FROM THE PUBLISHER

Adam is a farmhand conscripted by Napoleon's army, which is gathering strength for its campaign against Russia. Sergeant Krauter makes Adam the victim of his most sadistic urges. But when an aristocratic young lieutenant spots Adam and requisitions him as his personal valet, Adam's life seems to take a turn for the better. As Adam and Lieutenant Konrad Klara draw closer to Moscow, they encounter a panoply of wartime horrors. The Russian Soldier - both poignant and funny - explores the importance of friendship in persevering against overwhelming odds.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

There is a stunning moment at the beginning of Bohemian author Holub's absorbing novel about Napoleon's 1811 invasion of Russia when readers realize what orphaned farmhand Adam, the innocent soldier of the title, does not: though only 16, he's joining the French emperor's Grand Armee in place of the son of the man who took him in. Over the course of the next grueling year, gentle Adam, who narrates, confronts the atrocities of war (stealing uniforms from the dead, eating horseflesh to survive). He must contend with a vicious sergeant, who never misses an opportunity to humiliate him, and also wrestle with questions about the treachery of the farmer, whom Adam had seen as a father figure. The boy's luck turns when he becomes aide-de-camp to a young privileged lieutenant. The sweet bonding of these two teens as they slog to Moscow and back underscores the importance of friendship. They take turns saving each other from mortar fire, Cossack attacks, even deadly dysentery. (Of the 15,000 troops that left from their part of the German empire, 300 return alive.) The writing is elegant in its plain descriptions (after a good meal with the soldiers, "Even my thoughts about the farmer disappear as quickly as three drops of honey in the acorn coffee we get on Sundays") and unsparing in its recounting of the horrific details of this famous military campaign. Ages 12-up. (Oct.) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

VOYA - Beth E. Andersen

Sixteen-year-old Adam Feuchter trusts the cruel farmer who is his master and is stunned to discover that the farmer has tricked Adam into being conscripted into Napoleon's infamous half-a-million-strong Grand Armee, replacing Georg, the farmer's son. Napoleon's catastrophic march into Russia is a historical reality that Holub brings to life in blisteringly honest detail. Adam becomes the target of a crazed sergeant, bent on killing the young boy, until an aristocrat officer, Lieutenant Konrad Klara, takes Adam under his wing. Using their cunning, honed by a frantic desperation to stay alive despite the crushing obstacles of a terrible war plan, deadly weather, and unconventional combat methods used by the enemy, the two young men are among the few who make it to Moscow and back. Holub, who was a teenaged soldier during World War II, published his first book at age sixty-seven. He is the recipient of two prestigious European literary awards-the Peter HSrtling Prize for Children's Literature and the Znrich Children' Book Prize-and should, by rights, receive more accolades for this unforgiving look at the shockingly brutal reality of warfare and its terrible cost. Highly recommended, it can easily take its place next to Dalton Trumbo's Johnny Got His Gun and All Quiet on the Western Front by Remarque. VOYA CODES: 5Q 4P J S (Hard to imagine it being any better written; Broad general YA appeal; Junior High, defined as grades 7 to 9; Senior High, defined as grades 10 to 12). 2005, Arthur A. Levine Books/Scholastic, 231p., Ages 12 to 18.

School Library Journal

Gr 8 Up-The book begins in 1811 in pre-unification Germany as a farmer enlists his unwitting farmhand, Adam, in Napoleon's Grande Armee under the name of his only son, Georg Bayh. The bewildered teen, who is sure that this great "mistake" will eventually be rectified, trains dutifully despite being continually harassed by a sadistic sergeant. He is saved when a young aristocratic lieutenant needs a servant, and his situation greatly improves. This is a tale of unlikely friends marching from Germany to Moscow with Napoleon's ill-fated invasion of Russia. While few battles are detailed, readers experience all of the horror, drudgery, and absurdity of war. Vivid descriptions include the endless walking, hustling for boots and warm clothing, gnawing hunger, and dysentery. Old-fashioned rules of engagement, etiquette, and a strict class system are all seamlessly worked into Adam's believable narrative. The boy grows from being a scared child to an obedient servant, to becoming a capable and resilient, if arguably less innocent, soldier. The first two thirds of first-person account are rich in period detail, but rarely broken up with dialogue, making it a tad slow going. The pacing somehow echoes the experiences of Napoleon's coalition army. Things pick up during its retreat, as the danger increases and the boys are able to lay aside class strictures to forge a true friendship. This is a well-wrought psychological tale that might have a difficult time finding an audience, but has a lot to offer to those seeking to build a deep historical fiction collection.-Christina Stenson-Carey, Albany Public Library, NY Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

Sixteen-year-old Adam Feuchter is tricked by the farmer he works for, substituted for the farmer's own son and drafted into the army. Napoleon's Grande Armee, the largest army the world had ever seen, is on its way to Russia. At first pleased to be part of the magnificent regiment and eager to catch a glimpse of "the greatest general in history," Adam is soon disillusioned by war. The cruelties and humiliations he faces at the hands of his own sergeant are just the beginning, as he witnesses the horrible ways soldiers treat locals. Starvation, cholera and Cossack attacks foreshadow disaster in Moscow and the ugly retreat, hindered by brutal cold and Russian troops hounding them. Translated from the German, the simple, understated and at times eloquent first-person narrative rings true to one boy's experience of war, adventure and survival. (map spread, historical note) (Fiction. 12+)