Women Heroes of World War II

On D-Day, a Facebook page I follow called A Mighty Girl posted about a woman's heroic story during WWII and then recommended some books related to wartime, including Women Heroes of World War II: 26 Stories of Espionage, Sabotage, Resistance, and Rescue by Kathryn J. Atwood. The book follows courageous, determined women from Germany, Poland, the Netherlands, France, Belgium, Denmark, Great Britain, and the United States and the impacts they made during WWII.

I loved this book and was immediately enthralled from the first story. It was amazing to hear the diverse, incredible stories of all these brave women and how much they risked and sacrificed. The book also provided a great overview of WWII country by country (how the book was organized), and I learned a lot. I didn't know how much resistance organizations worked to rescue Allied pilots whose planes were shot down. I was also inspired by the Jewish organization Yad Vashem and its Righteous Among the Nations award, given to non-Jews who risked their lives to help Jews during the war. I was also fascinated to learn that Dutch university students were required by the Nazis to sign a loyalty declaration to Germany in order to stay in school, and 80 percent refused to sign--many leaving to work for the Resistance instead. This book was a wonderful read, and I'm just so grateful I read it. I was left inspired and changed and motivated to stand up for what is good and right. And as a side note, even though I read lots of children's books, this book is better for older or less-sensitive teenagers and adults.

Rating: * * * (3/3 = Loved it)