Breaking Stalin's Nose [Paperback]

A Newbery Honor Book.

Sasha Zaichik has known the laws of the Soviet Young Pioneers since the age of six:
The Young Pioneer is devoted to Comrade Stalin, the Communist Party, and Communism.
A Young Pioneer is a reliable comrade and always acts according to conscience.
A Young Pioneer has a right to criticize shortcomings.
But now that it is finally time to join the Young Pioneers, the day Sasha has awaited for so long, everything seems to go awry. He breaks a classmate's glasses with a snowball. He accidentally damages a bust of Stalin in the school hallway. And worst of all, his father, the best Communist he knows, was arrested just last night.

Eugene Yelchin's moving story of a ten-year-old boy's world shattering is masterful in its simplicity, powerful in its message, and heartbreaking in its plausibility.

Breaking Stalin's Noseis one ofHorn Book's Best Fiction Books of 2011

Eugene Yelchin has illustrated several books for children, includingWho Ate All the Cookie Dough?andWon Ton. He lives in California with his wife and children.

Chapter-by Chapter Comprehension Questions
To check foundational and literal reading comprehension, have students answer each of the questions below in complete sentences. This can be done in a journal or on separate paper to hand in. You may also review grammar by requiring that each answer contain such elements of your lessons as compound/complex sentences, adverbial phrases,
adjectives, and verb tenses.
1. Why is Sasha Zaichik excited to become a Young Pioneer? When will this occur?
2. How much privacy do the residents of the komunalka have? Explain.
3. What does Sasha's father do for a living?
4. Why is Sasha embarrassed to look at Stukachov? (page 14)
5. Why is Sasha's father coming to his school?
6. Why have the State Security come for Sasha's father?
7. What may be Stukachov's reason for reporting Saló,