V. D. Voronkova. A City Girl

(12+) One day, refugees—two women and a little girl—stopped overnight at Darya Shalikhina’s house. A flimsy coat that the wind blew right through, torn stockings, city shoes… Where would the little girl, who had lost her parents, go next? Her hostess took pity on her and let her stay: “I had three children—well, now I’ll have four. We’ll manage somehow!” And so Valentinka joined a new family. Will it be easy for her to get used to her new family? Will the village children welcome her into their close-knit group? Will she, a city girl, learn to help with the hard work of village life, which had become even more difficult under the conditions of war? A touching story about a girl, written in 1943 by the renowned children’s author Lyubov Voronkova (1906–1976), it remains to this day one of the best books about the Great Patriotic War written for children. Suitable for middle school students.