Pine Fortress

When you are fourteen, wild life at the dacha is a real adventure! The hero of this story spends his first time completely alone, taking care of the household while the whole family fries in the stuffy summer city. But he has a clean sketchbook with him that he can fill with drawings and an old grandfather's camera with thirty-six frames. The idyll of dacha solitude is slightly disrupted by the arrival of his best friend, but it's even more interesting to ride bikes around the village and swim in the lake with him. During one of these trips, the friends set up their own secret den, the Pine Fortress.

But soon, there will be no trace left of the harmony and tranquility of summer days. Someone special will come between the friends, someone who was not originally part of the plans... In this stuffy summer, a storm will bring about the most important, the most crucial event. Something that will forever change the lives of both friends.

Ekaterina Aksenova is a children's writer, author of children's and adolescent books, including such works as "The Road to Tortuga," "A Huge Heart," "Ellie Thunderhand." Laureate of the Krapivin Prize (2021).