Night Witches

January 15, 2017
A rarely told story of sisterhood, passion, and survival during World War II.Valya, 16, has always struggled with feelings of jealousy toward her older sister, Tatyana. When their mother allows Tatyana to join the Soviet military and become a Night Witch, a fighter pilot of the 588th Regiment, and forces Valya to stay home, it is almost too much for Valya to bear. A naturally skilled flier, taught by her father, she knows she was born for the sky and feels her talents are desperately wasted on the ground: Stalingrad in 1941 is besieged on three sides by Nazi forces, and she knows she could make a difference. When her mother and grandmother are killed and her father declared MIA, Valya's time arrives, and she starts her journey to become a Night Witch. Occasional infodumps slow the narrative momentum but provide interesting context to readers who may not be familiar with the Soviet Union's involvement in World War II. Repeated references to American and British children's literature feel forced and clunky in Valya's first-person narration, and oddly absent are either ideological commentary on them or references to beloved Russian children's literature. Though this inevitably begs comparison to Code Name Verity, it's a different book: a fast-paced slice of history for younger teens. Despite quibbles, it's sure to satisfy fans of Carolyn Meyer, Dear America, and Lasky's own previous World War II fiction. (Historical fiction. 12-15)

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February 1, 2017

Gr 7 Up-Lasky's latest historical fiction novel flies readers to World War II Europe on a life-threatening adventure. After her mother dies in their Stalingrad apartment from a Nazi sniper shot, 16-year-old Valya is determined to join her sister Tatyana in the Soviet Union's only all-female flight team, the 588th Night Bombing Regiment, better known as the Night Witches. Despite her age, Valya joins the Soviet war effort to thwart the Nazis in every possible way, including spending time in the trenches behind a machine gun. Valya finally makes it to the hidden Night Witch flight base, but her dream is shattered when she finds out that she must work on the ground crew before she is allowed to fly. When Tatyana disappears during one of her flights, it is a matter of when, rather than whether, Valya should risk her own life to rescue her sister. Although Valya's quick rise in the ranks is dubious, it keeps the story moving without too much lag time. Lasky effectively draws readers into a little-told facet of World War II history. There are a few instances of coarse language.

Copyright 2017 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 1, 2017
Grades 8-11 While Valya's hunkered down in the bombed-out shell of her Stalingrad home, she's desperate to join her sister, a pilot with the Night Witches, named for their relentless, near-silent nighttime attacks on Nazi troops. After a few daring escapes, Valya makes her way to the temporary airfield where her sister is stationed. Much to her chagrin, Valya ends up stuck among the ground crew, but before long, she and her fellow aviatrixes flit though the sky, dodging bulky German planes and bombing supply reserves and searchlights. Though her prose is occasionally florid and moments of expository dialogue seem shoehorned in, Lasky shines when describing the Witches' bombing missions and amplifies the suspense when Valya is shot down behind enemy lines. The daring young women are all dynamically well rounded, particularly Valya, who oscillates between caring for and competing with her sister. Perhaps most thrilling of all is that the Night Witches were a real, all-women regiment, a fact that might encourage young readers to seek out the history of these daredevil heroes.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)

July 1, 2017
Sixteen-year-old pilot Valentina longs to be a Night Witch--female pilots in the Soviet Union's 588th Regiment--like her older sister, but she's too young to enlist. After their mother is killed, Valya finds herself alone in war-torn Stalingrad and thrust into battle. Tactical descriptions and historical background sometimes stall the action, but WWII-fiction fans won't mind.

(Copyright 2017 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)