You Don't Know What War Is cover art

You Don't Know What War Is

The Diary of a Young Girl from Ukraine

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You Don't Know What War Is

By: Yeva Skalietska, Michael Morpurgo - foreword
Narrated by: Keira Knightley, Michael Morpurgo - foreword
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About this listen

Bloomsbury presents You Don't Know What War Is by Yeva Skalietska, read by Keira Knightley and Michael Morpurgo.

***A SUNDAY TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR***
*** Shortlisted for the Children's Book of the Year: Older Non Fiction The Week Junior Book Awards***

Featured on This Morning, Steph's Packed Lunch, Radio 4: Today and Channel 4 News
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Everyone knows the word 'war'. But very few understand what it truly means. When you find you have to face it, you feel totally lost, walled in by fright and despair. Until you’ve been there, you don’t know what war is.

This is the gripping and moving diary of young Ukrainian refugee Yeva Skalietska. It follows twelve days in Ukraine that changed 12-year-old Yeva's life forever. She was woken in the early hours to the terrifying sounds of shelling. Russia had invaded Ukraine, and her beloved Kharkiv home was no longer the safe haven it should have been. It was while she was forced to seek shelter in a damp, cramped basement that Yeva decided to write down her story. And it is a story the world needs to hear.

Yeva captured the nation's heart when she was featured on Channel 4 News with her granny as they fled Ukraine for Dublin. In You Don't Know What War Is, Yeva records what is happening hour-by-hour as she seeks safety and travels from Kharkiv to Dublin. You Don’t Know What War Is is a powerful insight into what conflict is like through the eyes of a child and an essential listening for adults and older children alike.

Published in association with UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, with a foreword by Michael Morpurgo.
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©2022 Yeva Skalietska (P)2022 Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
Adventurers, Explorers & Survival Diaries & Journals Memoirs, Diaries & Correspondence War Heartfelt

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All stars
Most relevant  
The way this girl tells her story is heartbreaking but brilliant story and how she got away !!

Heartbreaking

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This book is a plea of a child who has more logic, sanity, humanity and love, than anyone, who have crossed the border of her country with a gun and righteous ideology and propaganda filled, otherwise vacant brain.
The reporting goes quite predictably with initial shock, struggles and eventually - seemingly calming ending. But then little stories of her friends return you to that crucial first minute, hour, day or month, when you are reminded how one moment orchestrated by a mad man can change lives of so many.
History has repeated itself and its up to all of us to:
-set up bar higher. Where all the world is looking after each other with respect, understanding and love;
or...
- plunge back in to medieval "free for all" land grab for those who have bigger stick and more advanced brainwashing. Risking more suffering, destruction and famine.

A plea of a child

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So informing of how lives were suddenly turned upside down, and your old way of life lost, thank you

A glimpse into what it's been like

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Very moving without being depressing. Made the war and the experiences of adults and children really come alive.

Brilliant

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It was interesting to listen, how young girl describes war being one of millions who suffer from russian cruelty and aggression.
So sad to know that wars continue in our time taking life and bringing sorrow, grief, death.
Perverted federation does not have a future.
God will put an end to every evil on this planet. He promised and He will fulfil!

Sad story and terrible events in 2022

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Moving first hand account of the war in Ukraine.
Both my kids (13 and 16) thoroughly enjoyed it.

Excellent

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Told through the voice of a child makes this tale and the horrors and impact of war all that more vivid. Yeva brought it to life in a way that adults rarely can. She t9ook me with her as she negotiated her way through the perils.

Powerful and spine chilling

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Hi his book is really fascinating and anyone wishing to learn more about war will enjoy it. It will s written very well and has a great story line to it.

This book is really interesting

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