Tag: Ukrainian

The War Below (previously: Underground Soldier)

A companion to the award-winning books Stolen Child and Making Bombs for Hitler.

Fourteen-year-old Luka works as an Ostarbeiter in Nazi-occupied Eastern Europe, alongside Lida from Making Bombs for Hitler. Desperate to escape the brutal conditions of the labour camp, he manages to get away by hiding in a truck under a pile of dead bodies.

Once free, Luka joins a group of Ukrainian resistance fighters. Caught between advancing Nazis in the west and Soviet troops in the east, they mount guerilla raids, help POW escapees, and do all they can to make life hard for the Nazis and Soviets. After the war, Luka must decide whether to follow Lida to Canada — or stay in Europe and search for his long-lost mother.

Underground Soldier is a companion book to Stolen Child and Making Bombs for Hitler, and a perfect entry point into the series for new readers, as the books can be read in any order.
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A lush new book of classic Christmas traditions

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The first time I visited Ukraine was in 2001. It was an amazingly fun and educational bus tour led by Orysia Tracz of Winnipeg Manitoba. Since that time, Orysia and I have kept in contact. We’re part of an online group of people who write on Ukrainian themes, culture and history. Orysia is my go-to person for all things Ukrainian.

Orysia has been working on a number of projects and one came to fruition this fall in an absolutely spectacular way. She has published a book about Ukrainian Christmas traditions. This isn’t just any old book. It’s a visual masterpiece, chock full of full colour photos and images, printed lush on heavy gloss paper. I consider this the encyclopedia of Ukrainian Christmas traditions. Well written in an engaging anecdotal style, it invites the reader to dip in time and again. A new classic.

To give you an idea of the broad range of this book, check out this page on carols of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army:

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