Night Witches: A Novel of World War Two

by Kathryn Lasky

16-year-old Valya knows what it feels like to fly. She's a pilot who's always felt more at home soaring through the sky than down on earth. But since the Germans surrounded Stalingrad, Valya's been forced to stay on the ground and watch her city crumble.

When her mother is killed during the siege, Valya is left with one burning desire: to join up with her older sister, a member of the famous and feared Night Witches-a brigade of young female pilots.

Using all her wits, Valya manages to get past the German blockage and find the Night Witches' base . . . and that's when the REAL danger starts. The women have been assigned a critical mission. If they succeed, they'll inflict serious damage on the Nazis. If they fail, they'll face death . . . or even worse horrors.

Historical fiction master Lasky sheds light on the war's unsung heroes-daredevil girls who took to the skies to fight for their country-in an action-packed thrill ride that'll leave you electrified and breathless.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Young Adult, World War II, Historical, Fiction, Russia, Audiobook

229 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 28, 2017

About the author

Kathryn Lasky, also known as Kathryn Lasky Knight and E. L. Swann, is an award-winning American author of over one hundred books for children and adults. Best known for the Guardians of Ga’Hoole series, her work has been translated into 19 languages and includes historical fiction, fantasy, and nonfiction.

Reviews

[Brooke W · Rating 2 out of 5]

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I was so excited about this book! I thought it was going to be one of my favorites. I was also really excited to discover a new author. This book gave me false hope.

Characters:
Valya: I just simply didn't like her very much. I will admit, she had some courage, but she was also selfish sometimes and very flippy. She was very conflicted about what to feel and couldn't make good decisions. She grew, which I acknowledge. But she did/thought some unessesary things.
I liked one of the characters, but I forget his name. He was a shooter and I thought he was cool. He was mysterious, logical thinking, and selfless.
We also get another overprotective sister.



The ~plot~
The concept of this book was my air. Until I read it. I was really disappointed. It took me 5 days to read a 173-page book! There were some parts I REALLY enjoyed, which is why I'm giving this book 2 stars. It was slow but fast. It was on and off. There were also a lot of characters. Some were necessary, some were not. I really liked certain elements of the plot, which is why I picked up this book with such excitement. There was also some women empowerment which I felt was the best part of this book!



~Romance~ What even was this? There was a potential interest. But Valya was so flippy and I also don't see what the potential love interest sees in her. They were friends one minute, and then she was watching his every move the next second. We only get Valya's perspective but I'm still assuming this relationship is one-sided.



Writing style:
It wasn't the best, but it wasn't the worst either. I really liked it- not loved but enjoyed, when the characters were flying(in planes). It was very realistic and Lasky definitely did her research. One negative thought about flying, one second Valya is thinking about how awesome flying is and the next, she's looking for a spot to land. I get fear, but she regrets taking off every other flight and it gets really annoying.



I liked part of this book but I was in pain reading most of it.



Recommend it to: No one really. Maybe some diehard aviation/historical fiction fans but it just really wasn't that good. If you just need a quick read, this probably isn't it- unless you are able to plow through boring books.

[viktoria · Rating 3 out of 5]

tl;dr: This book was so flipping interesting. It occurred to me, somewhere around the first quarter, that I had never read a WWII fiction book that took place in the USSR/Russia and I need to read more in the future, because the combination of that and Night Witches fascinated me so much. Plus, I really liked Valya as a character. That being said, I really wish this book was better written (even though it's probably meant for the younger end of the YA spectrum). It's definitely guilty of "telling, not showing" and "massive info dump summary," especially in the parts where you want the details and scenes. But it's so intriguing and interesting, and definitely worth an evening of your time.

[Courtney · Rating 2 out of 5]

The protaganist was a bit too "Western" in her thinking for her to be a believable Russian Night Witch. I was also disappointed in the author's writing, there was no suspense. The story was definitely told, not shown, with no real tension built. It was basically written as "and then, and then, and then". I wish I had read a non-fiction instead, which is a rarity for me.

