The Silent Unseen

February 1, 2022
As World War II winds to a close, Soviets, Poles, and Ukrainians struggle for the upper hand. Sixteen-year-old Maria, recently escaped from a German slave labor camp, and 17-year-old Kostya, a reluctant member of the UPA (Ukrainian nationalist partisans), are separately trying to return to their mutual hometown of Br�d in Poland as the Red Army takes over from the German occupiers in August 1944. They're on opposite sides: The UPA and the Polish resistance have been working against each other throughout the German occupation. When Maria stumbles upon members of the Soviet secret police about to kill an injured Kostya, she shoots them and saves Kostya's life before learning of his background. Then, while trying to find him medical care, she encounters a group of Polish resistance fighters led by her brother, Tomek, whom she'd thought dead. After that, the plot gets a little confusing. This novel, like McCrina's previous book, Traitor (2020), explores an interesting and relatively unexplored side of history, and the sentence-level writing is compelling. However, the author sacrifices clarity in her effort to produce excitement: She doesn't provide enough background or write in a way that readers can easily keep track of what's going on--and without fully understanding the action, it's difficult to care very much about the characters. Could have been excellent but misses the mark. (historical note, map, list of military and paramilitary forces, list of characters, author's note) (Historical fiction. 12-18)

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February 28, 2022
Employing two alternating voices, McCrina returns with an engrossing tale of WWII, set in the same territory and time period—and with similarly life-and-death stakes—as 2020’s Traitor. In the summer of 1944, Soviet forces are just entering long-contested Galicia—a region also claimed by Polish and Ukrainian nationals—in the wake of the ousted German army. Maria Kamin´ska, 16 and Polish, has recently escaped from doing forced labor at a German factory. Kostyantyn “Kostya” Lasko, 17 and Ukrainian, has spent the past few years working as an unwilling courier for a nationalist paramilitary group. Thrown together in the aftermath of a violent incident (most of the novel’s horrors happen just off the page), the cued-white teens form an alliance that endures—often uneasily— as the story ricochets between threats, betrayals, and occasional glimmers of altruism and romance. A central plot element is set in motion as Maria works to rescue a member of the Silent Unseen, a group of special operations agents trained in England and clandestinely returned to the region. Though a single reading may not clearly reveal the rapid-fire, twisty plot’s many secrets, absorbing its suspense and vividly wrought emotional arc doesn’t require an immediate grasp of every last detail. Back matter includes an author’s note. Ages 12–up. Agent: Jennie Kendrick, Red Fox Literary.

Starred review from April 1, 2022

Gr 7 Up-It is 1944, and WWII rages on. Maria Kami ska, 16, has spent the last two-and-a-half years as an Ostarbeiter (slave worker) at a German factory. Maria, of Polish descent, was ordered away in 1942. She escapes the factory and is desperate to get to her home in Br�d, Poland to see if her parents have survived the war. Worlds collide when she saves a Ukrainian boy's life in her family's old barn. The NKVD (Soviet police) think he is UPA (Ukrainian nationalists) and are torturing him for information. Although the Polish and Ukrainians have been at war, Maria decides to help Kostya. As they journey, the Polish Resistance picks them up and Kostya becomes a prisoner. One of the Polish soldiers turns out to be Tomek, Maria's brother who her family had thought dead since 1939. Tomek is a "Silent Unseen," Polish by definition-a special-ops agent trained in England on direct orders from the war ministry in London. McCrina soars in her writing as she depicts this complicated piece of forgotten history. Well researched, accurate, and smartly written, this is a page-turner, weaving together the horrors of war and its psychological consequences beautifully. VERDICT With a touch of romance thrown in, this suspenseful thriller is an excellent addition to YA historical fiction collections; a must-buy.-Gretchen Schulz

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May 15, 2022
Grades 8-12 This well-researched, thrilling account of two teens in 1944 Poland brings to light much lesser-known WWII history, such as Germany's Ostarbeiter (foreign slave workers), the Ukrainian resistance, and the Silent Unseen (Polish special operations agents trained in Britain). After 16-year-old Maria escapes from a Nazi labor camp, she arrives home in Poland to find her parents dead and her village destroyed in a skirmish between Polish resistance and Ukrainian nationalists. When Maria sees 17-year-old Kostya being tortured by Russian soldiers, she kills the Russians and finds herself the unlikely champion of a Ukrainian who may have helped murder her family. Meanwhile, her older brother Tomek surfaces as a local resistance commander and a Silent Unseen. Who can she trust? Alternating chapters contrast Maria's first-person narrative with Kostya's third-person account, offering differing viewpoints from Polish and Ukrainian perspectives. Clever plot twists highlight this fast-moving tale of espionage, loyalty, and survival, plus a budding romance. Readers will no doubt be drawn to the Ukrainian element, given current events, and better appreciate that country's situation in light of its history.

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