Susan Campbell Bartoletti

Bartoletti's account of the Great Irish Famine is like a finely-woven tapestry. Capturing history through personal accounts, actual records, and illustrations, Black Potatoes reads more like a story than a history book. This, perhaps, is the point of her arrangement: behind the larger concept of the Great Irish Famine are all of the personal experiences and political entanglements that allow us to see not only what happened--5 years of the loss of crops--but also who this great tragedy show more effected. The most interesting segments explored the tension between the Catholic and Protestant faiths (the "We'll feed you if you convert" attitudes of some charities) and the international response toward the Irish famine, particularly how the Americans willingly sent money abroad to alleviate hardship, yet harbored prejudice toward Irish immigrants. I liked the consistency of the text's organization, especially how the chapter titles utilized Irish sayings during the famine and contained an excerpt from either Irish literature or Irish faith.
This text seems appropriate for high school students, though to fully appreciate the text, readers need some knowledge about European and American history. I could see incorporating this text into an American literature course as supplemental reading for units studying immigration and its effects on society and literature. show less

“Silence is how people get on sometimes. I don’t expect you to understand.” These are the words that Helmuth Hubener’s mother spoke to his brother, Gerhard, when he asked her how she could court a Nazi soldier. Susan Campbell Bartoletti’s novel, The Boy Who Dared, is based on the true story of Helmuth, his family, and friends. It is the story of the German population that disagreed with Hitler’s actions, but was silent. More importantly, it is the story of why those people were show more silent. The book opens when Helmuth is a small boy, before Hitler came to power. As Helmuth grows, so does Hitler’s influence, and we watch as Helmuth joins the Hitler Youth and feels a strong patriotism for his country.
As Helmuth gets older, he begins to question Hitler’s motives. His family can no longer buy pastries from their favorite Jewish baker, school papers must be pro-Nazi or you get marked down, and only German books and radio stations are allowed. Indeed, many things become “verboten” (forbidden). When he and his friend Rudi make up a fake detective agency and the ID cards to go along with it, the Gestapo interrogates Rudi, because the fake agency has an English name, therefore Rudi must be an English spy and traitor. When Helmuth is sixteen, his brother Gerhard smuggles a radio in from France that can pick up stations outside of Germany. Through BBC broadcasts, Helmuth learns that the German government is not telling its people the truth about what is really happening in the war, so he begins to type pamphlets that contain the correct information. Together with his friends Karl and Rudi, Helmuth distributes the pamphlets throughout Hamburg. But the Nazis have eyes and ears everywhere, and soon Helmuth’s luck runs out.
This gripping novel opens when Helmuth is on death row at just seventeen years old. It describes the situation of non-Jewish Germans, and the fear and oppression that ruled their lives during Hitler’s reign. It is the story of the silence they kept out of fear, and the self-loathing that often accompanied it. The Boy Who Dared is about a young man who chose to speak his mind at a time when doing so could get you killed. Compelling and unnerving, this book could easily become a staple of World War II children’s literature and should be stocked in all libraries. Recommended for grades 6 and up. show less

On a May evening in 1866, in Pulaski, Tenn., six men lounged about a law office. “Boys, let us get up a club or society,” John Lester said. And they did. Two of the men suggested that they call themselves “Kuklos,” the Greek word for “circle” or “band,” but that wasn’t mysterious enough, so they made up a variation: Ku Klux Klan, which literally means “circle circle.” They delighted in dressing up in flowing white robes, riding about town pretending to be ghosts of show more Confederate dead and playing pranks, but they also understood the power of anonymity to stir up fear and thwart the new Freedmen’s Bureau programs to help former slaves. Balancing the stories of the Klan and the former slaves’ determination to remake their lives, Bartoletti makes extensive use of congressional testimony, interviews, journals, diaries and slave narratives to allow the players to speak in their own voices as much as possible. Documentation is superb, and even the source notes are fascinating. An exemplar of history writing and a must for libraries and classrooms. (a note to the reader, time line, quote attributions, bibliography) (Nonfiction. 12 & up)

