Military Reads

The Boy Who Dared is a young adult novel, written by award-winning children’s author Susan Campbell Bartoletti and published in 2008. The Boy Who Dared is a historical fiction novel based on the real life of Helmuth Hübener, a German boy who defied the Nazis during WWII. Alternating between his last day on death row and his memories, Helmuth’s story depicts the danger of silence, the value of the individual, and the power of the... Read The Boy Who Dared Summary

The Breadwinner, also known as Parvana, is a 2000 children’s novel by Canadian author and activist Deborah Ellis. It centers on an 11-year-old girl named Parvana who, due to her family’s circumstances, is forced to defy the Taliban and their repressive laws to become the breadwinner for her family. Exploring themes of human connection, maturation and bravery, and the repression of women, The Breadwinner was critically acclaimed upon its release and has had over 40... Read The Breadwinner Summary

The Bridge on the Drina is a 1945 historical fiction novel by Ivo Andrić, translated from Serbo-Croat by Lovett F. Edwards. It tells the story of a bridge built in Višegrad that linked disparate communities from the east and west.  Plot Summary The novel opens with a description of the scenery surrounding Višegrad, a fertile valley with high forested mountains on either side. The bridge spans the Drina, the largest river, and a second smaller bridge... Read The Bridge on the Drina Summary

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The Cage is the 1986 memoir of Ruth Minsky Sender, nee Riva Minska, detailing her family’s struggle to survive the Holocaust. Born in Lodz, Poland, Riva inhabits a close-knit community that integrates both Jews and non-Jews through shared traditions and intergenerational spaces. When Hitler’s Nazis invade Poland, thirteen-year-old Riva watches this peace crumble, as non-Jewish friends accept her family’s persecution and as Jews themselves adopt positions of power that hurt others in the community.After Riva’s... Read The Cage Summary

The Cellist of Sarajevo focuses on the struggles of four people during the long and brutal Siege of Sarajevo. For the citizens of Sarajevo at this time, life is torturous. There are snipers in the hills encircling the city with their guns trained on the people below. These snipers, who the characters refer to as “the men in the hills,” are picking off the townspeople one by one whenever they venture outside for food or... Read The Cellist of Sarajevo Summary

... Read The Charge of the Light Brigade Summary

Marie-Henri Beyle, writing under his penname Stendhal, published his last complete work, the novel The Charterhouse of Parma, in French in 1839. It tells the story of an Italian nobleman who fights in the Napoleonic Wars (1803-1815) and then navigates the fraught political dynamics of the era known as the Italian Restoration (1814-1848). This was a time when the memory of revolution was repressed and power seemed to many to operate on caprice and intrigue... Read The Charterhouse of Parma Summary

... Read The Choice: Embrace the Possible Summary

... Read The Clay Marble Summary

... Read The Code Book Summary

... Read The Coming of the Third Reich Summary

Gary Paulsen’s The Crossing is a young adult novel published in 1987. This realistic work of fiction highlights the hope and opportunity Manny, a Mexican teenager, envisions waiting for him in America, and the desperation that propels him to attempt the border crossing from Mexico into the United States.Paulsen (1939-2021) was a celebrated author of middle grade and young adult fiction, best known for writing the award-winning Hatchet series. His work often depicts wilderness settings... Read The Crossing Summary

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... Read The Daughters of Yalta Summary

... Read The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire Summary

Richard Preston’s The Demon in the Freezer is a nonfiction account of the recent history of bioweapons and epidemic diseases; his focus for much of the book is smallpox, the “demon” of the title. The book begins with a discussion of the lethal bioweapons attack that took place early in October of 2001. In this instance, letters containing anthrax were mailed to publications and Senate offices in the United States. However, researchers at the United... Read The Demon in the Freezer Summary

... Read The Demon of Unrest Summary

... Read The Diameter of the Bomb Summary

... Read The Diamond Eye Summary