Denenberg, Barry. (2001). Early Sunday Morning: The Pearl Harbor Diary of Amber Billows, Hawaii 1941. New York: Scholastic Inc.

Book Cover

This book is set up like a diary belonging to a 12-year-old girl, Amber, living in Hawaii in 1941. The story depicts her experiences throughout the bombing of Pearl Harbor. The story begins when she is forced to move to Hawaii because of her father's job. She is finally beginning to adapt to her new home, making friends and joining theatre. Her friend and her are even excited about a dance that is going to be on December 7. However, her new life is completely shaken with the Attack on Pearl Harbor in December 7. She recounts the horrific events and her life during and after the attack. She even has a friend, Kame, who struggles being Japanese in America after the attacks. in the end, she stays friends with Kame, but she is relieved to leave the devastation when her father says they are moving back.
This historical novel is perfect to incorporate teaching about Pearl Harbor. This could also be a good novel to begin a unit on the following war.
The following is a teacher guide containing discussion questions, vocabulary words, and student activities for this novel: http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/lesson-plan/early-sunday-morning-discussion-guide
Another great activity idea would be to teach about diary writing and have the students create their own historical diary. Teachers could simply teach diary writing and have students write their own diary (younger students), or for older students, teachers could have students create a historical diary for the current year, updating entries using current events in the news.