{"product_id":"nevertell-isbn-9781536207125","title":"Nevertell","description":"\u003cb\u003eAfter escaping a Soviet prison camp, Lina is pursued by a powerful witch and her shadow wolves in a riveting debut that imbues frozen wilderness with fairy-tale magic.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAll that twelve-year-old Lina knows of the world is the Stalinist labor camp where she was born, a place of hunger, cruelty, and deprivation. After a daring escape into the frigid Siberian wilds with her best friend, Bogdan, Lina vows to reach Moscow and find her long-lost grandmother, whom she hopes will help her return to the camp to rescue her mother. But out in the dark forests and haunted tundras, Lina and Bogdan catch the eye of a vengeful witch, a refugee of oppressive new laws about magic, who commands an army of shadow wolves. She seems drawn to some mysterious power within Lina herself. Pursued by the witch and in fear of recapture, Lina will need every ounce of courage she has — and a whisper of her own magic — if she and Bogdan are to survive the journey and bring hope to a dark place. An enthralling debut that weaves Russian fairy tales through fast-paced adventure.Cai's scratchy, flowing chapter heads enhance the fantastical atmosphere. A subtle, haunting debut.\u003cbr\u003e—Kirkus Reviews\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eReaders will glimpse the harsh reality of life in Soviet prison camps and root for Lina on her journey of self-discovery, as she finds the inner strength to survive a variety of dangers. The magical adventure is brought to life through lush details and vivid imaginings of ghostly wolves as they stalk through the woods after Lina and Bogdan. A strong choice for anyone who loves adventure, history, coming-of-age tales, magical journeys, or fairy tales.\u003cbr\u003e—Booklist Online\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAn intriguing first novel with equal parts adventure and magic; an additional purchase.\u003cbr\u003e—School Library Journal\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTwelve-year-old Lina was born in her Siberian labor camp and knows nothing of the outside world...readers looking for a seasonal book with Russian folklore may find this rewarding.\u003cbr\u003e—Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books\u003cb\u003eKatharine Orton\u003c\/b\u003e has a master’s in creative writing. \u003ci\u003eNevertell\u003c\/i\u003e is her debut novel. She lives in Bristol, England.\u003cb\u003e1\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e In the depths of Siberia, in the harshest cold, an eleven-year-old girl dressed in gray overalls crossed the assembly square on the way to her prison quarters. She walked alone. She blew on her hands for warmth and left her breath behind her. It made white whirligigs through air laced with ice. \u003cbr\u003e Lina neared the barbed-wire prison fence. There, she stopped. The wind played in the tufts of her sand-colored hair; her eyes glinted like varnished wood. If she’d been a fox, her ears would’ve been pricked. Voices? Out here? At this hour of dusk?\u003cbr\u003e This wasn’t good. Besides her, the only other prisoners who would be lingering about now were the ruthless kind. Thugs. Robbers. The ones that would hold a blade to your throat and strip you of everything you owned, soon as look at you. Boots, overalls, and all. They’d leave you to freeze. \u003cbr\u003e That’s if they didn’t do you in first.\u003cbr\u003e Lina glanced around. On one side stretched the back of the barracks complex: the sleeping quarters. Half a winter’s worth of snow towered next to her on the other side. Prisoners shoveled it off the path and dumped it every morning as their first job of the day, before they set out to work in the mine. It was gray-brown at its base and peaked white at the top — the closest thing to a mountain Lina had ever seen. \u003cbr\u003e Every winter of her life since she could walk, she’d trudged back and forth in its shadow. Tonight, as if things weren’t bad enough, it had voices leaking through it. Voices she now recognized. \u003cbr\u003e It had to be mad Old Gleb, Alexei the Butcher — and someone else. Probably Vadim.