MODERN WORLD HISTORY
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Mysteries
in History: World History by Wendy Conklin. Teacher Created Resources,
2005. This book challenges students in grades 5-8 to explore nine
important unexplained events that helped shape world history. The book provides
primary source materials, posters, and simulations. Students can work
independently or in groups and develop their critical thinking skills as they
assemble the clues to come to conclusions about these events. Since there are no
right or wrong answers, class discussion is sure to be lively. Here are the
mysteries in this book: The Knights Templars and Their Treasures; Did Marco Polo
Really Travel to China?; The Fingerprints of Shakespeare; Who Was the Man in the
Iron Mask?; Could Mozart Have Been Murdered?; Beethoven's Love Letters; The
Mystery of the Mary Celeste; The Sinking of the Lusitania; and The Missing Bones
of Peking Man. There is also a bibliography. 144 pages. Student pages are
reproducible. BTH-3150. $13.49-D
VICTORIAN AGE
Usborne History
of Britain, Internet-Linked: Victorians by Ruth Brocklehurst. EDC,
2005. Named for the queen who ruled Great Britain from 1837 until 1901, this
period was one of social, economic, and scientific progress and ushered the
kingdom into the modern world. This book covers a biographical sketch of Queen
Victoria, the age of steam, city life, crime and punishment, education, Victoria
and Albert, home life, the role of women, politics, building an empire, great
exhibitions, inventions and discoveries, transportation, the Crimean War, the
African resistance, the Anglo-Boer Wars, troubles with Ireland, health and
medicine, literature and the press, sports and recreation, architecture and
engineering, and Victorian art. For ages 9 and up. Every page is packed with the
color illustrations Usborne books are known for. 48 pages. BTH-4162. $8.06-D
General Overviews /
Holocaust Related / Asia and
the Pacific
The
20th Century by Mary Ellen Sterling and Donna Rice. Teacher Created
Resources, 512 pages. For grades 5 and up. Reproducible for classroom use.
This resource contains a wealth of information on all aspects of
the 20th century, decade by decade. The unit on each decade contains the
following sections: Decade Overview; Politics and Economics; Presidents; Social
Issues; Science and Technology; Culture and Arts; Global Highlights; Passages;
The United States in the 1900s; Writing Prompts and Literature Ideas.
A special section at the beginning of the book contains the
following features: Time Line; Introducing the Decade; Period Interview; Decade
Time Capsule; Discussing the Decade; Presidential Knowledge; Elections: Could
You Be president?; Then and Now; Famous Firsts; Popular Songs; World Leaders;
paper Dolls; Their Point of View.
At the end of the book there are some suggested culminating
activities: Research Report; World Map; Interview Form; personal Information
Sheet; Time in History; Venn Diagram Comparison; Recipe Card and Bibliographic
Sources; The Twenty-First Century; Overview Presentation; Character Diary;
Character Information Sheet; Diary Page. You will also find Software in the
Classroom; Bibliography; Index, and Answer Key.
This book is full of interesting information on a wide variety
of subjects: sports, the stock market, ragtime, aviation, the world wars,
entertainment, important legislation, you name it. Any student with a shred of
curiosity should be able to find something to intrigue him or her in this
volume. BTH-2651. $26.99-D
Rescue:
The Story of How Gentiles Saved Jews in the Holocaust by Milton Meltzer.
HarperCollins, 1991. The author's introduction explains the background of not
only the Holocaust, but also the history of the persecution of the Jews before
that. But the bulk of the book introduces some of the many Gentiles who rescued
Jews during Hitler's time. The author's earlier book, Never to Forget, a
documentary based on primary sources, portrays the Jewish suffering in Nazi
Germany. Here's the author's reason for writing this book: Now I have come to
realize the great importance of recording not just the evidence of evil, but
also the evidence of human nobility. Love, not hatred, is what the world needs.
