Finding Zasha by Randi
G. Barrow was published in 2013 and is the story of Ivan, a twelve-year-old boy in the year 1941
in Leningrad, Germany. Ivan is a partisan activist who is against the war, which is a very
dangerous thing to be in 1941 in Germany.
Ivan lives in Leningrad with his
mother, and the Germans are beginning an epic battle as the novel opens. Food shortages are
rife, and all supply lines in and out of the city are cut off. Ivan's mother's job is moving to
a site in the Ural Mountains due to safety concerns, and Ivan is not allowed to move with her.
Instead, he will be sent to live with relatives across Lake Lagoda once the lake is frozen
enough to hold his weight.
As soon as the ice freezes, he sets off for Lake
Lagoda. Soon after his arrival, the town falls under Nazi control. Ivan meets a particularly
cruel Nazi soldier named Axel Recht who forces Ivan to come work for him. Since Ivan wants to
continue his resistance work and spy on the Germans, he is secretly pleased with the assignment.
One of Ivan's tasks is to train Alex's dogs. In doing so, he becomes very close to two puppies
in particular, Thor and Zasha. One day Recht is called away to manage a battlefield crisis, and
Ivan decides to make his move; he takes both dogs and runs. Ivan is mercilessly hunted and must
hide, protect the dogs, and manage not be shot at or bombed during one of the most deadly sieges
in the history of World War II.
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