-Kirkus Review show less

The Boy Who Dared is an inspiring work of historical fiction based on the real life exploits of a German teenager who dared to defy Hitler's edicts during World War II and payed the ultimate price for his bravery. I'm sure most tweens and teens today have some awareness through their history classes of the atrocities committed by Hitler against the Jews, but I wonder how many know of the thousands of non-Jewish Germans who were tortured, imprisoned and even put to death for their beliefs. show more This book would be a great starting point for young people to learn more about the German Resistance movement. It also imparts a strong message about thinking for oneself and not becoming a blind follower, as well as standing up for what's right even in the face of impossible odds or even death.

Helmuth Hubener was a boy who did exactly that. I was very impressed by how intuitive he was. Even at a young age, Helmuth seemed to have an instinctive sense of right and wrong. He was never entirely comfortable with the things Hitler did and became even less so as Hitler imposed even more restrictions upon the German people. In school, Helmuth wrote what he had to to make it sound like he supported the Reich but hated every minute of it. He also was forced to join the Hitler Youth, but again was not comfortable with their activities. After graduating, Helmuth got an apprenticeship with a company where he was shocked to find forbidden books in the basement. He began borrowing them, and they continued to solidify his belief that Hitler was lying and he must do something to enlighten his fellow Germans. When Helmuth's brother came home from Reich Labor Service with an illegal radio he purchased on the black market, it proves too much of a temptation for Helmuth. Every night he listens to the BBC and learns the truth about what's really happening in the war. This only further fuels his anger until he comes up with the idea of producing pamphlets and flyers detailing the things he learns on the radio and passing them on to other people. He and three friends daringly acted alone as a small insular pocket of resistance against Hitler's reign of terror.

I can't even imagine how much courage it must have required to take a stand like that. I was only reading a fictionalized account of these events long after they happened and could still feel the fear and tension emanating off the pages of the book. I know that sometimes extraordinary circumstances can make ordinary people do things they might never have thought themselves capable of, but what makes this story so notable is the age of its protagonist. Helmuth began his subversive activities when he was only sixteen, and even before that, he was a very intelligent and articulate young man. Just these actions alone could be called heroic, but when he was arrested at the age of seventeen, he essentially fell on his own sword so to speak, taking as much of the blame upon himself as he could and even goading the judges, so that his friends lives might be spared. I think Helmuth's example of standing up for what's right is one that all teens can and should learn from.

The narrative of The Boy Who Dared jumps back and forth between Helmuth in prison on death row and past events starting in his early childhood leading up to his imprisonment. In my opinion, this added some suspense to the story because it kept me wondering how he got there and if there was any hope of him being pardoned. The book is written in present tense. I don't think I've ever read a book written like this, so it took me just a little while to get into it. Once I adjusted to the unfamiliar writing style, I was completely engrossed by the story. Although the author used her own imagination to fill in the missing pieces of Helmuth's life, I would say, based on her notes at the end of the book, that she did her homework extremely well, trying to bring as much authenticity to the story as possible. She even had the privilege of personally interviewing Helmuth's brother and one of the friends who also went to prison for helping him. By reading this book, I felt that I learned not only about the life of a heroic person, but a few other historical details as well (eg. I had no idea the guillotine was still in use during WWII or that there were Mormons in Germany at that time). If one pays attention, I think this book could also be a cautionary tale of taking care not to repeat the mistakes of the past. I have to say that I found Hitler's words very disconcerting, because of the fact that some politicians of the present day use similar rhetoric.

Overall, The Boy Who Dared was an amazing and inspiring story that I highly recommend. Although it has no truly objectionable content and I felt the author took care not to sensationalize any of the violence, the subject matter is still rather mature. As I mentioned earlier there is a palpable sense of fear which might lead younger and more sensitive readers to fret and worry with good cause for Helmuth's safety. They also may not understand and/or be disturbed by certain events in the story as well as the ending. For this reason, I recommend it for middle grades and up, but it is definitely a book from which both kids and adults alike can glean a great message. show less