War has existed since the beginning of recorded history. Countless histories, novels, plays, and movies have dealt with war. Young people cannot avoid finding out about war, either through these and other sources or, in some cases, from direct experience.

The challenge for parents and teachers is to introduce the topic of war to children and teens in a way that is responsible, honest, and appropriate to their age and level of understanding. Many young people absorb only a few dates and facts with little understanding of the causes of war, the realities of the battlefield, or the devastating consequences for the lives of civilians in war-torn nations. They may need help understanding or dealing with the impact of war on family members whose loved ones leave for long periods of deployment and sometimes never return.

The books on this list—fiction, fact, or fantasy—can help young readers explore these many difficult issues according to their age and level of understanding. Whether you’re studying a particular historical period in the classroom, or sitting at the kitchen table with your family, we hope this guide will provide useful ideas for learning, discussion, and understanding.

The discussion questions in this guide support teaching to the following Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts. For more guidance, see after each question the specific Standards to which the question correlates.

Use this guide to teach to the Common Core State Standards.

Reading Standards for Literature

Key Ideas and Details

RL.1. Demonstrate understanding of key details in a text; cite textual evidence that supports an analysis of what the text says, as well as inferences drawn from the text. (Grades 1-12)

RL.2. Determine the theme or central idea of a text and how it is conveyed through particular details; analyze the development of the themes or central ideas over the course of the text; provide an objective summary of the text. (Grades 3-12)

RL.3. Describe characters, settings, or events in a story, drawing on specifi c details in the text; analyze how characters interact, develop, change, and respond to events in the story. (Grades K-12)

Craft and Structure

RL.4. Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including metaphors and similes; analyze the impact of specifi c word choices on meaning or tone. (Grades 4-12)

RL.5. Refer to or explain the parts or structure of a story and how they contribute to the whole; analyze how the author’s choices concerning specific parts of a story contribute to its overall structure and meaning. (Grades 3-12)

RL.6. Understand and compare the different points of view in which stories are narrated; analyze how and why the author develops point of view. (Grades 1-12)

Integration of Knowledge and Ideas

RL.7. Explain how illustrations contribute to what is conveyed in a story; compare a written story to its audio, filmed, or staged version; analyze multiple interpretations of a story. (Grades 1-5 and 7-12)

RL.9. Compare and contrast the treatment of a topic in different stories; compare a fictional portrayal to a historical account; analyze how an author draws from and transforms source material in a particular work. (Grades 4-12)

Reading Standards for Informational Text

Key Ideas and Details

RIT.1. Demonstrate understanding of key details in a text; cite textual evidence that supports an analysis of what the text says as well as inferences drawn from the text. (Grades 1-9)

RIT.2. Determine the theme or central idea of a text and how it is conveyed through particular details; analyze the development of the themes or central ideas over the course of the text; provide an objective summary of the text. (Grades 1-9)

RIT.3. Describe the relationships between individuals, ideas, events, or concepts in a text; analyze how ideas influence individuals or events, or how individuals influence ideas or events; analyze how the author unfolds an analysis or series of ideas or events. (Grades K-10)

Craft and Structure

RIT.4. Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text; determine the meaning of general academic and domain-specific words or phrases; analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning or tone. (Grades 1-7)

RIT.5. Compare and contrast the overall structure of events, ideas, concepts, or information in two or more texts; analyze the structure that the author uses to organize a text, and how the author’s ideas or claims are developed. (Grades 5-9)

RIT.6. Analyze multiple accounts of the same event or topic; determine the author’s point of view or purpose. (Grades 5-9)

Integration of Knowledge and Ideas

RIT.7. Explain how illustrations, maps, photographs, diagrams, graphs, and charts contribute to the understanding of a text; draw on information in different media or formats; compare a text to an audio, video, or multimedia portrayal of the topic. (Grades 1-9)

RIT.8. Explain how an author uses reasons or evidence to support particular points in a text; trace and evaluate the argument and claims in a text, assessing whether the reasoning is sound and the evidence is relevant and sufficient to support the claims. (Grades 4-7)

The American Revolutionary War

“Is life so dear or peace so sweet as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery?...I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!” —Patrick Henry

