5. Kidnapped From Ukraine Under Attack

 

5. Kidnapped From Ukraine Under Attack. Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch. 2025. 320 pages. [Source: Library] [5 stars, mg realistic fiction, mg fiction, survival, war stories]

First sentence: I was snuggled deep in my bed with my twin sister, Rada. We had heard that the Russians might be attacking, but I didn't believe it. Mariupol may have been a Ukrainian city, but everyone here could speak Russian. We weren't their enemies. 

My thoughts preview: I will want to read ANYTHING Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch writes. I will. She has proven she is a great writer over and over again. Though really all it took was one book to make me a forever fan.

Premise/plot: While Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch typically writes action-packed, dramatic historical fiction novels, this time she has written a contemporary, realistic novel that opens in February 2022 with the Russians attacking Ukraine. We see these dark days--dark but not so distant--through the eyes of a child, Dariia Popkova. (She's twelve. Perhaps (though fiction) she wouldn't appreciate being called a child.) When the attack begins--bombing--Dariia and her mother are out of the apartment and running a quick errand--picking up a few things from a corner market. So close to home yet so far when the attack begins. Soon the two find themselves unable to return home and reunite with their family because of the destruction and danger. This danger is unrelenting--there is little calm in the storm their lives become. As the two try to survive hour by hour, day by day, week by week--in the basement where they have found temporary refuge--they have both too much time and too little time to worry. 

Readers get to see everything through Dariia's eyes and it's not a comfy, cozy story with a few boo-boos. The whole novel is [realistically] intense.

My thoughts: What a novel!!!! Truly I cannot do the book justice. It's an incredible read from cover to cover. I am not surprised--I'd expect nothing less from Skrypuch. She excels at everything--writing, plotting, characterization. But it is the characterization that particularly wows me every time. Because though it shouldn't be rare, it mostly is. The depth of characterization is outstanding. It isn't just that there's depth and substance of the main character, but it is how expansive the characterization is. There's no shortcuts, no character too small to not get treated as important. It makes it impossible not to get invested and thoroughly absorbed in the story.

 

© 2025 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

4. Wolves at the Door

 

4. Wolves at the Door. Steve Watkins. 2024. [December] 288 pages. [Source: Library] [MG historical, MG fiction, world war II, 5 stars]

First sentence: We are in the shelter near our apartment building in Konigsberg when the bombing starts, the swelter of August trapped underground with us. The explosions are distant, east of the city. We feel slight tremors, but the walls only shake a little.

Wolves at the Door by Steve Watkins is a compelling historical middle grade novel set towards the end of World War II. Earlier this year--last week to be precise--I read a book with this exact, precise setting--East Prussia, German children, Russian invasion, hiding in the woods, fighting to survive, etc. (We Are Wolves by Katrina Nannestad). This one is narrated by two sisters--Asta and Pieta. 

It is action-packed historical fiction. I would definitely recommend for readers who have begun to outgrow the I Survived series yet still enjoy historical fiction with survival themes. There are so many world war II books out there for this audience, this one is GREAT.  

If my summary is lacking it isn't that the book isn't good--it's phenomenal. This coming of age story is SO compelling, so emotional, so WELL DONE, so impossible to put down. It was the first book of the year that I read in one sitting.

All the "almosts" I felt about We Are Wolves were realized in Wolves at the Door. It was SUCH a great read. It didn't hold back. It may be written for middle school--upper elementary and up. But it didn't pretty things up. It didn't gloss over the brutal, harsh facts. It was all in for history. And I think it showed how brutal war is and always will be. 

 

© 2025 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Week in Review #2

 The second week of the year I read and reviewed six books! 

The books I read:

 We Are Wolves. Katrina Nannestad. 2020. 320 pages. [Source: Library] [historical fiction, mg historical fiction, world at war, 4 stars]

I would recommend this one to readers who...

• Enjoy historical fiction
• Enjoy war stories (fictional)
• Enjoy happy endings

The Oarsmen: Chasing Embers. Glenn Beck with Mikayla G. Hedrick. 2024. 288 pages. [Source: Library] [3 stars, mg speculative fiction, mg dystopia, mg fiction]

I would recommend this one to readers who....