Rescue, not destruction. The stories in this book offer reason to hope. And hope
is what we need, as plants need sunlight." This book documents the rescues and
the stories of the rescuers. The book ends with an extensive bibliography
and index. 618 pages. For middle school students and above. BTH-2652.
$7.19-D
Surviving
Hitler: A Boy in the Nazi Death Camps by Andrea Warren. HarperCollins,
2002. This is the true story of Jack Mandelbaum, who spent three years, while a
teenager, in Hitler's death camps. He survived through courage, luck, help from
others, and a strong will to live. Like all survivors, he has much to teach
others about bravery, self-reliance, history, and the lessons to be learned from
the Holocaust. We may even find something that applies to our own lives. I know
reading books like the ones on this page always makes me thankful for all I
have, for the peace I've enjoyed in my lifetime, enough to eat, a home, etc,
that are so often taken for granted. My problems seem trivial when I read about
what jack lived through.
This book is for those ten and up. The book is easy on the eyes
with its abundance of white space between lines and clear type, but its themes
demand a certain amount of maturity, since reality was brutal for Jack. This
interest level for the book will extend to even adults, so this is something you
might want to give to a reluctant teen reader. There's plenty of action. The
books ends with a resource list and an index. It is illustrated with black and
white photographs. 146 pages. BTH-2653. $6.29-D
Upon
the Head of a Goat: A Childhood in Hungary 1939-1944 by Aranka Siegal.
Penguin, 1994. A nine-year-old girl describes her life as a Jewish girl during
the Nazi occupation of her hometown during 1939-1944. She was on vacation at her
grandmother's farm when German soldiers closed the borders, and instead of just
the summer as planned, she had to spend a whole year at the farm until the
borders reopened. When she was finally able to return home, her life was totally
changed, for with Hitler in power, no place was safe if you were Jewish. A
Newbury Honor book. For ages 10 and up. 215 pages. BTH-2650. $4.49-D
Asia and the Pacific
Red
Scarf Girl: A Memoir of the Cultural Revolution by Ji-Li Jiang.
HarperCollins, 2004. Revised Version. Ji-Li tells her own story, beginning when
she was 12 and a Young Pioneer in the Chinese Communist youth organization. Her
future was bright and she believed the propaganda she had been fed. This was 1966,
the year the Cultural Revolution started, and the year her world began to fall
apart. When she was chosen to audition for the Central Liberation Army Arts
Academy, she was very excited and could hardly wait to tell her family of this
great honor. Everyone looked up to the Liberation Army. Ji-Li could not
understand why her parents were not only unhappy to hear her news, but Father
told her not to audition. How could she face her principal and classmates? And
why did Father think the family would not pass the political test? <P> As the
Cultural Revolution spread, Ji-Li began to have her own misgivings. And as
things got worse, her family was humiliated by former friends and neighbors and
lived in constant fear of arrest. When her father was finally detained, Ju-Li
faced the most difficult dilemma of her life. This is the story of her family's
courage and determination as Ji-Li tells it. For ages 10 and up. 285 pages.
BTH-2654. $6.29-D
Mysteries
in History: World History by Wendy Conklin. Teacher Created Resources,
2005. This book challenges students in grades 5-8 to explore nine
important unexplained events that helped shape world history. The book provides
primary source materials, posters, and simulations. Students can work
independently or in groups and develop their critical thinking skills as they
assemble the clues to come to conclusions about these events. Since there are no
right or wrong answers, class discussion is sure to be lively. Here are the
mysteries in this book: The Knights Templars and Their Treasures; Did Marco Polo
Really Travel to China?; The Fingerprints of Shakespeare; Who Was the Man in the
Iron Mask?; Could Mozart Have Been Murdered?; Beethoven's Love Letters; The
Mystery of the Mary Celeste; The Sinking of the Lusitania; and The Missing Bones
of Peking Man. There is also a bibliography. 144 pages. Student pages are
reproducible. BTH-3150. $13.49-D
