The Road of Bones

Fine, Anne. The Road of Bones. New York: Farrar Straus & Giroux, 2008. Print.

The early years of Soviet Russia: the Tsar has been executed, the revolution firmly established. Children grow up hearing their parents' talk turn from the pride of social change to the dismal realities of Soviet life. The Glorious Revolution, it turns out, is not so glorious. A cold house, moldy turnips, or - if they're lucky - cold oatmeal to eat. Independent thought is forbidden; anyone complaining disappears in the night.

Yuri, not yet thirteen, is taken out of school with all his friends for a life of hard labor. In a moment of frustration, he speaks his mind when his best friend is killed in a pointless accident. From then on he is a traitor and enemy of the state; he is a fugitive on the run from torture, slavery, and death. From the poverty-stricken villages of central Russia to the snowswept barrenness of Siberian prison camps, Yuri is inching his way towards freedom. Finishing with a chilling conclusion, Fine's novel combs the depths that people in desperate times will sink to.

Awards - Shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal, 2007

(Image credit: Macmillan)