[laurel [the suspected bibliophile] · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rule #1: When writing historical fiction, get the facts right.

I'm not usually a nit-picky asshat (okay, that's totally a lie), but Operation Barbarossa was in June 1941. The Germans didn't reach Stalingrad until mid-to-late 1942. The Night Witches weren't flying missions until mid-1942. The author has the Germans in Stalingrad in 1941, sometime in September/October-ish (if I'm using the calendar from the book right), an entire year off (and logistically nearly impossible to get that far into Russia). Granted, time is a little funky in this book.

Aside from that kinda major error, the book was okay. It book reads more like a rough overview of World War II as kinda seen from the viewpoint of a teenage pilot than a fully realized story. There are pages of nothing but information dumps and at times I felt like I was reading a history book or Wikipedia. The characters are also very hard to relate with as a result of the tell not show storytelling. At first, Valya is really engaged and pays attention to things around her, and then she slowly begins to detach as she sees more and more of the horrors of war. And as she detaches, so does the story and time just slips right on by. As a result, it's really hard to connect to Valya, other characters and really the story, because it becomes a microcosm of the war as seen from 600 meters.

[Alex Baugh · Rating 4 out of 5]

It 1941, and the Nazi have just begun Operation Barbarossa, their invasion of Russia. Nazi soldier have surrounded Stalingrad on three sides (the fourth side is the Volga River), making it impossible for people and supplies to get in or out of the city. After her mother was killed by a Nazi sniper, Valentina Petrovna Baskova, or Valya, 16, sees no reason for not joining her sister Tatyana as a Night Witch, a fighter pilot with the 588th Regiment. Her father, a pilot, hasn't been heard from since he left to fight, and is MIA.

With the help of Yuri, an old classmate now turned Russian sniper, Valya sets off for the river where ferries are rumored to be taking people across in the morning. Unfortunately, so many people are fleeing Stalingrad, that Valya is unable to get on the ferry, and ends up unwillingly manning antiaircraft guns in Trench 301 run by another school friend, Anna.

Valya is stuck fighting in the Trench 301, always looking up into the night sky and wondering if one the Night Witches she sees could be her sister, making her long to be part of it all the more. But no one in the Trench 301 really believes a 16 year old can fly a plane. Finally, it is again rumored that civilians will be allowed to cross it. Valya makes it to the docks, but just as she is about to board, Yuri shows up and pulls her away, saving her life.

It's in the dead of winter that Valya finally makes it across the frozen river, escorted by Yuri, who seems to know exactly where the secreted 588th Regiment is located. At last, Valya makes it to Night Witches, and finds her sister Tatyana. And despite all she has already been through, her real adventure as a Night Witch has only just begun.

Night Witches is a pretty exciting, fast-paced story with perhaps a little poetic license. Valya is a strong female main character, who exhibits plenty of level-headed self-confidence even in a dangerous situation, yet retains the impulsiveness of her age. I have to admit, however, her jealousy and the way she constantly compared herself to her older sister annoyed me (um, too close to home, perhaps?). Still, the very strong bond between the sisters which becomes all the more evident when Tatyana's plane is shot down and Valya refuses to believe she could be dead and vows to find her.

The story of the Night Witches is not a familiar story to today's readers, and Lasky's book certainly has a great deal of appeal going for it. Since most WWII books for young readers focus on the home front, the war in European theater, and to a lesser extent, the war in the Pacific theater, Lasky has included some information as part of the narrative to give readers some sense of context. But, the use of female fighter pilots was such an unusual phenomenon in WWII, that I would have liked Back Matter with some addition information about the Night Witches and perhaps suggestions for further reading.

While there is some strong language, and some of the fighting is a bit graphic, especially while Valya is fighting in Trench 301, it isn't overly done. My first introduction to Russia's women pilots was in an old book called Comrades of the Air (1942) by Dorothy Carter, a story about a female pilot in the ATA who ferries a plane to Russia, so it is nice to read a book from a Russian perspective.

