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You are here: Home / Reviews / Child/Young Adult / Breaking Stalin’s Nose by Eugene Velchin

Breaking Stalin’s Nose by Eugene Velchin

July 31, 2015 by Rebecca Reid

Breaking Stalin’s Nose by Eugene Velchin is a lighthearted look at a serious time in Russian history. From the other books I reviewed this week about Pakistan child slavery and the Sudanese civil war, I have had a heavy week for reviewing difficult subjects. Breaking Stalin’s Nose, on the other hand, is a completely fictional story, but it still rings true.

Breaking Stalin’s Nose takes place during the Stalin era in Russia, during which time the secret police were told about anybody who was going against Stalinism. The main character in the story the narrator is a young boy (Sasha) whose mother was American but is now deceased and whose father works for the police in Russia. Sasha is incredibly proud of his father and how his father works for Stalin. Sasha cannot wait until he can become a Soviet Young Pioneer the next day in school so he can follow in his father’s steps.

However, things quickly change from good to bad. His father is inextricably arrested. Sasha cannot make sense of why his father, a loyal Stalin supporter, has been arrested. He wants to continue his life, become a Soviet Young Pioneer, and go back to how things are. But things are quite strange, and at school the next day, one thing leads to another. Now Sasha himself is under suspicion!

The book quite serious, and yet it’s not at all. Let me explain. The subject matter is serious. Although I’ve been exposed to world history, I was not quite aware of just how bad things may have been during Stalin-era Russia. This book portrayed families reporting on each, the neighbors reporting on neighbors (for selfish reasons), and the children being indoctrinated in their classrooms.

That said, the novel is incredibly funny and possibly a bit exaggerated. It is short, so I would call it an early chapter book simply because it’s a very quick read and it’s an easy and accessible read. This is a book in which Sasha, in the book, doesn’t know what’s going on but the reader can tell a bit more what is coming. This unawareness of the main character makes it all the more funny.

I think it’s an important book for kids to be exposed to because it does showcase a new era that is unfamiliar to contemporary children. How much do we take for granted our freedoms?

Related posts:

  1. New Treasure: Spotlight on Sasha and the Silverfish
  2. White House Kids by Joe Rhatigan
  3. Red Berries, White Clouds, Blue Sky by Sandra Dallas
  4. Dead Souls by Nikolai Gogol

Filed Under: Child/Young Adult, Early Chapter Books, Reviews Tagged With: communism, Russian history, Stalin-era Russia, world history

← A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park Picture Book Sunday: The Queen’s Shadow by Cybele Young →


Comments

  1. Jenny @ Reading the End says

    August 3, 2015 at 12:25 pm

    This sounds charming! And I think it’s awesome for there to be more children’s books about history other than just American/European history. I know that the historical fiction I had as a kid had a lasting impact on the history I know about / am interested in as an adult, and it would have helped a lot to have had more books set in other times and places, when I was little.

    • Rebecca Reid says

      August 4, 2015 at 12:00 pm

      It is so amazing how he pulled it off too, in this book. It is obviously a serious time in Russian history, but the book is funny and it has no dates that make it feel like historical fiction. It would be fascinating to see how kids react to it. I couldn’t get my 7 year old to read it, but maybe in a few more years.

Rebecca Reads Classics, Nonfiction, and Children's Literature

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