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You Don't Know What War Is: The Diary of a Young Girl From Ukraine by Yeva Skalietska

Title: You Don't Know What War Is: The Diary of a Young Girl From Ukraine

Author: Yeva Skalietska

Translator: Cindy Joseph-Pearson

Illustrator:

Publisher: Bloomsbury Children's Books

Date Published: 2022

Format: Paperback

Genre:

Book Category: Non Fiction

Age Range: 12+

Original Title: Written in Russian. First published in English by Bloomsbury Children's Books, 2022

Country of Origin: Ukraine

You Don't Know What War Is: The Diary of a Young Girl From Ukraine

by Yeva Skalietska
Age Range: 12+

On Thursday 24 February 2022 twelve-year-old Yeva Skalietska is woken up by the sound of terrifying explosions. Though there have been rumours about a war between Russia and Ukraine, few truly believed it would happen.

The next twelve days will change Yeva’s life forever. Throughout it all, Yeva keeps a diary – partly to document what is happening around her, and partly to give herself something to focus on in times of such despair.

As the first missiles begin to hit their beloved city of Kharkiv near the Ukraine-Russian border, Yeva and her grandmother Iryna take shelter in their apartment block's dusty, crowded basement. By the next day, the situation has worsened, and they know they need to find somewhere safer to stay. They travel to Iryna’s friend Inna who lives on the edge of the city but when it becomes unsafe there too, they realise they must leave their home, their city and their country to find safety and in doing so, leave everything they know and love behind.

As Yeva says in the Prologue “Everyone knows the word ‘war’. But very few people understand what it truly means. You might say that it’s horrible and frightening, but you don’t know the true scale of fear it brings. And so, when you find you suddenly have to face it, you feel totally lost, walled in by fright and despair. All of your plans are interrupted without warning by destruction. Until you’ve been there, you don’t know what war is.” Yeva’s diary is a compelling true story of the war in Ukraine seen through the eyes of a twelve-year-old girl. In a moving foreword by Michael Morpurgo he says “Yeva speaks a truth that all of us, young and old, must listen to.” As well as Yeva’s diary entries the book gives a timeline of the war with detailed notes of explanation at the back of the book. Text messages to and from Yeva’s friends together with black and white photographs, a map of Kharkiv and some of the stories of Yeva’s friends are also included. In the acknowledgement, Yeva thanks the many people who helped her and her grandmother including Channel 4 News who interviewed Yeva in Ukraine and provided support to help them reach Dublin where they now live.

You Don’t Know What War Is: The Diary of a Young Girl From Ukraine, translated from Russian by Cindy Joseph-Pearson, is an important story that needs to be told. Poignant and heart-breaking, Yeva shows maturity beyond her years as she narrates the devastating impact of a cruel and unnecessary war. An intensely powerful and moving book – one that should be read by everyone.

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