Young Readers

• George Washington: Our First President by Garnet Jackson and Y.H. Hu
• I Am George Washington by Grace Norwich
• If You Lived at the Time of the American Revolution by Kay Moore, illustrated by Daniel O'Leary
• If You Were There When They Signed the Constitution by Elizabeth Leary, illustrated by Joan Holub
• In 1776 by Jean Marzollo, illustrated by Steve Björkman
• Those Rebels, John & Tom by Barbara Kerley and Edwin Fotheringham

Discussion Questions

1. George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, and John Adams each had a skill that made them special. Choose one of these, or another early patriot, and describe what made that person important. How did each contribute to America’s independence? (CCSS.1-4.RIT.3)
2. Each of the leaders in the early days of America had to learn to cooperate and compromise in order to work together. How did these early leaders develop the skills to work with one another? (CCSS.1-4.RIT.1,2,4)
3. How do the illustrations in these books help you to understand our early history? How does the combination of art and text in an informational book enhance comprehension? (CCSS.1-4.RIT.7)

Middle Grade

• The Crossing: How George Washington Saved the American Revolution by Jim Murphy
• Dear America: Cannons at Dawn by Kristiana Gregory
• Dear America: The Winter of Red Snow by Kristiana Gregory
• George Washington’s Socks by Elvira Woodruff
• George Washington’s Spy by Elvira Woodruff
• The Many Rides of Paul Revere by James Cross Giblin
• The Secret Soldier: The Story of Deborah Sampson by Ann McGovern and Harold Goodwin
• A True Patriot: The Journal of William Thomas Emerson, a Revolutionary War Patriot by Barry Denenberg

Discussion Questions

1. How did the major events of the American Revolution affect the everyday lives of ordinary people? Choose one of these events and discuss its impact on daily life. (CCSS.3-7.RL.1,2,3)
2. Compare the information you learn from a fictional account and a nonfiction book about the same time period. How do these two differ and how do they help you understand the events that occur? (CCSS.3-7.RL.3,6) (CCSS.3-7.RIT.5,6)
3. What does it mean to be a hero? Which of the people you read about—both fictional characters and historical figures—would you consider a hero and why? (CCSS.3-7.RL.2) (CCSS.3-7.RIT.2)

Young Adult

• My Brother Sam is Dead by James Lincoln Collier

Discussion Questions

1. Why did some people remain loyal to Great Britain during the American Revolution? Why did others join the “rebels”? (CCSS.7-10.RL.1,2) Analyze the motives of both Sam and his father for their beliefs about the war and reasons for the choices they make. (CCSS.7-10.RL.3)
2. How does the author create tension throughout this story? Why is the story told from Tim’s point of view? (CCSS.7-10.RL.5)

The American Civil War

“It is well that war is so terrible. We should grow too fond of it.” —Robert E. Lee

Young Readers

• A. Lincoln and Me by Louise Borden and Ted Lewin
• I Survived #7: I Survived the Battle of Gettysburg, 1863 by Lauren Tarshis
• If You Lived at the Time of the Civil War by Kay Moore and Anni Matsick
• My First Biography: Abraham Lincoln by Marion Dane Bauer and Liz Goulet Dubois
• Unspoken: A Story from the Underground Railroad by Henry Cole
• Walt Whitman by Barbara Kerley and Brian Selznick

Discussion Questions

1. Compare the character of Abraham Lincoln in a fictional book and a nonfiction book. What do you learn about our 16th president from each of these? (CCSS.K-1.RL.3) (CCSS.K-1.RIT.3)
2. Compare the character of Walt Whitman to other well-known persons during the Civil War period. Why was Whitman important? What did he contribute to the war effort? (CCSS.2-5.RIT.1,3)
3. How do individual authors and artists use different techniques to tell the story of the Underground Railroad? Why was the Underground Railroad important? (CCSS.2-5.RL.1,7) (CCSS.2-5.RIT.1,7)

