the perfect companion book for a trip to Seattle. Don't miss all of the extras, including a teacher's guide, on Jamie Ford's website. Grade 10+