In 1941, Elena Bruskina, an ambitious university student, sees her world collapse when the Nazis invade the Soviet Union. She and her Jewish family are forced into the Minsk ghetto, where thousands are immediately murdered, including her father and her brother. When her younger sister is hanged because of false charges and her mother is shot, Elena escapes the ghetto, determined to avenge the killing of her family members.

In 1942, the Central Women’s Sniper Training School opens in Moscow. Seeing it as the perfect opportunity to retaliate, Elena is one of the first to enroll. She becomes part of an all-female sniper platoon, a community of young women who are ready to fight for their country, despite the appalling conditions and high risks.

Eight months later, Elena is stationed at the Eastern Front, her dreams of revenge unfulfilled. Ashamed of her inferior tally of kills, she finds herself undone by grief as she watches her fellow snipers fall from enemy bullets. After being injured in a firefight, she is reluctantly redeployed as a German interpreter. Elena quickly embraces her new role when she realizes she is part of a secret mission to capture the most evil fascist of all.

Inspired by real female snipers and interpreters who worked in the Red Army during World War II, The Night Sparrow is a portrait of friendship, resilience and courage under extraordinary circumstances.

SHELLY SANDERS is the author of Daughters of the Occupation (Harper, 2022), a Canadian bestseller for four weeks. The novel is inspired by the discovery of her Jewish roots as an adult, and by her grandmother’s family, many of whom were murdered during the Latvian Holocaust. Carol Memmott, of the Washington Post, says this “haunting novel refers not only to the victims of Latvia’s Holocaust but also to their descendants, who carry the trauma of their ancestors.”

Shelly is also the author of three Young Adult historical fiction novels (The Rachel Trilogy, Second Story Press); the first received a Starred Review in Booklist, and two of the three were named Notable Books for Teens from the Association of Jewish Libraries.

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