• Enjoy premise-driven and plot-driven stories
• Are patient when it comes to action and plot
• Care more about world-building than characterization
• Value ideas more than carry through

Mr. Fox's Game of "No!" David LaRochelle. Illustrated by Mike Wohnoutka. 2024. 40 pages. [Source: Library] [picture book, 4 stars] 

I would recommend this one to readers who....

• Enjoy picture books that are "interactive" and invite audience participation
• Looking for a read aloud for small groups
• Enjoy silly books trying to get a giggle from little ones

Sabrina Sue Loves the Mountain. Priscilla Burris. 2024. 32 pages. [Source: Library] [early reader, animal fantasy, ready to read, chickens and farms, 3 stars] 

I would recommend this one to readers who...

• Enjoy predictable series books
• Love chickens [seriously, there are a LOT of series books starring lovable chickens]
• Looking for an early reader that is fun and not just "educational"

The Heart of Jesus: How He Really Feels About You. Dane Ortlund. 2024. 128 pages. [Source: Review copy] [4 stars] [christian nonfiction, devotional]

I would recommend this one to readers who...

• Enjoy Christian devotionals with meat and substance
• Looking for encouragement and reassurance in their spiritual lives

The Lord of Psalm 23: Jesus Our Shepherd, Companion, and Host. David Gibson. 2023. 157 pages. [Source: Library] [4 stars, christian nonfiction, christian living] 

I would recommend this one to readers who....

• Enjoy Christian devotionals with meat and substance
• Enjoy their commentary on the light side
• Love Psalm 23

I made a LOT of progress in my century-viewing project. These are the films I watched from last Saturday night (my cut off was 5PM) through this Saturday (my cut off is 5PM).

1920s

• 1923 Love Nest is a short silent film starring Buster Keaton and Joe Roberts. Buster plays a brokenhearted man taking to life at sea as a last resort of sorts. There's comedic skits, but, not much plot. [So glad this one wasn't my first introduction to Buster Keaton.]
• 1925 Seven Chances is a GREAT romantic comedy starring Buster Keaton as James "Jimmie" Shannon. His grandfather has left him a LOT of money...if he marries by 7PM on his twenty-seventh birthday which happened to be that very day. He has a woman he loves and adores, however, the proposal left something to be desired...can he find ANY woman willing to marry him?
• 1926 The General is another Buster Keaton movie. Is it my favorite, favorite Keaton movie???? YES. At least so far. This one is set during the Civil War--don't let that intimidate you. He plays a man, Johnny Gray, I believe, who loves two things: his train--the General--and his girl. When the bad guys steal his train and his girl....he'll stop at nothing to get them back!
• 1928 Steamboat Bill Jr is another great Buster Keaton film. Buster Keaton plays a son that is a huge disappointment to his father. He wants his father's approval...and the heart of the girl he loves...who just happens to be the daughter of his father's rival. A big STORM changes everything. Highly recommend this one. (And of course The General too).
• 1928 Steamboat Willie is the first animated Mickey Mouse cartoon. I can't help--granted I'm submersed deeply into all things Buster Keaton--that there's some influence here. I am glad I watched this cartoon while I was deep diving into silent films. This one definitely featured music and sound effects, but, it also feels very much a "silent" comedy.
• 1929 Big Business is a Laurel and Hardy short film starring two Christmas tree salesmen who essentially went to PETTY UNIVERSITY (if you know you know). 
• 1929 Broadway Melody 1929 is a musical. Two sisters head to New York City to make it big--one having a previous engagement to a songwriter named Eddie. Eddie reunites with the sisters; however, he switches his affections to the other sister thus ruining the song "You Were Meant for Me." This one features three songs that would make their way--to some degree--into 1952's Singin' in the Rain. I don't know how other viewers take this [wretched] love triangle but I was having none of it. 
  

1930s

• 1931 Kept Husbands is a romantic comedy where the love interests are from two different socio-economic classes, can true love win out? Or will he end up a kept husband? This one stars Joel McCrea and Dorothy Mackaill but it was Ned Sparks that--at least for me--stole the show in every scene he was in.
• 1932 Barnyard Olympics is another Disney cartoon--this one features Mickey and Minnie mouse. It is sports-themed. Again much more slapstick comedy.
• 1933 Kennel Murder Case (Philo Vance) is a murder mystery--so many bodies!--starring William Powell. I have not read any Philo Vance mysteries, but, I know that he was one of the more famous detectives of the golden age of mysteries.