Did you think that Valya was too young to fly? Here is an interesting article about Russia's Night Witches from The Atlanticmagazine about the real women pilots who actually did range in age from 17 to 26.

This book is recommended for readers age 13+
This book was an EARC received from Edelweiss/Above the Treeline

Since Night Witches is a YA novel, may I recommend a work of nonfiction as a supplement to those interested in these brave pilots called Night Witches: The Amazing Story of Russia's Women Pilots in WWII by Bruce Myles and published by Chicago Review Press.

This review was originally posted on The Children's War

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Despite a few minor quibbles(which I could very well be wrong about), I enjoyed the heck out of this. It’s a rip-roaring adventure, and it’s gritty enough for the age group for which it’s written. The protagonist’s references to Western novels didn’t jar. Valya comes from an elite family, and if you’ve read other novels of the period, you’ll see plenty of references to Dickens and other Western literature. I also felt that, despite the current situation, her grotesque description of Krushchev and his role in stoking Ukrainian collaboration with the Germans certainly indicates that the author wasn’t pushing a pro-Russian agenda. As many have pointed out, Valya’s thinking is a tad too modern, a hazard of a genre whose authors are increasingly expected to deny the uglier bits of historical context. A couple of things jarred, and again, I wasn’t able to find evidence that they were mistakes, but 1) a joking reference to playing “water-polo in high school.” Did they play that sport in secondary schools in the late ‘30s, early ‘40s? Did they use the term ‘high school?’ There was also a reference to Superman. Would Soviet kids have access to and knowledge of Superman comics? Superman’s debut coincided with the Terror and I found that one a little hard to swallow. Were the characters a little loose-lipped with the Stalin hate? Yeah, maybe, but I was willing to suspend my disbelief and go along for the ride. Not for everyone, but if I did have kids, I’d recommend it.

[Karen GoatKeeper · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hitler orders his army to invade the USSR in spite of a nonaggression pact. Valya must stay with her mother and grandmother in Stalingrad as the bombs fall and the snipers kill citizens. Their apartment is in ruins. And only Valya is left alive.
At last she is free to become a member, like her sister, of the Night Witches, all women air corps flying small, light aircraft bombing the German army, their supply depots, their tanks. Except she must make it across Stalingrad, the Volga River and into the hills beyond searching for a tiny, temporary air base. Except she must evade the bombs and snipers. Except she must remember she is part of the Soviet army.
This book does not dwell on, but does not shy away from the horrors of the war. The pace slows now and then, but doesn't drag. Valya faces a variety of wartime challenges. She loses friends.
I enjoyed the book. One recurring character, Urey, seems too convenient at times. The end of the book gets a bit political about Stalin and those who served him. Nonfiction accounts I've read support the views.
I listened to the audio version read by Ilyana Kadushin. She was a delight to listen to.

[Erika ♥OwlwaysReading♥]

https://www.theatlantic.com/technolog...

Soo... excited! This article ^^^ has me so jazzed :D

[David - proud Gleeman in Branwen's adventuring party · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review to come
(I really will get around to writing this review, I swear!)

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

I enjoyed this as an introduction to a fascinating topic, but the author managed to take a fantastic, interesting topic and turn it into a bland middle-school report. There were glimmers of lovely prose through out, but not enough to elevate the rest of the book.

[Cassi · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I first learned about this book I knew that I needed to read it. It's totally up my alley. I'm a huge fan of historical fiction and I love unique kinds of WWII stories and books set in Russia. I got all of these things in the course of this book. It was everything I hoped it would be and it was really fantastic.

Part of what I really liked about this book was the fact that it is a book about World War II that felt both unique and familiar. The author did a great job in establishing the setting and immersing the reader in it. Most books I have read about WWII take place in Germany, France, or Poland. I don't think I've ever read one set in Russia and I really enjoyed that. It showed a different side of a familiar period in history. It felt exciting and new while adding complexity to something I feel like I know about. And that to me is exactly what I want in historical fiction. I learned something and I was entertained.

