Breaking Stalin's Nose [Hardcover]

Eugene Yelchin (Author, Illustrator)

Book Description

Release date: September 27, 2011 | Age Range: 9 and up | Lexile Measure: 670L (What's this?)

One of Horn Book’s Best Fiction Books of 2011

 

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.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Mr. Yelchin has compressed into two days of events an entire epoch, giving young readers a glimpse of the precariousness of life in a capricious yet ever-watchful totalitarian state.” –Wall Street Journal

 

“A miracle of brevity, this affecting novel zeroes in on two days and one boy to personalize Stalin's killing machine of the '30s. …black-and-white drawings march across the pages to juxtapose hope and fear, truth and tyranny, small moments and historical forces, innocence and evil. This Newbery Honor book offers timeless lessons about dictatorship, disillusionment and personal choice.” --San Francisco Chronicle

 

"The cat-and-mouse chase that pits Sasha’s whole world against him will rivet middle-grade readers, but this title will hold special appeal for older students whose grasp of content outstrips their reading proficiency." --BCCB

 

"Picture book author/illustrator Yelchin (Won Ton) makes an impressive middle-grade debut with this compact novel about a devoted young Communist in Stalin-era Russia, illustrated with dramatically lit spot art." --Publishers Weekly

 

“…this brief novel gets at the heart of a society that asks its citizens, even its children, to report on relatives and friends. Appropriately menacing illustrations by first-time novelist Yelchin add a sinister tone.” --Horn Book, starred review

“Yelchin’s graphite illustrations are an effective complement to his prose, which unfurls in Sasha’s steady, first-person voice, and together they tell an important tale.” --Kirkus

"Yelchin skillfully combines narrative with dramatic black-and-white illustrations to tell the story of life in the Soviet Union under Stalin.” --SLJ

About the Author

Eugene Yelchin has illustrated several books for children, including Who Ate All the Cookie Dough? and Won Ton. He lives in California with his wife and children.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Age Range: 9 and up
  
• Hardcover: 160 pages
• Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR); 1 edition (September 27, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0805092161
• ISBN-13: 978-0805092165
• Product Dimensions: 7.1 x 5.9 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (36 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #39,080 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #35 in Books > Children's Books > Literature & Fiction > Historical Fiction > Europe

More About the Author

Eugene Yelchin is a Russian born author and illustrator of children's books.
In 2012, Breaking Stalin's Nose, a middle grade novel that he had written and illustrated received a Newbery Honor award. Horn Book magazine called Breaking Stalin's Nose one of the Best Books of 2011. In 2010, the picture book Rooster Prince of Breslov that he illustrated received the National Jewish Book Award. In 2006, he received a Tomie de Paola award. His other books received starred reviews, and were on Children's Choice and the Independent Booksellers lists.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars For children who want to understand why U.S. felt it necessary to have a Cold War? Read this... November 20, 2011

By sandyv_virginia

Format:Hardcover

The title of this book intrigued me enough to pull it off the shelf. The cover picture drew me in. I read this book in about an hour. I couldn't put it down! Most of that hour I kept shaking my head wondering how anyone in USSR survived the Cold War without going mad. The mind games that adults played! This story shows us the effects of dictatorship and misinformation with heartbreaking results. For adults as well as young adults.

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A good read for child or adult November 5, 2011

By L. Bencze

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

A touching account of a young boy's misadventures in Stalinist Russia. It pulls no punches about the evils of communism. You might call this a kid's version of Solzhenitsyn's Gulag Archipelago. Harrowing but never gruesome.

17 of 20 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars So happy it won a Newbery honor otherwise I wouldn't have read it! February 10, 2012

By Lori Katz

Format:Hardcover

Sasha lives in the USSR with his father in a communal apartment with 47 other people. He has dreamed of becoming a Young Soviet Pioneer all his short life and serving Stalin whom he worships. Then one night his father is arrested and slowly everything Sasha knows, loves and believes in begins to crumble.

Written to be accessible to young readers this is a look into the Cold War that just might send readers looking for more. Heavily illustrated and printed in a format that reluctant readers will be also be drawn to. As an adult I can only wonder how anyone survived this time period. Eugene Yelchin won a 2012 Newbery Honor for BREAKING STALIN'S NOSE and I am glad he did otherwise I am not sure I would have read this book. Recommended for middle graders that enjoy historical fiction.