Ivan is 12 years old, but must leave his home in Leningrad. There has been very little to eat due to the siege of the city, a recent bombing by the Nazis nearly destroyed his apartment, and now his mother’s job requires her to relocate to the mountains. With his elderly but resourceful neighbor, Ivan flees to a village in the country, hoping to find relatives. The Nazis soon take over the village, and Ivan becomes the dog trainer of two German shepherd puppies, Zasha and Thor. The cruel Major Recht wants to use the dogs to track down Russians, but Ivan wants the dogs to live free lives. Ivan has a chance to escape but how can he possibly leave Zasha and Thor? How can he free the dogs with the German soldiers watching his every move? What will happen to him if he is caught? Read this action packed story set in Russia during WWII to discover the answers to these questions. You will definitely want to continue the story by reading Saving Zasha also by Randi Barrow!  (South Carolina Children's Book Award nominee, 2015 

Prepared by: Karen Zimmerman, St. John Neumann Catholic School, kzimmerman@sjncatholic.com