What do you think?
Rate this book
Shadow Under the Sea
A novel for young adults set in Russia during the perestroika period
- GenresMysteryCrimeYoung Adult
Paperback
First published January 1, 1990
10 people want to read
About the author
Geoffrey Trease
174 books25 followersRobert Geoffrey Trease (1909-1998) was a prolific writer, publishing 113 books between 1934 (Bows Against the Barons) and 1997 (Cloak for a Spy). His work has been translated into 20 languages. His grandfather was a historian, and was one of the main influences towards Trease's work.
He is best known for writing children's historical novels, whose content reflects his insistence on historically correct backgrounds, which he meticulously researched. However, with his ground-breaking study Tales Out of School (1949), he was also a pioneer of the idea that children's literature should be a serious subject for study and debate. When he began his career, his radical viewpoint was a change from the conventional and often jingoistic tone of most children's literature of the time, and he was one of the first authors who deliberately set out to appeal to both boys and girls and to feature strong leading characters of both sexes.
He is best known for writing children's historical novels, whose content reflects his insistence on historically correct backgrounds, which he meticulously researched. However, with his ground-breaking study Tales Out of School (1949), he was also a pioneer of the idea that children's literature should be a serious subject for study and debate. When he began his career, his radical viewpoint was a change from the conventional and often jingoistic tone of most children's literature of the time, and he was one of the first authors who deliberately set out to appeal to both boys and girls and to feature strong leading characters of both sexes.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
October 3, 2023
Ho adorato questo Giallo Junior! La storia è ambientata in estate, durante le vacanze che Kate, ragazza britannica ma in grado di parlare russo, trascorre in Crimea con il padre medico. Mentre il papà, ospite di un dottore del luogo, partecipa a convegni e studi, Kate fa amicizia con tre suoi coetanei e si trova invischiata in un'avventura che mescola politici corrotti, traffici illegali e ritrovamenti preziosi. A questo si sommano le aspettative di un'adolescente tra amicizie, progetti per il futuro e batticuore. Scritto negli anni '90, resta attualissimo per certe storture ancora presenti (uomini di potere russi che agiscono in maniera criminale) e per il racconto di un'esperienza di crescita indimenticabile.
August 9, 2022
I've bought this out of nostalgia: I loved it as a kid when I read the Italian edition. So I wanted to see if the translation was faithful or not. Is it? I don't know... SIGH! I don't remember the moonshine cove in the Italian edition. But I may be wrong: it's been like twenty years since I read it for the last time.
Anyway. The book was published in 1990. Glasnost' and perestrojka were familiar words back then and people in the Soviet Union (some of them, at least) were dreaming of a different future. Other people were trying to maintain their privilege. Some other people were clinging to bureaucracy as if nothing has happened. This is what the the reader can find in this book.
Kate is in Yalta with her father, a famous doctor, who's visiting a colleague in a sanatorium on the sea. She acts as translator because she's studied Russian and, jeez, her Russian is fantastic. I wish I could speak Polish the way she can speak Russian. She makes friend with three Russian guys and then a fourth and mysterious guy joins them in their trips around the city.
The author lived in Russia for six months in 1935 because the Soviet government invited him thanks to the success of one of his earlier books, a Communist interpretation of Robin Hood. And I think his love for the country seeps through the pages. The Yalta he sees is an idyllic place with only minor problems (moonshine producers and black market operators and a corrupt government). We have young Russians playing the balalaika and old babuška making tea in a samovar. But there's also a shady American with a yacht who "kidnaps" Kate when she has a date with her new friends.
I quite liked this short novel. It depicts a world that doesn't exist anymore and it shows how much Trease loved Russia and how he hoped it could change for the better. Too bad history got in the way and Trease's dream couldn't come true.
Anyway. The book was published in 1990. Glasnost' and perestrojka were familiar words back then and people in the Soviet Union (some of them, at least) were dreaming of a different future. Other people were trying to maintain their privilege. Some other people were clinging to bureaucracy as if nothing has happened. This is what the the reader can find in this book.
Kate is in Yalta with her father, a famous doctor, who's visiting a colleague in a sanatorium on the sea. She acts as translator because she's studied Russian and, jeez, her Russian is fantastic. I wish I could speak Polish the way she can speak Russian. She makes friend with three Russian guys and then a fourth and mysterious guy joins them in their trips around the city.