But World War II wasn't just the setting for the book, it was also the plot. And I really enjoyed the plot as well. It's definitely a story about war as the character is taken from her home to become. That in and of itself was interesting with plenty of action and daring battles. Plus this book doesn't hold back when it comes to portraying war. It definitely shows some of the more brutal aspects not only for those who are fighting but also for those on the Homefront. There are some brutal moments in this book and helped to establish the setting as well as the plot.

It's also a really fast-paced story. It's short and doesn't take long to read (I finished it in a day) because you do become invested in the story and don't want to stop reading but you also can really power through it. I usually prefer my books to slowly build to a thrilling conclusion and while there was an exciting ending here it didn't slowly build. It had a handful of smaller climaxes that felt connected but still independent of one another. There is no specific plot and at times it does make for a story that felt a little disconnected but for the setting and plot that did kind of work.

I also enjoyed the characters here. The main character of Valya was incredibly likable and easy to connect with. For a lot of the book is constantly underestimated and incredibly determined to fight for her homeland and to be useful in a way she knows she can be. I really liked that about her and it made her a great protagonist. There were also plenty of great secondary characters. I particularly liked the relationship Valya had with her sister Tatyana. You can tell they cared about one another but they still argued in a very sisterly way. I also liked some of the other Night Witches like Valya's friends Mara and Galya. Many of the characters weren't huge parts of the story but I still became emotionally attached to them and found myself concerned about what would and did happen to them. It's a good sign when you connect with a character without even realizing it.

All in all, Night Witches was a really good historical fiction young adult novel. It had a setting that was engaging and interesting, a plot that was full of action and adventure, and characters you can connect with.

I would absolutely recommend this book to fans of historical fiction especially if you like books set during World War II. But even if you aren't a fan of the genre the book is still engaging and interesting.

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Until I read this book, I knew absolutely nothing about the women pilots who helped wage war against the Nazis on behalf of Russia during WWII. Dubbed the Night Witches because that's the time when they flew their missions, these women made a real difference in the direction the war was taking. The story focuses on sixteen-year-old Valentina Baskova whose father has taught her how to fly. While her home of Stalingrad suffers under a siege by the Germans, Valya desperately wishes that she was old enough to fly missions like her older sister, Tatyana. She gets her wish after her grandmother and mother are killed, and she temporarily joins several teens who are fighting the Germans with whatever they have on hand. After a sniper, a former classmate, helps her steal a plane, she joins the other female flyers and quickly proves her worth. While I liked the detail about the missions and the very real danger in which the flyers were in every time they took off and headed for their targets, I wasn't so sure that things would have lined up so neatly for Valya so that she could steal a plane with no repercussions and happen to find her sister later as POWs were being marched through the snow. I wasn't sure why Valya was so suspicious of the elderly woman who saved her life late in the book either. The vague references to the country's leaders lacked detail and may serve to leave readers unfamiliar with Stalin confused as to what was going on. I would have liked to have had some notes about historical context for Valya's homeland provided. Still, I learned a lot from reading this piece of historical fiction, and I turned the pages as quickly as I possibly could to find out what would happen next.

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Night Witches was a stunning historical fiction book. I have read other books by Kathryn Lasky and have yet to be disappointed by her work! This book has been on my tbr for years and I am so happy that I finally picked it up.
Valya and her sister have a very realistic relationship. And the fact that Valya develops sisterly relationships with her fellow witches is great.
This book was truly gripping and I really enjoyed reading it. I have read other historical fiction books set during WWII but this was the first one I've read that showed the perspective of a Russian/Soviet person.
10/10, really great!

[Annie · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 Stars // 85%
Okay, so the concept of this book gives me life, therefore I obviously came into it with big expectations, and Night Witches did indeed meet most of them. It's fast paced with strong characters and so, so feminist. However, one thing that really bothered me was that Kathryn Lasky has a tendency to tell what happened rather than show it. It almost read like a diary. In any case, I did enjoy this book and it spurred me on to do some Wikipedia digging about the 588th Regiment myself!

