Elly: My True Story of the Holocaust

Written as child's nonfiction, Elly tells her story in short segments. It reads like a book of memories, in short bursts. She tells her true story in an honest and open manner, exactly as it happened to her, but with language suitable for elementary students. I would suggest this book as a good introduction to WWII and the Holocaust. This book is written at a fifth grade reading level, and I wouldn't suggest children below fourth grade reading the story because of it's nature.

When author Elly as fifteen she and her family were taken to the Auschwitz-II concentration camp, where she was separated from them and never saw them alive again. She managed to survive Auschwitz and now lives in America; her life story offers teens a vivid lesson in survival in Elly: My True Story of the Holocaust.

I found this book to be informative and inspiring. For its intended audience (preteen readers), this Holocaust memoir finds the right balance, avoiding what is too graphic while honestly telling the author's true experiences. It is a moving account of a girl's courage and survival in history's darkest time.