Middle Grade

• Dear America: A Light in the Storm by Karen Hesse
• Dear America: When Will This Cruel War Be Over? by Barry Denenberg
• Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis
• Freedom Crossing by Margaret Goff Clark
• Girl in Blue by Ann Rinaldi
• The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg by Rodman Philbrick
• On Enemy Soil: The Journal of James Edward Pease, A Civil War Union Soldier by Jim Murphy
• Profiles #1: The Civil War by Aaron Rosenberg

Discussion Questions

1. Identify some of the issues leading up to the Civil War and discuss how they contributed to the inevitability of war between the states. (CCSS.4-7.RL.1,2) (CCSS.4-7.RIT.1,2,3)
2. Compare a fictional story about the war with a nonfiction account of the events. What can you learn best from each type of book? Describe how the point of view affects your understanding of a story. (CCSS.4-7.RL.1,3,6) (CCSS.4-7.RIT.1,3,6)
3. Discuss the concepts of courage, cowardice, and neutrality as they relate to the Civil War. How did the people you read about, both fi ctional and historical fi gures, react to events in the war and respond to the challenges of the period? (CCSS.4-7.RL.2,3) (CCSS.4-7.RIT.2,4,8)

World War I

“The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him.” —G. K. Chesterton

Middle Grade

• Truce: The Day the Soldiers Stopped Fighting by Jim Murphy
• War Horse by Michael Morpurgo

Young Adult

• Private Peaceful by Michael Morpurgo

Discussion Questions

1. Compare the titles Private Peaceful and War Horse, and discuss the irony of the titles. Analyze the author’s word choices for characters and places on the home front and contrast those with the language used in the midst of the war. (CCSS.5-9.RL.4,5)
2. In all three of these books, soldiers act on their own to defy orders from their officers. Compare these situations and what each of them meant for the characters involved. (CCSS.5-9.RL.3,6) (CCSS.5-9.RIT.1,2,6)
3. Read Wilfred Owens’s poem “Dulce et Decorum Est” and compare it to the description of soldiers in both Truce and Private Peaceful. How does the depiction of this war differ in fiction, nonfiction, and poetry? Compare the experience of reading War Horse with seeing the movie version of the same story. (CCSS.7-9.RL.5,7) (CCSS.7-9.RIT.5,7)

World War II

“Never think that war, no matter how necessary, nor how justified, is not a crime.” —Ernest Hemingway

Young Readers

• Crow Call by Lois Lowry and Bagram Ibatoulline
• I Survived #4: I Survived the Bombing of Pearl Harbor, 1941 by Lauren Tarshis
• I Survived #9: I Survived the Nazi Occupation, 1944 by Lauren Tarshis

Discussion Questions

1. How do the characters in each of these books feel about their home? How is their home life affected by the war? (CCSS.1-5.RL.3)
2. What can you learn about rural Pennsylvania, Hawaii, and occupied Poland in the 1940s from reading these stories? How did war affect people differently living in each of these places? (CCSS.1-5.RL.7)

Middle Grade

• The Boy Who Dared by Susan Campbell Bartoletti
• Dear America: The Fences Between Us by Kirby Larson
• Duke by Kirby Larson
• Escape: Children of the Holocaust by Allan Zullo
• Ghosts in the Fog: The Untold Story of Alaska's WWII Invasion by Samantha Seiple
• Haunters by Thomas Taylor
• Hidden Like Anne Frank by Marcel Prins and Peter Henk Steenhuis
• Hiroshima by Laurence Yep
• Hitler Youth by Susan Campbell Bartoletti
• Prisoner B-3087: The Story of Jack and Ruth Gruener by Alan Gratz
• Profiles #2: World War II by Aaron Rosenberg
• The Romeo and Juliet Code by Phoebe Stone
• Romeo Blue by Phoebe Stone
• Saving Zasha by Randi Barrow
• Finding Zasha by Randi Barrow
• Scholastic Discover More: World War II by Sean Callery
• Snow Treasure by Marie McSwigan
• We Were Heroes: The Journal of Scott Pendleton Collins, a World War II Soldier by Walter Dean Myers
• World War II, Book One: The Right Fight by Chris Lynch
• World War II: FIghting for Freedom by Peter Chrisp

