The Night Journey
Rachel is given the task of taking care of her great-grandmother, Nana Sashie. Little does she know that Sashie has a story that will change her life. Often at night, Nana Sashie tells Rachel about her childhood in the Czar’s Russia, where her family lived under the constant fear of annihilation.
Compared to Rachel’s life, this distant past seems quite unreal. Until Rachel discovers the samovar, or Russian tea decanter, in the cellar. Slowly as Sashie’s story unfolds, Rachel begins to understand that Sashie was a bright and lively girl like her once upon a time. Moreover, she sees that her great-grandmother actually played a central role in the family’s escape from terror. The Night Journey by Kathryn Lasky shows that sometimes the most frail and forgotten people might have been heroes in their time.
