BREAKING STALIN’S NOSE, written and illustrated by Eugene Velchin, is the story of ten year old Sasha Zaichik. Sasha has known the laws of the Soviet Young Pioneers since the age of six. Sasha’s father is a Communist and a hero. Sasha writes a letter to Stalin thanking him personally for allowing him to be fortunate enough to live in the Soviet Union. He goes on to say that he has read how hard life is for children in capitalist countries, and he is so thankful to be in the USSR .He looks forward to one day joining the Young Soviet Pioneers. Sasha and his father live in an apartment that they share with 48 other Soviet citizens. One night, officers from the Kremlin storm into their apartment and take Sasha’s father away. We spend that night and the next day with Sasha as he begins to question everything he knows about the Soviet government and the cynicism of the system he once trusted. This book was recently named as a John Newbery Honor Book. (Henry Holt and Company, 2011).
THE SCRAPBOOK OF FRANKIE PRATT a novel in pictures, written by Caroline Preston, is the delightful tale of Frankie Pratt who graduates from high school in 1920. She is given a scrapbook and an old typewriter for graduation.Through an array of vintage postcards, letters, magazine ads, ticket stubs, catalog pages, and other assorted memorabilia, we follow Frankie on her journey in search of success and love. She attends Vassar, falls in love, and moves to Greenwich Village where she pursues her career in writing. She later moves to Paris where she meets two exiled Russian princes. A family crisis calls her back to New England where she finds what she has been searching for all along. This whimsical novel recently received the Alex award for being one of the top ten adult books that appeal to teen audiences.(Harper Collins, 2011).
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