\u003cbr\u003e The thought of Vadim sent a shudder through her. At sixteen, he already had the tattoos of the crim­inal underworld. He had quick eyes and no patience for work — as if he felt he had somewhere else to be. Lina had seen it before, all too often. Denial. It made people hard to \u2028predict — which also made them dangerous. \u003cbr\u003e “And supplies? We’ll need more food than this, Vadim Ivanov, O great and sage leader. Much more, if we’re to —”\u003cbr\u003e “Shut your mouth, Gleb.” That was Alexei’s voice: deep— and blunt as a shovel. Enormous, dark-haired Alexei, always with his eyebrows knitted and always with coldness in his pale glare. He was Vadim’s muscle—twice Vadim’s age and double his size, known to act first and let others do the thinking later.\u003cbr\u003e “Quiet, both of you.” Vadim. “The kid will be here. Katya said this is the way she always comes. The best place for ‘a quiet word,’ away from the guards, she said.” \u003cbr\u003e Lina gasped. Katya was her mother’s name. They were talking about \u003ci\u003eher\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003ci\u003e \u003c\/i\u003eWhy would her mother tell them, of all people, where to find her? Lina was confused for a moment — but only a moment. Her mother was brave. And smart. Lina trusted her. If Mama had told this group where to find her, there must have been a very good reason. \u003cbr\u003e Still, Lina hesitated. These men were dangerous. Maybe they’d only \u003ci\u003eoverheard\u003c\/i\u003e her mother saying she’d be here. Maybe they were planning something . . . Lina began to back away.\u003cbr\u003e “\u003ci\u003eShh.\u003c\/i\u003e What was that?” \u003cbr\u003e Heavy, crunching footsteps sounded, and Alexei loomed around the snowbank. Fear set in Lina’s bones.\u003cbr\u003e Alexei reached out. To grab her. Lina sprang into action. She ducked under his arms at the last second and scrambled to get away. Too late. Alexei’s ice-cold hands clamped down in an instant. Lina was small for her age, and he lifted her up like a bundle of twigs and whisked her behind the snowbank. \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e Vadim narrowed his eyes when he saw her and smiled. To the other two, he said: “See. I told you the kid would come.” \u003cbr\u003e “Let me go,” Lina said through clenched teeth. But Alexei held her fast. No escape. She could kick, however. She drove her heel hard into his shin. He grunted in pain, though his grip didn’t falter.\u003cbr\u003e “Oh, for goodness’ sake,” said Old Gleb. “Look at him. How is he going to help us? He’s so small, he’ll barely be able to carry his own supplies! Hardly any muscle on him at all. And listen. He sounds just like a girl.”\u003cbr\u003e “Idiot!” said Alexei. “She\u003ci\u003e is \u003c\/i\u003ea\u003ci\u003e \u003c\/i\u003egirl.”\u003cbr\u003e Lina\u003ci\u003e \u003c\/i\u003esmirked.\u003ci\u003e \u003c\/i\u003e“I’m stronger than I look. And I have more meat on my bones than you, old man.” Hurt flashed in Old Gleb’s eyes. Lina bit her bottom lip. Starvation wasn’t something to joke about in a forced labor camp — and Old Gleb was painfully thin. Almost what people here called a \u003ci\u003egoner\u003c\/i\u003e. “And anyway,” she barked, recovering. “What do you want? Why are you looking for me? Shouldn’t you be getting your rations, quick, before someone else eats them?” \u003cbr\u003e Vadim sneered. He was good-looking in a certain light. Not when he sneered, though — then he looked ugly and cruel. “Rations are exactly what we’re after, but not the measly ones served up here. Can you be trusted to keep a secret, as Katya insists? You under­stand there’s no going back if I tell you this, don’t you?”\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e Lina tried to shrug the chills out of her spine and stand tall. “I can be trusted. Can \u003ci\u003eyou\u003c\/i\u003e?”\u003cbr\u003e Alexei and Old Gleb glanced at each other. Old Gleb’s cheeks puffed with a barely contained laugh. “Well, Vadim Ivanov, O great and sage leader.\u003ci\u003e \u003c\/i\u003eShe’ll be good entertainment on the other side of the wire, at the very least.”\u003cbr\u003e Lina’s eyes grew wide and round. “You’re planning to cross the wire? To escape! Are you mad?” Hardly anyone got past the outer fence. Those who did . . . If the cold didn’t get them, or the lack of food, then the wolves would. Or, if you believed that sort of thing, the spirits.","brand":"Walker Books US","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46301225025765,"sku":"NP9781536207125","price":18.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9781536207125.jpg?v=1767733650","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/nevertell-isbn-9781536207125","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}