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Rabbit, Soldier, Angel, Thief

CBCA Honour Book 2022

ebook
3 of 3 copies available
3 of 3 copies available

Award-winning writer Katrina Nannestad transports us to Russia and the Great Patriotic War and into the life of Sasha, a soldier at only six years old ...


Wood splinters and Mama screams and the nearest soldier seizes her roughly by the arms. My sister pokes her bruised face out from beneath the table and shouts, 'Run, Sasha! Run!'

So I run. I run like a rabbit.

It's spring, 1942. The sky is blue, the air is warm and sweet. And then everything is gone. The flowers, the proud geese, the pretty wooden houses, the friendly neighbours. Only Sasha remains.

But one small boy, alone in war-torn Russia, cannot survive. One small boy without a family cannot survive. One small boy without his home cannot survive. What that small boy needs is an army.

From the award-winning author of We Are Wolves comes the story of Sasha, a soldier at six, fighting in the only way he can — with love. But is love ever enough when the world is at war?
AWARDS

Honour Book - CBCA 2022 (Younger Reader's Book of the Year)

Winner - The Indie Book Awards 2022 (Children's)

Winner - ABA Bookseller's Choice 2022 Book of the Year Awards (Children's)

Winner - ARA Historical Novel Award 2022 (Children and Young Adult)

Shortlisted - ABIAs 2022 (Book of the Year for Younger Children)

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  • Reviews

    • Books+Publishing

      September 28, 2021
      Rabbit, Soldier, Angel, Thief is a historical novel for middle-grade readers set during WWII. Young Sasha lies in a hospital in Berlin, recovering after the end of the war. His recollections take the reader back to 1942, where a six-year-old Sasha lives in a picturesque village in rural Russia. After German soldiers burn his village to the ground he escapes into the forest alone, where he is taken in by a company of Red Army soldiers. Sasha becomes their mascot and helper, accompanying them first to Stalingrad and then to Berlin. Sasha is sweet and loving and remains remarkably untraumatised by the war raging around him. All the Red Army soldiers he encounters are gentle and kind to him—the story is so positive it could serve as the propaganda Sasha reads in the newspapers he scavenges. The novel is told from a young child’s perspective but even so is often simplistic and sentimental, without, for example, the depth and pathos of books by Morris Gleitzman or Jackie French. Nevertheless, Rabbit, Soldier, Angel, Thief is a fascinating tale that shines a light on a lesser-known side of WWII. The flashbacks create tension and structure to keep the reader engaged, while the real-life basis will intrigue younger readers interested in history.   Fay Helfenbaum is a freelance writer and editor and was a bookseller for five years. 

Formats

  • OverDrive Read
  • EPUB ebook

Languages

  • English

Levels

  • Lexile® Measure:730
  • Text Difficulty:3

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