A TIME TO FIGHT BACK

Eight true stories of children during WW II, covering a wide range of experiences, from aiding the French resistance to Japanese internment in Manzanar to life in the concentration camps. All but two of the stories deal with survival rather than resistance, making the title a misnomer, but these are riveting tales, accompanied by an extensive bibliography that will pull many readers on to the full stories of these and other children. The order of selections can be jarring, e.g., placing Jean Wakatsuki's story about Manzanar immediately after Elie Wiesel's piece invites unfair comparisons and has the effect of minimizing the Japanese experience (the piece focuses on living conditions, concerns that sound—unfairly—frivolous in light of the horrors of Buchenwald). Nevertheless, this is a fine introduction to the effects of war on ordinary people, often overlooked in books that focus on battles and strategies. (Nonfiction. 10-14)