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Gloria Whelan Message Board 1/1/2012
Talk about the novels, new and used books that Whelan has written!

Author Whelan's Book Reviews

Angel on the Square
Katya is a Russian aristocrat on the brink of the Russian Revolution. As her cousin Misha slowly introduces her to the horrors of peasent life, she is sent to be companion to The Last Grand Duchess, Anastasia. Katya and her mother are ladies-in-waiting, and friends to the Empress Alexandra and The Grand Duchesses. Russia enters war with Germany and the revolution takes place. She is with the royal family as they are sent into exile in Siberia, and is kic...
Burying the Sun
Georgi is fourteen years old when World War II begins. After he and his sister found their parents in Siberia, and their father died, they and their mother returned to Leningrad and rebuilt their lives there. But war lurks on the horizon, about to disrupt their peaceful lives. Georgi and his friend Yelena, along with the other young people of the city, are given "patriotic work" to do for the war effort, the first of many changes in their lives. Georgi's...
Chu Ju's House
Fourteen-year-old Chu Ju and her family live in modern rural China, where a strict policy of two children per family is enforced. When Chu Ju's mother becomes pregnant again, the family hopes for a boy, because sons are strongly preferred. But when the baby is born, it is another girl, who is named Hua. When Chu Ju learns that her grandmother plans to sell baby Hua to an orphanage so that there will be room in the family for another child, hopefully a so...
Listening for Lions
Rachel Sheridan was born and raised in British East Africa, the daughter of British missionary parents who ran a hospital there. Africa is the only home Rachel has ever known, and she loves it. But everything changes in 1919, when Rachel is thirteen. An influenza epidemic arrives and kills her parents. Because her parents were orphans, Rachel has no family to turn to, and is caught up in the devious plans of their wealthy neighbors, the Pritchards. T...

Whelan booklist

Parade of Shadows
Julia embarks on a journey across the Levant (the Eastern Mediterranean) during the reign of the Ottoman empire and she becomes embroiled in the politics of the Turkish countries, falling in love with a radical young man and his ideals for a better empire. Julia Hamilton is a student at Miss Mumford's who is tired of school and wants to see the world for herself. Her father works at the Arab desk in England's Foreign Office and Julia begs to accompany he...
The Impossible Journey
In “The Impossible Journey” Russia is where the communist government rules. Anyone who opposes the government is executed or sent to exile in the Siberian wilderness. Despite these consequences, Misha and Katya speak out against the government, and are arrested, leaving Georgi and Marya, their children, alone in the city. Marya and Georgi escape the city and start a perilous journey to find their parents in the Siberian wilderness. On their journey they...
The Turning
In the spring of 1991 Tanya, a 17-year-old Russian ballerina and member of the Kirov Ballet Corps from Leningrad, is chosen to take part in the troupe's tour of Paris. When she arrives she is encouraged by Vera, another ballerina, to try and escape the ever-watchful KGB agents, defect with her to France, and leave the Soviet Union for ever. Vera's family became rich through her father's dealings on the black market dealings, while Tanya's family are m...