📖 The Wall: Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain by Peter Sis. In this Caldecott Honor book, acclaimed children's book author Peter Sis tells his own story of living in Communist Czechoslovakia."Through annotated illustrations, journals, maps, and dreamscapes, Peter Sís shows what life was like for a child who loved to draw, proudly wore the red scarf of a Young Pioneer, stood guard at the giant statue of Stalin, and believed whatever he was told to believe. But adolescence brought questions. Cracks began to appear in the Iron Curtain, and news from the West slowly filtered into the country." – Elementary • Middle

🔗 Content Connection: US History – Cold War Era. Study the history of the US during the Cold War Era

🔗 Content Connection: Modern Asia. Learn about Communism in China and other Asian nations

📖 Stalin: Russia's Man of Steel by Albert Marrin. Turn to this 240-page book for an in-depth—and disturbing—account of the life and deeds of Joseph Stalin. "When Joseph Djugashvili was born the son of a poor shoemaker, few suspected he would rise to become one of the twentieth century's most ruthless and powerful dictators." – Middle • High

📖 Angel on the Square and The Impossible Journey by Gloria Whelan. From Gloria Whelan, here are two great novels to accompany a study of Communist Russia. In Angel on the Square, readers experience the Russian Revolution through the eyes of young Katya, who lives in the tsar's palace. The Impossible Journey, set nearly 20 years later, follows Katya's children as they embark on a quest across the Siberian countryside to find their mother. – Middle

📖 Breaking Stalin's Nose and Arcady’s Goal by Eugene Yelchin. Yelchin’s pair of middle grade novels make great literature links for this era. In Breaking Stalin’s Nose, a Newbery book, Sasha is a loyal Soviet eager to join the Young Pioneers, until everything in his life begins to go wrong. Arcady’s Goal tells the story of a 12-year-old Soviet orphan boy whose hopes for escape lie on the soccer field. – Middle

📖 The Endless Steppe by Esther Hautzig. Here’s another classic novel set in Soviet Russia: “In June, 1941, the Rudomin family of Vilna, Poland is arrested by the Russians and accused of being capitalists and “enemies of the people.” Forced from their home and herded into crowded cattle cars, the family is exiled to the endless steppe of Siberia, where for five years, they struggle to stay alive. But in the middle of hardship and oppression, the strength of their small family sustains them and gives them hope for the future.”  – All

📖 Cloud and Wallfish by Anne Nesbet. This interesting piece of historical fiction gives a glimpse into life behind the Iron Curtain shortly before the fall of Berlin Wall: “One ordinary day, Noah’s parents tell him his name isn’t really Noah, his birthday isn’t really in March, and his new home is going to be East Berlin—on the other side of the Iron Curtain.” – Middle