Finding Zasha - Hardcover

Barrow, Randi

4.31

1,295 ratings by Goodreads

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 054545218X ISBN 13: 9780545452182

Publisher: Scholastic Press, 2013

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Randi Barrow is back with another gripping heroic World War II story about a boy and his best friend, a German shepherd!

In 1941, the Germans began the long, bloody siege on Leningrad. During the chaos, twelve-year-old Ivan is sent to live with relatives when his mother's job is moved to the mountains. But it is a long and dangerous journey to get out of Leningrad. After settling into a new town it falls under Nazi occupation and Ivan is picked by Axel Recht, an especially heinous soldier, to come work for the Nazis. One of Ivan's more pleasant tasks is to train Alex's dogs. Yet Ivan is determined to use his position to undermine the Nazis and rescue the dogs. But Ivan underestimates Axel's attachment to Zasha and Thor, and soon finds himself being hunted by a ruthless soldier who will stop at nothing to get his dogs back. As World War II rages around them, Ivan must find a way to hide from Axel, protect Zasha and Thor, avoid the constant barrage of deadly bombings, and survive in the devastating conditions of a city cut off from the world.

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About the Author:

Randi Barrow is an attorney and amateur historian, who has also published adult nonfiction. When dogs entered her life a dozen years ago, the effect was profound. SAVING ZASHA, her first children’s book, was inspired and informed by her canine friends. Now a full-time writer, she lives in Los Angeles with her husband, musician/composer Arthur Barrow, and their Chihuahua mix companion, Manuel.

From School Library Journal:

Gr 5-8-In this prequel to Saving Zasha (Scholastic, 2011), 12-year-old Ivan must escape from Leningrad after the Nazi invasion and his mother's forced factory-work assignment. He travels with his wise and resourceful neighbor, Auntie, across a frozen lake in dangerously arctic temperatures to the mountains, but he is soon entrapped by Nazi soldiers and forced to live with villainous Major Axel Recht as a dog trainer. Ivan is aware that the brutal purpose of these trained bloodhounds is to track down escaping Russians. Working as a spy for the partisans, he is determined to run with the two puppies, Thor and Zasha, but underestimates Recht's cruel determination to retrieve both his prisoner and his dogs. Barrow creates a suspenseful, engaging boy-loves-dog story within the historical context of the Russian World War II landscape, amid the harrowing environment of daily bombings and a vicious enemy. A climactic fight scene will keep readers enthralled to the concluding cliff-hanger ending in which Ivan is left with Thor, wondering how his mother fared during the occupation and if he will ever see Zasha again.-Rita Soltan, Youth Services Consultant, West Bloomfield, MIα(c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

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