Saving Zasha

Finding Zasha is Randi Barrow’s first attempt at historical children’s fiction. It’s 1941, and World War II is just beginning to heat up. The Nazis have just started their heinous assault on Leningrad. Travel out of the area is dangerous, to say the least. Ivan, a young boy of twelve, is sent to live with relatives when his mother is forced to move out to the mountains for work. The war inevitably reaches the small town where Ivan and his relatives live. Ivan doesn’t escape the brutality of the German soldiers; he is hand-picked by one, Axel Recht, for what amounts to slave labor. One of Ivan’s more enjoyable tasks is taking care of Recht’s two dogs. However, Ivan’s purpose with Alex is two-fold. While he is tending to Recht’s dogs, his clandestine mission is to gather useful information that he can pass along to the partisans to help win the war.

Alex, who has been teaching the pair of dogs to hate Russians, receives news that his son has been wounded in battle. He sets out immediately to find and tend to his son. Ivan sees his chance to step in and convinces the Nazi commander that he is more than capable of tending to the two dogs in Alex’s absence. All the while, Ivan is planning how he will rescue the dogs and save them from the cruel fate Alex has laid out for them. Recht is as cruel as Alex wished the dogs to become. Ivan understands that if the animals remain in Recht’s care, he will have no hope of rehabilitating them. Recht also enjoys physical forms of brutality. He once forced Ivan to watch as a German soldier was whipped for a minor offense. With this action, Ivan realizes the extent of Recht’s lack of mercy. There is no doubt in Ivan’s mind that if the dogs remain in Recht’s care, the same will be done to them.

Eventually, Recht is caught up in the war. He leaves with a group of men to join the fighting in Tikhvin where his fellow Germans are losing. Ivan sees his chance to flee the compound with the dogs. When the partisans Ivan has been feeding information to learn of Ivan’s plan, surprisingly, they offer to help him escape. Before long, however, Alex returns to the camp to find that Ivan and the two dogs have fled. Ivan has underestimated the commander’s love for his pets, never anticipating that the German would pursue Ivan despite his head start. As the story progresses, the narrative begins to pick up speed.



With colorful prose, Barrow shares Ivan’s journey as he is hunted relentlessly by Alex. As the author weaves a tale of one young boy’s survival over insurmountable odds, the reader begins to understand the connection between the fate of the twelve-year-old boy and the pair of dogs he has taken it upon himself to protect.

Finding Zasha is steeped in the events of the Second World War and its effects on the Russian landscape. Very few authors have covered this terrain, specifically in a children’s book. Barrow does an excellent job of combining historical truth with the tale of a young boy’s courageous selflessness. Her depiction of the Russian landscape is surprisingly in line with historical events. The siege of Leningrad and the fighting at Tikhvin were events that defined the war period for the Russian people.

While the novel is an engaging page-turner, Barrow’s main character is a bit lackluster as a narrator. The supporting characters, however, make up for Ivan’s lack of linguistic prowess. There is the no-nonsense Auntie Vera, with whom Ivan was living before being forced to relocate. There is also the fiercely determined Polina, one of the partisans Ivan encounters during his journey.  These secondary characters are vital to the intricate escape plan Ivan formulates. The author illustrates the potential all children have to rise to the occasion when circumstances demand. There is, perhaps, no better subject than Ivan’s love of dogs to resonate with young readers. Barrow avoids focusing too heavily on the Soviet patriotism Ivan and his cohorts are fighting for, relying instead on the adventures of a young boy and his love for the two dogs in his care.



Saving Zasha is the sequel to Finding Zasha.