Aleutian Sparrow

This slim volume, written in luminous free verse, tells the story of the Aleutian Evacuation during WW II. Hesse’s novel follows one young teen, Vera, and her friends and family as they struggle to make sense of what is happening, to survive the hardships and to adapt to a life none had ever imagine......more

Written in poetry, this book tells the forgotten story of the forced relocation of Native Alaskan tribes during WWII. Not many Americans realize that Japanese soldiers invaded American soil, off the coast of Alaska, during WWII. For the native inhabitants of those islands, the invasion began a long......more

I like this book well enough and think that it would be a good addition to a WWII unit or poetry unit. It would also be a good way to introduce poetry and perspective. Children are more willing to write poetry when they find out that it doesn't always have to rhyme or be a specific length However, i......more

I think this is a great book to use in conjunction with a social studies lesson about WWII. The story of the Aleutians is not one commonly addressed in education, so it is a good way to show the marginalized accounts of some groups. It also offers a great basis for comparison regarding the treatment......more

This book is a good resource to incorporate with in a unit on WWII because it presents a culture that isn't one that is usually discussed, or known about. I am not saying that time should be spent reading the entire book, but a few key poetic versus to show what the Aleutian people went through woul......more