1940s

• 1948 My Dear Secretary is a romantic comedy starring Kirk Douglas and Laraine Day. She certainly holds her on and steals each scene. What I enjoyed most about this one was the WRITING. The script, the dialogue, was SO good. I love good banter.

1950s

• 1951 Another Man's Poison is a Bette Davis movie. It's definitely a crime drama. I can't say that any of the characters are particularly likable, yet, the story itself was fine. If you like dark crime dramas, then this might be a good fit for you.
• 1952 Singin' in the Rain is a musical starring Gene Kelly, Debbie Reynolds, and Donald O'Conner. Love this one so much though it isn't my favorite musical. After seeing so many silent movies the past two weeks I can't help but think this movie mislead me for years and years into thinking that silent movies were not worth my time. That there wasn't "real acting" and that if you've seen one you've seen them all.
• 1954 Woman's World is a thought-provoking movie. A automotive company will be promoting someone from within to a higher position--that means a move to New York City--three couples come to spend the week. The husbands and wives will be closely watched to see who is most suitable for the job....the movie follows these three relationships and all the drama that unfolds. This one has six main characters. One of the actors if Fred Macmurray. I really enjoyed this one so much.
• 1957 Buster Keaton Story is the so-called "bio pic" of Buster Keaton's life. With Donald O'Conner in the role of Buster Keaton you would think this one would be all kinds of fabulous. Too bad they made up ALL of the movie and there's little resemblance to his life story. It was such a disappointment.

1960s

• 1960 High Time is a Bing Crosby movie that I love and adore. A middle-aged man--a successful business man at that--attends college much to the dismay of his grown children. This movie is charming through and through. Highly recommended.

1970s

• 1978 Capricorn One is an action-thriller. NASA's space program is increasingly uncertain as public and political apathy and disgust grow. The next mission Capricorn One faces even more challenges when a technical flaw that could shelve the mission permanently come to light. A few individuals take it upon themselves to "save" the mission, the program, and the world by kidnapping the astronauts and faking the Mars mission. Problems result when investigative reporters get a little too close to the truth. (Among other problems). This one is DRAMA and ACTION with quite a few thrilling sequences. It stars many familiar faces including O.J. Simpson. (Elliott Gould, James Brolin, Sam Waterson for example).

1990s

• 1991 Soap Dish is a comedy, a parody, of all things soap operas. This one probably couldn't or wouldn't get made today. However it is hilarious. This one features so many stars and guest stars. And the writing is just so good--it's SO QUOTABLE. Even though I've only seen it four or five times in my life, there are so many memorable scenes that I quote all the time.
• 1993 Swing Kids is a period drama starring Robert Sean Leonard and Christian Bale. This one is set in Nazi Germany and features rebellious teens addicted to swing music. I would say the most concise summary is can a friendship survive differing opinions about Hitler.... I have such conflicting feelings about this one.
• 1999 The Bachelor is loosely connected to Seven Chances. It stars Chris O'Donnell as Jimmie Shannon III. After his grandfather's will is read, he learns he will inherit millions of dollars if he marries before his thirtieth birthday? (thirty-first???) birthday. (All I remember for sure is he gets longer than Buster Keaton). The BIG, BIG, BIG difference is that this Jimmie Shannon is opposed to marriage. He does not ever want to get married--not really. He has had a LOT of failed relationships in his past. He's terrified of anything resembling commitment. For me this makes The Bachelor less enjoyable than the original. However, it was super interesting to see what was the same and what had been changed.

2000s

• 2001 Moulin Rouge is a wild, crazy "bohemian" themed musical starring Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor. I loved and adored it when it came out--having both soundtracks--and I still love this movie now.
• 2006 Catch and Release is an ODD movie. It is way too sad to be a romantic comedy, yet, it features so many elements of a romantic comedy. Jennifer Garner stars in this one. She learns after the death of the man she was to marry that he was not who she thought he was...

2020s

• 2023 One Life is a BEAUTIFUL, beautiful film. It is based on a true story. It is an incredible movie set in two different time periods, the "present" being the 1980s and the past being the 1940s. Anthony Hopkins plays Nicholas Winton a young man who rescued over six-hundred Jewish children just before the start of World War II.

