Beginning with a powerful foreword by the master of middle-grade novels about war – Michael Morpurgo, we are soon with a 12-year-old Ukranian girl as she wakes on her 12th birthday.

Only days later she is woken by explosions outside her home. They’d heard about a possible invasion by Russia in the news, but from her window Yeva can now see missiles flying through the air. Her and her grandmother stand staring in disbelief.

Putin really has begun an attack on their homeland of Ukraine.

For the next 12 days, Yeva is hiding in basements, trying to buy food and suffering terrible body shuddering panic attacks.

With her grandmother constantly at her side, Yeva has made diary entries every day for something to do, and to try and take her mind off the horror outside.

When a news crew from Channel 4 in the UK meets Yeva who shows them her diary, they, along with brave volunteers, do everything they can to help Yeva, her grandmother and others get to safety.

The further the distance from their home, the safer they feel – but Yeva’s fears are now filled with the loss of everyone and everything they left behind. Will they ever see their home again?

The world is more reachable every day from our own homes. We can watch the news or click on news articles from online newspapers around the world, and see the fate of Ukraine. But we can turn it off, or walk away from our screens.

Just turned 12 year old Yeva doesn’t have that choice, suddenly in the middle of an attack on her homeland. Living on the border between Russia and Ukraine, the attacking missiles are clearly visible in the air around her.

This reproduction of her diary also includes text messages between friends and loved ones, giving the reader an inside view of this war.

Each day of the diary begins with a list of headlines from newspapers around the world, sharing the shock of this terrible war.

Split into sections of before the first missiles, and then the countries she travels through to flee the war, You Don’t Know What War Is is an intense memoir of an articulate young girl hurled into war.

It is straight to the point, as Yeva sees, feels, fears and flees.

Author – Yeva Skalietska

Age – 11+

Non-Fiction

(2022, Bloomsbury, War, True, Diary Format, Fear, Bombs, Missiles, Ukraine, Russia, Assistance, Ireland, Hungary, Family, Grandmother, Non-Fiction, True Story, Texting, Loss, Homesick, Train journeys, Courage, Bravery, Hiding, Bomb Shelters, Basements, Poverty, Crime, Conflict, Grief, Murder)