Breaking Stalin’s Nose by Eugene Yelchin

Growing up, I do not really remember learning about communism.  In elementary school, our “social studies” classes focused mainly on Michigan and the United States.  I do recall in about 4^th grade learning about countries of the world, but I don’t really recall anything about wars or specific world conclicts until I reached high school.

Books like Number the Stars by Lois Lowry and Jerry Spinnelli’s Milkweed , as well as others, were published much later  (yes, I am old) so I really wasn’t exposed to anything so mentally challenging, so eye-opening, until I read Elie Wiesel’s "Night" when I was approximately 20 years old.   I am glad to see that in recent decades, the tide is turning and children are exposed to “world history” much earlier in life.  I think it helps to open their young minds and get them thinking.

Breaking Stalin's Nose had me from the first chapter. I was expecting a light novel for kids and what I found was an easy to read yet thoroughly thought provoking look at a slice of Russia’s history.   The pages are not crammed full of text - there is plenty of white space and many illustrations by the author that both add to the story and help it flow.    The story is deep enough to provide a good look at Russia through the eyes of a child during the Stalin years, yet also light enough so that the violence and atrocities are not thrown in the reader's face.

I can definitely see this title being used in classrooms - there are many possible discussion topics.

Great book to recommend to reluctant readers or those interested in world history.   It might leave some kids feeling a bit uncomfortable, yet will definitely provide many opportunities for important discussions.