[Jemma · Rating 3 out of 5]

this book is probably more for tweens than anything, because the writing is really obvious and heavily explained. its a very easy read to digest for that reason, finished it in one sitting. the details arent THAT bad and not too gruesome at all since its not really an adults book.

definitely way less heavy content than a lot of military/war books ive read. one thing that frustrates me is the 'romance' of the book. it wasnt really necessary for the topic, but i can understand putting it in if you do it right, which this book doesnt. its really underdeveloped and you can tell who the love interest is but nothing ever happens so it would have been better to just have him as a friend at the start and then forget about him.

i havent read many if any other books from the soviet POV of ww2 so it was really interesting. the night witches were very inspiring and helped a lot to push the germans back both in the battle of stalingrad ('not one step back' was the motto of the russians for that i believe) and then towards the clutches of the UK and US. somewhere in the book it said 'the motherland knows how to use her women to the best advantage. it is only the fatherland that squanders its female talent.' which i thought was a very good way of looking at it! reading about the all female 588th regiment was amazing and id really recommend it as a bit of interesting historical reading through fiction instead of just straight facts like non fiction, personalising it to be easier to digest.

[Owen]

The story of both the Night Witches regiment and our main character's journey through the second world war is told in broad strokes. Valya is well-intentioned and empathetic, even if she often seems to be swept along by the story and her cultural references are suspiciously western. She tells us most of the story, although there are occasional bits where the narrative passes to others, and she tends to gloss over big portions of the time covered by the story. In some places, the story uses coincidences to get characters out of trouble, which is less interesting than watching them struggle to get out of trouble themselves. The story also likes to introduce us to historical figures, regardless of how much it makes sense for them to be present.

Regardless, it's an enjoyable if predictable story for anyone who's interested in the Night Witches or stories of true heroism in general.

[Eliana Salazar · Rating 5 out of 5]

( Contains Spoilers! ) Night witches by Kathryn Lasky is a very interesting book, it is about Valentina, Valya for short, a girl from Russia during world war 2. Her sister, Tatyana , is a Night witch, girls and women who fly in the night and drop bombs on Nazi fuel depots. Valya wants to fly but is held back by her mother, until she is killed before her eyes. She meets a sniper, Yuri, and grows affection for him. Valya manages to escape her hometown and makes it to the airfield where her sister is. She finally gets to fly, becoming a Night witch and fighting this war. I recommend this book to anyone that likes World war 2 stories, or is interested in the topic. Also, I recommend this book to middle schoolers and high schoolers

[Lexie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book is interesting to read a female side of WWII, and one from Russia. I have never heard of the Night Witches until this book. This is a very important piece of history that is not discussed. These women turned the war in many directions and were pivotal in the Battle of Stalingrad. Even if the writing style, characters, and plot development are a bit too “packaged,” the historical information is rich and powerful. This is a great book to read on a rainy afternoon! You will walk away having learned something new.

[Brittany · Rating 5 out of 5]

Can I just only read books about WWII and Night Witches....please? This book was absolutely amazing right down to the last word. Every character was so fleshed out and the details were spot-on. It actually felt like it was right there with them on the plane.

[Daphne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book, I knew nothing about the Russian side of World War II. I love how strong these young women were. It is very sad to see what children were going through during this terrible time.

[Krista · Rating 4 out of 5]

Student recommended read- I enjoyed it and I learned things!!! Those female fliers were FIERCE!!!!

[FearMyBotanyPowers · Rating 2 out of 5]

*sigh*

Well.

I went into this book with high expectations. A book about a teenager who joins the Night Witches? It intrigued me. I thought nothing could go wrong.

#1: The length of this book.
I believe this book is about 210 pages. That is nowhere NEAR enough time for this type of story. There wasn't enough time to get attached to any of the characters that died. As soon as they were introduced, we learned what they were like i the middle of WWII for one chapter, and then they died. I didn't care. The main character, Valya, makes a big deal about each other these characters after they died. I understand that it was a bad time, and you probably got attached to all your allies regardless if you knew them or not. That doesn't give Lasky the excuse to shove random characters in and expect us to care about them when they die.

