Two new books help students dive into World War II A lesson in history

It's fall and when kids go back to school, one of the subjects they will learn is history. For kids who are history buffs and like to go above and beyond what's taught in school, two recent graphic novels can teach and provide supplemental readings to studies this school year on World War II topics.

' 'Gaijan: American Prisoner of War” by Matt Faulkner (2014, Disney-Hyperion, ages 12 and up, $19.99) takes young readers to the shock of the Pearl Harbor attacks in December of 1941, paralleling the nation's loss of innocence alongside main character Koji Miyamoto's own loss of innocence just as he and his mother celebrate his 13th birthday. Born to a Japanese father and an American mother, Koji soon witnesses the instantaneous shift of anti-Japanese sentiment in their San Francisco city and even in his own home when government men come and take away their radio and other possessions, accusing his father, who is away visiting family in his homeland, of being a spy. Koji receives a letter soon after stating that he will be sent to a 'relocation camp” as an 'enemy alien” at the Almeda Downs Assembly Center, where 8,000 Japanese Americans would be interned during this tumultuous time in our nation's history.

Called 'Jap” by American boys and 'Gaijan,” or 'outsider,” by the Japanese American boys, Koji is a character caught in multiple paradoxes: He belongs to both groups, yet is bullied and ostracized by both groups. He pushes his mother away, yet needs her more than ever. Although bullied by the Japanese American boys in the camp, he becomes one himself before learning to harness his anger and loss.

'Gaijin: American Prisoner of War” is an introduction for young people to a lesser known historical event in American World War II history. Author and Illustrator, Matt Faulkner, dedicates the book to his great-aunt Adeline and his cousin Mary, relatives who inspired this story by living it themselves, and Faulkner's tremendous artwork elevates this tribute justly.

' 'Hidden: A Child's Story of the Holocaust” (2014, First Second, ages 12 and up, $16.99), written by Loic Dauvallier, illustrated by Marc Lizano, and coloration by Greg Salsano, is a gentle telling of an unconscionable story, aimed to shine a constant and necessary light on the horrors of war.

Elsa cannot sleep one night and after seeking out her grandmother for a nighttime story, finds her crying. When asked why, her grandmother Dounia decides to tell the story she hasn't yet shared with her own adult son, thus bringing a sad part of her personal history out of hiding.

As a Jewish child living in Nazi-occupied Paris in 1942, Dounia witnessed things changing in her world, although she didn't understand them. Told through her childhood eyes and through Lizano's childlike art, we see Dounia's cruel ostracization by adults and friends at her school, having to wear a yellow star upon her clothes, and, eventually, losing her parents, who are taken to a concentration camp after hiding her in their apartment. Dounia is further hidden by kind neighbors who take her to safety in the country, until she is once again reunited with her mother at the end of the war. Although this fortunate event is steeped in relief and gratitude, it, of course, cannot erase Dounia's the lifetime of sadness she must carry.

The telling and passing of her story from grandparent to grandchild adds to the emotional depth of an already emotional story, and remains one that should never stay hidden.

' Wendy Henrichs is a children's author living in Iowa City.