My students over the last few years have been very into graphic novels. I try to have all genres of literature available within my classroom. I also personally enjoy historical fiction so try to get in kid’s hands as much as possible. This book was wonderful and I absolutely can not wait to share it with my students!

As an educator, I find this kind of books to be most helpful. I plan to recomend it to my students, because it's easy to follow, engaging amd very interesting. I algo think the topic is something they can relate to.

This comic book describes life on the home front of America during World War II. The colorful drawings are simple yet effective, providing an interesting and informative look at the lives of Americans at home during the war. I especially like the emphasis on what kids and families were doing to support the war effort. This is a much better way to learn history than reading it in textbooks. The book was a welcome addition to my reading list, since I have had trouble finding books about the home front during World War II and it is a special interest of mine. Highly recommended for kids and adults too.

I received this book from the publisher and from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The opinions expressed here are entirely my own.

It is sometimes so difficult to encourage reading these days, especially with historical events. This graphic novel helps bridge that gap! Historical fiction in an east to follow format. It is a win!

The perfect way for children to learn about history. WWII has always fascinated me and I loved learning about that time through graphic novel format. I think teaming learning with the artwork would help children retain the information better. Highly recommend for classrooms and libraries!!!

Well done, very informative. Easy and fun way to digest the information. I think my kids would enjoy this when learning about WWII

This was my first graphic novel, and I think I'm hooked now! As an adult I was easily able to read this in one sitting and really enjoyed the combination of illustrations and facts about World War II. The illustrations made it very engaging, and I learned a lot about the war effort from the United States perspective.

Here are some fun facts that I learned:
- Women have WWII to thank for normalizing trousers for women
- The navy commissed an ice cream barge to deliver ice cream to ships at sea
- Tires, gas, and sugar were rationed during the war
- FDR died during WWII
- Each person listened to an average for 4 hours of radio programming per day during the war
- Victory letters were printed on microfilm to deliver letters to families more quickly

Overall this was a great book. I'll definetly be recommending it to kids in my circle.

History Comics: World War II: Fight on the Home Front is a superb, engaging way to teach history. A series of children share facts about World War II and how it impacted lives on the home front. From women entering the workforce in droves to support the war effort, children learning housekeeping skills to assist mothers in balancing work and family life, teachers leaving classrooms to find higher paying jobs, the planting of Victory Gardens, and the rationing of every day supplies, readers learn what dramatic changes took place in the lives of Americans at home and how those changes ushered in new ways of thinking about who we are as a society and the movements and laws that came about as a result. Tough topics, like the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and discrimination against Japanese Americans, African Americans, Latinos, Mexican Americans, and Native Americans were explored by the author. At the end of the book, Hannigan includes additional resources for readers to learn more.

As a lover of history, I enjoyed History Comics: World War II: Fight on the Home Front. On the back cover in bold, red, uppercase letters, the author says, “WE’RE IN THIS TOGETHER!” Readers will definitely see how men, women, and children across America pulled together to support the troops and defeat the Nazis. This book is a true celebration of how people of many different walks of life, a variety of cultures and beliefs, came together to make a difference.

I love History Comics. I learn something interesting in each new one I read - I'm up to 4 now. World War II: The Homefront is no different. The book covers so many elements of life during that time. the abrupt and complete disruptions or practices and norms. I was particularly surprised at some modern day stuff that has it roots in this period of American history, but I don't want to drop any spoilers because you deserve those same pleasant surprises that I got.. Totally recommend!

I expected that I would enjoy this comic book. After all, my parents lived through World War II. My mother had to pass Nazi soldiers on the street corners as she walk to school, and my grandfather had to disappear in the Italian underground or be forced to fight for the Axis.

My family stories, combined with a masters degree in American history, meant that I thought this would be a nice little comic book that I would enjoy. I didn’t expect to really learn anything new.

Boy was I surprised. While I may have known a lot about life in Italy, during the war, I know very little about life in America during the war. The big issues like Japanese internment, Hitler’s suicide, and the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were already well known to me. I knew about war bonds, women’s war efforts, scrap drives, and rationing, but there was so much else I did not know.

this is an excellent comic book, fun, and easy to read, and enjoyable even for a Gen-X teacher! I highly recommend it and plan to add some to my classroom library.

Fabulous!

My son absolutely loves comic books and history, this book is the perfect fit. He sat down and read it in one sitting, making sure he took moments to tell me an interesting fact or something he didn't know. He loves asking me obscure questions about history and telling me the answer when I don't know it.

The drawings were great and age appropriate, so was the writing and topics.

Thank you netgalley for this Arc in exchange for an honest review

This was my first History Comic to read. After, I checked out others in this series for comparison.
This is a comic that follows several kids as they show how WW2 affected Americans in America during that time. There’s no running plot per se. I’d say 8 and up could understand most of it. There are some words defined and other advanced vocabulary that is not defined.
The subtitle is spot on. It was a great idea to reduce the focus to WW 2 on the American home front, as that subject is so large It was inclusive of age, gender and race. Information was presented in a matter of fact manner, for the reader to come to their own conclusions, which I think children and adult readers both appreciate. The art was visually pleasant and effective in communicating, keeping interest and effective with the flow of the story/information.

