Shishkin's Root

Escaping from hooligans, crashing into an old lady, losing consciousness, and finding oneself in Nizhny Novgorod in 1896... Nothing terrible! If you have gathered material for a regional studies project and have studied the history of all the central streets of the city in detail, then you definitely know which building awaits around the corner and where the first electric tram in Russia is headed. Or do you not? When the first thrills pass, the main character, eighth grader Seryozha Shishkin, gradually realizes that a journey into the past is not an entertaining stroll. How to earn money for food and where to live? What to do if you learn about a planned robbery? And who can you trust at all? And most importantly: how to get back home, where your mom and little sister are waiting for you?
Writer Alisa Streltzova became so fascinated with the history of Nizhny Novgorod that she decided to send her characters back one hundred and thirty years. And she succeeded wonderfully in combining an exciting plot with a great number of interesting details. The artist Irina Shchipitsyna beautifully complemented the story with pictures from the life of Nizhny Novgorod in the late 19th century.
The story "Shishkin's Root," which became a laureate of the International Children's Prize named after V. P. Krapivin in the category "Choice of the Professional Jury" in 2021, will appeal not only to detective fans but also to historians and lovers of history.