Nazi Hunters is Ultra Cool

Well, I feel like this round was a real milestone for me. Not because of anything relating to the books, but because this is my first successful blog post using my own login! That being said, I really feel like going for gold here, so I am also going to attempt a picture or two in order to keep up with you techno-savvy kids who are posting videos and the like.

Ultra was...alright. It turned out to be better than I expected, but that doesn't say all that much, as I was expecting it to be terrible. I think that Brad echoed - I'm pretty sure it was Brad but don't want to mess things up by going back to check - my sentiments exactly when he said that it was like a Scholastic book that a distant relative would've purchased for me circa 1990. I was really excited when I read page one and thought that it was non-fiction, but was then disappointed when Travis crushed my dreams and told me otherwise. Don't get me wrong, there are some positives for this book: it would be easy to teach (although it would never be my choice) and it is a straightforward read and therefore easily accessible to many grades. For me, I just found it too predictable and the characters, underdeveloped.

Now Nazi Hunters. Tracy and I had this book in the first round, and I loved it. I couldn't put it down; not just because I was stuck in the Canmore hospital with a sick student and had nothing else to do, but because I found the investigative/spy/capture aspect of it engrossing. I have read and watched my fair share of Holocaust texts but this novel is the first one that brought something new to the table. I knew nothing of Adolf Eichman prior to reading this book, and unlike those Social Studies/Phys Ed teachers who make up the upper echelon of the education system, I am not overly well versed in geography and the events that lead up to formation of Israel; so this book actually taught me many things, and not all of them directly about the Holocaust. After I read it, I spoke to my grade sevens, eights, and nines about it, and many of them have bought their own copies and absolutely love it - most of them commenting on the 'spy' aspect of it and the geography-type-stuff that they learned.

Needless to say, the Vimy vote goes to Nazi Hunters.

 **interesting tidbit about this picture: apparently Nazi hunters around the world called for a ban against Hitler wine (didn't know that was a thing).