KEY POINTS:
How do we begin to explain war to our children?
Watching news footage can be traumatic and confusing; there is rarely an overview or an explanation, just ghastly images that do nothing to inform. It is encouraging, however, that every year, more and more families are taking their children to the Anzac Day dawn ceremonies and remembering our veteran soldiers. But how many of us really know the facts and can answer our children's questions?
Leon Davidson, a young New Zealander with an obvious passion for history has written two non-fiction books about war for young adults. Scarecrow Army (Black Dog Books, $19.95), which won the NZ Post Book Award for non-fiction last year, tells the story of the ill-fated Gallipoli debacle. Interspersed with diary entries and a fictional voice, it brings this hellish war vividly to life - the stench, the flies, the stinking corpses.
Davidson's second book, Red Haze (Black Dog Books, $19.99), a finalist in this year's NZ Post Book awards, to be announced on Wednesday, deals with the Australians' and New Zealanders' involvement with the Vietnam War. Davidson says that writing about this extremely unpopular and controversial war was very difficult, as it still evokes strong emotions, especially among some Australian veterans, but he has tried hard to present a balanced view. He became staunchly anti-war while researching and writing these histories and sees parallels between the Vietnam War and the current Iraq War.
Both Scarecrow Army and Red Haze, with their clarity of vision and user-friendly elements such as glossaries and maps, are a great resource for young adults (and their parents) wanting to extend their knowledge of these two conflicts.
Another New Zealand award-winning author, Ken Catran, has just completed the fourth and final book for young adults in his fictional series about the Moran family. In Teresa Moran, Soldier (Lothian Books, $19.99), Teresa is a fourth-generation soldier who, after a stint in Timor, is sent to Iraq, where she confronts the insanity and violence of the streets of Baghdad. When she is shown photographs of US military personnel torturing Iraqi prisoners, she knows she cannot remain silent. Branded as a whistle-blower and facing daily danger, Teresa has to summon every ounce of courage in order to survive her ultimate test. Gripping and uncompromising, Teresa Moran, Soldier is also a worthy contender for this year's NZ Post Book Award.
One of the most difficult episodes in recent history to make sense of must be the extermination of 10 million innocent people during World War II. The Story of the Holocaust by Clive Lawton (Franklin Watts, $22.99), systematically chronicles the rise of anti-Semitism and Nazism in Germany. The chapters on the ghettoes, on the concentration camps and on the so-called final solution are dealt with sensitively but candidly. Packed with excellent archival photos, the book documents a deeply shameful period that mature children should know about.
John Boyne's The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas (Random House, $21.99) could be read as a fictional companion to The Story of the Holocaust. Bruno's father tells his family that he has a new job and they all have to leave Berlin. Bruno, a 9-year-old boy, is appalled at their new house in the loneliest place in the world.
He has no friends, his father's job is a mystery, and he has no idea what is happening around him. He makes an unlikely friendship with a boy in striped pyjamas. This is an extraordinary book set in extraordinary times. A warning: even though the protagonist is 9, the book shouldn't be read by pre-teens. The ending is unexpected and unforgettable. John Boyne is visiting New Zealand in June for the Storylines festival.
- Extra
www.storylines.org.nz
www.nzpostbookawards.co.nz
