https://www.ideasforlearners.com/words-on-fire.html

Danger is never far from Audra's family farm in Lithuania. She always avoids the occupying Russian Cossack soldiers, who insist that everyone must become Russian -- they have banned Lithuanian books, religion, culture, and even the language. But Audra knows her parents are involved in something secret and perilous.

When Cossacks arrive abruptly at their door, Audra's parents insist that she flee, taking with her an important package and instructions for where to deliver it. But escape means abandoning her parents to a terrible fate.

As Audra embarks on a journey to deliver the mysterious package, she faces unimaginable risks, and soon she becomes caught up in a growing resistance movement. Can joining the underground network of book smugglers give Audra a chance to rescue her parents?

I got this book for review and felt that is was a 4.5 stars review.

I found this book to be such a gem. I loved how this book tackled a time period that i was unaware of. I like how this book focused on a quiet resistance and really found that to be charming and so much fun to read about. I also liked how the main character drew so dramatically from the start of this read. I also found this book to handle so many unique topics including book smuggling, found family and also so many interesting twists that caught me off guard. I really love how books became a character in this read and loved the focus on them as tool in this revolution. I thought this was clear standalone that def tugged at my heartstrings at the end. Will def read more by this author in the future. ( )

I got this book for review and felt that is was a 4.5 stars review.

I found this book to be such a gem. I loved how this book tackled a time period that i was unaware of. I like how this book focused on a quiet resistance and really found that to be charming and so much fun to read about. I also liked how the main character drew so dramatically from the start of this read. I also found this book to handle so many unique topics including book smuggling, found family and also so many interesting twists that caught me off guard. I really love how books became a character in this read and loved the focus on them as tool in this revolution. I thought this was clear standalone that def tugged at my heartstrings at the end. Will def read more by this author in the future. ( )

Trigger warnings: Fire, murder and attempted murder, culture erasure, separation from parents, military violence and war themes

8/10, I haven't read a book from Jennifer A. Nielsen in a while and I enjoyed her other book called the Scourge but wow this blew me away with the sheer brilliance and creativity of this; almost everything was executed perfectly, I don't even know where to even begin. It starts with the main character Audra Zikaris living with her parents in her house when suddenly the Russians having already banned the Lithuanian language came to burn her house down and take away her parents leaving her all alone; she was forced to go off into the forest until she meets a new person named Lukas who turns out be a pretty major character and will come into play soon enough. Audra discovers an underground book resistance and starts smuggling books herself after a while but she still misses her parents who could still be out there in somewhere like Siberia and she thinks about that. In the end, the Russians arrived to try and stop the book resistance and burn some villages which was super entertaining and I liked the epilogue as well where the press ban was lifted. ( )

I enjoyed learning about the book carriers in Lithuania. I also liked Audra and Lukas, our smart, quick-witted and very brave protagonists. ( )