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Anne Frank, the holocaust, the apartheid regime in South Africa's recent past and farmyards - challenging, entertaining, engrossing and real life reading for young people.

In addition to Anne Frank - The Diary of A Young Girl, another astounding piece of Holocaust remembrance is The Final Journey by Gundrun Pausewang, tells of young Jewish girl Alice's journey on a crowded freight train to the death camps at Auschwitz.

Harrowing though this tale may be for young teenager readers, it is a story that deserves to be heard and a subject that cannot be forgotten. The book is intensely moving - as you would expect - and despite being fiction where the other is a real-life account, draws obvious comparisons with the Diary of Anne Frank. As her journey unfolds - all told from her confused, sometimes childish, sometimes grown-up, almost always scarred viewpoint - she realises why she has been kept in hiding by her family for so long.

As she is gradually faced with the true nature and scale of the Nazi persecution (due to the wonderfully colourful mix of jewish charcaters of all classes she is forced to share the cattle truck with) her world becomes focussed on the small, basic things of survival. Her view through a crack in the side of the train of the passing world outside becomes a source of wonder - and working out how to keep away from the stink of the 'toilet corner' in the truck a source of dread. As her fascination with their mystery destination grows - and she sees the people around her succumb to fear, anger and eventual defeatism the story scomes to its inevitable disturbing end.

The author skillfully creates a sense of foreboding - and invites the reader to relate directly to Alice by telling the story from her perspective to such an extent that a real sense of attachment - and ultimately, of loss, is forged. Powerful, chilling material indeed.

"The brutal message of Pausewang's novel lingers long after the last agonizing pages are closed." - Kirkus Reviews.

More real-life struggle and drama comes from award-winning Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry (£4.99) by Mildred D Taylor. Cassie growing up in 1930s Mississippi witnesses racial hatred and learns to fight for her beliefs. Based on stories told by the author's own family, this compelling work has added resonance due to current racial tensions in America and the UK, following the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington.

The issue of homelessness as well as discrimination is tackled in Beverley Naidoo's No Turning Back, which follows 12-year-old Sipho as he runs away to Johannesburg from his violent step-father. A taste of the 'new' South Africa.

On a lighter note, there's plenty of fiction aimed at teenage readers that steers clear of the holocaust or oppressive regimes! One such book is Chewing The Cud (£12.99) is the hilarious memoirs of Dick King-Smith, best-selling author of The Sheep-Pig - which became the hit cute merchandise movie, Babe. King-Smith tells of his surprise transformation from failed farmer to successful writer and Hollywood darling. An enjoyable, light hearted read for anyone.

The Final Journey is published by Penguin Books.

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