I also didn't have enough time to grasp the severity of the conflicts. Many of them are shoehorned into the book at random moments, and are over within two chapters or so. And, might I add these chapters are not extremely long.

The main point of this book is Valya wants to join the Night Witches like her sister, Tatyana. When she does, she and Tatyana start having a bit of tension. Then, Tatyana gets kidnapped, and Valya has to decide if she will choose her duty to Russia over her duty to her sister. (Although this doesn't seem like a huge conflict, it actually is. In WWII, Stalin considered Russian prisoners of war to be traitor because they "allowed themselves to be captured instead of dying for Russia", which is a load of schist if you ask me). The kidnapping of Tatyana doesn't happen until 85% of the way through the book. It's not a very built-up conflict either. Valya joins the Night Witches, goes on a mission, gets into a fight with Tatyana, and then they don't talk to each other. Then, we're supposed to care when Tatyana goes missing. If Valya and Tatyana had fought more than twice, I would actually believe there was tension between them. But they only fight once and I don't care.

#2: The characters are literally all the same.
I applaud for Lasky for making me hate every character in this novel. They are all the same: whiny, annoying, and appear at random moments. For example, Yuri Yaznov --- who is supposed to be our love interest/minor crush --- appears at random intervals to help Valya. I would wonder where he would come from, but Valya just says he "disappears like vapor". First of all, bull schist. Second, there is only one character who is allowed to do that, and that is Inej Ghafa. Yuri is supposed to be our love interest, but Valya only has a crush on him. She talks to him a grand total of three to five times, and she loves him. Valya spends way too much time thinking about Yuri Yaznov instead of, you know, trying to save Russia.

Another character who randomly appears for like five minutes is a sniper named Roza Shanina. She is a really famous sniper, I guess. Roza is mentioned once, then comes to save Valya from this old woman who might turn Valya over to the Nazis. It is unclear (to me at least) whether Roza kills the woman or not. Either way, Roza is there once, then never appears again. The novel even says she never appears again.

#3: There is no author's note.
This book takes place during Stalin's rule. Unless you really are into the history of Communism and Russia, or have read Animal Farm, you would have no idea why they keep calling each other "comrade". Since I had to read Animal Farm for school, and my teacher gave us the background around the beginning of Communism in Russia, I understood what was going on. But, had I never read Animal Farm before this book, I would've been confused. For someone in this situation, an author's note about what was going on in Russia would've been helpful and critical to having a full understanding of the novel.

The only information we get about the Night Witches is what's in the novel. We don't get any extra information about what's real and what the author made up because there is no author's note. We don't know which characters are real and which ones are not. Even Wolf By Wolf by Ryan Graudin has an author's note, and that book is more fiction that this one. If you are going to write historical fiction, please please PLEASE include author's notes.

[Azelyn Klein · Rating 3 out of 5]

Don’t let the title of this book deceive you. There’s no magic, just a bunch of female pilots from Russia during WWII. Apparently, they flew as stealth bombers after sundown and they were so feared by the Germans, that they were referred to as the night witches.

But even with the prospects of more pilots and WWII fiction, I was rather let down by this story. I suppose it’s really hard to read any historical fiction featuring female pilots after reading any books by Elizabeth Wein.

The main character in Night Witches, Valya, often got on my nerves. She always seemed to be complaining about something. Yes, it’s war, I get it. But come on. When she wasn’t bemoaning the fact that she couldn’t fly, she was mourning somebody’s death (the latter of which is definitely justifiable). And when she finally could fly, she was mourning that she didn’t have a boyfriend and was still a virgin. Come on, really? I’m pretty sure that would be the last thing on my mind if I was fighting for my country.

Then there was a lot of telling. So much telling. In fact, I read the book in one day, but that was after I set it down and picked up another book because the first chapter had so much backstory. I feel like the novel should have started earlier and gone into a bit more detail. There’s so much traveling from place to place, and it cover a whole lot of events without showing any of them.

