Whelan, Gloria. Burying the sun.WHELAN, Gloria. Burying the sun. (A companion to The Impossible Journey and Angel in the Square.) HarperCollins. 205p. bibliog. c2004.0-06-054112-1. $15.99. J The same Russian family is featured in all three of these novels that span the time from the tsars before the Revolution up to the siege of Leningrad The Siege of Leningrad, also known as The Leningrad Blockade (Russian: блокада Ленинграда (transliteration: blokada Leningrada in WW II. Now the mother, who was a teenager and friend of the tsar's daughters just before they were assassinated as·sas·si·nate tr.v. as·sas·si·nat·ed, as·sas·si·nat·ing, as·sas·si·nates 1. To murder (a prominent person) by surprise attack, as for political reasons. 2. , is a nurse taking care of soldiers fighting the Nazis. Her children, Marya and Georgi, who did the impossible by traveling alone from St. Petersburg (Leningrad) to Siberia to be united with their parents who were political prisoners in the '30s, now are young people struggling to survive the siege siege, assault against a city or fortress with the purpose of capturing it. The history of siegecraft parallels the development of fortification and, later, artillery. of their city. The focus is on 14-year-old Georgi, tall and strong for his age, who wants to be considered a man. He is too young to enlist en·list v. en·list·ed, en·list·ing, en·lists v.tr. 1. To engage (persons or a person) for service in the armed forces. 2. To engage the support or cooperation of. v. in the army, but he does help the city by pealing bark bark, sailing vessel bark or barque (both: bärk), sailing vessel with three masts, of which the mainmast and the foremast are square-rigged while the mizzenmast is fore-and-aft-rigged. from trees to supplement the food supply, assisting in the hauling of food and supplies across the frozen lake in the winter, and cleaning up the debris and dead bodies in the spring. (Many citizens of Leningrad died during the siege of hunger and illness, but the ground was frozen and they couldn't be buried bur·y tr.v. bur·ied, bur·y·ing, bur·ies 1. To place in the ground: bury a bone. 2. a. To place (a corpse) in a grave, a tomb, or the sea; inter. b. until spring, so they were often left in the streets or parks.) The novel ends when Georgi turns 16 and immediately joins the Soviet Army. Whelan once again gives her readers an action-packed story. She bases this one carefully on the historic details of the siege, which began in the winter of 1941. This family once again shows their ability to cope in impossible circumstances with grace and courage. Their love for one another, and for their close friends, helps them to survive. J--Recommended for junior high school students. The contents are of particular interest to young adolescents and their teachers. |
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