Under Attack (Kidnapped from Ukraine #1)

Set in Mariupol and opening on the day Russia attacked Ukraine in February 2022, this grim novel by Skrypuch (Winterkill) follows 12-year-old narrator Dariia as she undergoes the horrific experiences of the first year of the war that quickly ensues. Like many Ukrainians, Dariia, her twin sister Rada, and their parents speak Russian and don’t consider Russia an enemy (“We had heard that the Russians might be attacking, but I didn’t believe it”). The first bomb hits while Dariia and her mother are grocery shopping, separating them from Rada and her father. Dariia and her mother shelter in an overcrowded basement for two months without a toilet, water, or consistent supply of digestible food. Conditions worsen when the shelter is bombed and, after further harrowing and dehumanizing experiences, Dariia becomes one of the 700,000 Ukrainian children kidnapped by Russians and adopted by a Russian family. Often pedestrian language lessens the emotional impact of the appalling effects of war in this important and tough to read novel, which fictionalizes, in harsh detail, true events from a child’s point of view. An author’s note and further information conclude. Ages 8–12. (Jan.)