Women Heroes of World War II--The Pacific Theater: 15 Stories of Resistance, Rescue, Sabotage, and Survival Volume 18 (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9781613731680)

A Notable Social Studies Trade Book for Young People 2017

Glamorous American singer Claire Phillips opened a nightclub in manila, using the earnings to secretly feed starving American POWs. She also began working as a spy, chatting up Japanese military men and passing their secrets along to local guerrilla resistance fighters. Australian Army nurse Vivian Bullwinkel, stationed in Singapore, then shipwrecked in the the Dutch East Indies, became the sole survivor of a horrible massacre by Japanese soliders. She hid for days, tending to a seriously wounded British soldier while wounded herself. Humanitarian Elizabeth Choy lived the rest of her life hating war, though not her tormentors, after enduring six months of starvation and torture by the Japanese military police.

In these pages, readers will meet these and other courageous women and girls who risked their lives through their involvement in the Pacific Theater of Operations during World War II. Fifteen suspense-filled stories unfold across China, Japan, Malaya, Singapore, the Dutch East Indies, and the Philippines, providing an inspiring reminder of womens' and girls' refusal to sit on the sidelines around the world and throughout history.

These women--whose stories span 1932 to 1945, the last year of the war--served in dangerous roles as spies, medics, journalists, resisters, and saboteurs. Seven of them were captured and imprisoned by the Japanese, enduring brutal conditions. Author Kathryn J. Atwood provides appropriate context and framing for teens 14 and up to grapple with these harsh realities of war. Discussion questions and a guide for further study assist readers and educators in learning about this important and often neglected period of history.

Author: Kathryn J. Atwood
ISBN-10: 161373168X
ISBN-13: 9781613731680
Publisher: Chicago Review Press
Language: English
Published: 10/01/2016
Pages: 240
Format: Hardcover
Weight: 0.90lbs
Size: 8.60h x 5.60w x 0.80d

Accelerated Reader:
Reading Level: 8.7
Point Value: 11
Interest Level: Upper Grade
Quiz #/Name: 513529 / Women Heroes of World War II: 26 Stories of Espionage, Sabotage, Resistance, and Rescue


Review Citation(s):
Kirkus Reviews 01/01/0001
Kirkus Reviews 08/01/2016
Booklist 09/15/2016 pg. 46
School Library Journal 10/01/2016 pg. 135