The best books to travel back in time to see historical events unfolding

I am excited to recommend this book that begins in Syria where you will meet a young girl, Jude. As the situation in her country becomes dangerous, she has to leave her home and move to Cincinnati, USA with her mother, leaving behind her father and brother.  I know firsthand what it is like to move to a completely different country and leave behind your friends and family. I think that is what drew me to this book. I understood what Jude was feeling. I especially loved that this story is told in verse. It was like Jude was speaking right to me. 

Go back in time to 1947. India, newly independent from British rule, has been separated into two countries-Pakistan and India. I admit that I didn’t know a lot about the partition other than the divide it caused between Hindus and Muslims and the hundreds of thousands of people that were killed, but there was so much more I learned about the struggles people faced during the partition. I have a signed copy of the book in my classroom library and a few of my students had read the book and told me I should add it to my “reading pile”. They said I would love it and they were right. The main character, Nisha tugged at my heart and I cheered her bravery.

I greatly admire Mohandas Gandhi and Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., so I was intrigued when I heard about this book that looked at the common threads between two amazing historical figures who shared a goal of social reform. Being South Asian, I am very familiar with Mohandas Gandhi, and after moving to the United States, I learned a lot about the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., and this book revealed what led these two men down the path of peace. Even today, it saddens me that both Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. met their end to life by assassinations. I have only recently added this book to my classroom library, but anticipate it will be a popular choice among my students.

Growing up, I loved comic books and I am amazed at how the world of graphic novels has exploded in recent years. At the start of every school year, I always add at least one graphic novel to my classroom library and this year I added When Stars are Scattered and it has become a popular pick among my students. In traveling with Omar and his younger brother, Hassan, I learned what it was like to live in Dadaab, a refugee camp in Kenya. This is a true story and based on Omar’s real-life experiences. 

Growing up, I heard stories about the Vietnam war. Many refugees immigrated to the USA and Canada. I remember a brother and sister enrolling at my school in Alberta. They were from Saigon and had fled Vietnam. They only stayed at my school for a month, but we shared a lunch table during those four weeks and exchanged smiles and a few words as we tried to bridge the language gap. This story is about Hà and her family. Similar to my book, this story is inspired by the author’s childhood experiences, which is what first drew me to the book. It is a favorite among my students.