Sara’s Trek

Title: Sara’s Trek
Author: Florence Schloneger
Major Themes: Russian Mennonites, Refugees, World War II
Synopsis: When Sara and her friend Liese are separated from their families as they flee the Russian Army, they wonder if they will ever see them again.

My mom has always done well at prioritizing read-aloud time. As a young child, I remember her having a dedicated time after lunch to read picture books together, and as I got a little older, I remember her reading chapter books to me for school and when we were gathered together as a family in the living room in the evening. One of the books I remember her reading to us when I was somewhere in the 6–8-year-old range was Sara’s Trek. I remember loving the book. And after she read it aloud to us, I remember wanting to read it to myself, but I was too young to be able to get very far in it. Fast forward to recently, when I needed a book for a reading challenge, and this one came up as an option for a prompt. I jumped at the idea—I’ve been wanting to refresh my memory of the story, and it was the perfect chance to do that! Reading it now, as an adult, I was reminded once again why I loved this book.

It’s January 1945, and eleven-year-old Sara and her family, who are Russian Mennonites, are fleeing across Poland ahead of the Red Army. As they flee, Sara and her good friend Liese become separated from their families. As they continue to head east—hoping beyond hope to catch up to their families—they come in contact with the Red Cross, who eventually help them to a home where other orphaned or lost children are housed until their parents come to claim them. But with the war continuing to batter its way closer and closer to them, how much longer will they be safe in the home? When bombs start falling around them, is there any hope they’ll make it through the war alive—or see their families again?

I’ve never read a book quite like this one before. It feels like the story of the Russian Mennonites is widely unknown, which makes sense—they were a minority group in World War II. Sara’s Trek shares, in a child-friendly way, the hope and despair many people faced as they fled and tried to build new lives for themselves. Whether or not you are familiar with the story of the Russian Mennonites, I think you would find this story encouraging. It illustrates the resilience of the human spirit, the love of family, and the way our faith can lead us to uncomfortable places sometimes—but that God does provide for us in His perfect time. As Sara and her family found refuge in Germany and eventually made their way to Canada, their experiences tell the stories of many other believers who traced much the same path in the hope of finding new lives and freedom to worship God in their own way.

Unfortunately, this book is out of print now, but if you do manage to find a copy, I’d highly recommend you check it out and share it with your children.

WARNING: Refugees are bombed in ch. 1 (no mention of people hurt, just dirt flying everywhere from the explosion). “For heaven’s sakes” is used and a city is on fire in ch. 3. A home is bombed in ch. 5, resulting in damage, but no one is hurt. People receive news that a family was deported to Russia in ch. 8. Someone dies in ch. 9. 

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