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  • Published: 16 November 2021
  • ISBN: 9780593308530
  • Imprint: RHUS Children's Books
  • Format: Hardback
  • Pages: 288
  • RRP: $27.99

Last Witnesses (Adapted for Young Adults)




A powerful portrait of the personal consequences of war as seen through the innocent eyes of children, from a Nobel Prize-winning writer.

A powerful portrait of the personal consequences of war as seen through the innocent eyes of children, from a Nobel Prize-winning writer.

Nobel Prize-winning writer Svetlana Alexievich delves into the traumatic memories of children who were separated from their parents during World War II--most of them never to be reunited--in this this young adult adaptation of her acclaimed nonfiction "masterpiece" (The Guardian), Last Witnesses: An Oral History of the Children of WWII.

The personal narratives told by those who were children during WWII and survived harrowing experiences, are astounding. So many children were separated from their loved ones in the midst of the terror and chaos. As a result, some grew up in orphanages or were raised by grandparents or extended family; others were taken in and cared for by strangers who risked punishment for such acts. Still others lived on their own or became underage soldiers. Forthright and riveting, these bravely told oral histories of survival reveal the heart-rending details of life during wartime while reminding us that resilience is possible, no matter the circumstances.

  • Published: 16 November 2021
  • ISBN: 9780593308530
  • Imprint: RHUS Children's Books
  • Format: Hardback
  • Pages: 288
  • RRP: $27.99

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Praise for Last Witnesses (Adapted for Young Adults)

Praise for the adult edition, LAST WITNESSES: An Oral History of the Children of World War II:

  • "Alexievich offers a war narrative that hews closer to the Brothers Grimm than to Homer. The book's gift is to allow the child's malleable perception to flash alongside the adult's somber recollections." --The New York Times
  • "[Alexievich] excavates and briefly gives prominence to demolished lives and eradicated communities. . . . It is impossible not to turn the page, impossible not to wonder whom we next might meet, impossible not to think differently about children caught in conflict." --The Washington Post
  • "A bracing reminder of the enduring power of the written word to testify to pain like no other medium. . . . A reminder that children survive, they grow up, and they do not forget. They are the first and last witnesses." --The New Republic