Boris

The young hero of this compassionate and realistic novel is Boris, a twelve-year-old Russian who lives through the 500 days of the Germain siege of Leningrad in 1942. One day he and his friend Nadia, who is fourteen, meet a German patrol in a potato field where they have been foraging for food. Expecting to meet death at the hands of the enemy, they find to their surprise that the enemy soldiers are as weary, hungry and tired as they are, and the children are allowed to return home, unmolested. This strange meeting changes Boris' whole outlook on the war and sets him on the road to manhood. In spite of further trials and hardship, Boris is eventually able to forgive the enemy and, in a courageous gesture, he exemplifies the redeeming spirit of mankind.