THE WINTER WAR

Set in Finland during the 1939 Russian invasion, this recounts a little-known war. As a junior member of the Civil Guard, war comes personally to Marko when his best friend is blown up by a Russian bomb, his father is conscripted and his grandmother and little sister are sent to live safely in Sweden. Despite a leg weakened by polio, Marko skis well and volunteers to serve at the front as a messenger throughout the war. Well-researched, this is filled with information and detail about polio, Finnish culture and history and winter warfare. For casual readers the wealth of background may sometimes overwhelm characterization and slow the narrative arc of what is essentially a fascinating and, at times, grisly war story. Those who stick with it will likely not forget this portrayal of maddening injustice and of the indomitability of the Finnish spirit during what history calls “The Winter War.” (historical afterword, bibliography of sources for study) (Historical fiction. 12-15)