After thought a bit , the first book that came up in my mind is "The Pal Street Boys" by Ferenc
Molnar, is a YA reading and it is the first book I read, really popular in Italy and French, and IÂm
not the only one who has started reading with this one.
ItÂs the story of a "war" between two bunches of boys, in Budapest. They fight over a free field,
wedged among buildings, where they can play soccer. One group, the red jackets is ruled , in a kind of
dictatorship way , by only one captain, at the moment I canÂt remember the name, all the others are
soldiers. They use to gather at the botanical garden, but over there they canÂt play soccer , thatÂs why
they declare war on the Pal Street boys, that use to gather at one disused sawmill yard. This group is
quite different, thereÂs Boka , the general and natural leader, then all the others are officers,
lieutenants, colonels and so on , with one exception Nemeseck, who is the object of everlasting
teasing from his companions. But of course in the course of the story he has ways to show all his
courage and loyalty to the group.
In my humble opinion one of the best book about friendship, loyalty and so on, and IÂm not speaking
only about YA literature.
I read it several times when I was an early teen, but only once I read the entire book, because the end
is very sad, so I used to read it until the chapter before the last, in order to avoid tears. A few years
ago I came across the book, so I re-read it until the end , and I confess I couldnÂt help crying.

grelobe

I think The Book Thief would fit your description. Although it's been promoted as a YA book, I didn't really see it that way. It's the story of a young girl in Nazi Europe. Her family harbors a young Jewish man. And she forms a special bond with him. Great story.

How about The Hiding Place by Carrie Ten Boom? It is the story of a Dutch family that hid Jewish friends and ended up in a concentration camp.

What came to mind instantly was Victor Frankl's inspiring book, "Man's Search For Meaning." It's the true story of his experiences in Nazi concentrations camps during WWII.

Looks like we are gravitating toward WWII for courage books.

Did any of you watch the PBS presentation of Ken Burns' The War? My husband and I watched all seven two-plus-hours' episodes of it, absolutely enthralled. Burns did such a good job. I was ten, and DH was eleven when WWII was over, so we can remember rationing and guys being gone. My paternal grandmother had four sons and a son-in-law in it, and none of them was injured. My mother's only brother was in it, too, and was not injured. They never talked about it, though.

I was able to watch 4 episodes of THE WAR, but not in succession.That documentary is an incredible accomplishment, IMO.
I was born well after WWII, and only know of it through books (first one was PT 109 by John F. Kennedy) and films. My sister's FIL of blessed memory was a WWII flying ace. Because it was too painful for him, he never spoke of his time in the service in all the years he lived after the war, and he lived until 1997. Thankfully, many who served with him spoke to his wife and children of his heroic actions, or all that history would have been lost. I am sure that is part of the reason why Ken Burns wanted to produce his documentary - so that some of the amazing personal stories of Americans serving in WWII would be saved for posterity.

In the same vein, Tom Brokaw's "The Greatest Generation" is well worth reading. I am old enough to remember learning to write (pre-school) by tracing over my mother's old ration books. I had family who served in WW II. One was on a ship that was torpedoed in the Caribbean and had to tread water for some time before rescue. He would never talk about it. Only once did the subject come up. When pressed for more information about his experience, he said, "Don't ever ask me about this again!" It was in many ways a horrific experience, yet for small town boys who had never been away from home, it was a chance to "see the world" for the first time, and to be exposed to other cultures.

This may sound strange, but when I think of courage, I often think of Bigwig in Watership Down, and I think the argument can soundly be made that there's something of the human spirit in that novel. One of my favorites, in fact.

A book I can't read very often but to me is the epitome of courageous lives is (The New)Foxe's Book of Martyrs.
Other more readable books would be Flags of Our Fathers, A Town Like Alice, Band of Brothers, The Diary of Anne Frank, and (ditto) The Hiding Place.

Another book that comes to mind when I think of courage is 'The Story of My Life' by Helen Keller. The movie 'The Miracle Worker' was based on it. I think both Ms Keller and her teacher, Anne Sullivan, exhibited tremendous courage as together they faced the challenge of deafblindness in Helen's life.

These are both WWII books, but virtually unknown: Three Came Back--a true story of an American woman and her British husband trapped in Maylasia (I think) with their 3 year old son when the Japanese invaded and put them in a concentration camp.
The other is The Walls Came Tumbling Down--also true, how a Dutch woman, a political prisioner made it home after the war--on foot, through war torn Europe.

Both are written by the women involved, and both showed enormous courage.

hello,
I may be way out leftfield here, But I found this Author name ( Sue Patton Thoele ) and ever since I found her Books She inspires me and gives me Courage everyday to embrace lifes to it's fullest ! I wish to encourage others
to seek out her book's.It has made a difference in my life ! My favorite is The Woman's book of Courage Meditations for Empowerment & Peace of mind
Thank you ! I just wanted to share today,
Olgaflowers