Learning Commons Resources

Sora eBooks and Audiobooks

Due to the sensitive nature of Holocaust topics, we recommend parents guide their students in conversations using these suggested resources.

Middle School (Grades 6-9)

Broken Strings - A violin and a middle-school musical unleash a dark family secret in this moving story by an award-winning author duo. It's 2002. In the aftermath of the Twin Towers — and the death of her beloved grandmother — Shirli Berman is intent on moving forward. The best singer in her junior high, she auditions for the lead role in Fiddler on the Roof but is crushed to learn that she's been given the part of the old Jewish mother in the musical rather than the coveted part of the sister. But there is an upside: her "husband" is none other than Ben Morgan, the cutest and most popular boy in the school…

Six Million Paper Clips - The true story of students who helped quantify the horrors of the Holocaust. At a middle school in a small, all-white, all-Protestant town in Tennessee, a special after-school class was started to teach the kids about the Holocaust and the importance of tolerance. The students had a hard time imagining what six million was (the number of Jews the Nazis killed), so they decided to collect six million paperclips, a symbol used by the Norwegians to show solidarity with their Jewish neighbours during World War II.

Number The Stars - As the German troops begin their campaign to "relocate" all the Jews of Denmark, Annemarie Johansen's family takes in Annemarie's best friend, Ellen Rosen, and conceals her as part of the family. Through the eyes of ten-year-old Annemarie, we watch as the Danish Resistance smuggles almost the entire Jewish population of Denmark, nearly seven thousand people, across the sea to Sweden.

Anne Frank: A Light in the Dark - Anne Frank's diary has become one of the most widely read books in the world. Readers will learn about Anne as she went into hiding from the Nazi Party in this nonfiction title. Through vibrant images, informational text, timelines, and a glossary of terms, readers will discover the hardships Anne and her family went through in order to avoid being sent to a concentration camp. This inspiring biography enables children to look up to Anne and find hope in every situation, just as she did.

Pieces of the Past - A young Jewish girl recounts her experiences during a horrifying time in recent history. As Rose begins her diary, she is in her third home since coming to Winnipeg. Traumatized by her experiences in the Holocaust, she struggles to connect with others and, above all, to trust again.

The Last Train - A Holocaust Story - The harrowing true story about young brothers Paul and Oscar Arato and their mother, Lenke, surviving the Nazi occupation during the final years of World War II.

The Librarian of Auschwitz - Based on the experience of real-life Auschwitz prisoner Dita Kraus, The Librarian of Auschwitz is the incredible story of a girl who risked her life to keep the magic of books alive during the Holocaust. Out of one of the darkest chapters of human history comes this extraordinary story of courage and hope.

High School (Grades 10-12)

The Hiding Place - The amazing story of Corrie ten Boom, a heroine of the Dutch Resistance who helped Jews escape from the Nazis and became one of the most remarkable evangelists of the 20th century, is told in her classic memoir, now retold for a new generation.

The Diary of a Young Girl - Discovered in the attic in which she spent the last years of her life, the remarkable diary that has become a world classic—a powerful reminder of the horrors of war and an eloquent testament to the human spirit.

Anne Frank's Tales from the Secret Annex - Hiding from the Nazis in the "Secret Annexe" of an old office building in Amsterdam, a thirteen-year-old girl named Anne Frank became a writer. The now famous diary of her private life and thoughts reveals only part of Anne's story, however. This book completes the portrait of this remarkable and talented young author.

The Last Train - A Holocaust Story - The harrowing true story about young brothers Paul and Oscar Arato and their mother, Lenke, surviving the Nazi occupation during the final years of World War II.

The Book Thief - When Death has a story to tell, you listen. It is 1939. Nazi Germany. The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier and will become busier still. Liesel Meminger is a foster girl living outside of Munich who scratches out a meagre existence for herself by stealing when she encounters something she can’t resist–books.

The Boy In The Striped Pajamas - Two young boys encounter the best and worst of humanity during the Holocaust. Berlin, 1942: When Bruno returns home from school one day, he discovers that his belongings are being packed in crates. His father has received a promotion and the family must move to a new house far, far away, where there is no one to play with and nothing to do. A tall fence stretches as far as the eye can see and cuts him off from the strange people in the distance.