I asked two 10 year olds to read and give their own judgement. Both liked it a lot and immediately asked for more History Comics! They both also asked questions while reading it and started discussions. These 10 year olds have read other historical and biographical graphic novels, both individual GN and series. The consensus is History Comics Series is top-notch!
I have zero suggestions for improvement and look forward to more History Comics!

Will post to Goodreads after publication date per preference of publisher.

Excellent and well researched graphic novel on the USA homefront during World War Two. It covers what life was like for kids during that time, like no sugar and steel and rubber collection drives. It touches on racism and sexism of the time and the internment of Japanese Americans. Excellent work! The art is clear, welcoming, and easy to flow in a contemporary cartoon style, like Lucy Knisley.

History Comics: World War II is a fantastic addition to the History Comics series. Perfect for kids interested in World War II without going too deep into any one area of the war. A recommended purchase!

I received this book to review and it was interesting to see how World War 2 is seen through the eyes of Americans and what life was like during World War 2 in the USA.
As it is a children's comic, all the information was quite well known and basic. However, for children this comic is rather informative and they might actually learn from this.

History Comics: World War II by Kate Hannigan

I have read many WW2 books in various styles, including historical fiction based on true story, diary, textbook style…but this book was in a comic way! Easy, short but informative and covered the home-front stories which was intriguing.

This book mainly focused on the WW2 from the American perspective. It started with few kids playing in the playground during the wartime in America, things were changing with explanation of the situation through their conversation. These all made it easy to read and understand.

It then talked about lives were changing there, how schools were changed to adapt the wartime, women had chances to work due to men were in the front line, war bonds, wartime production, ration book, metal scraps for building weapons, hiring black people and so on….it showed how Americans did to support the troops to defeat the Nazis. Every power counts.

The drawing, the conversation bubble and the unostentatious wordings which made me addicted and enjoyed the book enormously.

Many thanks to NetGalley, First Second Books and Kate Hannigan for the fabulous book.

Pub date: Oct 31, 2023

What a fantastic way to teach history to middle-age students! I have a B.A. in History and I learned lots of new information from reading this book. Kudos to Kate Hannigan and History Comics!

Thank you for an ARC copy. All opinions are my own.

Thanks a lot for sending me this book and I feel privileged to be one of the first batch of readers having read the book.
As a Chinese reader, I have to say that my history class in China did not teach me much about Home Front in WW2 in US. Thus I have learnt much from the story itself and the knowledge I gained are both valuable and fun.
However, I do think the character in this book is rather weak that you can hardly remember those 4 kids who are supposed to be the main characters. Maybe we can tell more about their stories, their name, family, characteristics, background, etc. so they are more involved in this story telling process.
That's just a small advice, I love this book overall!

Will put into classroom library. Gives a lot of good information for the home from during World War II.

As a retired elementary teacher, I find this book well researched and it provides a wonderful introduction of World War 2 to middle grade students. There is a note at the beginning of the book that points out that this story about the War focuses on the everyday heroes, the ones that saved rubber or metal, the ones that walked, the ones that planted victory gardens, etc. and not the major historical figures such as Roosevelt.
The book begins with middle grade age children learning to deal with all the changes coming along now that the United States was involved in the War after Pearl Harbor. It proceeds to share simple details of men joining the armed forces, children and women joining the workforce, and families adjusting to a new normal. Women also joined the armed forces in various roles, but I especially like that the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion was included. This was the only Black WAC unit deployed during the War. The author does not shy away from the discrimination that Black men and women faced during this time and shares the facts of what happened to help them at the time in a neutral manner. Besides the extraordinary war product production, entertainment options where shared from Negro League baseball and All-American Girls Professional Baseball to movie and radio productions to big bands and dancing. The book does talk about more challenging topics such as the blackouts on both coasts, the Japanese internment camps, Jewish concentration camps, and family grief of a loved one not coming home. I think these pages were well done and could lead to great conversations between the child and families or even in a classroom. The book wraps up with Truman taking over the presidency and the bombs that were dropped on Japan. There are a few pages to explain how life changed moving in the 1950s from air conditioning, automobile production, and penicillin. The first and last pages focus on ice cream and how the kids during the war couldn't have any and by the end of the 1950s so much was available to all-I liked those books ends that children can relate to. The last page contains lots of books and websites to learn more about World War 2.
As someone who reads history and historical fiction often, I found this graphic novel did a great job giving a thorough overview of the War to introduce young readers to such a complex world event. There was nothing too graphic and it focused on facts and numbers to help ground the reader to the story. I thought it balanced positive things people did during the war with those events that showed the opposite in a way that middle grade readers could begin to grasp this period in time. If you have students, children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews and other kids of this age range, I recommend getting and sharing this book.

Thank you First Second Books and Net Galley for a complimentary copy. All opinions are my own.