Literary Analysis Historical Fiction Books

Bibliographic Information: Lowry, L. (1989). Number the stars. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
Plot: The story is about Annemarie Johansen who tries to go through school as a normal girl
with a great best friend and an annoying little sister, but the Nazi soldiers took over their country
and everything is different. Soon the Nazi are stealing away Jews in the night and Annemaries
best friend Ellen is a Jew. Her parents leave and Ellen stays with Annemaries family acting like
her sister who passed away in an accident. Annemarie, Ellen and her mother and sister go to
her Uncles house who is a fisherman by the sea the night after a confrontation with Nazi soldiers
in their home. There is a funeral for an Aunt, who doesnt exist and people gather to get ready
to send off their Jewish friends on her Uncles boat in the night. This is set up by the resistance
who Lise and Peter were/are involved with. They almost get caught until Annemarie runs to her
uncle in the morning with his lunch and acts like a silly little girl in front of the soldiers. She
gives her uncle the lunch and the big thing was he got the handkerchief that will mess with the
Nazi soldiers dogs noses and they cannot find the Jews hiding in the boats. The story ends with
the war ending and everyone celebrating.
Setting: It is 1943 in Copenhagen, Denmark. The Nazi soldiers have taken over the country.
They live in an apartment building in town. Then the characters travel to Uncle Henriks old and
beautiful farm home on the sea that Annemaries mother grew up in also.
Theme: Be brave and stand up for what is truly right. Your one step towards justice can make the
world a better place, even if only one step at a time.

Characterization: Annemarie Johansen: Main Character of the story and you follow her
thoughts.
Ellen Rosen: Annemaries neighbor and best friend who is Jewish.
Kirsti: Annemaries younger sister who is very oblivious to the situation going on around her.
Annemaries Mother and Father: They stand up for their friends and help them get to safety even
though they risked the lives of their whole family. Very brave.
Lise and Peter: Lise is Annemaries older sister who passed away fighting in the resistance. Peter
was married to Lise and was also in the resistance. He ends up getting killed also by the time the
war ends.
Uncle Henrik: A fisherman who lives by the sea. He hid Jews in his boat and got them to safety
in Sweden.
Style: Told in a young learners language. There are some vocabulary words from the time used
and also words used in German that young students may not know. They should be able to infer
the meaning by themselves, if not then with guidance.
Point of View: Told through the eyes of young Annemarie.
Reflections: Very wonderful story that really pulls you in from the first chapter. You want to
know what happens to all the characters. This is a great example to show the bravery of the
people who fought secretly against the Nazis during the war.

Literary Analysis

Bibliographic Information: Kadohata, C. (2004). Kira-Kira. New York: Atheneum.

Plot: The story begins with Katie learning her first words from her older sister, Lynn. It is easy
to tell how much Katie looks up to Lynn and how much Lynn adores Katie. The story moves on
and their parents Japanese grocery store fails and they have to move to Georgia were their
parents can find work. Katie has a hard time in her new school being the only JapaneseAmerican in the classroom. Lynn on the other hand becomes friends with Amber who Katie
instantly does not like. Lynn starts ignoring Katie and hangs out with Amber instead. But soon
Katie starts feeling ill and it gets worse fast and Amber dumps She get diagnosed with
lymphoma and Katie finds out that this could kill her lovely older sister. Lynn becomes
bedridden, blank and irritable. When Katie is not at school she is at home taking care of her sister
and younger brother Sammy, while her parents overwork to support their new house and Katies
medical bills. Towards the end Lynn ends up passing away on New Years morning and the house
goes into mourning. Her parents could only take off two days of work and then they had to get
back to paying off the mortgage and medical bills. Katie ended up doing the house work,
cooking, and tried to get good grades like her sister while her family went through mourning.
Her father ended up wreaking his bosss car and he gets fired. The family decides to go on a
vacation to California (where Lynn would have wanted them to go) and the family tries to make
anew.
Setting: It is in the 1960s and the beginning of the story starts off in Iowa, but then the family
moves to Georgia which is where the majority of the story takes place.

Theme: Taking life as it is and dealing with the problems that come your way, but making the
best of it. Keep looking at life as though everything is shining and beautiful. Dont wish for the
impossible, but dream and work towards the possible.
Characterization: Katie: Katie is the main character that goes through some major changes
throughout the story. She goes from a young dependent little sister to a young teenager capable
of helping to take care of her family and has gone through major hardships.
Lynn: Katies older sister who is Katies idol when she was young. She took care of her when she
was young, but then starts ditching her sister to hang out with Amber. She gets very sick and dies
at the end of the story.
Mom and Dad: Hard working parents who are constantly working to try to afford a house for
their family.
Sammy: Baby brother of Katie and Lynn.
Amber: Lynns best friend, but later ditches her because she is sick. She is considered a
phony.
Style: The tone of the book changes throughout the story depending on the mind set of Katie.
You can strongly feel her emotions throughout the story.
Point of View: Through the eyes and mind of Katie.
Reflections: A very good story with strong family ties. Would recommend to student, especially
those going through many types of hardships. This book might be relatable to them.