Discussion Questions

1. Choose a character from one of the fictional accounts of this war and describe how that person is changed by the events in the story. What expectations did that person have about the war experience? How did those expectations change? (CCSS.5-9.RL.3)
2. Read one of the nonfiction accounts of the war. How does the text inform your understanding of events in the war? (CCSS.5-9.RIT.3) How does the format and structure of the book help you to understand the places and events? (CCSS.5-9.RIT.5,7)
3. Discuss the concept of courage as it is seen in both fiction and nonfiction accounts of the war. Compare acts of courage by soldiers in battle, prisoners in camps, animals in the war, and people on the home front in various countries. How is your reaction to a book affected by whether it is a first-person or third-person account; whether it is fiction or fact; whether it is a human or animal; or whether it is a soldier, prisoner, or citizen? (CCSS.5-9.RL.2 and CCSS.5-9.RL.6) (CCSS.5-9.RIT.6)

Young Adult

• Dear Miss Breed: True Stories of the Japanese American Incarceration During World War II and a Librarian Who Made a Difference by Joanne Oppenheim
• Hitler's Secret by William Osborne
• Invasion by Walter Dean Myers
• The Nazi Hunters by Neal Bascomb
• Phantoms in the Snow by Kathleen Benner Duble

Discussion Questions

1. Each of these books describes one aspect of World War II. How do the fiction authors use historical settings and events to shape the development of the main character or the plot of the story? (CCSS.7-10.RL.3) How do the nonfiction authors create a compelling narrative using factual events? (CCSS.7-10.RIT.3)
2. Certain events and experiences during World War II were little known until many years after the war, e.g., the internment of Japanese Americans. Why did it take so many years for these stories to be told? (CCSS.7-10.RIT.1,2,3)
3. Describe how the concept of heroism appears in each of these titles. Who are the true heroes in each of these different aspects of the war and its aftermath? How does their heroism reveal itself in each setting? (CCSS.7-10.RL.1,2,9) (CCSS.7-10.RIT.1-3)

The Vietnam War

“What is absurd and monstrous about war is that men who have no personal quarrel should be trained to murder one another in cold blood.” —Aldous Huxley

Young Readers

• Year of the Jungle by Suzanne Collins

Discussion Questions

1. How is a family affected when one member has to leave home to fight in a war? How have modern communications helped families stay in touch during these long absences? How does a child’s understanding of war develop as he or she grows older? Why does a family member who returns from a war sometimes feel like a stranger to his or her own family? (CCSS.1-4.RL.1,3,6)

Middle Grade

• Greetings From Planet Earth by Barbara Kerley
• Into No Man’s Land: The Journal of Patrick Seamus Flaherty, United States Marine Corps, Khe Sanh, Vietnam by Ellen Emerson White
• Profiles #5: The Vietnam War by Daniel Polansky
• Vietnam Quartet #1: I Pledge Allegiance by Chris Lynch
• #2: Sharpshooter
• #3: Free-Fire Zone
• #4: Casualties of War
   

Discussion Questions

1. Compare the motives, strengths, and weaknesses of each of the historic leaders involved in the Vietnam conflict. How did the actions of each escalate the war and increase the controversy about American involvement? (CCSS.6-9.RIT.1,3)
2. Discuss the concepts of honor, duty, allegiance, and heroism as they relate to the characters in these novels. How did the experience of war affect each of them? (CCSS.6-9.RL.1,2,3) Cite particular scenes in the books that support your comments. (CCSS.6-9.RL.5)
3. What are the effects on soldiers in the aftermath of a war? Were these problems more prevalent after the Vietnam War than in previous wars? (CCSS.6-9.RL.3)

Young Adult

• Fallen Angels by Walter Dean Myers

Discussion Questions

1. Discuss the experiences of Richie Perry in Fallen Angels, his expectations about the war, and the reality of his experience in Vietnam. How does reading this book inform your understanding of the complexities of war and its aftereffects? (CCSS.7-12.RL.1,3,5)

The Iraq and Afghanistan Wars

“War may sometimes be a necessary evil. But no matter how necessary, it is always an evil, never a good. We will not learn how to live together in peace by killing each other’s children.” —Jimmy Carter, Nobel Lecture, Dec. 10, 2002

