True stories in focus

"Warsaw, Poland, 1940s: The Nazis are on the march, determined to wipe out the Jewish people of Europe. Teenage Vladka and her family are among the thousands of Jews forced to relocate behind the walls of the Warsaw Ghetto, a cramped, oppressive space full of starvation, suffering, and death. When Vladka's family is deported to concentration camps, Vladka joins up with other young people in the ghetto who are part of the Jewish underground: a group determined to fight back against the Nazis, no matter the cost. Vladka's role in the underground? To pass as a non-Jew, sneaking out of the ghetto to blend into Polish society while smuggling secret messages and weapons back over the ghetto wall. Every move she makes comes with the risk of being arrested or killed. But Vladka and her friends know that their missions are worth the danger--they are preparing for an uprising like no other, one that will challenge the Nazi war machine. This . . . true story of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, told through the lens of Holocaust survivor and educator Vladka Meed, introduces readers to a crucial piece of history while highlighting the persistence of bravery in the face of hate"--Provided by publisher.

"An . . . account of the most daring American POW rescue mission of World War II. Following the bombing of Pearl Harbor, America entered World War II, and a new theater of battle opened up in the Pacific. But US troops, along with thousands of Filipino soldiers who fought alongside them, were overtaken in the Philippines by a fiercely determined Japanese navy, and many Americans and Filipino fighters were killed or captured. These American and Filipino prisoners of war were forced to endure the most horrific conditions on the deadly trek known as the Bataan Death March. Then, the American servicemen who were held captive by the Japanese military in Cabanatuan Camp and others in the Philippines, faced beatings, starvation, and tropical diseases, and lived constantly under the threat of death. Unable to forget their comrades' fate and concerned that these POWs would be brutally murdered as the tides of war shifted in the Pacific, the US Army Rangers undertook one of the most daring and dangerous rescue missions of all time"--Provided by publisher.

"In 1947, during the early years of the Cold War, a field in Roswell, New Mexico was disturbed by a strange crash and smattering of debris. Some say the bodies of extraterrestrial beings were strewn across the ground, that a UFO had crashed there, and that the government was covering up the evidence in a massive conspiracy. But what really happened at Roswell? The infamous 'crash from outer space' has become a fixture in our culture, inspiring a surge of UFO sightings and conspiracy theories. But at its heart is the story of military scientists, a city on the brink of the Cold War, and a debris field scattered with mystery. What was it that actually crashed at Roswell? Were alien bodies found? Was it Russian spies? Secret military technology? And did the government try to hide what they found? An electrifying exploration of one of the most thrilling mysteries in recent history, by Sibert Award winning author Candace Fleming"--Provided by the publisher.

Chronicles the life of James Buchanan "JB" Williams, an African American physician who served a medic in the U.S. military and joined the elite Tuskegee Airmen during World War II. Examines his legacy as a doctor and a civil rights activist after the war. Includes black-and-white photographs and additional resources.