Prisoner B-3087 ~ Alan Gratz

As a reader who is endlessly fascinated with WWII, this was an incredible read, and a must-have on your middle school shelves. 

Beginning in 1939, this novel tells the story of Yanek (based on the real experiences of Jack Gruener), a young Jewish boy living in Kraków, Poland. As Hitler’s Nazi regime became more and more powerful, Yanek watched, helplessly, as every familiar element of his childhood was stripped away. After years of losing all the rights he had known and even living in hiding, Yanek was sent to one of Hitler’s many concentration camps, enduring unthinkable cruelty and conditions.

As WWII raged on, Yanek experienced horrendous working conditions, torture, starvation, and unimaginable fear in ten different camps, narrowly surviving each one. I highly recommend this novel and think it is the perfect recommendation for your reluctant readers--or any reader interested in history. 

BUY THE TITLE HERE!

Grab a Book Talk Guide for this historical fiction novel, and other classroom favorites, HERE. 

MATURITY: 3/4

I would recommend this novel to students 12+. It is not a challenging read, but it is very heavy. Because it describes the real experiences of Jack Gruener’s life in the concentration camps, there are several unsettling scenes.

PAGES: 256

LEXILE: 760L

Lexile is a score that helps educators and parents match students with an appropriate text. A Lexile score is a measure of both a child’s reading ability and a text difficulty. However, Lexile does not take into account the content of a novel. So, pairing readers with a text is a complex process, and knowledge of a novel’s themes and plot is necessary to make a high-quality recommendation.

If you are curious about the grade-level equivalent to Lexile scores, check out the conversion chart here!