You Don't Know What War Is

[A] heartbreaking revelation of war through a child's eyes.

Telegraph

This is the eloquently written and important hour-by-hour account of what happened on and after February 24, 2022, when Yeva Skalietska woke up to the sound of explosions in her home town of Kharkiv, near Ukraine’s Russian border. She had just turned 12 and had lived an ordinary, happy life until that moment. Her diary tells of the days of taking refuge in basements, then fleeing to western Ukraine and Hungary before she and her grandmother found safety and a new home in Dublin. The book has contributions from some of Yeva’s friends who are still in Ukraine, and is a rare and moving chronicle of war from the point of view of children.

The Sunday Times

This is an important book – a recording of history written by Yeva, a young person, whose words and feelings reflect so many who rarely get an opportunity to be heard. A herstory of Ukraine for posterity.

Olia Hercules, Ukrainian chef and food writer

Yeva is a young Ukrainian girl and this is her diary. It starts on February 14, her 12th birthday, and chronicles her flight from war alongside her grandmother, ending up in Ireland. It’s written with honestly and heart, and gives an important child’s eye view of war. Children’s books: 56 cracking reads to keep kids entertained this Christmas

Irish Independent

The heart-stopping account of the war in Ukraine, You Don’t Know What War Is by 12-year-old Yeva Skalietska, who escaped to Ireland, is a vital read by everyone. Teenage page-turners

Irish Independent on Sunday

I wish Yeva Skalietska hadn’t felt the need to write this book but I’m glad that she did write it – because it is exhilarating, shattering, heartbreaking, brilliant. It’s an extraordinary book.

Roddy Doyle, Booker Prize-winning author

Yeva's diary allows the reader to experience war through the eyes of a child and her story will endure long after this terrible war ends.

Lord Alf Dubs, refugee rights campaigner

I'll never forget the first time Yeva read extracts from her diary to me in a refugee shelter at the start of the full-scale war. With this book, we all get that privilege.

Paraic O'Brien, Channel 4 News reporter

It resonates beyond the particular to convey what it means to lose everything suddenly, the horror of bombardment and the need to make those who run from danger safe.

The Sunday Times

Powerful and poetic, this beautiful book shows the very worst and the very best of humanity. Essential reading.

Katya Balen, Carnegie Medal-winning author

A book to make you count your blessings.

The Daily Mail

Many children need to process the times they are living in too, however, in age-appropriate ways. Older readers might relate to a first-hand account by Ukrainian Yeva Skalietska. You Don't Know What War Is (Bloomsbury) traces the 12-year-old’s journey from happy normality through tumult, traversing western Ukraine and Hungary to find safety in Dublin

The Observer

Skalietska’s story, told in the format of a personal diary, brings the horror of war into sharper focus than a dispassionate news report ever could…most reader won’t know first-hand what war is – but thanks to accounts like hers, we are reminded how precious that ignorance is.

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