There are some obvious Holocaust books, like Art Spiegelman's
Maus, Elie Wiesel's novels and Lois Lowry's
Number the Stars. Would John Hersey's
The Wall
be too difficult?
Would a movie or play work?
A Man for All Seasons
comes to mind for monarchy. There's also the television film/play,
Playing for Time,
by Arthur Miller, based on a memoir of the Auschwitz orchestra. (That was controversial at the time for starring PLO sympathizer Vanessa Redgrave, but that could be part of the discussion.)
What about something about the McCarthy black list? There's Woody Allen's movie
The Front. Lillian Helman's
Scoundrel Time
might be too difficult. It is theoretically a memoir, although there's a lot of fiction in it.
The Crucible
was, of course, Arthur Miller's response to McCarthyism.
Is this the new school, Gris?
Would
Summer of My German Soldier
count?
These students have already explored both
Maus
and
Number the Stars
in previous classes. I'll look at the Elie Wiesel stuff, and
Summer of My German Soldier
as well.
A play could definitely work. Does
A Man for All Seasons
have a major arts-related component?
I looked into "Goodbye to Berlin" already (great minds think alike!) but it looks like in the original, the Sally Bowles cabaret-based story is pretty disconnected from any study of the incoming Nazis. Plus, the language looks pretty difficult.
This is not the new school, it's my old one.
What about "The Hiding Place"?
The Devil's Arithmetic
is also a good one. And somewhat crosses cirriculum, so there's that added bonus.
Maybe something based around Brundibar? The history of the opera itself, and/or the kids book that came out a few years ago.
What about
The Slave Dancer
?
Also,
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry.
Also the obvious Diary of Anne Frank, and there's also a book of short stories that she wrote called something like "Tales from the Secret Annex."
For a Revolutionary War perspective, there's also
My Brother Sam Is Dead.