Middle Grade

• Operation Yes by Sarah Lewis Holmes
• Words in the Dust by Trent Reedy

Discussion Questions

1. How do the characters in Operation Yes cope with emotions of anger, sorrow, worry, and fear of the unknown? In what way does storytelling and improvisation help the students and their teacher deal with these emotions? How does a distant war affect those on the home front? (CCSS.4-6.RL.1,3,6)
2. How does the arrival of Americans in her village provide hope for an Afghan girl in Words in the Dust? How can Zulaikha resolve her confl ict between traditional family values and a hope for a better future? (CCSS.5-9.RL.2,3,6)

Young Adult

• Sunrise Over Fallujah by Walter Dean Myers
• Torn by David Massey

Discussion Questions

1. Discuss the changing roles of women in the recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan as they are portrayed in these two novels. What qualities do women contribute to the war experience? What difficulties do they encounter? (CCSS.7-12.RL.1,3,5)
2. What particular challenges face soldiers in these two wars? How do the culture, climate, and terrain of Iraq and Afghanistan affect the way these wars are fought? Discuss the concept of “nation building” and what it means for the soldiers faced with challenging situations in each of these countries. (CCSS.7-12.RL.2,4,5,6)

General/Other

“I hate war as only a soldier who has lived it can, only as one who has seen its brutality, its stupidity.” —Dwight D. Eisenhower

Middle Grade

• Dogs of War by Sheila Keenan and Nathan Fox
• Dog Tags series by C. Alexander London
  • #1: Semper Fido
  • #2: Strays
  • #3: Prisoner of War

Discussion Questions

1. Discuss the use of animals in wartime and their importance in saving human lives. Compare the interaction of the dogs and their trainers in these books to the use of horses in World War I in War Horse. (CCSS.4-7.RL.1,6)

Young Adult

• An Innocent Soldier by Josef Holub

Discussion Questions

1. Sharing the horrors of war can create an intensity of friendship among those who might not have encountered each other in peacetime. Discuss the theme of friendship in this story and its importance to the two main characters as they endure the extreme hardships of war. (CCSS.7-10. RL.2,3,6)

War in Fiction and Fantasy

“War must be, while we defend our lives against a destroyer who would devour all; but I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I love only that which they defend.” —J.R.R. Tolkien, The Two Towers

Middle Grade

• The False Prince by Jennifer A. Nielsen
• The Runaway King by Jennifer A. Nielsen
• The Guardians of Ga'Hoole series by Kathryn Lasky
• The Underland Chronicles by Suzanne Collins
• Wolves of the Beyond series by Kathryn Lasky

Discussion Questions

1. Discuss the techniques a writer uses to create a believable fantasy world. What details and descriptions help you to imagine the setting in these books? Compare them to other fantasy worlds you have read about, such as the wizard world in the Harry Potter books. (CCSS.4-7.RL.3,4)
2. Fantasy tales often involve a quest or a journey the characters must take and a struggle between forces of good and evil. Compare the journeys and struggles in these fantasy books with the journeys and struggles of characters in realistic novels about war. (CCSS.4-7.RL.2,9)

Young Adult

• Defy by Sara B. Larson
• Divided We Fall by Trent Reedy
• The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins
• The Tomorrow series by John Marsden

Discussion Questions

1. Whether set in an indefi nite past or a chilling future world, fantasy can often highlight themes of war and peace, confl ict and resolution, good and evil, with more clarity than a realistic story. What deeper themes do each of these novels develop and how do the characters reflect those themes? (CCSS.7-12.RL.1,2,3)
2. Compare the imagined world of a fantasy novel to the setting of a realistic novel about war. (CCSS.7-12.RL.9)
3. Suzanne Collins has stated that her inspiration for The Hunger Games series came from channel-flipping between reality TV and Iraq War coverage in the news. Discuss how a work of fantasy and imagination can reflect issues in the real world of current events and current trends in entertainment. (CCSS.7-12.RL.4,7,9)
    

Discussion questions written by Connie Rockman, Youth Literature Consultant, adjunct professor of children’s and young adult literature, and Editor of the 8th, 9th, and 10th books in the Junior Authors and Illustrators series.