The author lived in Russia for six months in 1935 because the Soviet government invited him thanks to the success of one of his earlier books, a Communist interpretation of Robin Hood. And I think his love for the country seeps through the pages. The Yalta he sees is an idyllic place with only minor problems (moonshine producers and black market operators and a corrupt government). We have young Russians playing the balalaika and old babuška making tea in a samovar. But there's also a shady American with a yacht who "kidnaps" Kate when she has a date with her new friends.
I quite liked this short novel. It depicts a world that doesn't exist anymore and it shows how much Trease loved Russia and how he hoped it could change for the better. Too bad history got in the way and Trease's dream couldn't come true.
September 25, 2020
The cover of this book is quite misleading, giving the impression that the "shadow under the sea" is a Soviet-era hammer and sickle. It's far more interesting than that.
Kate's father is a medical specialist who has been invited to Russia during the perestroika times to several conferences. Kate, who is reasonably fluent in the language, accompanies him to help with translation. While in Yalta, she manages to throw off her "minder" and go wandering, meeting up with some local teens who are eager to practise their English and show off the sights as well. She makes an appointment to meet them at a local cafe but, arriving late, she is scooped up by an American visitor who ushers her off to a yacht.
There Kate is introduced to other visitors and dignitaries as well as the regional Soviet "strongman". It seems strange that he would visit an American yacht but Kate knows better than to ask questions. She eventually meets up with the local teens once again and soon they are involved in a tale of ancient shipwreck and modern corruption.
Kate's father is a medical specialist who has been invited to Russia during the perestroika times to several conferences. Kate, who is reasonably fluent in the language, accompanies him to help with translation. While in Yalta, she manages to throw off her "minder" and go wandering, meeting up with some local teens who are eager to practise their English and show off the sights as well. She makes an appointment to meet them at a local cafe but, arriving late, she is scooped up by an American visitor who ushers her off to a yacht.
There Kate is introduced to other visitors and dignitaries as well as the regional Soviet "strongman". It seems strange that he would visit an American yacht but Kate knows better than to ask questions. She eventually meets up with the local teens once again and soon they are involved in a tale of ancient shipwreck and modern corruption.
September 22, 2023
Soobie and Anne have written excellent reviews (the others are in Italian, and I can't read them), so I'll lean on their summaries and just add that this book showed me the Soviet Union just before it fell (text copyrighted just a year before it broke up), and helped give me an idea why Russia annexed Crimea from the Ukraine: it's got a gorgeous, Mediterranean-like climate, the buildings are (were, prior to Russian bombing) beautiful and affluent, and it has been influenced by a plethora of ancient cultures. The rest of Russia freezes half to death annually in brutalist architecture through long and bitter, dreary winters. The Black Sea was Russia's idea of heaven... and probably the Oligarchs wanted unfettered access to it again. There was a line in the book:
Agreed that the sickle-and-hammer cover is unfortunately misleading. The archaeological context is Ancient Greece (they were present in Crimea and all throughout the Black Sea) and a shipwreck belonging to that time. The story revolves around the current (ca. 1990), scary and all-encompassing corruption and black market antiquities trade.
They say nothing ever changes in RussiaPre-revolution, post-revolution, post-Soviet - corrupt to the core, full of almost laughable propaganda, and the wealthy happily exploiting the rest. Just so. Very sad.
Agreed that the sickle-and-hammer cover is unfortunately misleading. The archaeological context is Ancient Greece (they were present in Crimea and all throughout the Black Sea) and a shipwreck belonging to that time. The story revolves around the current (ca. 1990), scary and all-encompassing corruption and black market antiquities trade.
May 7, 2018
Kate ha accompagnato il padre, medico, in Unione Sovietica per fargli da traduttrice, visto che studia russo. Nei momenti liberi conosce un gruppo di ragazzi con i quali fa amicizia, anche se è sempre difficile sapere di chi fidarsi, soprattutto quando si parla di persone importanti...
Carino, molto datato.
Carino, molto datato.
August 8, 2022
Uno dei miei gialli Junior preferiti. Non so, all'epoca di sentiva tanto parlare di Russia e perestrojka ma probabilmente letto adesso il romanzo ha un sapore un po' antico e forse anche un po' ingenuo visto come sono le cose da quelle parti ancora oggi.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews