Girl in the Blue Coat

• Genre: Fiction; YA historical mystery
• Originally Published: 2016
• Reading Level/Interest: Lexile 720L; grades 7-12
• Structure/Length: 34 chapters; approx. 321 pages; approx. 9 hours, 42 minutes on audio
• Protagonist and Central Conflict: Teenager Hanneke Bakker considers her work running black market goods in 1943 Nazi-occupied Amsterdam to be a small act of resistance. Once drawn into a mystery surrounding a missing Jewish girl, however, Hanneke must find the courage to take action when small acts of resistance are not enough.
• Potential Sensitivity Issues: War; Nazi occupation; Holocaust

Monica Hesse, Author

• Bio: Originally from Normal, Illinois; now lives in Maryland; American novelist and journalist; columnist for the Washington Post, where her topics include gender and society; winner of the Society for Feature Journalism's Narrative Storytelling Award
• Other Works: The War Outside (2018); They Went Left (2020)
• Awards: Junior Library Guild Selection (2016); Edgars Award Winner (2017); Indies Choice Book Honor Award (2017)

CENTRAL THEMES connected and noted throughout this Teaching Unit:

• Transformations During Wartime
• The Conflict of Love and Friendship
• The Difficulty of Interpretation
• Resistance

STUDY OBJECTIVES: In accomplishing the components of this Unit, students will:

• Develop an understanding of the historical context concerning the Nazi occupation of Amsterdam during WWII that largely shape the plot and character motivations throughout Girl in the Blue Coat.