Of course, I felt like the overall plot was well thought out, albeit predictable. Lasky definitely did her research and writes like she knows what she’s talking about, at least when it came to the war and Russia’s culture at the time. It was heartbreaking to think that the government didn’t trust POWs because they advocated for “no surrender”. Russians captured by an enemy were just as likely to be killed or imprisoned by other Russians simply because they were viewed as “cowards”.

I gave this book 3/5 stars for telling instead of showing and predictable plot but a decent amount of research. While the premise is interesting, I can’t say I would recommend the book as an excellent piece of historical fiction.

[Kristine Rogers · Rating 3 out of 5]

Night Witches is a quick 211 pages about two sisters who fly in an all-female bombing unit. The story is neatly presented from Stalingrad under seige and the difficulty of getting out of the city, through to Russia's front in Poland. This is a read for teens, not children: Valya reports that she saw her grandmother die, smashed by a beam in their apartment. Not long after, her mother is shot in the throat by a sniper and falls to her death in front of Valya. Other pilots say in conversation that they have been "naughty" with boys, without any accompanying details, and one pilot says she was the last at a girls' school to lose her virginity at age 15. A pilot dies and is bleeding everywhere, and Valya has to pilot while reaching around the injured/dead body for the control stick. Later, Valya crashes and is cared for by an old woman who doesn't seem to want to let her go; Valya discovers the old woman has a son in the German army. Just as she's steeling herself to shoot the woman, a Russian sniper takes the shot and rescues her. Throughout the book, Valya has a friendship-with-potential with a famous sniper Yuri who appears at intervals throughout the book. He kisses her hand, but nothing more.

There are references to having slept with boyfriends but no details, loss, violence (young pianist's hand is shot off and he dies of blood loss from the stump). The reader needs some maturity. The story is engaging all the way through, provides a glimpse into a part of WW2 I didn't really know about before, and does a nice job with friendships and loyalty. It's worth reading! I'm just cataloging the harsher parts so I can reference later to decide when my kids are ready to read it.

[Stephanie Bange · Rating 3 out of 5]

During the Seige of Stalingrad, sixteen-year-old Valentina Baskova – Valya – finds she is alone. Her father, a Russian pilot is MIA, her grandmother was killed during an explosion, her sister Tatyana has gone to join the Night Witches (a battalion of young women pilots), and her mother was killed by a sniper. Determined to join the Night Witches in action, she meets Yuri (a classmate who is now a renowned sniper), becomes proficient in trench warfare, and finally gets to fly. After many successful flights, she is shot down, escapes death, and locates her sister who is being held as a POW. Lasky has obviously done a great deal of homework on this little-studied topic, as it is filled with detailed descriptions. However, at times, she works too much information into the action of the story, dropping in some Russian language (translated) along the way. References to American and British children’s literature and culture (rather than Russian) by Valya feels forced. (Why is she talking about Rita Hayworth? Huck Finn? Peter Pan? The Wizard of Oz?) Also, the many references to music throughout (her mother teaches violin) seem a bit forced. Characters seem a bit stereotypical at times. Many of the things Valya experiences and accomplishes in the story seem too incredible to have happened to one young girl during wartime. Some course and strong language is included – more as the reader progresses in the work. While it might have been authentic to the time, it is jarring to be read today. This work would be so much more valuable if a bibliography for further reading or other backmatter were included.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

A friend shared this book with me. I had never heard of the Night Witches, nor had I ever read a book on WWII based in Russia. This story was intriguing and well written. It is written for the younger generation, so being old I did wish that sometimes Kathryn Lasky had gone into more details.

The Night Witches are real. They were a regiment of female pilots in Russia who flew planes through curtains of fire to bomb crucial targets. I don't know if any of the characters on the book are real and/or based on real people besides the overall group. I did do a little research to check and see if the Night Witches were real and did find many articles and pictures, just haven't read them yet.

