Sasha Zaichik has known the laws of the Soviet Young Pioneers since the age of six:
The Young Pioneer is devoted to Comrade Stalin, the Communist Party, and Communism.
A Young Pioneer is a reliable comrade and always acts according to conscience.
A Young Pioneer has a right to criticize shortcomings.
But now that it is finally time to join the Young Soviet Pioneers, the day Sasha has awaited
for so long, everything seems to go awry. Perhaps Sasha does not want to be a Young Soviet Pioneer
after all. Is it possible that everything he knows about the Soviet Government is a lie?
The moving story of a ten-year-old boy’s world shattering is masterful in its simplicity,
powerful in its message, and heartbreaking in its plausibility.
Breaking Stalin’s Nose, a 2012 Newbery Honor Book, written and illustrated by Eugene Yelchin
Published by Henry Holt Books for Young Readers, 2011, an imprint of Macmillan Children's Publishing Group