 

© 2025 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

3. The Oarsmen: Chasing Embers

 3. The Oarsmen: Chasing Embers. Glenn Beck with Mikayla G. Hedrick. 2024. 288 pages. [Source: Library] [3 stars, mg speculative fiction, mg dystopia, mg fiction]

First sentence:  It was the night the scales tipped decisively in the Administrator's direction. A young couple was sitting in their unit in the half-built utopian city known as "Oasis." The city was flush with the sounds of mechanical construction--crash, whizz, pop, smash. These sounds were normal in Oasis. The Tenants were hardly bothered by it anymore.

Premise/plot: Chasing Embers is a middle grade [or perhaps young young adult] dystopian novel set in a future America. Like all dystopias it features a bleak, dismal, unsettling, disturbing reality. Some are more subtle than others--think Twilight Zone. Others are more obviously harsh.

What should you know? There are two main characters who alternate narration. Sky and Ember. Both have grown up in Oasis--I believe--and both will have to make a tough decision--or two or three--before the close of the novel.

Ember "inherited" a forbidden book, a handwritten book I believe, that capture in bits, pieces, and spurts the past. It's a past that is purposefully forgotten and/or revised by the current powers that be. The current powers that be determine what is true and what isn't true--and mostly they err on the side of everything from the past being lies, lies, and more lies. There are a few "holdouts" who live apart, and some that live within just super cautiously. There are also fabled Oarsmen. 

 Sky has left Oasis and is visiting one such holdout community and is learning things in "the sticking place." All the "lies" are being taught as truth and the community is being nurtured by morals and values--being taught right from wrong, truth from lie, etc. But Sky has his doubts and cannot believe what he is seeing and hearing. Or perhaps he wants to believe but struggles to incorporate his new realizations with everything he's ever known.

Though much of the book is world-building, plenty is left mysterious--for better or worse. There will be costs to pay for "holding out" and not conforming to the powers that be, and many characters will be forced to decide if it's a cost worth paying.

My thoughts: My biggest issue with this book is the lack of understanding of HOW IMPORTANT AND ESSENTIAL character motivations are within a book--any book really, but especially a supposedly action packed dystopia. IF hard work is put into character motivation--knowing WHY characters do what they do, say what they say, choose what they choose, etc--then much can be forgiven such as info-dumping for world-building sake. Also being premise-driven. A book can be premise-driven, plot-driven and be far from character driven....and still be a compelling read IF some amount of attention is given to showing WHY. 

I feel that both Sky and Ember lack ANY development when it comes to character motivation. It's a big guessing game with extremely shaky foundations as to WHY they say or do ANYTHING at any given time. Yes, it keeps readers guessing but for all the wrong reasons. I think *a little* more focus on building the characters inner worlds would help sell this one as a compelling read.

 

© 2025 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

2. We Are Wolves

2.  We Are Wolves. Katrina Nannestad. 2020. 320 pages. [Source: Library] [historical fiction, mg historical fiction, world at war, 4 stars]

First sentence: 'Hitler is a toad!'

Premise/plot: We Are Wolves is set in Germany [or is it East Prussia????] during the last year[s] of the second world war. Liesl Wolf is the oldest child and her mother makes her promise to take care of her younger brother, Otto, and younger sister, Mia, no matter what. No matter the cost, they must, must, must stay together. While she yearns for the war to be over, at what cost to the German people will it be over. The end of the war may just bring ever increasing danger. 

Most of the novel is Liesl relatively "on her own" taking care of her siblings--no matter the cost. There are other children--some German, some not--also living a "wild" life as they are trying to survive day by day. It is a dangerous landscape--dangers from soldiers, dangers from other children, dangers from the elements or human sickness and disease. 

My thoughts: We Are Wolves is an almost for me. I'll clarify: it is an almost love for me. I have read previous books by the author that I loved more. The book was compelling enough. It kept me turning pages. I was invested in the characters and the story. I do think in some ways that the book doesn't do full justice to the "Wolfskinder." The author wrote that she wanted to keep it kid-friendly and on the lighter side so she didn't deep dive into the darker horrors and terrors of [young] children left to tend to themselves with very few resources [if any] in a harsh environment on every level. I get that. I do. But at times the rosiness kept it from fully feeling authentic. The tied-with-a-bow ending felt a little too good to be true. Though, of course, I was hoping that everything would work out.

 

© 2025 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews