Long-time readers of this blog will know that I am skeptical at best when approaching new books written by modern authors. Especially when those books are written for Young Adults. I find that so few have any real substance, and most are marked with disorder. When Tanya Arnold of Biblioguides talked about Words on Fire by Jennifer A. Nielsen in Our Reading Life, I was a little curious. When Sherry Early of Meriadoc Homeschool Library sent it to me because she had a duplicate, I became much more curious. When a library patron reached out to tell me that she listened to Mrs. Arnold’s recommendation on the podcast and fell in love with this book, I decided that I needed to move it up my list. I am glad that I did.
Perhaps because it is historical fiction (one of my favorite genres), this modern book doesn’t feel quite like a modern book. It does have a certain pacing and dialogue style that is more typical of some modern books, but I enjoyed it and felt that it had a timelessness to it. In fact, as I was reading, it reminded me of Alta Halverson Seymour’s Tangled Skein or maybe a little bit of Hilda van Stockum’s Borrowed House. Both authors told powerful stories about teens in wartime that edified while they entertained. This story is also a good one for our teens to chew on. I suspect that we will do this one as a book club. And I look forward to reading more of her wartime novels.
In the late 1800’s, the Russian Cossacks occupied Lithuania. Understanding that the old people would never give up their customs, the Russians permitted the practice of the traditions but outlawed the printing of any Lithuanian books and banned the Lithuanian language from being spoken or written. All Lithuanian children were supposed to attend Russian schools where they would be educated in the language and customs of their new race. The Lithuanian people understood that the only meaningful resistance was that of underground education and reading. The Russian officers confiscated all Lithuanian books and severely punished anyone caught reading them. Those caught smuggling them were beaten and banished to Siberian work camps if not hanged. And, the books were burned.
In Words on Fire, Audra is the daughter of book smugglers. In an effort to protect their daughter, they never taught her to read, and they told her nothing of their real work. One night, however, the Russian soldiers came for Audra’s family. Her parents were arrested, but she escaped with her father’s satchel and a bundle that her mother begged her to deliver to an old woman in another village. The soldiers pursue Audra for days. The intrepid girl knows the woods better than the soldiers do, and she cautiously sneaks her way into the old woman’s village. Along the way, she meets a boy who befriends her and helps her find her way.
Of course, Audra becomes a book smuggler. But not automatically. She is angry at everyone over the grief and loss of her parents. And it takes some time and some experiences for her to really understand what is at stake and what role she has to play in all of this.
This exciting story is told from the point of view of a teenage girl, but there are healthy adult mentors who feature prominently and good relationships all around. The story is based on true events that did depend on the work of the old and the young working in tandem to preserve Lithuanian culture through underground schools and book smuggling. The adults in this book are courageous and of excellent character, but they are also wise enough to see the bigger picture and to be fearful that the teens will martyr themselves unnecessarily. The tension between the old and the young is palpable and credible. The older characters desperately want the younger ones to survive for three reasons: they love them, they know that the resistance will need them for a long time to come, and they know that Lithuanians must not only survive the occupation but also rebuild when the Russians finally leave. All of these themes are explored appropriately and interestingly.
I thoroughly enjoyed this story and would love to use it in a book club with teenagers. In fact, this one would make an excellent parent-teen book club around my fire. In fact, we created a book club guide to help others.
