Classroom Book Sets | Kean University

Classroom book sets are available for a four-week loan period free of charge to the Council on Global Education and Citizenship members. Each set contains 30 copies of the book, lesson plans, and additional resources and reading where available. Pick-up and delivery or courier costs are the responsibility of the teacher and must be scheduled during the Holocaust Resource Center's operating hours.

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The Children of Willesden Lane. Beyond the Kindertransport: A Memoir of Music, Love, and Survival

Written by Mona Golabek and Lee Cohen

Jewish musical prodigy Lisa Jura has a wonderful life in Vienna. But when the Nazis start closing in on the city, life changes irreversibly. Although he has three daughters, Lisa's father is able to secure only one berth on the Kindertransport. The family decides to send Lisa to London so that she may pursue her dreams of a career as a concert pianist. Separated from her beloved family, Lisa bravely endures the trip and a disastrous posting outside London before finding her way to the Willesden Lane Orphanage.

Recommended for grades 4+

In Hiding

Written and Illustrated by Marguerite Quddus

"I'm ready, but I'm overcome with sadness. Mama hugs us and kisses us: 'Goodbye, children! Go, and don't look back . . . " With these last words from their mother, two little girls, Marguerite and her older sister, Henriette, start on a long and wandering journey that will last three years. Given new identities, they must forget everything about their former, familiar lives. Taken from farms to convents, they learn how to remain silent, to pretend, to lie in order to survive, to adapt repeatedly to new environments. Through it all, they manage to keep their hopes alive. This story, beautifully illustrated by Marguerite Élias Quddus, tugs at our hearts and allows us a remarkable insight into history through the eyes of a very young child.

Recommended for grades 6+

The Poet X

Written by Elizabeth Acevedo

A young girl in Harlem discovers slam poetry as a way to understand her mother's religion and her own relationship to the world. Debut novel of renowned slam poet Elizabeth Acedevo. Xiomara Baptista feels unheard and unable to hide in her Harlem neighborhood. Because in the face of a world that may not want to hear her, Xiomara refuses to be silent.

Recommended for grades 9+

Buried Words: The Diary of Molly Applebaum

Written by Molly Applebaum

A unique and poignant document, Molly’s diary is a stark confession of her fears and anxieties, her despair and her secrets and, above all, her fervent wish to stay alive. Buried Words presents Molly’s extraordinary diary, never before published in English, and also the memoir she wrote in the 1990s. Molly Applebaum’s courageous words, written fifty years apart, offer a fascinating reflection on both her wartime experiences and her post-war life. Contains Sexual Content

Recommended for grades 11+