Breaking Stalin's Nose by Eugene Yelchin

Breaking Stalin’s Nose by Eugene Yelchin
  1. Bibliography
Yelchin, Eugene. Breaking Stalin's Nose. Square Fish, Henry Holt and Company, 2013.
ISBN 1250034108.
  1. Plot Summary
Sasha Zaichik is the model of a perfect communist citizen. He is a perfect student
and is soon to be a member of the prestigious Young Pioneer organization. All is
going well until one night Sasha’s father is arrested for treason. Now Sasha must
learn to survive on his own. Sasha seems to be handling his independent life fairly
well until a regrettable action occurs.  

 At school one day, as he was retrieving a flag for the Young Pioneer ceremony,
Sasha accidentally knocks the nose off of a sculpture of Josef Stalin. This action
is one that is punishable by death. Sasha is afraid. Unfortunately Sasha’s classmate
nemesis, Vovka Sobakin witnesses the destructive action. Although it was an
accident, Voovka blackmails Sasha with this information. 
  1. Critical Analysis
I am curious how students will react to this story. It was a wonderful story, but I
think many will have a hard time understanding or relating to the topic. Not many
students know much about this time period in history. I am not even sure if students
will fully grasp the concept of a communist society. 

 However despite the difficult concept to grasp, this story shows great examples of
what living under a communist rule was like. For example, when Sasha’s father was
arrested and taken away in the middle of the night, there was not a way for his
father to explain his side of the story. There wasn’t a chance to be “innocent until
proven guilty”. 

 Another example of  the communist government interfering in the citizen’s lives is
when Sasha’s teacher, Nina Petrovna, asks all students to make a list of possible
suspects that might have broken the nose off of the statute of Stalin. One
particular student struggled with this assignment because she is,”...not sure who is
reliable.” (Pg. 84)   

 Overall I think this is a terrific story that shows the importance of perseverance
and never giving up. Sasha never gave up on is father, and continued to hope that
one day he would see him again. If it wasn’t for his determination, Sasha would
have never met the kind older woman in the line at the prison, and he would have
never been offered another home to stay in. 
  1. Review Excerpts
  • “Mr. Yelchin has compressed into two days of events an entire epoch, giving young
readers a glimpse of the precariousness of life in a capricious yet ever-watchful
totalitarian state.” ―Wall Street Journal

  • “Yelchin skillfully combines narrative with dramatic black-and-white illustrations to
tell the story of life in the Soviet Union under Stalin.” ―School Library Journal

  • 2012 Newbery Medal Winner
  1. Connections

  • Pair this reading with a lesson over communism so students can understand the way
the government worked in Sasha’s country.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

If I Ever Get Out Of Here by Eric Gainsworth

Image
If I Ever Get Out of Here by Eric Gansworth   A.            Bibliography Gansworth, Eric. 2005. New York, NY; Scholastic. ISBN 0545417317   Plot Summary Taking place in the 1970s, this story uses the songs of The Beatles to portray the story of Lewis, an American Indian teenager that is growing up in a time (and place) where his Native American heritage is underappreciated and sets him apart. This coming of age story uses themes of young love, friendship, family, and bullying to tell the story of how despite all the odds, Lewis is able to find some semblance of normalcy and happiness.   Critical Analysis (Including Cultural Markers)             The cultural markers of this story come in the reactions of others to Lewis and his lifestyle. The mistreatment of Lewis can be seen time and time again, all because he is of a different cult...
Read more

Infographics: Information in Picture Form

Image
   Just as the title suggests, infographics are simply images with statics and numbers thrown in. It is generally something that someone can read by just glancing at. Infographics are a good way of informing the public or getting your point across about a certain topic. When creating your own infographic , there are many programs available online to help. For the purpose of this post, I will be comparing three different websites; Easelly , Piktochart , and Infogram , to see which (in my opinion) is easiest and most user friendly with creating an infographic .    All three programs that I played around with to create an inforgraphic required me to create an account. As such, I don't anticipate much Spam mail coming from these sites, however that is a subject for another day. Let's see how each one of these programs stacked up. Easelly ( http://www.easel.ly/ ) This site is terrific because it already has created infographics where one can go in and change the...
Read more

Gingersnap by Patricia Reilly Giff

Image
Gingersnap by Patricia Reilly Giff Bibliography Giff, Patricia Reilly. Gingersnap . Wendy Lamb Book s, 2013. ISBN 0375838910. Plot Summary Jayna is an orphan and has only her older brother Rob to rely on. Rob has been called to the war in the Pacific, and Jayna is left with only her landlady, Celine. Jayna decides to go to New York and try to find any possible family. After finding a French cookbook with a photograph of a bakery among Rob’s things, Jayna goes in search of the Gingersnap bakery. Once there, she finds much more than she could have imagined. Jayna finds answers to her questions, acceptance, and most importantly, family.  Critical Analysis The different recipes scattered throughout the story that related to particular moments in the story add to a unique spin on the story. For example, on page 122, there was a recipe titled “Waiting Soup” that appeared just as Elise mentions that Jayna can stay with her until Rob comes home from th...
Read more