Breaking Stalin's Nose written and illustrated by Eugene Yelchin, 160 pp, RL 4
Breaking Stalin's Nose by Eugene Yelchin was one of two books that won the Newbery Honor Medal this year. I had never heard of it but the title was immediately intriguing and upon reading, the book proved to be chilling, suspenseful and utterly unforgettable. Because of the title, I thought the story might begin with a young communist's realization that his great leader was not so great and track his rebellion. Instead, Breaking Stalin's Nose starts with ten-year old Sasha Zaichik writing a praise filled, grateful letter to his great leader while waiting for his father, a chekist, a member of the first secret police organization in Soviet Russia, to come home from work. Because of his government job, Sasha and his father share a relatively large room in their komunalska, the communal living space where a kitchen and bathroom are shared by twelve families living under the same roof, while other families of four or more cram themselves into smaller rooms. It is this small luxury, combined with the paranoia spread by the government, that changes Zaichik's life irrevocably.

Although the story takes place over the course of one night and a day, so much happens. In the night, Zaichik's father is taken away by the police to Lubyanka, the prison from which few emerge, which also happens to be the headquarters of the secret police. Before this, he tells Sasha never to tell their neighbor Stukachov anything because "He will use it," and to go to his Aunt Larissa's if anything happens to him. As soon as his father is out the door, Stukachov begins moving his family into Sasha's room. Convinced that his father's arrest is a mistake, Sasha believes that Stalin will fix it and return his father to him in time for the Young Pioneers induction ceremony at school that his father was asked to preside over. In the middle of the night Zaichik walks to the Kremlin to inform Stalin of this error but is turned away by guards. Sasha is then turned away by Aunt Larissa's husband who is sure he will draw the police to them as well and he spends the night in the basement of their building. He makes his way to school in the morning, entering into a nightmarish labyrinth of constant fear worthy of Kafka. When his classmate, the once model student Vovka, uses the slur Amerikanitz to goad Zaichik into throwing a snowball at Finkelstein, the glasses-wearing Jewish student who's parents have been sent to Lubyanka, things begin to unravel. Nina Petrovna, their zealous, sadistic teacher, makes continuous veiled threats and insinuations that keep all of her students, Sasha, especially, on edge. Petrovna allows the class to vote on whether or not Finkelstein should be sent to the principal when he refuses to reveal who broke his glasses, praising the "democracy" of the communist system that allows everyone to have a say. Of course they all vote to send him.
In a series of events that begin with Zaichik joyfully imagining himself carrying the Young Pioneers banner past Stalin at the May Day Parade, a fantasy which results in the nose being broken off the bust of Stalin in the school hallway, accusations are made, suspect lists are compiled, the secret police are called in, a false confession is given and Zaichik finds himself breaking up a fight between Vovka and their teacher. As he returns to his classroom, Zaichik overhears a substitute teacher Luzhko, one he had always suspected of being less than loyal, discussing Nicolai Gogol's story "The Nose" with his pupils. Luzhko points out how Gogol's story demonstrates that "when we blindly believe in someone else's idea of what is right or wrong for us as individuals, sooner or later our refusal to make our own choices could lead to the collapse of an entire political system. And entire country. The world, even." Zaichik dismisses this nonsense and ducks into a biology classroom to hide. Shivering and afraid, Zaichik discovers Stalin's nose sitting in the room, smoking a pipe and exhorting him to renounce his father and join the Young Pioneers. Zaichik passes out. Shortly thereafter, a meeting in a supply closet with a secret police officer plays out the same way and Zaichik helplessly shakes his hand, effectively agreeing to renounce his father and head up the Young Pioneers ceremony. As he is about to enter the auditorium, Zaichik makes a stunning decision.
