St. Petersburg

From the author of the National Book Award-winning novel Homeless Bird comes "an absorbing saga"* about a young heroine coming of age in the tumultuous years leading up to the Russian revolution. Gripping, accessible historical fiction that's perfect for schools and classrooms, as well as for fans of Ruta Sepetys and Elizabeth Wein. In the fall of 1914, safe behind palace walls, Katya Ivanova sees St. Petersburg as a magical place. The daughter of a lady in waiting to the Empress, Katya spends all her time with the Grand Duchesses, and the royal family feels like her own. But outside the palace, a terrible war is sweeping through Europe, and Russia is beginning to crumble under the weight of a growing revolution. Now, as Katya's once-certain future begins to dissolve, she must seek to understand what is happening to her beloved country and, for the first time in her life, take charge of her own destiny.

One Russian night in 1934, Marya and Georgi's parents disappear. Despite high risks, Katya and Misha had spoken against the government. The children, alone and desperate, fear the worst. Will they ever see their parents again? But all it takes is one crumpled letter to give Marya and Georgi hope and send them on a dangerous mission to reunite their family. They must steal away in the dark of night, escape the city, and find passage to the great Siberian wilderness. And even then, if they succeed in getting away, their journey will have only just begun. In this companion novel to her breathtaking Russian epic Angel on the Square, National Book Award winning author Gloria Whelan takes readers on a remarkable journey that is both perilous and transforming.

Too young for the army, one boy takes saving the city into his own hands. The Russian city of Leningrad is darkening with winter and war, and Georgi's family prepares for the worst. His sister, Marya, packs up the great artwork at the Hermitage museum for safekeeping, and their mother tends to the wounded soldiers. But at fourteen years old, Georgi is too young to join the army, and he wonders how he can possibly help his friends and family. As the city slowly starves from lack of food and hope, Georgi knows he can help his people survive, but he must face dangers as real as the battles on the front lines.