![Arthur Ordelheide](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 12 12"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
This book showed me how children where taught in the Soviet Union during Stalin's leadership. Zaichik is a son of a secret service man. He grows up wanting to join the Communist Pioneer Club. He thinks very highly of Communism, but as the book continues on he slowly becomes aware of the evil that communism creates. Since it was fiction I thought the story would be full of happy moments and finally an ending that made the reader feel good! However this was historical fiction, and in an effort to be true to history, the character goes through many tough situations. He's not perfect either. I think this is a good book because it shows why some people do and say the things they do.
Breaking Stalin's Nose
By Eugene Yelchin
| Interest Level | Reading Level | Reading A-Z | ATOS | Word Count |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grades 4 - 8 | Grades 3 - 8 | X | 4.6 | 15128 |
A Newbery Honor Book.
Sasha Zaichik has known the laws of the Soviet Young Pioneers since the age of six:
The Young Pioneer is devoted to Comrade Stalin, the Communist Party, and Communism.
A Young Pioneer is a reliable comrade and always acts according to conscience.
A Young Pioneer has a right to criticize shortcomings.
But now that it is finally time to join the Young Pioneers, the day Sasha has awaited for so long, everything seems to go awry. He breaks a classmate's glasses with a snowball. He accidentally damages a bust of Stalin in the school hallway. And worst of all, his father, the best Communist he knows, was arrested just last night.
This moving story of a ten-year-old boy's world shattering is masterful in its simplicity, powerful in its message, and heartbreaking in its plausibility.
One of Horn Book's Best Fiction Books of 2011
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)
ISBN-13: 9780805092165
ISBN-10: 0805092161
Published on 9/27/2011
Binding: Hardcover
Number of pages: 160