In this book, Valya was taught to fly from her father, a pilot, before the way ever starts. She is 16, with a missing father, older sister flying for the Night Witches, a grandmother who died from a bomb and a mother who gets killed. You follow Valya as she finds her way to become a Night Witch. At first she is a 16 year old who seems stubborn like most teenagers, but you grow to love her so much and see how she grows so much through the book. There are places you want to cry, and cheer. This is a book I would let my children read.

[Cindy Mitchell *Kiss the Book* · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lasky, Kathryn Night Witches: a novel of World War II, 224 pages. Scholastic, MARCH 2017. Language: G; Mature Content: PG (some very mild racy talk); Violence: PG (war deaths).

Valya, 16, desperately wants to help protect her city of Stalingrad during the attempted Nazi invasion of World War II, by joining her sister Tatyana as a Night Witch – a female U2 pilot. Working tirelessly to take out Nazi searchlights and other targets. Even should she find her way to the Night Witches, she will still need to prove her abilities and survive each deadly bombing run.

Lasky has illuminated another little-known side of the World War II story – this time bringing a human side to Russians as they provided the second front against the Nazis. This book is much more accessible than M. T. Anderson’s Symphony for the City of the Dead. While the title may evoke thoughts of magic, this is purely based in the real world. I can’t wait to share this with many students. The only question I have is “What happened to Yuri?!”

MS – ESSENTIAL. Cindy, Library Teacher
http://kissthebook.blogspot.com/2016/...

[T · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fast-paced, action-packed historical fiction story told by 16-year old Valya who yearns to be part of the war effort flying like her brave older sister instead of being stuck at home. But when the Germans surrounded her home of Stalingrad, Valya is forced to stay put and watch the atrocities of war as her city is destroyed and she loses everything she holds dear. When her mother is killed, her desire to follow in her older sister's footsteps is ever stronger, and Valya will do anything to join her.

Valya is a feisty, memorable character who knows what she wants but it torn between her deep desire to fly and her duty and loyalty to her family and country.

An intriguing look at the first all-female Russian flying unit in the heart of WWII. The Germans called them the "Night Witches", but to the Russian soldiers on the ground, they became their "Night Angels". Cool flying scenes. Empowering.

Short and not a high level but suitable for more mature readers (several gratuitous references to being a virgin, which seem unnecessary to the plot, but make it more suitable for a more mature audience).

[Chelinda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was so excited to see the Soviet Night Witches as a topic for YA fiction! When I saw it, I actually hugged the book! I just wish the story had been more personal. I liked the facts and information included but it could have been done much more realistically. It started out well with the death of her mother and then ending up in the trenches but then it seemed to shift gears to a more distant relationship with the main character. You don't ever feel like you are part of the action but rather you are watching the story from a distance. You don't get the drama and the intense feelings of how it really felt to be these girls and young women doing what they did. And what they did was fantastically dangerous and incredibly awe-inspiring. The courage and determination to be a Night Witch is something I cannot even fathom in today's world. Thankfully someone has finally written some historical fiction on this topic and I hope it compels others to do as well from a more personal and dramatic lens.

[Maren · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was fine, but I want so much more from a book about the Night Witches. The Night Witch characters in Kate Quinn's The Huntress or Elizabeth Wein's Rose Under Fire were much more compelling. I did love the glimpses of sisterhood amongst the women. The absolute most jarring and frustrating part was all of the Western culture that was featured in this book. Russians have a rich culture and tradition in the arts and they are so proud of it. It doesn't make sense at all for these Russian women to reference The Wizard of Oz, Peter Pan, and Emily Dickenson. Would they have even known the British slogan "Keep Calm and Carry On"? Or the American phrase "Geronimo"? They have their own sayings, it probably wouldn't have been to hard to research a few. Also, I will never stop complaining about how Soviet Russian characters aren't allowed to be noble or even complicated heroes without making some storyline about how they secretly hate Stalin or don't feel connected to the Soviet Union. It's so frustrating and makes for a less interesting story.